Military saint explained

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

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

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 Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: τύπων μιμήματα ("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 Georgeas 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 Göreme, 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

See also: List of early Christian saints.

Catholic

(NB: some saints on the list remain unclassified as of 2021)

Image Name Martyrdom Location Church
Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox ChurchSoldiers
100pxAdrian of Nicomedia306NicomediaCatholic Church, Coptic Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox ChurchSoldiers, Royal guard
Andrew the General300Taurus MountainsCatholic Church, Eastern Orthodox ChurchArmy, soldiers
306ThessalonikiAnglicanism, Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodox ChurchesSoldiers
Barbara267Aglipayan, Anglicanism, Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox ChurchesArtillery, 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 CenturionPre-CongregationunknownAnglican Communion, Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox ChurchSoldiers
George303Anglicanism, Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodox ChurchesPatronages
304CologneCatholic Church, Coptic Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox ChurchKnights
James the Great44JerusalemAnglicanism, Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodox ChurchesSoldiers, knights, Military Archbishopric of Spain
Joan of Arc1431Rouen, NormandyCatholicMilitary personnel, US Women's Army Corps, WAVES
John the Warrior4th centurySomewhere in Constantinople (modern Istanbul)Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox ChurchSoldiers
Ignatius of Loyola1556Rome, Papal StatesAnglican Communion, CatholicSoldiers, Military Ordinariate of the Philippines
287 Agaunum in Alpes Poeninae et GraiaeCatholic Church, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox ChurchesAlpine troops, Swiss Guard
397[6] Candes-Saint-Martin, GaulCatholic and Eastern Orthodox Church[7] US Army Quartermaster Corps, infantrymen,
Mercurius250Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches
Michael the ArchangelAnglicanism, Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodox ChurchesMilitary; paratroopers; policemen.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel1226[8] CatholicSpanish Navy[9] [10]
Our Lady of LorettoCatholicAirmen[11]
Pope John XXIIICatholicItalian Army[12]
Sebastian288ItalyAglipayan, Anglicanism, Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox ChurchesSoldiers, infantrymen, archers
306Resafa and Barbalissos in MesopotamiaAssyrian Church of the East, Catholic Church, Coptic Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox ChurchesArmy, soldiers
306Amasea Amasya in HelenopontusCatholic Church and Eastern Orthodox ChurchSoldiers
304
Vardan Mamikonian451Avarayr Plain, Vaspurakan, ArmeniaArmenian Apostolic Church, Armenian Catholic Church, Armenian Evangelical Church
Varus307AlexandriaCoptic Churches
303 MilanCatholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheranism

Eastern Orthodox Church

In the Romanian Orthodox Church:

The Russian Orthodox Church:

military; paratroopers; policemen (including MVD Police and the Military Police), heavenly guardian of the Russian lands.

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

soldiers and all people protecting the nation, and patron saint of the city of Moscow. Also co-patron of cavalry and Tank Troops.

Russian Navy (principal patron)

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Damon, John Edward. Soldier Saints and Holy Warriors: Warfare and Sanctity in the Literature of Early England. (Burlington (VT): Ashgate Publishing Company), 2003,
  2. "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)
  3. (Grotowski 2010:400)
  4. 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.
  5. Paul Stephenson, The Serpent Column: A Cultural Biography, Oxford University Press (2016), 179 - 182.
  6. 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).
  7. Web site: Saint Martin the Merciful Bishop of Tours. Orthodox Church in America.
  8. approved by Pope Honorius III
  9. Endorsed by Cristóbal Colón, 14th Duke of Veragua
  10. Web site: Portal Cultura de Defensa. Ministerio de Defensa.
  11. Web site: Santos Patrones de las FAS y la Guardía Civil. Ministerio de Defensa. Portal Cultura de Defensa.
  12. News: San Giovanni XXIII sarà patrono dell'Esercito. La Stampa. 6 September 2017. Marco Roncalli. 7 September 2017.

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