A Brief History of Saints

A Brief History of Saints follows the rise of the cult of saints in Christianity from its origin in the age of the martyrs down to the present day. Refers to both well-known saints, such as Joan of Arc, and lesser-known figures like the 'holy fools' in the Orthodox tradition Ranges over subjects as diverse as the history of canonization processes, the Reformation critique of the cult of saints, and the role of saints in other religious traditions Discusses the relevance of sainthood in the postmodern era Two appendices describe patron saints and the iconography of saints in art.

A Brief History of Saints follows the rise of the cult of saints in Christianity from its origin in the age of the martyrs down to the present day.* Refers to both well-known saints, such as Joan of Arc, and lesser-known figures like the 'holy fools' in the Orthodox tradition* Ranges over subjects as diverse as the history of canonization processes, the Reformation critique of the cult of saints, and the role of saints in other religious traditions* Discusses the relevance of sainthood in the postmodern era* Two appendices describe patron saints and the iconography of saints in art.

List of Illustrations viiIntroduction 11 The Saint: Beginnings 5Beginnings 8The Martyrs 11Literature 13Veneration 16After Constantine 182 The Bureaucratization of Sanctity 28Liturgical Memory of the Saints 28The Saintly Legend 31Regularizing Sainthood 36A Test Case: Francis of Assisi 39The Christian East 44The Many Meanings of the Saints 46Pilgrimage 49Venerating Saints: A Theological Clarification 513 Reformations: Protestant and Catholic 54The Age of the Reformers 54The Catholic Reformation 61The New Martyrs 68The Papal Curia and Canonization 72The Saints and Scholarship 744 Towards the Modern World 78Worlds Divided 78New Forms of Religious Life 81Doctors of the Church 87The Starets 91The Tractarians and the Saints 965 The Twentieth Century 102Schools of Spirituality 102A New Saintliness? 107The New Martyrs 115John Paul II: Saints and Evangelization 120Anglican and Lutheran Calendars 1236 The Saints, World Religions, and the Future 127Some Terminology 130Saints as a Theological Resource 136Saints and the Continuity of Religious Tradition 139Appendix I: Patron Saints 148Appendix II: Iconography of the Saints 151Notes 155Select Bibliography 162Index 169