Excerpt from
SAINTS AND THEIR SYMBOLS
RECOGNIZING SAINTS IN ART AND IN POPULAR IMAGES
Fernando and Gioia Lanzi
Drawings by Ermanno Leso
Translated by Matthew J. O’Connell

© 2004 by the Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any retrieval system, without the written permission of Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321.

Contents

INTRODUCTION
The Nature and Characteristics of the Images of the Saints

HISTORICAL SURVEY OR HISTORICAL ATLAS OF THE SAINTS

Anne (Patron of Brittany) and Joachim, Parents of Mary
Joseph, Putative Father of Jesus, Patron of the Universal Church and of Canada (1st century)
Elizabeth and Zechariah, Parents of John the Baptist
John the Baptist, the Precursor, Patron of Malta and Rhodes (1st century)
Lazarus of Bethany, Bishop, Host, and Friend of Jesus, and Mary of Bethany (1st century)
Martha of Bethany, Sister of Lazarus, Patron of Provence (1st century)
Mary Magdalene (1st century)
Longinus the Centurion (1st century)
Dismas, the Good Thief
The Apostles
Peter and Paul
Peter the Apostle (1st century)
Paul of Tarsus, Apostle to the Nations (1st century)
Andrew, Apostle (†60)
James the Greater, Apostle
John, Apostle and Evangelist
Thomas, Apostle
James the Lesser, Apostle
Philip, Apostle (1st century)
Bartholomew, Apostle (†ca. 51)
Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Jude Thaddeus, Apostle (1st century)
Simon, Apostle (1st century)
Matthias, Apostle (1st century)
Mark, Evangelist (1st century)
Luke, Evangelist (†ca. 63)
Barnabas of Cyprus (†61)
Stephen, Protomartyr (1st century)
Eustachius, Martyr (2nd century)
Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr (†258)
Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr (†ca. 230)
Columba of Sens, Virgin and Martyr (†273)
Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr (3rd century)
Cyprian of Carthage, Bishop and Martyr (3rd century)
Dionysius (Denis) of Paris, Bishop (†ca. 250)
Sebastian, Martyr (†288)
Christina of Bolsena, Virgin and Martyr (end of 3rd century)
Vitus, Martyr (†303)
Marinus, Deacon and Hermit (†301)
Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs (†ca. 303)
Erasmus of Gaeta, Bishop and Martyr (†303)
Florian of Lorch, Martyr (†304)
George of Lydda, Martyr (†303–305)
Agatha, Virgin and Martyr (†304–305)
Lucy, Virgin and Martyr (ca. 286–304)

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr (†304)
Margaret of Antioch, Virgin and Martyr (†305)
Pantaleon of Nicomedia, Martyr (beginning of 4th century)
Barbara, Virgin and Martyr (†306)
Christopher, Martyr (end of 3rd century)
Emidius of Ascoli, Bishop and Martyr (†309)
Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr, Doctor of the Church (†306/13)
Blaise of Sebaste, Bishop and Martyr (†ca. 316)
Helen, Mother of Emperor Constantine (250–329)
Anthony, Abbot (ca. 251–356)
Athanasius the Great of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (†373)
John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (344–407)
Martin of Tours, Bishop (316–397)
Ambrose of Milan, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (340–397)
Genevieve of Paris, Consecrated Virgin (422–502)
Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (354–430)
Basil the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (ca. 330–397)
Bridget of Kildare, Abbess (ca. 453–525) Nicholas of Myra or of Bari, Bishop and Wonderworker (ca. 270–345 or 351)
Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church (ca. 374–419/20)
Gregory of Nazianzus, Archbishop of Constantinople and Doctor of the Church (†390)
Ursula of Cologne, Virgin and Martyr (†452) and the Eleven Thousand Virgins

Patrick of Ireland, Bishop (390–461)
Remigius, Bishop (ca. 436–ca. 533)
Benedict of Nursia, Abbot and Patron of Europe (ca. 489–547)
Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (540–604)
Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (†604)
Columbanus of Bobbio or of Luxeuil, Abbot (543–615)
Constantine of Cornwall, King and Martyr (converted in 587)
Eligius, Bishop (590–659)
Egidius (Giles), Abbot (ca. 655–ca. 721)
Boniface of Mainz or of Fulda, Bishop and Martyr (ca. 672–754)
Gudula of Brussels, Virgin (650–712)
John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the Church (675–749)
Hubert of Liège or of Maastricht, Bishop (665–727)
Willibrord, Bishop (658–739)
Anskar or Oskar of Corbie, Bishop (ca. 810–865)
Cyril, Monk (827–869), and Methodius, Bishop (†885), Patrons of Europe
Wenceslas, Duke of Bohemia, Martyr (ca. 903–929)
John of Rila, Hermit (876/80–946)
Emma of Gurk, Widow (†ca. 980)
Vladimir of Kiev, Prince of Russia (ca. 960–1015)
Boris and Gleb of Kiev, Princes and Protomartyrs of Russia (†1015)
Olaf, King of Norway, Martyr (995–1030)

Adalbert of Prague, Bishop and Martyr (956–997)
Stephen, King of Hungary (ca. 969–1038)
Anselm of Aosta or of Canterbury, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (1033–1109)
Cnut IV, King of Denmark, Martyr (1040–1086)
Casilda of Burgos or of Toledo, Virgin (†1087)
Bruno of Cologna, Monk (1030–1101)
Ladislas, King of Hungary (1040–1095)
Margaret of Hungary or of Scotland (1047–1093)
Isidore of Madrid, Farmer (1070–1130)
Leopold III, Margrave of Austria (ca. 1073–1136)
Magnus, Martyr (1075–1116)
Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot, Doctor of the Church (1090–1153)
Helen of Skövde, Widow (†1160)
Eric of Sweden, King and Martyr (†1161)
Henry of Uppsala or of Finland, Bishop (1110–1156)
Sabas of Serbia (1174–1225)
Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (1110–1170)
Francis of Assisi, Founder of the Order of Friars Minor (1181–1231)
Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (1195–1231)
Dominic Guzmán, Founder of the Order of Preachers (1170–1221)
Elizabeth of Hungary or of Thuringia, Religious (1207–1231)
Hedwig, Queen of Poland (1174–1253)
Clare of Assisi, Virgin (1193–1253)
Ferdinand III, King of Castile and León (1198–1252)

Louis IX, King of France (1214–1270)
Thomas Aquinas, Dominican Priest and Doctor of the Church (1225–1274)
Nicholas of Tolentine, Augustinian Priest (1249–1305)
Gertrude of Helfta, Virgin (1256–1301/2)
Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal (1271–1337)
Roch, Pilgrim (ca. 1295–1327)
Bridget of Sweden, Founder of the Order of the Holy Redeemer, Patron of Europe (1303–1373)
Sergius of Radonezh, Hermit (1314–1392)
John Nepomuk, Priest and Martyr (ca. 1350–1393)
Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (1347–1380)
Vincent Ferrer, Dominican Priest (1350–1419)
Bernardino of Siena, Franciscan Priest (1380–1444)
Rita of Cascia, Religious (1387–1447)
Joan of Arc, Virgin (1412–1431)
Francis of Paola, Hermit and Founder of the Order of Minims (1416–1507)
Nichols of Flue, Hermit (1417–1487)
Casimir of Lithuania, Prince of Poland (1458–1483)
Thomas More, Martyr (1478–1535)
Ignatius of Loyola, Priest and Founder of the Society of Jesus (1491–1556)
Francis Xavier, Jesuit Priest (1510–1572)
Francesco Borgia, sacerdote gesuita (1510-1572)

Philip Neri, Priest and Founder of the Oratorians (1515–1595)
Theresa of Avila or of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (1515–1582)
John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church (1542–1591)
Alphonsus Rodriguez, Jesuit Religious (1531–1617)
Charles Borromeo, Bishop (1538–1584)
Stanislaus Kostka, Jesuit Novice (1550–1568)
Camillus of Lellis, Priest and Founder of the Ministers of the Sick (1550–1614)
Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (1567–1622)
Aloysius Gonzaga, Jesuit Novice (1568–1591)
Martin de Porres, Dominican Religious (1570–1639)
Rose of Lima, Virgin (1586–1617)

Vincent de Paul, Priest and Founder of the Vincentian Congregation and the Daughters of Charity (1581–1660)
Alphonus Maria Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (1696–1787)
Jean Marie Vianney, Curé of Ars (1786–1859)
John Bosco, Priest and Founder of the Salesian Order and of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (1815–1888)
Theresa of the Child Jesus, Carmelite Religious and Doctor of the Church (1873–1897)
Leopold Mandic, Capuchin Priest and Confessor (1866–1942)
Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin and Founder of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1850–1917)
Theresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin, Carmelite, Martyr, and Patron of Europe (1891–1942)

DICTIONARY OF THE SAINTS
(with their attributes)

INDEX OF ATTRIBUTES

INTRODUCTION

The Nature and Characteristics of the Images of the Saints

1. Why This Book?

Our churches, as well as our museums and art collections, and not least the streets of our cities and the countryside, are filled with two- and three-dimensional images. Today, as in the past, not everyone understands these images.

The images in question are illustrations that tell the story of Christian salvation, which began at the creation; they depict the divine and human persons who played, and play, a part in the first and former covenant as well as in the second, new, and definitive covenant between humanity and its creator.

But while people today see these images, not all of them are able now to recognize the characteristic features of the actors in that history. Some, of course, are well known and clear to all: Our Lady, Jesus, and the eternal Father are still recognizable, one reason being that their names appear clearly in the titles and captions of works representing them. But the other actors are not only no longer known to all; there is no longer a tradition enabling people to distinguish one from another; whether they belong to the first or the second covenant, their names, even in titles and captions, convey only a general sense, as, for example a “Madonna with Child and some saints.” Our intention here is to deal with some individuals of the new covenant, starting with those who surrounded Jesus during his earthly life and then, ideally, to survey the centuries down to our own time. We shall be dealing, therefore, with the images of the saints, and we shall try to explain why so many of them appear in the various depictions of Jesus and the Virgin. What is the significance of this phenomenon, in time and history, for us, and what does it say about us?

An explanation of the images of the saints requires some reflection on two subjects: holiness and images. We shall start with the former.

2. Holiness

God alone is holy, and from him alone can holiness come as a gift whereby we share in his life. To the extent that human beings participate in that life and become pure reflections of his glory, as Christ did, they too are holy. This fact holds for and is acknowledged by all, but we do not know, in all cases, the degree and manner in which they are “saints.” In fact, only a relative few have been universally acknowledged to be saints and have for this reason been proposed to all living human beings as models to be imitated. From its very beginning the Church has kept lists of its saints in order that they might be more easily remembered and might serve as examples for all and that their intercession might be invoked, since they are the very special friends both of Christ and of humanity.

An episode in the Gospel of Luke explains what sanctity means in practice:

On Golgotha there is a dialogue that has its roots in Genesis. On the one hand, there is a criminal who challenges Jesus and tries to pass judgment on God: “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39). On the other hand, there is Dismas, who has entered history because of his emblematic goodness and is known as the “Good Thief”; he rebuked his companion: “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?” and he asked: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He thus became an image of Christian holiness, being one who acknowledges Christ and his kingdom and surrenders himself wholly to him. For this reason, a man who was obviously a sinner entered paradise immediately.

Holiness has been a mark of Christianity throughout its history. “This invention of God that becomes a reality among human beings”¹ consists in a complete adherence to the will of God, in imitation of Christ and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. For this reason, it can be said that holiness consists “not in the fact that a human being gives everything, but in the fact that the Lord takes everything.”² People have always turned to the saints as to friends of Christ, in order to secure help. This help is not simply an act of condescension, for in answer to prayer the saints intervene by broadening the horizon of the devotee, revealing the “meaning” of the latter’s personal lot, and showing this to be connected with the history of salvation, that is, with the manifestation of glory. The successful outcome of intercession, namely, the favor, even a material one (the petition for this is obviously a sign of faith), leads to a secondary end: the important thing for the devotees is that they find themselves directed toward God, able now to grasp the meaning of the events of their lives; they experience a revival of faith, hope, and especially charity as the “bond of perfection.” In other words, it is important that the very being of the devotees be directed toward holiness.

3. “Sacred” and “Saint”

“Sacred” and “saint(ly)” (holy) are closely related words, inasmuch as they have the same Indo-European root: sak³ “sacred” is used in opposition to “profane” or secular, and signifies that which is completely other than all existing beings and possesses, in the maximum and utterly self-sufficient degree, the attribute of existence. In religion the term is reserved for that which possesses this attribute in the supreme degree, that which truly is, without any dependence on anything outside itself.⁴

In order to determine the meaning of the “sacred” as clearly as possible, it is appropriate to take as a starting point the word “saint(ly).” The Latin sanctus is the past participle of the Latin verb sancire, which means precisely to make something sak, that is, to bestow reality and validity on something, or to acknowledge the real existence of something. The verb is a typically juridical one and, in addition to signifying a confirmation, establishment, ratification, or affirmation, it also means to bestow validity on an institution, to make real, to acknowledge the reality of a state of things. It follows that the root sak—and the words deriving from it in the Indo-European languages—refers to the foundation of what is real.

Sancire means to recognize and render something sacred: the saints are therefore persons, things, and even places that belong to being or are intended to belong to it and are seen to be opposed to whatever is alien to being.

Whatever is holy (sanctus) and those who are holy (saints) become by that very fact distinct and separated from everything else; they realize fully their own nature. Holy men and women, therefore, exist in the fullest way and by that fact realize the supreme potentialities characteristic of humanity; each of them does so in the most personal manner possible. Since, then, the most distinctive trait of human beings is their capacity for consciously relating themselves to their creator,⁵ those who do it with the greatest deliberation, by opening themselves to the ultimate consequences of this relationship and making it the center of their lives, realize their humanity in the fullest way. To be a saint is to be a truly human being.

It is not given to human beings to decide what is not holy; we cannot say this even of the wicked thief or Judas. In contrast, it is possible to recognize some of the external signs that something is holy. A “truly human being” is one who accepts the ultimate consequences of belonging to Christ, one who makes Christ the center of his or her life, and this in concrete daily activities amid the flow of time. The suggestive popular expression “to die in the odor of sanctity,” which refers to those saints whose bodies have been preserved incorrupt and sweet-smelling, bears witness to the fact that for some saints there are sensible signs which render their condition directly accessible, so much so that they have been regarded as holy ever since people knew and encountered them.

It is this recognizableness, this visibility, that marks the holy people who are later on “proclaimed” as such, because it is this recognition by all or at least by some that sets in motion the complex process of canonization. Bystanders realize from the very lives of such people a human truth that is unmistakable and demands to be publicly declared and made fruitful so that we may enjoy their intercession.

In the Church there are individuals who are given the title of “saint”; they are venerated and are remembered on certain days. Christians, individually and as communities, turn to them as intermediaries and intercessors in order to obtain from the creator what they desire for themselves. The Church also calls these individuals “servants of God”⁶ and from the beginning has taken it upon itself to keep a list of them,⁷ expressly in order “to foster the sanctification of the people of God,” that is, to help all Christians acquire the qualities of the saints.⁸
We need to ask who these individuals are and in what their holiness consists. Then, in the light of the very numerous, varied, and sometimes seemingly contradictory characteristics of all these persons, we naturally ask what is their distinctive trait that also unites them.

Let us take the Romans as a paradigm of what happened in the religions of humanity. For the Romans, the term “holy” described everything having to do with the divinity and with worship, but it also described high dignitaries and especially the emperor, since all of these were made “sacred and inviolable” by their “authority.”⁹

For Christians things were comparable yet different. The “belonging to being” which marks sanctity is described by the Church as “participation in the divine life,” which was the original state of humanity at its creation.¹⁰

The saint, then, is a human being who has regained the original human condition: a being who is turned to the Father by the Son and makes fully real the nature of his or her humanity, which is to be an obedient and grateful creature.

In their encounter with Christ present in the Church the saints found in him the model of humanity in its fullness. To live a life of following and imitating this model became the task set them, the activity by which they contributed to the building of the kingdom. In so acting they also became a model for others.

Christ explicitly summed up as follows the mandate given to him: to bear witness to the Truth. But since the Truth is he who said of himself, “I am the truth,” to bear witness to the Truth means simply to acknowledge that Christ is the Son of God who came to save humanity and thus reconcile heaven and earth, and to bring everything back to the Father.

For this reason, in the language of Christians of the very early period, the term “saints,” used in the plural number, signified all the faithful,¹¹ who are justified by the sole fact of following Christ and entering the Church,¹² which is not only holy but sanctifying¹³: it is in the Christian community that holiness “happens.”

Notes

¹ G. Biffi, “Preface,” in L. Gherardi, Il sole sugli argini (Bologna, 1989) ix.
² A. von Speyr, Mistica oggettiva (Milan, 1975).
³ J. Ries, Il sacro (Milan, 1982) 151ff.
⁴ Speaking to Moses on Mount Horeb, God describes himself as “I am who I am” (Exod 3:14), that is, as He who truly is and has in himself the source of his own existence, in contrast not only to the gods, who do not exist, but to everything created, which depends on him for its existence.
The Latin words sanctus and sancitus were used of places that were well circumscribed and separated from everything around them because they were so distinguished for their beauty, their majesty, or other significant and impressive qualities, that people saw manifested in them the power of being, the power of what we today call the divine. These places, in other words, were recognized as being utterly different, utterly other, from human beings and from all creatures, which are by their nature perishable and ephemeral. In the history of religions, there were, first, holy places in which the divine, the sacred, manifested itself (see M. Delahoutre, “Il sacro e la sua espessione estetica: spazio sacro, arte sacra, monumenti sacri,” in Le origini e il problema dell’ homo religiosus [Milan, 1989] 119ff.). Next came things and human beings that were holy because they were linked in various ways to these holy places: since the sacred can draw other things into its sphere and manifest itself in them, persons and things thereby become holy. It is evident that holiness is a quality which neither things nor human beings give to themselves, and that it is a gift. This principle, which becomes evident through an analysis of the origins of the idea of holiness, was given a thoughtful formulation by Adrienne von Speyr: “Holiness consists not in the fact that a human being gives everything, but in the fact that God takes everything” (Mistica oggettiva).
⁵ See L. Giussani, Il senso religioso (Milan, 1986) 39: “The human person is that level of nature at which nature becomes conscious of itself; it is the level of reality at which reality begins to become self-consciousness, that is, begins to become reason.”
⁶ Code of Canon Law, Can. 1187: “Veneration through public cult is permitted only to those servants of God who are listed in the catalog of the saints or of the blessed by the authority of the Church” (page 429).
⁷ A brief sketch of the history of the ways of “canonizing” is appropriate here.
First, the Christian people began spontaneously to venerate martyrs and confessors, bishops and ascetics, for they saw in these individuals a living and tangible testimony to the new life that had begun in Christ. Between the sixth and eighth centuries there was “episcopal canonization”; this, too, was based on popular veneration and on miracles, but it was the bishops who caused the saint’s life and the story of his or her miracles to be written. Above all, it was the bishop who ordered the “elevation” of the body to a more honorable tomb or its “translation” to an altar which took its name from the saint. On such an occasion, the church itself was often enlarged and dedicated to the saint.
Then episcopal canonization began to be replaced by papal canonization, which included the insertion of the saint’s name in the Martyrology and the creation of a rite for celebrating his or her feast annually. The first example of this is found in 1041, and the saint was Simon of Trier. Of great importance, because the claim was made that canonization was the pope’s work, were the pontificates of St. Leo IX (1002–1054; Pope from 1042) and of Alexander III (Pope from 1159 to 1181). Innocent IV (1191–1254; Pope from 1243) set down the procedure and reserved canonization to the pope, who made of it a solemn liturgical action. At the canonization of St. Francis in 1228 the ritual form was already set, and Gregory IX wanted a regulated process to be followed for St. Francis and St. Dominic.
In 1588 Sixtus V established the Sacred Congregation of Rites, which handled the procedure; the latter was subsequently regulated by decrees of the Inquisition (1635) that sought to rein in the proliferation of unauthorized cults. In 1634, in the apostolic letter Coelestis Hierusalem cives, Urban VIII (1568–1644; Pope from 1623) distinguished between beatification and canonization, introduced the concept of heroic virtues, and set down the form to be followed in the process. Innocent XI (1615–1700; Pope from 1691) set down the preliminary process carried out by the local bishop, and Benedict XIV, an expert on the subject, further clarified the idea of heroic virtue, stressing the point that the practice had to be consistent and radical. Pius X (1835–1914; Pope from 1903) and Pius XI (1857–1939; Pope from 1922) further defined the procedure. Pius XI also established the historical section of the Congregation of Rites, which since 1988 has been called the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
Until 1983, the process, called “ordinary” in its first part and “apostolic” in its second, could begin only fifty years after the death of the candidate. It led first to beatification, the proclamation of which involved, and involves, solemn ceremonies, which ever since 1662, by the will of Pope Alexander VII, are held in St. Peter’s in Rome. Beatification allowed the veneration of the blessed only in his local church or his religious congregation or order.
Beatification was followed by canonization after a process that certified two more miracles. Canonization included, and still includes, the solemn enrollment in the list of saints, with a ceremony that always takes place at St. Peter’s in Rome. This ceremony with its various parts is a true affirmation and triumph of the universal Church, which is aided by the Spirit and is called together by invocations addressed to the several parts of the Church: militant, suffering, and triumphant.
The processes of beatification and canonization could be, and perhaps still can be, very lengthy and exhausting. Indeed, the fact that the entire process reaches a conclusion could almost be considered as itself a miracle proving that by God’s will the person in question is to be venerated and taken as a model.
The current procedure, introduced in 1988, provides for an easier, quicker, and more collegial process. The part of the process in which the heroic virtue of the candidate is discussed can begin immediately after the person’s death; the miracles required are now one for beatification (not required for martyrs) and a further one for canonization.
There is a law, introduced in 1940, that in order to start a process a nihil obstat (there is no obstacle) is needed; this attests that there is nothing in the Vatican archives that forbids going ahead with the cause.
⁸ Code of Canon Law, Can. 1186: “To foster the sanctification of the people of God the Church recommends to the particular and filial veneration of the Christian faithful the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, the Mother of God, whom Christ established as the Mother of the human race; it also promotes true and authentic devotion to the other saints by whose example the Christian faithful are edified and through whose intercession they are sustained.”
⁹ This underscored the divine origin of civil authority. Also called sancti in epitaphs were virtuous persons. This calls attention to a second aspect, that of morality, so that a virtuous behavior, that is, behavior in accordance with the will (note well: not the example!) of the divinity, was a sign of a proper attitude toward the sacred.
¹⁰ I am using recent points of reference, in which what in the beginning was practiced and asserted in action has reached full consciousness and exact formulation.
¹¹ We must wait for the fifth century for the term to describe the person whose name it precedes.
¹² As we still read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which in no. 823 cites Ecumenical Council Vatican II: “The Church . . . is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. . . . The Church . . . is ‘the holy People of God,’ and her members are called ‘saints.’”
¹³ This is emphasized in the Catechism, no. 824: “United with Christ, the Church is sanctified by him; through him and with him she becomes sanctifying” (emphases added).