Recognition by the church allows someone to be venerated. It is given to some saints through the process of canonisation in the Catholic Church.

The word saint in the New Testament refers to those who had dedicated themselves to God. In the past, it included living holy men. Today it only refers to people who have died.

Someone who has been canonised, that is, officially declared a saint, by the Church as a holder of the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and is therefore believed to be in Heaven by the grace of God. There are also people that the Church believes to be in Heaven who have not been formally canonised but who are normally thought of as "saints" because of their fame.

The veneration of saints, means you entrust yourself to a particular saint or group of saints to help you to reach God.

A saint may become a patron saint of a cause, profession, or country, or a protector against illness, travel disasters etc.

Saints are not believed to have power of their own, but only that granted by God. Relics of saints are respected, or "venerated', often with the object being healed by God through their influence.

Saints often have to have been shown to have performed miracles, such as causing a sudden recovery from terminal illness.

Once someone has been canonised, their body is considered holy as a relic.

Stages of canonisation in the Catholic Church
Servant of God → Venerable → Blessed → Saint

This process takes many years an sometimes centuries.

In the Anglican Communion a saint is a person who has been raised by popular opinion as a holy person. The saints are seen as elder brothers and sisters of Christ in Heaven.

Asking prayers of saints is not part of Anglican practice.

Shrine
A religious shrine is a place, usually in a church, where a holy relic of a saint is kept.

All Souls' Day
The day after All Saints' Day is All Souls' Day, when people pray for the souls of those who have not yet entered Heaven and who are still in purgatory (waiting for judgment).