| Fourteen Holy Helpers | |
|---|---|
 Figurines of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, Chapel on theMichaelsberg,Baden-Württemberg, Germany | |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Feast | 8 August (locally) |
| Notable martyrs | SaintsAcacius,Barbara,Blaise,Christopher,Cyriacus,Catherine of Alexandria,Denis,Erasmus of Formia,Eustace,George,Giles,Margaret of Antioch,Pantaleon, andVitus.[1] |
TheFourteen Holy Helpers (German:Vierzehn Nothelfer,Latin:Quattuordecim auxiliatores) are a group ofsaints venerated together byCatholics because theirintercession is believed to be particularly effective, especially against various diseases. This group ofNothelfer ("helpers in need") originated in the 14th century at first in theRhineland, largely as a result of the epidemic (probably ofbubonic plague) that became known as theBlack Death.
Devotion to the fourteen Holy Helpers began inRhineland, now part of Germany, in the time of theBlack Death.[2] Among the fourteen were threevirgin martyrs. A German mnemonic for them says:
Margaretha mit dem Wurm, | ("Margaret with thelindworm,
|
As the other saints began to be invoked along with these three virgin martyrs, they were represented together in works of art. Popular veneration of these saints often began in amonastery that held theirrelics. All of the saints except Giles were accountedmartyrs.
Saint Christopher andSaint Giles were invoked against the plague itself.Saint Denis was prayed to for relief from headache,Saint Blaise against ills of the throat,Saint Elmo, against abdominal maladies,Saint Barbara against fever, andSaint Vitus against epilepsy.Saint Pantaleon was the patron of physicians,Saint Cyriacus invoked against temptation on the deathbed, and Saints Christopher, Barbara, andCatherine of Alexandria for protection against a sudden and unprovided-for death.Saint Giles was prayed to for a good confession, andSaint Eustace as healer of family troubles. Domestic animals were also attacked by the plague, and so SaintsGeorge, Elmo, Pantaleon, and Vitus were invoked for their protection.Saint Margaret of Antioch is the patron of safe childbirth.[2]
As the saints' jointcultus spread in the fifteenth century,Pope Nicholas V attachedindulgences to devotion of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, though these no longer apply.[2] While each had a separate feast day, the Fourteen Holy Helpers were in some places celebrated as a group on 8 August, but this celebration never became part of theGeneral Roman Calendar for universal veneration.[4] When that calendar was revised in 1969,[5] the individual celebrations of St Barbara, St Catherine of Alexandria, St Christopher, and St Margaret of Antioch were dropped, but in 2004Pope John Paul II reinstated the 25 November optional memorial of Catherine of Alexandria, whose voice was heard by SaintJoan of Arc. The individual celebrations of all fourteen are included in theGeneral Roman Calendar as in 1954, theGeneral Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII and theGeneral Roman Calendar of 1960.
Comparable to the devotion of the Fourteen Holy Helpers was that of theFour Holy Marshals, who were also venerated in the Rhineland as "Marshals of God". These wereQuirinus of Neuss,Saint Anthony the Great,Pope Cornelius, andSaint Hubert.[6]
The fourteen saints are:
| Name(Alternate) | Feast day | Patronage |
|---|---|---|
| Agathius(Acacius) | c7 May | Against headache. |
| Barbara | n4 December | Against fever and sudden death, against lightning and fire, and against sudden and violent death at work; patron of builders, artillerymen, and miners.[7] |
| Blaise(Blase, Blasius) | a3 February | Against illness of the throat and for protection of domestic animals. |
| Catherine of Alexandria | m25 November | Against sudden death and diseases of the tongue; patron of philosophers, theologians, maidens, female students, preachers, the dying, wheelwrights, mechanics, potters, and other artisans who work with wheels; invoked by students, orators, preachers, and lawyers for wise counsel and for eloquence. |
| Christopher(Christophorus) | g25 July | Againstbubonic plague and dangers while traveling.[8] |
| Cyriacus | i8 August | Against temptation on the death-bed, diseases of the eye, and demonic possession. |
| Denis(Dionysius) | l9 October | Against headache and against demonic possession. |
| Erasmus(Elmo) | d2 June | Againstintestinal ailments, stomach ailments, for domestic animals, and patron of sailors.[9] |
| Eustace(Eustachius, Eustathius) | k20 September | Against family discord, against fire (temporal and eternal), and patron of hunters, trappers, and anyone facing trouble.[10] |
| George(Georgius) | b23 April | For the health ofdomestic animals, against herpetic diseases, and patron of soldiers. |
| Giles(Aegidius) | j1 September | Againstplague,epilepsy, mental illness, and nightmares, for a goodconfession, and patron of cripples, beggars, blacksmiths, and breast-feeding mothers. |
| Margaret of Antioch | f17 July | Patron of women in childbirth, invoked against backache, and invoked for escape from devils. |
| Pantaleon(Panteleimon) | h27 July | Patron of physicians and midwives, invoked for the protection of domestic animals, and invoked against cancer and tuberculosis. |
| Vitus(Guy) | e15 June | Againstepilepsy,chorea, lightning, the bites of animals (especially those who were venomous or rabid), and storms, and for protection of domestic animals. |
Half the saints are regarded ashistorical figures (Blaise, Cyriacus, Erasmus, George, Giles, Pantaleon, Vitus) while the other may be onlylegends (Agathius, Barbara, Catherine of Alexandria, Christopher, Denis, Eustace, Margaret of Antioch).[11] In the case of the latter group, their supposed "legendary" status is primarily based on analysis of the saints' traditional hagiographies alone with out due consideration of other possibilities and interpretations, as well as the changes associated with theMysterii Paschalis, irrespective of which changes actually applied to these particular saints — in the instance of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, while the feasts were in several cases removed from theGeneral Roman Calendar, none weredecanonized or were denied as having existed to begin with (furthermore, their feasts remain onparticular calendars).
For one or another of the saints in the original set,Anthony the Anchorite,Leonard of Noblac,Nicholas,Sebastian,Oswald the King,Pope Sixtus II,Apollonia,Dorothea of Caesarea,Wolfgang of Regensburg orRoch were sometimes substituted. In France an extra "helper" is added: theVirgin Mary.[12]
The Fourteen Holy Helpers are honored inBavaria as thevierzehn Heiligen, and the Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen is dedicated to these auxiliary saints. TheRococopilgrimage church near the town ofBad Staffelstein was designed byBalthasar Neumann and built between 1743 and 1772.[13]
Devotion to these saints began in that region on 24 September 1445 when Hermann Leicht, the young shepherd of a nearby Franciscan monastery, saw a crying child in a field belonging to the nearbyCistercian monastery of Langheim. As he bent down to pick up the child, it abruptly disappeared. A short time later, the child reappeared in the same spot. This time, two candles were burning next to it. In June 1446, Leicht saw the child a third time. This time, the child bore a red cross on its chest and was accompanied by thirteen other children. The child said: "We are the fourteen helpers and wish to erect a chapel here, where we can rest. If you will be our servant, we will be yours!" Shortly after, Leicht saw two burning candles descending to this spot. It is alleged that miraculous healings soon began, through the intervention of the fourteen saints.[14]
TheCistercian brothers to whom the land belonged erected a chapel, which immediately attracted pilgrims. An altar was consecrated as early as 1448. Pilgrimages to the Vierzehnheiligen continue to the present day between May and October.
One of the group depictions of the fourteen Saints is a 1503altarpiece byMatthias Grünewald for the monastery inLichtenfels inUpper Franconia.
The fourteen angels of the lost children's prayer inEngelbert Humperdinck'sfairy opera,Hansel and Gretel, symbolize the Fourteen Holy Helpers.[15] The English words are familiar:
When at night I go to sleep,
Fourteen angels watch do keep,
Two my head are guarding,
Two my feet are guiding;
Two upon my right hand,
Two upon my left hand.
Two who warmly cover
Two who o'er me hover,
Two to whom 'tis given
To guide my steps to heaven.[16]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
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