What is Santissimo?
What is the meaning of El Santissimo??? Have seen it used in a religious context but cannot undersatnd its' meaning
4 Answers
El Santisimo could be translated as the Most High (if it's being used as a noun). Santisimo as an adjective would be something like most holy or very holy or holy of holies... you get the idea. 
Here is a world famous Christian Hymn. It was originally written and sung in Latin. After the reform of the language used in the Catholic Church, it was transcribed into English (and probably also into Spanish). Here it is in Latin and in English.
O Sanctissima, O Piissima
Dulcis Virgo Maria
Mater amata, In te temerata
Ora, Ora Pro Nobis
O most holy, O most lowly
Sweet Virgin Mary
Beloved Mother, undefiled
Pray, pray for us!
Notice the opening words of the hymn. El santísimo is the Spanish word for “sanctified” (in English) and “santissima” in Latin. It simply means “holy” or “most holy”.
However, I understand that “el Santísimo” (“S” is capitalized”) means the Holy Sacrament (also known as the Eucharist [la Eucaristía]).
It's a form of religion. You know when you go to the store and you see them candles with Jesus and Mary and Michael on them? That's what santisimo is. 
It's the worship of saints. Pero sabe bien pero muy bien esto...nadie es mas alto que Dios. And don't start playing with them candles until you know what they are and how they work. Mess around and do something wrong...it will bring you bad luck.
You may be referring to "Santería". It is very prevalent in Cuba and parts of Florida. It basically has its roots in the importation of Africans into the New World, particularly to Cuba and other parts of the Caribbean by the the Spanish. This happened after they figured out there was not a lot of gold or silver in those parts. Mostly they were manual laborers to work the sugar plantations, which is very labor intensive. The Spanish were Catholic (Fernando e Isabella). The Spanish prohibited any worship that was not Catholic. The Yorubas, Dayomeyes, etc (Africans) had their own system of worship of various deities: Changó, Yemayá, Ochún, etc. They simply replaced the names of their deities with the names of the Catholic saints to avoid persecution. "Saints" are "Santos", whence comes "Santería". The holymen were/are "babalaos". Each Catholic saint has it own "orisha". This is a very simplistic explanation, but I hope it serves your purposes.
You can also check on Vudú (voodoo) which took root in Haití. It is similar but based on different religious beliefs of the imported Africans.
