Paintings of early Christian saints were designed to show worshippers what sacred authority looked like, using books, clothing and gestures as symbols.
Articles on Saints
Displaying 1 - 20 of 48 articles
Mary, as the Immaculate Conception, became patroness of the United States before the Vatican officially defined that belief as dogma.
St Patrick was actually a Roman Briton, who was kidnapped by Irish raiders, spirited across the sea and enslaved, aged 16. How did he become Ireland’s national hero?
The Christian apocrypha, texts not included in the Bible, include stories of Jesus’ female followers – including St. Thecla.
There are at least 34 documented stories of transgender saints’ lives, three of which had widespread popularity in medieval Europe.
Francis’ papacy honored Latin American Catholics killed for their social justice work, a theologian explains – and Leo may continue that legacy.
In a short but poignant text from his best-known work, ‘Summa Theologiae,’ Aquinas explained his views on venerating relics.
A group of 16 Discalced Carmelite nuns executed during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution were canonised by Pope Francis on December 18.
Historians may not know much about Silvester’s life, but the era he lived in was pivotal for Christianity.
Italian priest Padre Pio was one of the world’s most prayed-to saints in recent times. As Pio’s generation ages, the Catholic Church is turning to Carlo Acutis to appeal to a new demographic.
Catholic theologians and monastics have always encouraged humor, emphasizing its power to heal and bring cultures together.
Acutis, who loved playing video games and teaching himself computer coding, could become the first ‘gamer saint’
Medieval monastics were often discouraged from owning companion animals, which were viewed as a distraction, a religion scholar explains.
I was drawn to Mary as a saint, an ascetic, a highly sexual individual navigating her own redemption. Is there something edifying about her story – or does it go into the feminist shame file?
People are congregating in Missouri after news spread that the exhumed body of a nun had not decayed four years after her death. There is a long history to these claims.
Much of what we know about the life of the sixth century monk, St David, comes from medieval texts written several centuries later.
A specialist in Catholic liturgy and rituals explains that while several popes have been canonized, it is a long process that may take several years to examine and uncover any hidden flaws.
Popes’ roles have changed over time. Some periods produced plenty of saintly popes, while others are notorious for the opposite.
The country urgently needs more people who are committed to living decently to undo the systemic humiliation caused by political and economic institutions.
Many religions have been used to prop up nationalism, and Catholicism is no exception, as a Jesuit priest and scholar explains.
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Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
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Programme Director, The Europaeum, University of Oxford
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Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland
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Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Richmond
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Teaching Associate, Monash University
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PhD in Medieval History, University of Nottingham
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Academic Co-ordinator of the Regional Heritage Centre, Lancaster University
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Associate Professor of History, Arizona State University
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Dean’s Professor of Religion & Professor of History, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Birmingham
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Consultant psychiatrist and PhD candidate, Deakin University
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Associate Professor of Art History, Rice University
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Associate Research Fellow in Medieval Studies, University of Exeter
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Assistant Professor in the History of Catholicism, Durham University
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Reader in Welsh Language and Literature, Cardiff University