Veneration of the martyrs was a form of the veneration paid to the dead. The cult of the dead dates back to prehistoric times and found a variety of expressions in various parts of the world. In the first centuries of the Christian era, members of the family gathered at the tomb on certain days especially on the anniversary of their birth.

The cult of the witnesses, or martyrs grew from that tradition. Special reverence was paid by the community of the martyr. They gathered on the date of the death of the martyr, the day he/she entered into the heavenly Jerusalem. Martyrs became known as intercessors with God.

Cults of Saints who were not martyrs developed. The cult of asthetics and virgins venerated holy people who led holy lives, but did not find martyrdom after the age of persecution passed. The cult of bishops developed to venerate the early bishops who held the Church together

Relics were venerated and stories of the Saints were promulgated, although questionable. Only a few pursued this claim through scrupulous account of the facts".

Gregory the Great, in the sixth century normalized the cult of the saints, attempting to know the specifics (name, pace date) of martyrs. Testimony of the Fathers of the Church was important for incorporation into the Roman Breviary. Church calendars also provided for important data, such as the date to be honored.

This practice proliferated, but a decretal of 1171, left the authority to canonize a saint to the Roman Church.