Why this word is great
HAGIOLATRY — [Noun] The worship or veneration of saints, often implying an excessive or idolatrous degree of devotion. From the combining form hagio- (from Greek hagios, "holy") and -latry (from Greek -latreia, "worship"). Unlike hagiography, which chronicles a saint's life, or simple veneration, which suggests measured reverence, hagiolatry is the practice turned fervent, a displacement of ultimate worship. It is the worn-smooth toe of a bronze statue from a million touches, the cloying scent of beeswax in a reliquary chapel, and the whispered prayer before a painted icon in candle-smoke—a tactile faith that seeks to touch the divine through the frail, physical memory of a human life, a testament to our craving for holiness with a face.