Butler's Lives of the Saints Read online

  All Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Bangley, Bernard, 1935-

  Butler’s lives of the saints : concise, modernized edition / by Bernard Bangley.

  p. cm.

  Includes index.

  ISBN 1-55725-422-2

  1. Christian saints—Biography. I. Title.

  BX4655.3.B35 2005

  282’.092’2—dc22

  2005015564

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  © 2005 by Bernard Bangley

  ISBN 1-55725-422-2

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in an electronic retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  Published by Paraclete Press

  Brewster, Massachusetts

  www.paracletepress.com

  Printed in the United States of America.

  Contents

  Introduction

  January

  February

  March

  April

  May

  June

  July

  August

  September

  October

  November

  December

  Acknowledgments

  Patron Saints

  Index

  Fr. Alban Butler

  1710—1773

  Introduction

  Beneath the various councils and actions that are buoys and channel markers in the river of church history, there are some very real people. They aspire and pray, think and plan, guide and direct, hurt and bleed. Some of their names are familiar to many of the people of the world. Others worked and died in obscurity.

  The best way to discover the qualities of life in Christ is to mingle with genuine Christians. The friends we keep have a way of shaping our interests, preferences, and moral judgments. Every new generation rediscovers the difference between the values of our culture and the virtues of Christianity. This version of Lives of the Saints presents examples and inspiration for devout living in modern society.

  But for any reader this book can provide still more. The saints remind us of a reality and a power beyond the merely earthly. Because they are clearly as human as we are, it is reasonable to expect that the same dimensions they explore are available to us. We also can live with an awareness of the presence of God.

  Like many characters in the Bible, some of our saints have rough edges and crooked seams. As King David and Simon Peter demonstrate serious or annoying flaws, so do the individuals who followed them through centuries of Christian experience. These saints are very much like the rest of us.

  Hagios is the New Testament Greek word that translates into English as saint. It appears sixty-two times. Paul addresses letters to “all the saints” in a particular location. Linguistically it means “separate from common condition and use; dedicated, hallowed,” but Paul uses the word as an equivalent for “church members"—all of us who are a part of the Body of Christ.

  The popular idea that a saint is a person who never does anything wrong, is good and pure to the core, and lives the perfect life of holiness, is not supported by reality. Saints are entirely human. We put them in stained glass windows, carve statues of them, and erect churches in their names. We have sought every way possible to isolate them from ourselves and to make them something other than we are. We say to ourselves, “They did not know the pressures we know or experience the stresses of everyday life. They are simply too distant from our concerns to have any kinship with us.” We push the saints as far from us as we can place them. That way, we do not have to aspire to be what they are. We push their example away, protesting, “I’m no saint,” but yet we are traveling the same path.

  The purpose of this book is to give not only Catholic readers a reader-friendly collection, but also to invite those of other religious traditions to share knowledge of, and respect for, these exemplary Christians. Many are only vaguely familiar with the saints of the Roman Catholic Church other than a few with celebrity status and those whose “feast days” are now associated with secular holidays. The sketches in this book will answer questions and fill in gaps of knowledge.

  The Roman Martyrology is the official list of Catholic saints. It has grown and changed from ancient to modern times, with a recent edition appearing in 2001. Acta sanctorum is a huge and growing sixty-four volume work started in 1643. Written in Latin, the valuable information it contains is not widely accessible.

  The first collection of lives of the saints intended for general readers was The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine. Published in the thirteenth century, it recounts the lives of one hundred and fifty-nine saints in a devout but exaggerated style. Jacobus had little interest in gathering credible historic facts, preferring to emphasize the mysterious side of religious life.

  Five centuries later, Alban Butler, an English priest, devoted thirty years of sustained research for a work he called Lives of the Primitive Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints. Published in four volumes from 1756 to 1759, it contains sixteen hundred biographies with commentary and came to be known as Butler’s Lives of the Saints. Butler opened the way to popular interest in the Church’s saints, and many still consider it the standard guide for English readers. There have been many revisions, each version less like the original, because Butler was more effective as a researcher than as a writer; his verbose and flowery English presents challenging reading today.

  Butler’s distinctive contribution to stories about saints was to turn attention away from the superhuman, miraculous themes that are prevalent in earlier works. He gives us saints who are examples of Christian living and provide inspiration for the living of our own lives, in every time and circumstance. “They were once what we are now, travelers on earth. They had the same weaknesses we have. We have difficulties; so had the saints.”

  The sources drawn upon by compilers are called acta and hagiography. Local congregations often put into writing the circumstances of the deaths of their members during the years of Roman persecution. These eyewitness acta circulated among churches as a means of encouragement and guidance. The original “acts” of some martyrs still survive. A generous portion of Polycarp’s acta is included in the February 23 selection—the earliest example of its kind in existence today.

  When Roman persecution ended in the fourth century, acta evolved into fanciful documents. Writers plugged gaps in knowledge with spurious inventions of the pious imagination. Sometimes the introduced material is merely fictional decoration, bordering on the absurd. A set of common themes developed as stock material for saintly biography, or hagiography. Resistance of attraction to the opposite sex (often under very colorful circumstances—Bernard of Clairvaux is said to have jumped into a pond of cold water), miraculous escapes, and spiritual gymnastics of all kinds may be repeated under many different names. The quality of existing hagiography varies from outstanding to the cheapest pulp fiction. The Acta of Bibiana lies at the opposite pole from that of Polycarp. Her accounts are recognized as medieval romantic fiction.

  I have avoided an impressive list of ecclesiastical terms in this edition of Lives of the Saints. ”Oblate,” “holy see,” “prebend,” “lector,” “tonsure,” and other ecclesiastical jargon are not always immediately meaningful to modern readers. Such terms as “bishop,” “arc
hbishop,” “nun,” “sister,” “monk,” and “friar” are more widely recognized and are used as required.

  Canonization is the Church’s way of making something official. The sixty-six books approved for inclusion in the Bible are the canon of Scripture. The word means “standard” or “rule.” There are many other sacred writings of Judeo-Christian origin that did not make the cut. Scholars call them non-canonical.

  Early saints did not travel through anything similar to today’s process of canonization. The local congregation declared someone a saint. With the passage of time, the Vatican worked out a carefully organized procedural plan, and the journey to sainthood must travel through the proper paths of bureaucracy. It now takes more than local enthusiasm. Careful documentation, long hours of deliberation, and financial resources are required. This, of course, is a needed and welcomed screening of candidates, but it results in a list of saints that is crowded with people from religious orders. These groups are equipped to see the job through to completion. If you would like to see the process at work today, visit the following internet website: http://www.motherteresacause.info/

  Here, in simple outline, are the four steps that lead to the canonization of an individual as a saint today.

  A local congregation nominates an individual for sainthood. They present this request to a group called the Magisterium at Rome.

  The Magisterium declares such a nominee to be “Venerable” if there is evidence that such a person either was martyred because of hostility toward Christianity, or exemplified Christian virtues to a heroic degree.

  One becomes “Blessed” at the next stage of the journey to sainthood. An excruciatingly detailed examination of the proposed individual’s life, writings, comments, and activity—together with openness to objections—makes this a slow procedure. If the candidate is not a martyr, a verifiable miracle is required.

  “Saint” is a term applied to those who can survive repeated examination and be associated with a second miracle. Miraculous healings are most commonly recognized today and may occur before or after the death of the person nominated.

  This edition of Lives of the Saints follows the general calendar, ascribing a particular saint to a specific month and day. From earliest times, a saint’s “feast day” is associated with that individual’s death, or “birthday into heaven.” There has been great flexibility in this schedule over the years, with movement from one day to another to avoid certain calendar conflicts. The Second Vatican Council of 1963-1965 expressed concern that the feasts of the saints might “take precedence over the feasts which commemorate the very mysteries of salvation.” Vatican II took the position that “many of them should be left to be celebrated by a particular Church or nation or religious community; only those should be extended to the universal Church which commemorate saints who are truly of universal significance.” The most recent revision of the official calendar accomplished this in 1969.

  Various sources list a wide choice of possible feast days for individual saints. More than one saint is assigned on many days, and individual saints are assigned different days. In order to include some when there was serious competition for a day, two or three are off by one day when compared with the official list.

  Several factors directed the selection of saints included in this edition. To keep it faithful to Alban Butler’s original concept, only those who are officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church are included. To avoid cluttering the pages with “St.” and “Bd.” I ordinarily make no distinction between fully canonized saints and those who are presently labeled “blessed.” To make the collection under these covers as broad as possible, preference is often given to women, laity, recent candidates for sainthood, country of origin, and above all, spiritual relevance for today. Rather than overly repeating familiar themes, I have given special attention to the distinctive aspects of interesting individuals.

  Many saints are not included. The Church has never assumed that even its extensive official list is complete. Moreover, only God knows many saints. “All Saints” receive recognition on November 1 in order to include those remaining.

  There are inconsistencies and minor mistakes in most of the published material on this vast subject. There is no way an individual compiler of saint’s lives can be an expert on each one. Specialists will certainly find errors even though the competent staff at Paraclete Press and I have worked together to make this book as accurate as possible.

  Preparing this volume at points left me a little limp. Physical and mental violence among Christians is distressing to witness, and there is a steady pattern of it through history. The “church fight” is nothing new. Few of the saints, if any, lived an idyllic life of prayer and meditation, untroubled by the behavior of others. For that matter, the internal spiritual struggles of individual saints are even more distracting. At the same time, it is stunning to see faith in God at work for good and positive advances in both individuals and communities. Alban Butler declared, “The saints are a ‘cloud of witnesses over our head,’ showing us that a life of Christian perfection is not impossible.” The perfection they show us is far from being spotless or insulated from real life. When we realize this, we will see the possibilities for ourselves.

  JANUARY 1

  Peter of Atroa (773–837)

  Ministry under duress

  Ephesus is a popular archaeological site on the western coast of today’s Turkey. The apostle Paul established a Christian congregation there on his first missionary journey, remaining there three years, ministering to first-generation Christians. About seven hundred years later, Peter of Atroa was born to Christian parents in the neighborhood of Ephesus.

  Peter had natural spiritual interests, and at eighteen, he became a monk, and a few years later, an ordained priest. As he began a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a mystical vision turned him and his companion aside with the inspiration to build a monastery. A strong work resulted and Peter became the monastery’s leader at the age of thirty-two. People sought him because of his reputation as a healer and because of his sensitive spirit.

  The early ninth century was a difficult time for Christians in that part of the world. Persecution increased with each passing year, and Peter worked fervently to protect his monks from harm. He died on the first day of January, 837, in the chapel choir, while his brother monks sang around him.

  JANUARY 2

  Basil the Great (329–79)

  Clear thinking

  Popular heresy has always been a threat to basic Christian doctrine. It was rampant in the early centuries, and one attractively expressed teaching was Arianism. The controversy began in Alexandria, in about 320, as a dispute between Arius and his bishop. Arius thought that Christ was neither fully God nor fully human, but something in between. This idea was not acceptable to orthodox Christian doctrine, but the notion gained a considerable following. The Church prepared the Nicene Creed in an effort to correct such heresies.

  Basil the Great lived during the height of the Arian controversy (239–379), and he had an important part in the process of resisting it. It is worth noting that Basil’s father, mother, grandmother, one of his sisters, and two of his brothers are also officially recognized saints, pointing to a remarkable family life.

  Basil worked against steady opposition and received little support from other leaders in the Church even as he was championing the Church’s teaching. Libraries preserve many of his books and letters today. The members of his flock loved him because he was an outstanding pastor who often visited among them. He preached to large gatherings twice a day, took care of the poor, and had a hospital built. One of the greatest personalities in church history, Basil did a superlative and enduring work in one of the most difficult times the Church has ever faced.

  JANUARY 3

  Genevieve (ca. 422– ca. 500)

  Wholesome faith

  Genevieve was a little shepherd in fields near Paris when Germanus (May 28) saw her and envisioned her saintly future. He noticed her li
stening intently to his sermon preached in Nanterre, a small village about eight miles from Paris. He asked to meet the child and had a quiet conversation with her. When she expressed an interest in service to God, Germanus spoke to her parents, predicting that Genevieve would lead a holy life and bring many others to God. He met with her a second time the next morning, giving her a medal engraved with a cross as a reminder of her dedication to Christ.

  Genevieve remained at home, growing up in a wholesome, prayerful environment. When her parents died, she moved into the city of Paris and lived with her godmother. She began to live a life dedicated to religious interests, and continued to do so for thirty years. Neighbors accused Genevieve of acting a part and being a hypocrite, considering her mystical experiences to be pretense and deceit. Their hostility grew to the point that they considered drowning her, but Germanus intervened and persuaded them to overcome their animosity.

  In 451, when Attila the Hun overran Gaul, the residents of Paris panicked and made plans to flee for their lives. Genevieve urged them to trust God, telling them that Paris would be spared if they had faith. In fact, Attila turned away from Paris and attacked Orléans. Genevieve died in 512 at the age of eighty-nine. Many residents of modern Paris still have a high regard for her, and some are doing charitable works in her name.

  JANUARY 4

  Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774–1821)

  Oneness in Christ

  Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first person born in the United States to be recognized as a saint. She began life as an Episcopalian, growing up in New York’s high society. She married the wealthy merchant William Magee Seton, when she was nineteen, and she mothered five children. After a decade of stable and happy marriage, William’s business went into bankruptcy, and soon afterward, he died of tuberculosis.

  Attracted to Catholicism for years, Elizabeth Ann converted in 1805. Most of her friends were not able to understand this change, and some of them even began to shun her. To support her children, she opened a school in Boston. Her school was independent of the Church, but she organized it in a manner similar to a religious community. Based on this experience, the archbishop asked Elizabeth Ann to open a Catholic girl’s school in Baltimore, Maryland—the beginning of the parochial school system in America. She founded the Sisters of Charity in 1809 to oversee the work.