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1. All the first saints were martyrs.
2. Sacrifice is taking place over the body of a person who had a life defending the name of Christ.
3. The pilgrimages associated with Saints
4. The expansion of Saints for their Charity.

The veneration of Saints had played a key role since the beginning with the Jewish and God has given the authority to do so. In Matthew 16:18, He says: Peter, I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed on heaven.I invite you to write this video about the live of a saint.

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The Lives of the Saints -
Our Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ
by Tom Perna
Click here to download audio file. Click here for a transcript of the video presentation. Click here for a printable study guide for The Lives of the Saints - Our Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Not Registered for the Pray More Retreat? Click here to Register and receive more talks like this one!
"Young people of every continent, do not be afraid to be the saints of the new millennium! Be contemplative, love prayer; be coherent with your faith and generous in the service of your brothers and sisters, be active members of the Church and builders of peace. To succeed in this demanding project of life, continue to listen to His Word, draw strength from the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Penance. The Lord wants you to be intrepid apostles of his Gospel and builders of a new humanity." - St. John Paul II

Is there a certain saint that I could learn more about, and ask for their intercession regularly?
All of the holy men and women in Heaven are good intercessors for any intentions, but here are the patronages of some of the more popular intentions and saints:
Impossible/Desperate Causes: Looking for a job: Looking for a home & selling a house: Looking for a spouse & discerning marriage: Financial trouble: St. Nicholas, The Infant Jesus of Prague, St. JudeThe youth, children: Depression & Anxiety: Cancer Patients: Married Women & Difficult Marriages: Infertility & Parenthood: Pregnancy & Childbirth: Alcoholics: Addicts: Animals & Nature: Athletes: St. SebastianDeath: Military members: Parish priests: St. John VianneyPoor: St. Lawrence, Suffering Discrimination: Drogo of SebourgPrisoners: St. Joseph Cafasso,St. DismasTravelers: St. Nicholas, Universal Church: St. Jude, St. Rita, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini St. Joseph, St. Cajetan St. Joseph St. Anne
Discerning a vocation: St. John Bosco, St. Maria Goretti, St. Aloysius Gonzaga St. Dymphna, St. Peregrine St. Monica, St. Rita, St. Anne, St. Rita St. Gerard Majella St. Monica, Ven. Matt Talbot St. Maximilian Kolbe St. Francis of Assisi
St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, St. Joan of Arc
St. Anthony of Padua
Blind: St. Lucy, Raphael
St. Joseph, Husband of Mary St. Joseph, Husband of Mary

Catechists:St. Robert Bellarmine, St. Charles Borromeo

The Persecuted: St. Thomas More

St. Joseph, Husband of Mary

St. Anne
Divorced: Helena of Constantinople
Single Parents: St. Margaret of Cortona

St. Therese of Lisieux

St. Therese of Lisieux

Just as I ask the communion of saints to pray for me, do I also, in turn, pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ - the ones who are still living, and the faithful departed?

The Prayer of Saint Gertrude for the Souls in Purgatory

"Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen."

More Resources
"Praying Through the Saints" (Catholic Answers) "Find truth in some difficult questions. Two-minute answers to your questions about the Catholic faith" (Catholics Come Home)
TWO-MINUTE ANSWERS

Find truth in some difficult questions. Below are two-minute answers to your questions about the Catholic faith.
Not Registered for the Pray More Retreat? Click here to Register and receive more talks like this one!
Tom Perna is the Director of Adult Evangelization and Catechesis at Saint Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Gilbert, Arizona, where he oversees RCIA, Adult Confirmation, the faith formation ministries, and the Porta Fidei Adult Faith Formation Program. In addition to his work at the parish, Tom spends time writing on his blog - TomPerna.org. He is the author of Understanding Catholic Teaching on the Blessed Virgin Mary (Emmaus Road Publishing). Tom holds a Masters in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville, a Masters in Education from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of San Francisco, which includes a Great Books Certificate from the St. Ignatius Institute.

Transcript:

Now, a question that will come is what is the difference between the saints with a
small "s" and Saints with a big "S"? Paragraph 954 of the Catechism says there
are,

"Three states of [saints in] the Church."

The first one is the Church militant. Those saints that are still here battling on
Earth. Each and every one of us are considered part of the saints militant. The
second one is the saints suffering. Those are the saints in purgatory. And then the
third state is the Church triumphant and those are the saints that are in heaven.
As the Church militant we should pray for the souls in purgatory and ask for
prayers from the saints in Heaven And not just those canonized saints but also
Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who is in the canonization process himself right now,
talks about praying for the saints in our families; those loved ones in our own
families and people that we've known that have gone on before us to also pray for
them but also pray asking for their intercession as well.

Why and how does the Church have the authority to declare saints? The Church
has the authority from Matthew 16:18. Jesus says to Peter,

"I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven."

Do Catholics pray to or worship the saints? In today's sense of the word, "worship"
no. Worship and adoration is meant for God and God alone. However, we do give
honor to the saints and we give very high honor to the Blessed Virgin Mary
because she is the Mother of God. We also give honor to those who deserve it.
We don't necessarily pray to Mary and the saints but we pray through them. We
pray with them and we ask for their intercession. It's the same way as when we ask
one another to pray for each other. So if I said I was sick or I'm dealing with
something right now, I'm going to ask you to pray for me. Well, it's the same thing.
We believe that the saints are in heaven with Our Lord and that they see God all
the time, perpetually and eternally, and that in the Presence they can pray for us.
So, when a miracle gets granted it's not necessarily the saint that is doing it but it's
God that is granting that miracle through the intercession of the saint. And we will
get to that shortly as well.

St. Dominic has this great quote on his deathbed he says,

"Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you
then more effectively than during my life."

God alone is the one who answers all prayers and where all prayer is directed. He's
the one who answers everything. However, Mary and the saints are one with and in
God, so it is good to pray to them and through them to God.

For hundreds of years a saints acclamation was just done by their popularity this
was really done with the first martyrs who gave their lives up for Jesus Christ.
Though this was a more democratic way to recognize saints, some saints stories
were distorted by legend and some never even existed. Gradually, over time the
bishops and finally the Vatican took over the authority for approving saints. Now
we have the Congregation for the canonization of the saints and that's the
Congregation that looks at when a person is brought before the Congregation.
They are the ones that look at everything.

Second, first the bishop of the diocese in which the person whose beatification is
being requested is responsible for beginning the investigation.

Once the diocesan investigation is finished the acts and documentation are passed
off to the Congregation of Saints which is in Rome. The public copy for further
work is put together here.

Now, within these Saints that are canonized we have what are known as the
Doctors of the Church. What is a Doctor and what is the role of the Doctor?
When we hear the word, "doctor" we often think of a medical doctor. However, we
must remember that there are doctors of philosophy. That's exactly what, "PHD"
stands for, a doctor of philosophy.

It's not the amount of writings that declares one a Doctor but it's the impact the
person has on the doctrine and life of the Church. They help us answer more
questions about the life of Jesus Christ. A

The Church has 37 Doctors of the Church and actually on my blog I've been
working on (TomPerna.org) a series on the Doctors of the Church. It's my hope
that I'll put that into book format as well.

As Catholics we also get questioned on relics. Why do we have heads that are cut
off from bodies, arms that are cut off from bodies? Why do we keep clothing? Why
do we keep jewelry of different saints?

So, the question we would get from a non-Catholic is, "what is a relic?" Well, a relic
is a sacred item either a body part, fragments of bones, clothes or other religious
items associated with the saints remains.

There are three classes or categories of relics. the first class relic is the body of a
saint or parts of the body such as limbs, bones and ashes. A second class relic are
objects that had been in touch or physical contact with the saint such as clothing,
rosary or devices that had afflicted pain and suffering on a saint like chains or some
type of whip. And then the third class relic is a piece of cloth that has been in
direct contact with a first or second class relic.

Take care. God Bless.

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The Lives of the Saints - Our Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ - The Pray More Retreat

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The Lives of the Saints - Our Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ by Tom Perna Click here to download audio file. Click here for a transcript of the video presentation. Click here for a printable study guide for The Lives of the Saints - Our Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ.