Fourteen Holy Helpers

The Fourteen Holy Helpers are a group of saints venerated together in Roman Catholicism because prayer to them was thought to be particularly effective, especially against various diseases. This group of Nothelfer ("helpers in need") originated in the 14th century at first in the Rhineland, largely as a result of the epidemic (probably of bubonic plague) that became known as the Black Death. Download high resolution version (756x1100, 238 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (756x1100, 238 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... In traditional Christian iconography, Saints are often depicted as having halos. ... Veneration is a religious symbolic act giving honor to someone by honoring an image of that person, particularly applied to saints. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Mary Magdalene in prayer. ... The term disease refers to an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs function. ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ... The Rhineland (Rheinland in German) is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany. ... In epidemiology, an epidemic (from [[Latin language] epi- upon + demos people) is a disease that appears as new cases in a given human population, during a given period, at a rate that substantially exceeds what is expected, based on recent experience (the number of new cases in the population during... The bubonic plague or bubonic fever is the best-known variant of the deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis. ... It has been suggested that Plague doctor be merged into this article or section. ...

At the heart of the Fourteen were three virgin martyrs:

Sankt Margaretha mit dem Wurm,

Sankt Barbara mit dem Turm,

Sankt Katharina mit dem Radl,

das sind die heiligen drei Madl.

("Saint Margaret with the dragon; Saint Barbara with the tower; Saint Katharine with the wheel; those are the three holy maids.") Saint George versus the dragon, Gustave Moreau, c. ...

The Fourteen saints are:

• Achatius (or Acacius) (May 8), martyr, invoked against headache
• Barbara (December 4), virgin and martyr, invoked against fever and sudden death
• Blaise (also Blase and Blasius) (February 3), bishop and martyr, invoked against illness of the throat
• Catherine of Alexandria (November 25), virgin and martyr, invoked against sudden death
• Christopher (Christophorus) (July 25), martyr, invoked against bubonic plague
  

  

  The Vierzehnheiligen, by Balthasar Neumann.
• Cyriacus (Cyriac) (August 8), deacon and martyr, invoked against temptation on the death-bed
• Denis (Dionysius) (October 9), bishop and martyr, invoked against headache
• Erasmus (Saint Elmo) (June 2), bishop and martyr, invoked against intestinal ailments
• Eustachius (Eustace, Eustathius) (September 20), martyr, invoked against family discord
• George (April 23), soldier-martyr, for the health of domestic animals
• Giles (Aegidius) (September 1), hermit and abbot, invoked against plague, for a good confession
• Margaret of Antioch (July 20), virgin and martyr, invoked in childbirth
• Pantaleon (July 27), bishop and martyr, for physicians
• Vitus (also known as Saint Guy) (June 15), martyr, invoked against epilepsy

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, Wolfgang of Regensburg or Roch were sometimes substituted. Saint Agathius, also known as Achatius[1] or Acacius of Byzantium[3] was a Cappadocian centurion of the imperial army. ... A headache (cephalalgia in medical terminology) is a condition of pain in the head; sometimes neck or upper back pain may also be interpreted as a headache. ... St. ... An analogue medical thermometer showing the temperature of 38. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Saint Blaise can refer to: A saint, see Blaise Saint-Blaise is the name or part of the name of several communes in France Saint-Blaise, in the Alpes-Maritimes Saint-Blaise, in the Haute-Savoie Saint-Blaise-du-Buis, commune in the Is re Saint-Blaise-la-Roche, commune... Look up Throat in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Saint Catherine of Alexandria, known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine (Greek ) is a figure claimed to have been a noted scholar in the early 4th Century who, at the age of only 18, is said to have visited the Emperor Maxentius and to... For other uses, see Saint Christopher (disambiguation). ... The bubonic plague or bubonic fever is the best-known variant of the deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2288x1712, 2458 KB) Beschreibung Description: Wallfahrtskirche Vierzehnheiligen I Source: Selbst fotografiert Date: 4. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2288x1712, 2458 KB) Beschreibung Description: Wallfahrtskirche Vierzehnheiligen I Source: Selbst fotografiert Date: 4. ... Johann Balthasar Neumann (January 27, 1687 _ August 19, 1753) was a German Baroque architect who designed the Vierzehnheiligen and several churches in Würzburg. ... Personal Life A Roman nobleman, Cyriacus converted to Christianity during his adult life and renounced his material wealth, giving it away to the poor. ... A temptation is an act that looks appealing to an individual. ... Saint Denis, also known as Denise, Dionysius, or Dennis is a Christian saint, bishop of Paris, martyr, and a patron saint of France. ... The martyrdom of St. ... The martyrdom of St. ... In anatomy, the intestine is the segment of the alimentary canal extending from the stomach to the anus and, in humans and other mammals, consists of two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine (or colon). ... On a wing of the Paumgartner Altarpiece, Albrecht Dürer painted Lukas Paumgartner with the banner of his patron St Eustace, in the contemporary armor of a landsknecht. ... Saint-George is a municipality with 695 inhabitants (as of 2003) in the district of Aubonne in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. ... Dogs and sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated. ... “Animalia” redirects here. ... Saint Giles (640?-720?) (Latin: Ægidius, French: Gilles, Italian: Egidio) was a 7th-8th century Christian hermit saint. ... Modern confessional in the Church of the Holy Name, Dunedin, New Zealand. ... Margaret, with her palm of martyrdom, escapes the dragon Saint Margaret, also known as Margaret of Antioch, virgin and martyr, was formerly celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church on July 20. ... Childbirth (also called labour, birth, partus or parturition) is the culmination of a human pregnancy with the emergence of a newborn infant/s from the mothers uterus. ... Saint Pantaleon (Panteleimon), counted in the West among the late-medieval Fourteen Holy Helpers and in the East as one of the Holy Unmercenary Healers, was a martyr of Nicomedia in Bithynia during the Diocletian persecution of 303 AD. According to the martyrologies, Pantaleon was the son of a rich... The Doctor by Luke Fildes This article is about the term physician, one type of doctor; for other uses of the word doctor see Doctor. ... Vitus is a Latin given name meaning lively. ... Vitus was a Christian saint from Sicily, Italy, Roman Empire. ... Saint Anthony the Great (251 - 356), also known as Saint Anthony Abbot, Saint Anthony of Egypt, Saint Anthony of the Desert, Saint Anthony the Anchorite, and The Father of All Monks, was an Egyptian Christian saint and the outstanding leader among the Desert Fathers, who were Christian monks in the... Leonard of Noblac or Leonard of Limoges ( - 559) was a Frankish noble in the court of Clovis I. He was converted to Christianity along with the king, by Saint Remigius (Saint Rémy), Bishop of Reims. ... Saint Nicholas (Greek: , Agios Nikolaos, victory of the people) is the common name for Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra (in modern day Antalya province, Turkey), who had a reputation for secret gift-giving, but is now commonly identified with Santa Claus. ... For other uses, see Sebastian (disambiguation). ... Oswald can refer to: Saint Oswald, from the 10th century Lee Harvey Oswald, involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy Stephen S. Oswald, a NASA astronaut Oswald Teichmüller, a German mathematician Oswald Achenbach, a German landscape painter Oswald Veblen, an American mathematician Oswald Garrison Villard, a Americn journalist... Look up king in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Pope of Rome... Sixtus II was pope from August 30, 257 to August 6, 258, following Stephen I as bishop of Rome in 257. ... Saint Apollonia was one of a group of virgin martyrs who suffered in Alexandria during a local uprising against the Christians prior to the persecution of Decius. ... Wolfgang of Regensburg or Saint Wolfgang (c. ... Saint Roch (Latin: Rochus; Italian: Rocco; French: Roch; Spanish and Portuguese: Roque; c. ...

While each has a separate feast day, the Fourteen Holy Helpers are honored together on August 8. Barbara, Catherine of Alexandria, Christopher, and Margaret of Antioch were dropped from the list of saints for universal veneration in the reform of the Roman Catholic liturgy in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. In 2004, Pope John Paul II reinstated the Feast of St Catherine of Alexandria, the voice to St. Joan of Arc, as an optional memorial on November 25. is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A liturgy is the customary public worship of a religious group, according to their particular traditions. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ...

The Vierzehnheiligen

Basilica Vierzehnheiligen

The fourteen holy helpers are honored in Bavaria as the vierzehn heiligen, to whom the Rococo pilgrimage church in the hamlet of Bad Staffelstein near Bamberg, designed by Balthasar Neumann (built –1774) is dedicated. On September 24, 1445 the Franciscan monastery’s young shepherd, Hermann Leicht, saw a crying child in a field—one that happened to belong to the nearby Cistercian monastery of Langheim. As he bent down to pick it up, it suddenly disappeared. A short time later, the child reappeared in the same spot and this time, two candles were burning next to it. In June 1446 the shepherd saw the child a third time, this time carrying a red cross on its chest and accompanied by thirteen children. The child said to the shepherd: ‘We are the 14 helpers and wish to erect a chapel here, where we can rest. If you will be our servant, we will be yours!’ Shortly after, the shepherd saw two burning candles descending to this spot. Soon, miraculous healings began, through the intervention of the fourteen helper saints. Image File history File linksMetadata Vierzehnheiligen. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Vierzehnheiligen. ... For other uses, see Bavaria (disambiguation). ... North side of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo - carriage courtyard: all the stucco details sparkled with gold until 1773, when Catherine II had gilding replaced with olive drab paint. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Staffelstein, as seen from the Staffelberg Bad Staffelstein is a small town in the Bavarian Administrative Region of Upper Franconia. ... Bamberg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. ... Johann Balthasar Neumann (January 27, 1687 _ August 19, 1753) was a German Baroque architect who designed the Vierzehnheiligen and several churches in Würzburg. ... Cistercians coat of arms The Order of Cistercians (OCist) (Latin: ), otherwise White Monks (from the colour of the habit, over which a black scapular or apron is sometimes worn) is a Roman Catholic order of enclosed monks. ...

Detail of Grünewald alterpiece

The Franciscan brothers in the monastery erected a chapel, which immediately attracted pilgrims. An altar was consecrated as early as 1448. Pilgrimages to Vierzehnheiligen continue to take place each year between May and October. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (601x1405, 151 KB) Detail of Grünewald altarpiece from www. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (601x1405, 151 KB) Detail of Grünewald altarpiece from www. ...

The most famous group portrait of the "Fourteen Saints" is the altarpiece of 1503 painted by Matthias Grünewald for the monastery at Bindlach, near Bayreuth in Upper Franconia, the heartland of the Holy Helpers. As the cultus spread, Pope Nicholas V attached indulgences to devotion of the Fourteen Holy Helpers in the 16th century, though these no longer apply. Year 1503 (MDIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... The Crucifixion, central panel of the Isenheim Altarpiece Matthias Grünewald (1470-1528) is a highly regarded figure from the German Renaissance. ... Bayreuth [pronounced by-royt] is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Frankish Alb and the Fichtelgebirge. ... Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. ... In traditional usage, the cult of a religion, quite apart from its sacred writings (scriptures), its theology or myths, or the personal faith of its believers, is the totality of external religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is the definition of impiety. ... Nicholas V, né Tomaso Parentucelli (November 15, 1397 – March 24, 1455) was Pope from March 6, 1447, to his death. ...

The "Fourteen angels" of the lost children's prayer in Engelbert Humperdinck's "fairy opera" Hansel und Gretel are the Fourteen Helpers. The English words are quite familiar: Engelbert Humperdinck (September 1, 1854 – September 27, 1921) was a German composer, best known for his opera, Hänsel und Gretel (1893). ... Hänsel und Gretel is an opera by Engelbert Humperdinck (Humperdinck himself described it as a fairy opera. ...

"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."

See also

• Kadaň, Czech Republic: Franciscan monastery with its pilgrimage church of Fourteen Holy Helpers.

Kadaň (German: Kaaden) is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. ...

External links

• Fourteen Holy helpers: invocation and litany
• Heilige Nothelfer (in German)