Who is Catholic Saints

:For the Tegan and Sara album, see Sainthood (album).

Saints are individuals of exceptional holiness who are important in many religions, particularly Christianity.

:For other uses of "Martyr" and "Martyrs", see Martyr (disambiguation).

Category: Image - :St-Sebastian-xx-Guido-Reni.JPG|thumb|200px|Saint Sebastian, an iconic image of martyrdom

A martyr (Greek: ??????, mártys, "witness"; stem ??????-, mártyr-) is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce a belief, usually religious.

Category: File - :Virginia Centurione body.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The body of Saint Virginia Centurione, found to be incorrupt by the Catholic Church.

Incorruptibility is a Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that supernatural intervention allows some human bodies to not undergo the normal process of decomposition after death. Bodies that reportedly undergo little or no decomposition are sometimes referred to as incorrupt or incorruptible (adjective) or as an incorruptible (noun). Although it is recognised as supernatural in Catholicism, it is no longer counted as a miracle in the recognition of a saint.rISCOVER Vol. 22 No. 6 (June 2001), available at href=http://web.archive.org/web/20010610014402/http://www.discover.com/june_01/featsaints.html

Incorruptibility is seen as distinct from the good preservation of a body, or mummification. Incorruptible bodies are often said to have the Odour of Sanctity, exuding a sweet and pleasant aroma. As of yet, none of these cases have been verified scientifically.

Canonization (or canonisation) is the act by which a particular Christian church or group declares a deceased person to be a saint and is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process.

In the Catholic Church (both the Western and Eastern Churches) the act of canonization is reserved to the Holy See and occurs at the conclusion of a long process requiring extensive proof that the person proposed for canonization lived and died in such an exemplary and holy way that he or she is worthy to be recognized as a saint. The Church's official recognition of sanctity implies that the persons are now in heavenly glory, that they may be publicly invoked and mentioned officially in the liturgy of the Church, most especially in the Litany of the Saints. Other Christian churches still follow the older practice (see, for instance, below on Eastern Orthodox practice).

Canonization, whether formal or informal, does not make someone a saint: it is only a declaration that the person is a saint and was a saint even before canonization.

In the Catholic Church, canonization involves a decree that allows veneration of the saint in the liturgy of the Roman Rite throughout the world. For permission to venerate on a local level, only beatification is needed, not canonization."Beatification, in the present discipline, differs from canonization in this: that the former implies (1) a locally restricted, not a universal, permission to venerate, which is (2) a mere permission, and no precept; while canonization implies a universal precept" (Beccari, Camillo. "Beatification and Canonization" The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. Retrieved 27 May 2009).

Veneration (Latin veneratio, Greek δουλια dulia), or veneration of saints, is a special act of honoring a saint: a dead person who has been identified as singular in the traditions of the religion. It is practiced by the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic Churches, Anglican Communion, and Lutheran Church. Veneration is often shown outwardly by respectfully bowing or making the sign of the cross before a saint's icon, relics, or statue. These items may also be kissed.