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On 28/01/2015 12:43, Martin Koppenhoefer wrote:<br>
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cite="mid:CABPTjTCHU6eZ5DH38cdT6+PTN4KeSTq8H91yJgZ0Le=VaHjk9A@mail.gmail.com"
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<div class="gmail_quote">2015-01-27 11:42 GMT+01:00 Simone
Saviolo <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:simone.saviolo@gmail.com" target="_blank">simone.saviolo@gmail.com</a>></span>:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Speaking of Vatican,
i.e. Roman Catholic Church, Mary is Blessed, not Saint.
Her title is Beata Virgo Maria (Beata Vergine Maria in
Italian, Blessed Virgin Mary in English). She is an
unordinary Blessed, as she and her feasts are more
important than those of the Saints; anyway, "Saint Mary"
is nothing but a popular name :-)</blockquote>
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<div class="gmail_extra">Are you sure about this? Because I have
heard about "Santissima Madre di Dio" (holiest mother of God)<br>
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<div class="gmail_extra">There are also several other St. Marys,
e.g.<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Goretti">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Goretti</a><br>
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<br>
Describing someone as 'holy' is not the same as giving them the
title 'saint'. The very fact that the superlative is used
('santissima') somewhat suggests that this is not the regular title
meaning 'saint'. Nevertheless, there are many Church of England
churches dedicated to 'St Mary the Virgin', so she seems to have
been promoted to sainthood by the Anglican church! In Catholic
circles, 'Our Lady' or its equivalent is also a common dedication.<br>
<br>
The confusion in the use of Saint is noted by the Oxford English
Dictionary:<br>
<br>
'†3. Prefixed to various common nouns (in collocations taken over
from Latin and French), esp. Charity, Cross, Spirit, Trinity. Obs.<br>
'Sometimes abbreviated as in A. 1.<br>
<br>
'In dedications of churches there occur St. Cross, St. Faith, St.
Saviour, St. Sepulchre.'<br>
<br>
-- <br>
Steve<br>
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