saints, devotion to the

saints, devotion to the. The practice of venerating and invoking the saints has long been an element in Catholic and Orthodox devotion. Its justification rests on the beliefs that the saints are close to God (because of their holiness) and accessible to man (whose nature they share), and in the efficacy of intercessory prayer.

In the NT the gift of special privileges for certain people in the next world is held to be indicated in Christ's promises to the Apostles (Mt. 19: 28), while support for the idea that the dead may intercede for the living is found in the parable of Dives and Lazarus (Lk. 16: 19–31). But it is to the implications of the Pauline doctrine of the Church as the Body of Christ, rather than to specific texts, that the advocates of devotion to the saints appeal.

There is clear evidence of devotion to martyrs in the ‘Martyrdom of Polycarp’ (c.156), and this was furthered by the growing cult of their relics. From the 4th cent. the ranks of those accounted saints were enlarged by the addition of ‘confessors’ and virgins, on the ground that a life of renunciation and holiness might equal the devotion of those who had died for Christ. Theologians sought to rebut the charge of idolatry by distinguishing between the worship of God, expressed by the word ‘latria’, and the cult of honour and imitation due to saints, expressed in the term ‘dulia’.

Liturgical developments followed popular devotion and the current of patristic teaching. The mention of saints in the Mass is attested by St Augustine, and from the 8th cent. the Lives of saints were read at Mattins. Councils often found it necessary to curb the excesses and superstition of popular devotion. Among the Reformers all cult of the saints was repudiated, especially by the Zwinglians and Calvinists, on the ground that it was not explicitly recommended in Scripture. In the C of E its legitimacy is debated. The attitude of the E. Church is akin to that of Rome.

See also BEATIFICATION and CANONIZATION.