Editorial standards and sources
The standard behind our biographies, feast dates, Church-status labels, and corrections.
Scope and authority
Saint for a Minute is an independent educational resource. It does not replace the Holy See, a diocese, a religious community, or a local liturgical calendar. Our corpus combines source-reviewed entries with legacy imported records that are still being audited. Church-status titles are never assigned by automation; we aim to reconcile them to the best available Church authority, but displaying a title or fact does not mean its citation review is complete. Observances can differ by place and calendar.
Source priority
We prioritize Holy See decrees and publications, the Roman Martyrology and approved liturgical calendars, official diocesan and religious-order materials, cause websites, and reputable historical or scholarly references. When sources conflict, the more authoritative and current Church source takes precedence, and genuine uncertainty should remain visible.
Evidence states
“Cataloged” means a source or legacy record has been inventoried, but its claims have not been verified one by one. “Verified” means the source identity and citation metadata have been checked against the work. “Reviewed” means a human editor has also assessed the source and claim context, with the reviewer and timestamp recorded. These states are not interchangeable. We are upgrading the corpus in stages, and not every legacy profile yet has a claim-level citation for every displayed fact; uncited details should be treated as provisional.
Biography and feast-day review
Profiles separate biographical tradition from formal canonization facts where the record allows. Dates, names, places, patronages, and feast days are normalized for discovery, but older records often contain variants. A feast date on this site should be checked against the calendar used in your own diocese or community.
Automation
Automated tools may help normalize names, classify records, identify duplicates, or prepare drafts. Automated output is not treated as a source and never determines a person's status in the Church. Source evidence and the published Church record remain controlling.
Heraldry and devotional emblems
We distinguish documented personal or office arms, later attributed arms, institutional emblems, reconstructions from a sourced blazon, reviewed modern devotional emblems, and cases where no arms are known. Generated designs remain private drafts until independent identity and heraldry review; they never receive automatic papal or episcopal ornaments. We do not invent mottos. Personal, family, diocesan, institute, and religious-order arms are not interchangeable. Ecclesiastical ornaments require evidence for the person’s office and expert review of date, rite, jurisdiction, and usage. Pre-heraldic people cannot have contemporary personal arms; later traditions must be dated and sourced.
Corrections
Correction submissions ask for supporting context and a source. They are reviewed before publication. We preserve material uncertainty instead of presenting a disputed detail as settled fact.
Last updated July 31, 2026.
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