- 160 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About This Book
For millions of people saints provide comfort, hope and inspiration and act as intercessors to God. But whilst the earliest saints and martyrs served an essentially spiritual role within society their impact and influence can also be found today throughout the modern secular world. The term saint comes from the Latin word 'sanctus' meaning Holy. Many of the first saints were Christian martyrs who died for their faith. The original meaning of the accolade of martyr was 'witness'.
The earliest recorded account of the veneration of a Christian martyr relates to St Polycarp who died for his faith in 156 AD. The surviving text recounts that his fellow Christians gathered his bones or 'relics' together and placed them at a site where they could be re-visited on the anniversary of his death.
The stories of the lives of the saints and the different aspects of their cults underpin many of the fundamental concepts of the modern world. In this wide-ranging text Giles Morgan examines the history of saints and the development of the notion of sainthood through to the modern day.
Frequently asked questions
Information
A Calendar of Saintsā Days
Below is a calendar of saints that is not intended to be either exhaustive or all-encompassing but instead to represent the major feast days as well as offering a diverse and varied range of saints from different cultures and traditions.
January 1 Blessed Virgin Mary
Table of contents
- Introduction
- Early Christian Saints and Martyrs
- Saints in Eastern Christianity
- Celtic and Early English Saints
- Saints and Other World Religions
- Saints in the Middle Ages
- Saints During the Reformation
- Saints in the Modern Era
- Appendices: A Calendar of Saints Days
- Patron Saints of Occupations
- The Symbols of the Saints
- Saints Associated with British Locations
- Patron Saints of Countries, Regions, Cities and Towns
- Saints and Health Problems
- Web Pages
- Bibliography