Patron saints associated with the military
This article is about the Christian concept. For warrior saints in Sikhism, see
Sant Sipahi
.
The
military saints
,
warrior saints
and
soldier saints
are
patron saints
,
martyrs
and other
saints
associated with the
military
. They were originally composed of the
early Christians
who were soldiers in the
Roman army
during the
persecution of Christians
, especially the
Diocletianic Persecution
of AD 303–313.
Most of the early Christian military saints were soldiers of the
Roman Empire
who had become Christian and, after refusing to participate in
Imperial cult
rituals of loyalty
to the
Roman Emperor
, were subjected to corporal punishment including
torture
and
martyrdom
.
Veneration of these saints, most notably of
Saint George
, was reinforced in the
Latin Church
during the time of the
Crusades
. The title of "
champion of Christ
" (
athleta Christi
) was originally used for these saints, but in the
late medieval period
also conferred on contemporary rulers by the
Pope
.
Since the Middle Ages, more saints have been added for various military-related patronages.
Hagiography
[
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]
In
Late Antiquity
, Christian writers of
hagiography
, prominently including
Sulpicius Severus
in his account of the heroic, military life of
Martin of Tours
, created a literary model that reflected the new spiritual, political, and social ideals of a post-Roman society.
In a study of Anglo-Saxon soldier saints (Damon 2003), J. E. Damon has demonstrated the persistence of Sulpicius's literary model in the transformation of the pious, peaceful saints and willing martyrs of late antique hagiography to the Christian heroes of the early Middle Ages, who appealed to the newly converted societies led by professional warriors and who exemplified accommodation with and eventually active participation in holy wars that were considered just.
[1]
Iconography
[
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]
The Military Saints are characteristically depicted as soldiers in traditional Byzantine iconography from about the 10th century (
Macedonian dynasty
) and especially in
Slavic Christianity
.
[2]
While early icons show the saints in "classicizing" or anachronistic attire, icons from the 11th and especially the 12th centuries, painted in the new style of
τ?πων μιμ?ματα
("imitating nature"), are an important source of knowledge on medieval
Byzantine military equipment
.
[3]
The angelic prototype of the Christian soldier-saint is the
Archangel Michael
, whose earliest known
cultus
began in the 5th century with
a shrine at
Monte Gargano
.
The iconography of soldier-saints
Theodore
and
George
as cavalrymen develops in the early medieval period.
The earliest image of St Theodore as a horseman (named in Latin) is from
Vinica, North Macedonia
and, if genuine, dates to the 6th or 7th century. Here, Theodore is not slaying a dragon, but holding a
draco
standard
.
Three equestrian saints, Demetrius, Theodore and George, are depicted in the "Zoodochos Pigi" chapel in central Macedonia in Greece, in the prefecture of
Kilkis
, near the modern village of Kolchida, dated to the 9th or 10th century.
[4]
The "dragon-slaying" motif develops in the 10th century, especially iconography seen in the Cappadocian
cave churches of Goreme
, where frescoes of the 10th century show military saints on horseback confronting serpents with one, two or three heads.
[5]
In later medieval Byzantine iconography, the pair of horsemen is no longer identified as Theodore and George, but as George and Demetrius.
List
[
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]
Catholic
[
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]
(NB: some saints on the list remain unclassified as of 2021)
Image
|
Name
|
Martyrdom
|
Location
|
Church
|
Patronage
|
|
Agathius
|
303
|
Byzantium
|
Catholic Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
|
Soldiers
|
|
Adrian of Nicomedia
|
306
|
Nicomedia
|
Catholic Church
,
Coptic Orthodox Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
|
Soldiers,
Royal guard
|
|
Andrew the General
|
300
|
Taurus Mountains
|
Catholic Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
|
Army
, soldiers
|
|
Demetrius of Thessaloniki
|
306
|
Thessaloniki
|
Anglicanism
,
Catholic Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
,
Lutheranism
,
Oriental Orthodox Churches
|
Soldiers
|
|
Barbara
|
267
|
|
Aglipayan
,
Anglicanism
,
Catholic Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
,
Oriental Orthodox Churches
|
Artillery
,
combat engineer
,
missileers
including those of the
Strategic Rocket Forces
, the Missile and Artillery Forces, and the Air Defense Forces,
Space Forces
and the United States Army
Field Artillery
and
Air Defense Artillery Branches
|
|
Cornelius the Centurion
|
Pre-Congregation
|
unknown
|
Anglican Communion
,
Catholic Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
|
Soldiers
|
|
George
|
303
|
Nicomedia
in
Bithynia
|
Anglicanism
,
Catholic Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
,
Lutheranism
,
Oriental Orthodox Churches
|
Patronages
|
|
Gereon
|
304
|
Cologne
|
Catholic Church
,
Coptic Orthodox Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
|
Knights
|
|
James the Great
|
44
|
Jerusalem
|
Anglicanism
,
Catholic Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
,
Lutheranism
,
Oriental Orthodox Churches
|
Soldiers, knights,
Military Archbishopric of Spain
|
|
Joan of Arc
|
1431
|
Rouen
,
Normandy
|
Catholic
|
Military personnel
, US
Women's Army Corps
,
WAVES
|
|
John the Warrior
|
4th century
|
Somewhere in Constantinople (modern Istanbul)
|
Catholic Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
|
Soldiers
|
|
Ignatius of Loyola
|
1556
|
Rome
,
Papal States
|
Anglican Communion
,
Catholic
|
Soldiers,
Military Ordinariate of the Philippines
|
|
Maurice
|
287
|
Agaunum
in
Alpes Poeninae et Graiae
|
Catholic Church
,
Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
,
Oriental Orthodox Churches
|
Alpine troops,
Swiss Guard
|
|
Martin of Tours
|
397
[6]
|
Candes-Saint-Martin
,
Gaul
|
Catholic
and
Eastern Orthodox Church
[7]
|
US Army Quartermaster Corps, infantrymen,
|
|
Mercurius
|
250
|
Caesarea
in
Cappadocia
|
Catholic Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
,
Oriental Orthodox Churches
|
|
Michael the Archangel
|
|
|
Anglicanism
,
Catholic Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
,
Lutheranism
,
Oriental Orthodox Churches
|
Military; paratroopers; policemen.
|
|
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
|
1226
[8]
|
|
Catholic
|
Spanish Navy
[9]
[10]
|
|
Our Lady of Loretto
|
|
|
Catholic
|
Airmen
[11]
|
|
Pope John XXIII
|
|
|
Catholic
|
Italian Army
[12]
|
|
Sebastian
|
288
|
Italy
|
Aglipayan
,
Anglicanism
,
Catholic Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
,
Oriental Orthodox Churches
|
Soldiers, infantrymen, archers
|
|
Sergius and Bacchus
|
306
|
Resafa
and
Barbalissos
in
Mesopotamia
|
Assyrian Church of the East
,
Catholic Church
,
Coptic Orthodox Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
,
Oriental Orthodox Churches
|
Army
, soldiers
|
|
Theodore of Amasea
|
306
|
Amasea
Amasya
in
Helenopontus
|
Catholic Church
and
Eastern Orthodox Church
|
Soldiers
|
|
Typasius
|
304
|
Tigava
,
Mauretania Caesariensis
|
|
|
|
Vardan Mamikonian
|
451
|
Avarayr Plain
,
Vaspurakan
,
Armenia
|
Armenian Apostolic Church
,
Armenian Catholic Church
,
Armenian Evangelical Church
|
|
|
Varus
|
307
|
Alexandria
|
Coptic Churches
|
|
|
Victor Maurus
|
303
|
Milan
|
Catholic Church
,
Eastern Orthodox Church
,
Lutheranism
|
|
|
Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
|
320
|
Sebaste
|
Eastern Orthodox Church
[
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]
In the
Romanian Orthodox Church
:
The
Russian Orthodox Church
:
- Michael the Archangel
: military; paratroopers; policemen (including MVD Police and the Military Police), heavenly guardian of the Russian lands.
- Barbara
:
missile servicemen
including those of the
Strategic Missile Forces
, the
Missile Forces and Artillery
and the Air Defence Forces of the Ground Forces, Air Defence of the Air Force,
Russian Space Forces
and
Russian Aerospace Defence Force
- Saint
Alexander Nevskiy
: soldiers protecting Russian lands,
National Guard of Russia
, Spetsnaz.
- Saint
Dmitry Donskoy
: soldiers under the Tank Troops and all motorized rifle units
- Saint George
: soldiers and all people protecting the nation, and patron saint of the city of Moscow. Also co-patron of cavalry and Tank Troops.
- Saints Aleksandr Peresvet and Andrey Oslyabya: Radonezhskiy holy monk-warriors.
- Saint Nikita the Warrior (Vesoron): Orthodox soldiers.
- Saints Boris and Gleb, holy Orthodox princes of Russia: soldiers.
- Saint
John the Warrior
: soldiers.
- Saint Merkuriy of Smolensk, warrior-martyr: soldiers.
- Saint Evgeniy Sevastiyskiy, warrior-martyr: soldiers.
- Prince Vladimir: Patron saint of the National Guard of Russia
- Saint Iliya Muromets: Patron of the
Border Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation
- Saint Feodor Stratilat: Orthodox soldiers.
- Saint Elijah the Prophet: the
Russian Air Force
.
- Saint
Feodor Ushakov
: the Navy, including nuclear submarines.
- Saint Andrew
:
Russian Navy
(principal patron)
- Holy Prophet
Isaiah
:
Russian Airborne Forces
- Saint
Seraphim of Sarov
: nuclear warhead specialists (12th GUMO)
- Saint Martin of Tura: cavalry and the Tank Troops
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
Damon, John Edward.
Soldier Saints and Holy Warriors: Warfare and Sanctity in the Literature of Early England
. (Burlington (VT): Ashgate Publishing Company), 2003,
ISBN
0-7546-0473-X
- ^
"The 'warrior saints' or 'military saints' can be distinguished from the huge host of martyrs by the pictorial convention of cladding them in military attire." (Grotowski 2010:2)
- ^
(Grotowski 2010:400)
- ^
Melina Paissidou,
"Warrior Saints as Protectors of the Byzantine Army in the Palaiologan Period: the Case of the Rock-cut Hermitage in Kolchida (Kilkis Prefecture)"
, in: Ivanka Gergova Emmanuel Moutafov (eds.),
ГЕРОИ ? КУЛТОВЕ ? СВЕТЦИ / Heroes Cults Saints
Sofija (2015), 181-198.
- ^
Paul Stephenson,
The Serpent Column: A Cultural Biography
, Oxford University Press (2016),
179–182
.
- ^
Martin is not a martyr, and not a classical military saint.
He came to be venerated as "military saint" in 19th to 20th-century
French nationalism
due to his successful promotion as such during the
Franco-Prussian War
of 1870/1.
Brennan, Brian,
The Revival of the Cult of Martin of Tours in the Third Republic
(1997).
- ^
"Saint Martin the Merciful Bishop of Tours"
.
Orthodox Church in America
.
- ^
approved by
Pope Honorius III
- ^
Endorsed by
Cristobal Colon, 14th Duke of Veragua
- ^
"Portal Cultura de Defensa"
.
Ministerio de Defensa
.
- ^
Ministerio de Defensa, Portal Cultura de Defensa.
"Santos Patrones de las FAS y la Guardia Civil"
.
- ^
Marco Roncalli (6 September 2017).
"San Giovanni XXIII sara patrono dell'Esercito"
.
La Stampa
. Retrieved
7 September
2017
.
- Monica White,
Military Saints in Byzantium and Rus, 900?1200
(2013).
- Christopher Walter,
The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition
(2003).
- Piotr Grotowski,
Arms and Armour of the Warrior Saints: Tradition and Innovation in Byzantine Iconography (843?1261)
, Volume 87 of The Medieval Mediterranean (2010).
External links
[
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]