View source for Fourteen Holy Helpers

{{Short description|Group of Christian saints}}

{{Infobox martyrs
|name=Fourteen Holy Helpers
|image=Kapelle auf dem Michaelsberg - Untergrombach 03 - Vierzehn Nothelfer.jpg
|caption= Figurines of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, Chapel on the [[Michaelsberg (Untergrombach)|Michaelsberg]], [[Baden-Württemberg]], Germany
|birth_era=
|feast_day=8 August (locally)
|venerated_in=[[Catholic Church]]
|attributes=  
|notable_members = Saints [[Agathius|Acacius]], [[Saint Barbara|Barbara]], [[Saint Blaise|Blaise]], [[Saint Christopher|Christopher]], [[Cyriacus]], [[Catherine of Alexandria]], [[Saint Denis of Paris|Denis]], [[Erasmus of Formia]], [[Saint Eustace|Eustace]], [[Saint George|George]], [[Saint Giles|Giles]], [[Margaret the Virgin|Margaret of Antioch]], [[Saint Pantaleon|Pantaleon]], and [[Saint Vitus|Vitus]].<ref name="Stracke">{{cite web |last1=Stracke |first1=Richard |title= Fourteen Holy Helpers |url= http://www.christianiconography.info/14helpers.html |website=Christian Iconography | date=2015-10-20}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Burgruine Dobl Gemaelde.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Painting of the Fourteen Holy Helpers]]
The '''Fourteen Holy Helpers''' ({{langx|de|Vierzehn Nothelfer}}, {{langx|la|Quattuordecim auxiliatores}}) are a group of [[saint]]s venerated together by [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] because their [[intercession]] is believed 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]].

==History of veneration==
Devotion to the fourteen Holy Helpers began in [[Rhineland]], now part of Germany, in the time of the [[Black Death]].<ref name="hammer">{{cite web |last=Hammer |first=Bonaventure  |year=1995 | title =The Fourteen Holy Helpers | url =http://www.catholictradition.org/Litanies/litany63.htm | access-date =6 November 2007}}</ref> Among the fourteen were three [[virgin martyrs]]. A German mnemonic for them says:

{{Col-begin|width=auto}}
{{Col-break|gap=2em}}
<poem>
''Margaretha mit dem Wurm,''
''Barbara mit dem Turm,''
''Katharina mit dem Radl''
''das sind die drei heiligen Madl.''<ref>{{cite web | title =Sau-Toni, Rochus und die Pest | publisher=Heimat- und Verkehrsverein Obernburg | url =http://hvv-obernburg.de/html/sau-toni__rochus_und_die_pest.html | access-date =5 November 2007}}</ref>
</poem>
{{Col-break|gap=4em}}
<poem>
("Margaret with the [[lindworm]],
Barbara with the tower,
Catherine with the wheel,
those are the three holy maids.")
</poem>
{{Col-end}}

As the other saints began to be invoked along with these three virgin martyrs, they were represented together in works of art. Popular veneration of these saints often began in a [[monastery]] that held their [[relic]]s. All of the saints except Giles were accounted [[martyr]]s.

[[Saint Christopher]] and [[Saint Giles]] were invoked against the plague itself. [[Saint Denis of Paris|Saint Denis]] was prayed to for relief from headache, [[Saint Blaise]] against ills of the throat, [[Erasmus of Formiae|Saint Elmo]], against abdominal maladies, [[Saint Barbara]] against fever, and [[Saint Vitus]] against epilepsy. [[Saint Pantaleon]] was the patron of physicians, [[Saint Cyriacus]] invoked against temptation on the deathbed, and Saints Christopher, Barbara, and [[Catherine of Alexandria]] for protection against a sudden and unprovided-for death. [[Saint Giles]] was prayed to for a good confession, and [[Saint Eustace]] as healer of family troubles. Domestic animals were also attacked by the plague, and so Saints [[Saint George|George]], Elmo, Pantaleon, and Vitus were invoked for their protection. [[Saint Margaret of Antioch]] is the patron of safe childbirth.<ref name="hammer"/>

As the saints' joint ''[[cult (religion)|cultus]]'' spread in the fifteenth century, [[Pope Nicholas V]] attached [[indulgence]]s to devotion of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, though these no longer apply.<ref name="hammer"/> While each had a separate feast day, the Fourteen Holy Helpers were in some places celebrated as a group on 8 August, but this celebration never became part of the [[Roman martyrology|General Roman Calendar]] for universal veneration.<ref>See [[Roman Missal]]: original edition of [[Pope Pius V]] (reproduced in ''Missale Romanum – Editio Princeps'', Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1998, {{ISBN|88-209-2547-8}}); [https://books.google.com/books?id=E7sPAAAAIAAJ&dq=missale+romanum&pg=PP3 1634 typical edition]; [https://books.google.com/books?id=YOtZKUW7ZYIC&dq=missale&pg=PP6 1884 typical edition]; [http://www.sanctamissa.org/EN/resources/missale-romanum-pdf.html 1920 typical edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301085135/http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/missale-romanum-pdf.html |date=1 March 2020 }};[http://www.musicasacra.com/pdf/missale62.pdf 1962 typical edition]</ref> When that calendar was revised in 1969,<ref>See [[Mysterii Paschalis]].</ref> the individual celebrations of St Barbara, St Catherine of Alexandria, St Christopher, and St Margaret of Antioch were dropped, but in 2004 [[Pope John Paul II]] reinstated the 25 November optional memorial of Catherine of Alexandria, whose voice was heard by Saint [[Joan of Arc]]. The individual celebrations of all fourteen are included in the [[General Roman Calendar as in 1954]], the [[General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII]] and the [[General Roman Calendar of 1960]].

Comparable to the devotion of the Fourteen Holy Helpers was that of the [[Four Holy Marshals]], who were also venerated in the Rhineland as "Marshals of God". These were [[Quirinus of Neuss]], [[Saint Anthony the Great]], [[Pope Cornelius]], and [[Saint Hubert]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/the-best-saints-to-pray-to-during-a-pandemic/|website=catholicherald.co.uk|title=The best saints to pray to during a pandemic|date=19 March 2020 | access-date =6 August 2022}}</ref>

==The Auxiliary Saints==
The fourteen saints are:

{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Name <span style="color:grey;"><small>(Alternate)</small></span>!!Feast day!!class="unsortable"|Patronage
|-
|[[Agathius]] <span style="color:grey;"><small>(Acacius)</small></span>||<span style="display:none">c</span>7 May||Against headache.
|-
|{{sort|Barbara|[[Saint Barbara|Barbara]]}}||<span style="display:none">n</span>4 December||Against fever and sudden death, against lightning and fire, and against sudden and violent death at work; patron of builders, artillerymen, and miners.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shaver |first1=Katherine |title=As workers toil underground, Saint Barbara keeps watch |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/as-workers-toil-underground-saint-barbara-keeps-watch/2018/12/29/46d807a2-f8bd-11e8-863c-9e2f864d47e7_story.html |newspaper=Washington Post |date=2018-12-27}}</ref>
|-
|{{sort|Blaise|[[Saint Blaise|Blaise]]}} <span style="color:grey;"><small>(Blase, Blasius)</small></span>||<span style="display:none">a</span>3 February||Against illness of the throat and for protection of domestic animals.
|-
|[[Catherine of Alexandria]]||<span style="display:none">m</span>25 November||Against sudden death and diseases of the tongue; patron of philosophers, theologians, maidens, female students, preachers, the dying, wheelwrights, mechanics, potters, and other artisans who work with wheels; invoked by students, orators, preachers, and lawyers for wise counsel and for eloquence.
|-
|{{sort|Christopher|[[Saint Christopher|Christopher]]}} <span style="color:grey;"><small>(Christophorus)</small></span>||<span style="display:none">g</span>25 July||Against [[bubonic plague]] and dangers while traveling.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03728a.htm Mershman, Francis. "St. Christopher." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. {{PD-notice}}</ref>
|-
|[[Cyriacus]]||<span style="display:none">i</span>8 August||Against temptation on the death-bed, diseases of the eye, and demonic possession.
|-
|[[Denis of Paris|Denis]] <span style="color:grey;"><small>(Dionysius)</small></span>||<span style="display:none">l</span>9 October||Against headache and against demonic possession.
|-
|{{sort|Erasmus|[[Erasmus of Formiae|Erasmus]]}} <span style="color:grey;"><small>(Elmo)</small></span>||<span style="display:none">d</span>2 June||Against [[Intestine|intestinal]] ailments, stomach ailments, for domestic animals, and patron of sailors.<ref>Eyers, Jonathan (2011). ''Don't Shoot the Albatross! Nautical Myths and Superstitions''. A&C Black, London, UK. {{ISBN|978-1-4081-3131-2}}.</ref>
|-
|{{sort|Eustace|[[Saint Eustace|Eustace]]}} <span style="color:grey;"><small>(Eustachius, Eustathius)</small></span>||<span style="display:none">k</span>20 September||Against family discord, against fire (temporal and eternal), and patron of hunters, trappers, and anyone facing trouble.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/sanctus-ignotum/st-eustace|title=St. Eustace|publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum|date=September 20, 2014}}</ref>
|-
|{{sort|George|[[Saint George|George]]}} <span style="color:grey;"><small>(Georgius)</small></span>||<span style="display:none">b</span>23 April||For the health of [[domestication|domestic animals]], against herpetic diseases, and patron of soldiers.
|-
|{{sort|Giles|[[Saint Giles|Giles]]}} <span style="color:grey;"><small>(Aegidius)</small></span>||<span style="display:none">j</span>1 September||Against [[bubonic plague|plague]], [[epilepsy]], mental illness, and nightmares, for a good [[Confession (religion)|confession]], and patron of cripples, beggars, blacksmiths, and breast-feeding mothers.
|-
|[[Margaret of Antioch]]||<span style="display:none">f</span>17 July||Patron of women in childbirth, invoked against backache, and invoked for escape from devils.
|-
|{{sort|Pantaleon|[[Saint Pantaleon|Pantaleon]]}} <span style="color:grey;"><small>(Panteleimon)</small></span>||<span style="display:none">h</span>27 July||Patron of physicians and midwives, invoked for the protection of domestic animals, and invoked against cancer and tuberculosis.
|-
|[[Saint Vitus|Vitus]] <span style="color:grey;"><small>(Guy)</small></span>||<span style="display:none">e</span>15 June||Against [[epilepsy]], [[chorea]], lightning, the bites of animals (especially those who were venomous or rabid), and storms, and for protection of domestic animals.
|-
|}

Half the saints are regarded as [[historical figure]]s (Blaise, Cyriacus, Erasmus, George, Giles, Pantaleon, Vitus) while the other may be only [[Historical figure#Religious figures|legends]] (Agathius, Barbara, Catherine of Alexandria, Christopher, Denis, Eustace, Margaret of Antioch).<ref>{{cite book|last=Jockle|first=Clemens|title=Encyclopedia of Saints|year=2003|publisher=Konecky & Konecky}}</ref> The supposition that some are "legendary"  is primarily based on analysis of the saints' traditional hagiographies without due consideration of other possibilities and interpretations, as well as the changes associated with the ''[[Mysterii Paschalis]]'', although not all these changes applied to these particular saints.{{Original research inline|date=April 2025|certain=}}{{Citation needed|date=April 2025|reason=How to verify?}} While the feasts of several of the Fourteen Holy Helpers were  removed from the [[General Roman Calendar]], none were [[Decanonization|decanonized]] or denied to have existed and their feasts remain on [[General Roman Calendar#Particular calendars|particular calendars.]]{{Original research inline|date=April 2025|certain=}}{{Citation needed|date=April 2025|reason=Denied by whom?}} 

For one or another of the saints in the original set, [[Anthony the Great|Anthony the Anchorite]], [[Saint Leonard of Noblac|Leonard of Noblac]], [[Saint Nicholas|Nicholas]], [[Saint Sebastian|Sebastian]], [[Oswald of Northumbria|Oswald the King]], [[Sixtus II|Pope Sixtus II]], [[Saint Apollonia|Apollonia]], [[Dorothea of Caesarea]], [[Wolfgang of Regensburg]] or [[Roch]] were sometimes substituted. In France an extra "helper" is added: the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]].<ref name=glance>{{cite web |last= Jones |first=G. R. |date= 9 April 2004 | title =8 August is the feast of... | work=Saints at a Glance | url =http://www.le.ac.uk/users/grj1/ssaints.html | access-date =6 November 2007}}</ref>

==The Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen==
{{main|Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen}}

[[File:Vierzehnheiligen.jpg|thumb|upright|''Basilika Vierzehnheiligen'']]

The Fourteen Holy Helpers are honored in [[Bavaria]] as the ''vierzehn Heiligen'', and the Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen is dedicated to these auxiliary saints. The [[Rococo]] [[pilgrimage church]] near the town of [[Bad Staffelstein]] was designed by [[Balthasar Neumann]] and built between 1743 and 1772.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Kollmorgen, Gregor|title=Catholic Bamberg: Vierzehnheiligen |url=https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2009/05/catholic-bamberg-vierzehnheiligen.html |access-date=2023-12-05}}</ref>

Devotion to these saints began in that region on 24 September 1445 when Hermann Leicht, the young shepherd of a nearby Franciscan monastery, saw a crying child in a field belonging to the nearby [[Cistercians|Cistercian]] monastery of Langheim. As he bent down to pick up the child, it abruptly disappeared. A short time later, the child reappeared in the same spot. This time, two candles were burning next to it. In June 1446, Leicht saw the child a third time. This time, the child bore a red cross on its chest and was accompanied by thirteen other children. The child said: "We are the fourteen helpers and wish to erect a chapel here, where we can rest. If you will be our servant, we will be yours!" Shortly after, Leicht saw two burning candles descending to this spot. It is alleged that miraculous healings soon began, through the intervention of the fourteen saints.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vierzehnheiligen.de/vierzehnheiligen/basilika/geschichte-der-basilika/ | title=Geschichte der Basilika | access-date=14 November 2022 | archive-date=26 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326023722/https://www.vierzehnheiligen.de/vierzehnheiligen/basilika/geschichte-der-basilika/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Cistercian]] brothers to whom the land belonged erected a chapel, which immediately attracted pilgrims. An altar was consecrated as early as 1448. Pilgrimages to the Vierzehnheiligen continue to the present day between May and October.

==Depiction in culture==
One of the group depictions of the fourteen Saints is a 1503 [[altarpiece]] by [[Matthias Grünewald]] for the monastery in [[Lichtenfels, Bavaria|Lichtenfels]] in [[Upper Franconia]].

The fourteen angels of the lost children's prayer in [[Engelbert Humperdinck (composer)|Engelbert Humperdinck]]'s [[fairy opera]], ''[[Hänsel und Gretel (opera)|Hansel and Gretel]]'', symbolize the Fourteen Holy Helpers.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Potter | first1 = P | year = 2013 | title = When at night I go to sleep / Fourteen angels watch do keep | pmc = 3810937 | journal = Emerg Infect Dis | volume = 19 | issue = 9| pages = 1554–5 | doi = 10.3201/eid1909.AC1909 }}</ref> The English words are familiar:

{{Blockquote|<poem>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.<ref>{{cite web | title =When at Night I Go to Sleep | work=The Hymns and Carols of Christmas | url =http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/when_at_night_i_go_to_sleep.htm | access-date =5 November 2007}}</ref></poem>}}

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="400px">
Image:14helpers.jpg|The first panel of the Grünewald altarpiece
Image:14helpers2.jpg|The second panel of the Grünewald altarpiece
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Franciscan Monastery in Kadaň]] – a Franciscan monastery in the [[Czech Republic]] with a church dedicated to the Holy Helpers.
*[[Langheim Abbey]] – an abbey in [[Lichtenfels, Bavaria]] where [[Matthias Grünewald]] painted his "Holy Helpers" altarpiece.
*[[Patron saints of ailments, illness, and dangers]] – the category of Roman Catholic saints to which the Holy Helpers belong.

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|chapter=[[s:Mary, help of Christians/Part 3: The fourteen holy helpers|The fourteen holy helpers]]|title=Mary, help of Christians|year=1909|publisher=Benziger Brothers|first=Bonaventure|last=Hammer}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Fourteen Holy Helpers}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20091128072334/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/define95.htm Invocation and litany to the Fourteen Holy Helpers]
*[http://www.vierzehnheiligen.de/ Basilika Vierzehnheiligen] {{in lang|de}}
*[http://community.webshots.com/slideshow/165383764ihBmDg?mediaPosition=165386623&track_pagetag=/page/photo/travel/germany&track_action=/Shortcuts/Slideshow WebShots slideshow of the Basilika Vierzehnheiligen]

{{Fourteen Holy Helpers}}
{{Catholic saints}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fourteen Holy Helpers}}
[[Category:Fourteen Holy Helpers| ]]
[[Category:Groups of Roman Catholic saints]]