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Saint

World Religion
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A person recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God, often venerated after death.

Explore this topic in depth (1)

Faith and Doubt in Poetry — Poetry has long been a place for speaking towards God, searching for meaning, resisting certainty and giving shape to silence. This guide explores devotional traditions and poems of doubt while offering practical ways to read and listen across differing beliefs.

Detailed Definition
In Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and some other traditions, saints are official recognized exemplars of faith, believed to intercede with God on behalf of the living. More broadly, a saint is any individual of extraordinary virtue and piety. Poets use saints as archetypes of devotion, suffering, and moral perfection. Their lives and legends provide rich material for exploring the struggles and triumphs of the spiritual path, the nature of miracles, and the human capacity for extreme faith and selfless love, often holding up a mirror to the poet's own spiritual aspirations or shortcomings.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Catholic poetry, Saint intercedes: “Thérèse’s roses—Saint sends grace in small things”; In Sufi verse, Saint (wali) is friend of God: “Desert hermit—Saint whose silence speaks volumes”; In contemporary poetry, Saint is activist: “Dorothy Day—Saint of soup lines and solidarity”; Poets democratize Saint: “Not perfect—Saint is one who loves fiercely.”
Additional Notes
Saints are not perfect but perfected through grace; they intercede, inspire, and embody specific virtues (Francis: poverty; Teresa: mystical love); in poetry, saints serve as archetypes—showing how holiness flourishes in particular lives, cultures, and struggles, making the divine relatable through human frailty and courage.
Also Known As
Wali (Sufi saint) Bodhisattva (in some comparative contexts) Holy One Wali Sant
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