Glossary

The words you'll meet here, in plain English.

Every term is listed alphabetically, with the ones people ask about most — Blessed and Saint — first.

B

Beatification: The step by which the Church declares that a Venerable servant of God is in Heaven and may be given public honor, usually after a miracle is attributed to that person's intercession. The person then carries the title Blessed.
Blessed: The title of someone the Catholic Church has beatified — one step before canonization. It means the Church has confirmed that the person is in Heaven and may be publicly honored as a model of Christian living. Their memorial is kept on the calendar of a place or religious family rather than by the whole Church. Blessed Elena Aiello was beatified in 2011.

Canonization: The Church's final and definitive declaration that a Blessed person is in Heaven and is to be honored as a saint by the whole Church. A canonized saint is given a feast day on the universal calendar.
Catechist: A laywoman or layman commissioned by the Church to teach the faith and prepare others for the sacraments. St. Pedro Calungsod served as a catechist in the Mariana Islands.
Chaplet: A shorter string of prayers counted on beads, usually centered on one intention. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Chaplet of St. Michael the Archangel are chaplets, not full Rosaries.

Decade: One set of ten beads on the Rosary, prayed as an Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and a Glory Be. Five decades make up one Rosary.
Doctor of the Church: A title the Church gives to a saint whose life and writings are held up as a sure standard of teaching and learning. St. Augustine of Hippo is one of them.

Feast Day: The day of the year set aside to celebrate a saint, usually the anniversary of their death — their birthday into Heaven. Feasts are kept at three levels: memorial, feast, and solemnity.

Intercession: A prayer asked on someone's behalf. When we ask a saint to pray for us, we are asking for their intercession — the same request we might make of a friend, offered to a friend already in God's presence.

Memorial: The first of the three levels of liturgical celebration, after which come the feast and the solemnity. A memorial marks a saint's day on the calendar without the fuller observance a feast carries.
Mysteries: The twenty scenes from the lives of Christ and the Virgin Mary that are prayed and meditated on while saying the Rosary, grouped into the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious sets of five.

Patron: A saint, an angel, or Christ himself placed under whose protection a person, place, trade, or cause is commended. The saint's patronage is the work or group entrusted to them.

Rosary: From the Latin rosarium, a crown of roses. A prayer that meditates on the life of Christ while praying five decades on a beaded chain, opening with the Sign of the Cross and the Apostles' Creed and closing with the Hail Holy Queen.

Saint: From the Greek word for holy one. In everyday use, every soul in Heaven is a saint. In the Church's official use, a saint is someone canonized — formally declared to be in Heaven and held up as a model of heroic virtue for the whole Church.
Servant of God: The title given to a Christian once a cause for canonization has been formally opened. It is the first of the four stages: Servant of God, Venerable, Blessed, and Saint.
Solemnity: The highest level of liturgical celebration, reserved for the great mysteries of Christ and the Virgin Mary and for a few principal saints. A solemnity takes the place of the ordinary weekday or Sunday observance.

Venerable: The title given once the Pope has declared that a Servant of God practiced the Christian virtues to a heroic degree. It is the stage before beatification.

A word that belongs here is missing? Tell us and we'll add it.