Protection against the Black Death

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

We live in a stressful world. Even in summertime, we find ourselves rushing here and there - tired, hot and even sun-burned. But the next time you get a headache, besides reaching for an aspirin, you might want to call on St. Denis. Or one of the other 14 Holy Helpers whose feast day was once celebrated on Aug. 8.

Denis (also called Dionysus) was the first bishop of Parish. He was martyred under the Roman governor in the third century and was beheaded. He is, among other things, a patron against frenzy and strife - and headaches. He is often shown holding his severed head - since legends say that he picked up his head and walked away with it after his execution.

Legends such as these were quite popular during the early second century of the church. It was a time of difficult living, and sudden illness often devastated entire communities. This was especially true of bubonic plague - or the Black Death.

Denis and the other 14 Holy Helpers were often asked to help the victims of the plague - especially during the 14th century. Devotion to the 14 Holy Helpers - or the auxiliary saints (meaning assistants, not secondary) - was especially common in Germany (Bavaria). There, they are called the Vierzehnheiligen or the Nothelfer (helpers in need).

The 14 saints - who each had their own separate feast days - were attached to a legend about 14 children appearing in a vision of the Christ child to a Franciscan shepherd working in a field belonging the Cistercian monastery in 1445. The apparition requested a church be built on the site so that the saints could offer help there. A chapel was built and today, a basilica stands there, near Bamberg, Germany.

The 14 Holy Helpers are George, Blaise, Pantaleon, Vitus, Erasmus (Elmo), Christopher, Giles, Cyriac, Achatius, Denis, Eustachius (Eustace), Catherine of Alexandria, Margaret of Antioch, and Barbara. (Sometimes, one or more are substituted with other saints, the most common being Nicholas, Sebastian and Roch).

Each of these saints was a martyr - except for Giles, who nonetheless suffered from a leg wound he received while protecting a deer from hunters. However, their connection to the prayers of plague victims comes through their patronage to various symptoms connected with the plague.

Bubonic plague is characterized by its sudden onset, often killing its victims within hours. During the 14th centuries, this often meant that victims died without the final sacraments. Fever, boils on the abdomen, violent headache, blackening of the tongue and drying of the throat were all symptoms of the plague, which could decimate entire towns in days. During the 1340s - when the 14 Holy Helpers devotion became popular - the plague killed 20 million people in Europe alone - perhaps half the population at that time.

• Christopher, Giles and Roch are specifically patrons of plague victims.

• Blase is invoked against diseases of the throat.

• Pantaleon is the patron of doctors.

• Vitus is the patron of epileptics.

• Margaret is a patron of childbirth, but since she said to have been swallowed by a dragon and later freed because she upset the creature's stomach, her tie to abdominal pain is clear.

• Elmo (Erasmus) is a patron against abdominal illness.

• Catherine and Barbara are patrons against a sudden death.

• Cyriac was invoked for protection against temptations at the time of death.

• Achatius (Acacius) was also beheaded and, like Denis, is invoked against headaches.

• Eustachius (Eustace), is a patron against family discord who was burned to death along with his entire family.

• George, the famous dragon-slayer, is also a patron against skin disease.

In 1969, with the revision of the Roman calendar of saints, the feast of the 14 Holy Helpers was suppressed. However, as with all the saints, we can continue to ask for their help. That is, after all, their "job".

"The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom..." the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "contemplate God, praise him and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth. When they entered into the joy of their Master, they were 'put in charge of many things.' Their intercession is their most exalted service to God's plan. We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world" (n. 2683).

So the next time summer gets stressful, don't forget the aspirin and sun screen. But you can also ask for help from the saints - whichever number of them you might call upon - they've successfully coped with a lot of stress themselves.