The Catholic Saints
Catholic saints are individuals canonized by the Catholic Church, officially recognized for their piety as residents of Heaven. However, in a technical sense, all who are in Heaven who had once been human on earth are, by definition, saints, individuals perfected in holiness; this is the view subscribed to by the Eastern Orthodox Church.
And while the list of Catholic saints can vary between almost a thousand and a half names to over ten thousand, depending on who’s doing the counting (inexplicably, there appears to be no comprehensive official list), it’s often understood in many quarters that numerous pious souls are obscure and outright lost to human history.
Therefore the term “Catholic saints” refers to those formally recorded and so honored while not making the claim that such a list are the only such individuals of piety and thus the only group in Heaven. Canonization is the process whereby an individual’s life and deeds is examined for evidence of such recognition by the Church.
It is lengthy and can take several years, and even entire centuries. Beatification is an official declaration that an individual is near sainthood. The final determination rests, however, on the provenance of two posthumous miracles of some significance.
In a certain sense, miracles are one of the most important aspects of a saint; the veneration of saints often rests on this point for numerous lay Catholics. Patron saints are those designated as being particularly associated with specific professions, causes, or qualities.
Saints aren’t considered to have power in their own right, but only that which has been granted by God. Yet the bodily remains and other relics of a saint is believed to be holy and may be utilized in certain ceremonies. Originally, saints were mostly martyrs, but over time other considerations became just as prominent.