'Saint' was a synonym for Christian in the early Church. The baptized Christian is in fact an initiate of sainthood. Thus, we see, for instance, Ananias saying to the Lord concerning Saul (Paul), "Lord, several people have told me about this man and all the harm he has been doing to your saints in Jerusalem." (Acts 9:13). In his epistles Paul uses in his opening greetings the word 'saints' meaning the faithful. "To the Church of God at Corinth and to all the saints and to all the saints in the whole of Achaia" (2 Cor, 1:1)

However, the term 'saint' took on a more technical and restricted sense quite early in the Church. Not every Christian was a saint. By saint was meant one who was in heaven, who could intercede for fellow-humans on earth and who was worthy of public veneration. Origen, of the 3rd century (c. 185-254), speaks of the intercessory power of the saints. Augustine, of the 5th century (254-430), dwells at length on the same subject in his The City of God.

In the days of the early persecutions, it was, quite understandably, the martyrs who were regarded as saints. In the age of asceticism, which followed, the solitaries of the desert, whose rigorous ascetical life was near-martyrdom, were looked upon as saints. The cult of saints grew in the succeeding centuries and influenced not only popular devotion but also Christian art and literature. In fact, a voluminous branch of Christian writing on saints, which we know as hagiography, evolved.

Up to about the early Middle Ages, a person was recognized as a saint by public acclamation and sometimes by episcopal decree. In 1234 Pope Gregory IX (1227-1241) reserved to the papacy the proclamation of saints, which has come to be known as canonization, that is, placing one in the canon or official list of persons worthy of public veneration. In the process of papal proclamation of sainthood, there are two steps: first, beautification, which allows a limited public cult such as that permitted to a specific religious congregation, diocese or country, and then, canonization, by which the cult is extended to the universal Church.

There are several reasons for the cult of the saints.

1. It is customary to give public honour to persons who are distinguished in a particular field, as a savant, author, scientist, statesman, etc. They are looked upon as 'heroes'. Some countries have in fact a national heroes' day to honour them. Saints are heroes in the spiritual order. They too are therefore worthy of public honour. Hence, the celebration of novenas, feasts, etc., to honour them.

2. When we express our appreciation and admiration of a painting, it is not the physical painting or canvas that gets the praise, but the artist, the author of the painting. Saints are God's 'works of art'. It is with the help of God's grace that one becomes a saint. The honour we give to the saints, therefore, redounds to the glory of God, their author. In honouring the saints we honour God Himself. Not only does one need God's grace to become a saint, but it is also from God that the saints obtain for us the favours we ask. The cult of the saints is thus intimately linked to God.

3. The saints have been fellow-citizens with us on earth and members of our human family. They have personally experienced the trials and tribulations, the cares and worries, the temptations and struggles of our life and will therefore understand our needs and be sympathetic to us when we pray to them for help. And being now in a position to help us, they will intercede for us with God. Since they did God' will when they were on earth, God will now listen to their prayers on our behalf and grant what is asked if it His will.

4. The saints are models for us. By their lives they sow us the way. As imitators of Christ, they have translated into concrete life, in a way that can be seen and observed by us, the life and teachings of Christ. They are for us a source of inspiration and guidance; they are an object -lesson to us in our own striving after sanctity.

5. Saints witness to the truth of Christianity. They are a palpable proof of what can be achieved by accepting the teachings of Christianity and living according to them. Their lives thus vindicate the truth of the Christian faith. As Newman has put it, the saints are "the proper and true evidence of the God of Christianity".