Who's who among the saints' statues

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

Who's that man, standing in the corner?

Well, it might not in be a corner. It could be on a stained glass window. Or a painting in a side chapel.

There are many ways to represent saints of the church - windows, statues, prayer cards. But which saint is which?

In our media age, certain saints are easy to spot: there are photographs of St. Therese of Lisieux, old movies footage of Padre Pio and news video of Blessed Mother Teresa.

However, most saints and blesseds lived on earth long before cameras. Yet we readily recognize their images, thanks to the repetition of symbols associated with each of them.

As they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words." And a symbol always connects to a story. For example - there are many representations of Jesus - with a beard and without, as a child, a baby, a man. There is Jesus with black hair or blond, Jesus with dark skin or blue eyes. And yet, we still recognize Jesus. Why? Because there's a cross halo, or the cross itself, a crown of thorns or two fingers raised in blessing. Or that look in his eyes.

All these symbols remind of us who Jesus is and what he has done. And they remind us of who Jesus is for each of us. The symbols tap stories that are etched in our hearts.

There are many symbols for the saints. Some are common to many saints and symbolize certain characteristics of a group of saints. For example:

• Martyrs are often shown carrying a palm branch - an ancient sign of victory and a reminder of the verse about "those who have survived the time of great distress" (Rev :14).

• Virgins are often shown with white attire for purity, a lamb or a crown of flowers - such as St. Agnes, who, since she was martyred at age 13, is a child (lamb-like) martyr. Since her name is similar to the Latin agnus for lamb, she is usually shown with a lamb.

• Books are part of teaching, so many great teachers of the church are shown holding books - like the evangelists and saints like St. Teresa of Avila, a doctor of the church.

• If a saint is holding a church, it means he or she founded a church, a diocese or an abbey. Art historian George Ferguson traces this to the building of St. Vitale Church in Ravenna, Italy, in the sixth century. On its dome is an image of Christ with a representation of Bp. Ecclesio - who founded St. Vitale - holding a church. Churches are held by Ss. Jerome, Ambrose, Clotilde, and Cyril and Methodius.

• Crowns often symbolize earthly ruler-ship as well as heavenly reward and are seen on St. Elizabeth of Hungary (a queen), St. Helen (an empress) and St. Louis IX (a king.)

• Shells symbolize pilgrims and are seen with St. James the Greater, St. Augustine and St. Bridget.

• Lilies are another sign of the pure and are shown with saints like the Virgin Mary, Joseph, Anthony of Padua and Blessed Kateri Tekawitha, "the Lily of the Mohawks."

• Many saints who belonged to religious orders are shown in that order's habits. Francis of Assisi wears the grey (earliest habit) or brown of the Franciscans, as do Lawrence of Brindisi and Padre Pio. Ss. Dominic, Catherine of Siena and Rose of Lima all wear Dominican black over white. Carmelites like St. John of the Cross and Blessed Elizabeth of the Holy Trinity wear white over black.

While many common symbols identify common aspects of saints - there are certain symbols pinpointing specific saints. We see:

• A shamrock for St. Patrick, who evangelized Ireland;

• The wheel on which she was martyred for Catherine;

• The many arrows in Sebastian's martyred body;

• The keys in the hands of Peter;

• Denis holding his decapitated head in his hands;

• The hunter Hubert and his stag;

• Francis and the wolf of Gubbio;

• Therese and her armful of roses;

• George with his dragon;

• Andrew with his X-shaped cross;

• John the Baptist in his camel-hair robe;

• Mary Magdalene and her egg. (A tradition of her later life associates red eggs - perhaps the start of the Easter egg custom - with Mary's preaching the gospel to the Emperor Tiberias in Rome.)

Whatever the symbol for a saint, there is always an underlying message: These people were like us and now they are like Christ. They lived in the knowledge and ways of Christ and now they live as models for us. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church said, "the saints show the power of the Spirit alive within the church and sustain the hope of believers through their example and intercession" (n. 826).

So when you see a statue and recognize a particular saint, it's because you remember the story of how they showed Christ to others. In the same way, we are called to be stories of Christ to others, because, as Pope Paul VI said, "the life of each individual child of God is joined in Christ and through Christ by a wonderful link to the life of all his other Christian brothers and sisters" (ID, n, 5).