Saints by Symbol Trivia

1. Who's always wearing a set of keys?

From Quiz Symbols of the Saints

Answer: Saint Peter

Saint Peter is the one who holds the keys to heaven. This depiction finds its origin in Matthew 16:19, where Jesus speaks to Peter: "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (KJV) This verse (and especially the second part of the sentence) is also often cited in marriage ceremonies, meaning that a Christian wedding should not be dissolved other than by the death of one of the partners. Saint Peter is venerated on June 29th. He was born Simon and was one of the first apostles. Jesus renamed him Peter ("The Rock") and appointed him as His successor for leading the early Church. Saint Peter is the patron saint of fishermen, because he worked as a fisherman before joining Jesus as an apostle. As the first Pope, Saint Peter is of course also patron saint of the papacy. Because of his depiction with the Keys of Heaven, Saint Peter is also patron saint of locksmiths. Saint Joseph, foster father of Jesus, was a carpenter and is thus typically depicted with carpentry tools (a hammer, a saw...). Saint Eligius was a smith and is thus typically depicted with an anvil. Saint Barsanuphius has a quite exceptional story. He was a hermit in Egypt and died there between 540 and 565. And yet he is sometimes depicted with an airplane. Legend has it that the Italian town of Oria, where his relics are stored, was spared from air bombing because Barsanuphius spread his cloak over the town, thus causing a fierce rainstorm.

From Quiz Symbols of the Saints

Answer: The eagle

The eagle is also a symbol of Christ and His divine nature, which is the main theme of the Gospel of St. John, and that may explain why the eagle has become the symbol of this saint. It is a tradition in the liturgical churches to have the lectern in the shape of an eagle with outspread wings. The lectern holds the bible, from which the scriptures are read in the congregation, and it may be that the eagle was chosen because the first words in the Gospel of St. John are "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word is God..." Since Christians believe that the bible is the word of God, and that Jesus is the Word, it is fitting that the bible rests on the eagle. Interesting trivia fact: when you visit an Anglican church, check to see which way the eagle is facing. If it's facing left, that parish holds to the high (catholic) tradition of the Anglican Church. If the eagle is facing right, you're in a low (or evangelical) church. If the eagle is gazing straight ahead, the parish is part of the broad church tradition, the Via Media.

From Quiz When the Saints Go Marching In

Answer: Catherine of Alexandria

Thérèse of Lisieux is mostly represented with roses and a crucifix. She became a nun at age 15, and died at age 24. Cecilia is represented with musical instruments and is the patron saint of music. Catherine of Alexandria is commemorated on the 25th of November. The wheel refers to the way in which she was tortured. There is also Catharine of Siena, one of the two patron saints of Italy, a "Doctor of the Church", but not linked with philosophy. Another Doctor of the Church was Teresa of Avila, also called "the Great". She lived from 1515 till 1582 and is the Patron Saint of Spain.

From Quiz Saints and their Symbols I

Answer: St. Hugh of Lincoln

St. Hugh, a friend of King Henry II (he fared much better than his contemporary, Thomas Becket), kept a swan as a pet; it would often stick it's long neck up his sleeve. Hugh was a man of great humor; he even got on the good side of the sullen King John (Henry's son). He was also a great defender of the Jews (a rare thing in that time and part of the world), often facing down angry mobs to defend them from persecution.

From Quiz Symbols of the Saints

Answer: Saint Ambrose

Saint Ambrose was born around 340. In 374, as a governor of Milan, he tried to restore order after the Christians rioted over the choice of their new bishop. By popular acclaim, Ambrose was chosen as bishop - even though he was not yet baptized. Because Ambrose spoke and preached with a sweet mellow voice, he was soon titled "the honey-tongued Doctor". Hence his association with bees and beehives. Saint Ambrose died in 397 and is venerated on December 7th. Saint Alfred the Great (849-899) was King of Wessex. Therefore he is usually depicted with a sceptre and/or an orb. Saint Agnes has a name similar to the Latin word for lamb. Therefore this martyr is frequently depicted holding a lamb in her arms. Saint Anthony the Abbot is associated with a pig. When he started his hermit life about 270, he would have been employed as a swineherd.

From Quiz Symbols of the Saints

Answer: The winged ox

The winged ox is the symbol of St. Luke because the ox was an animal used in sacrifice in the Jewish tradition, out of which Christianity grew. It became the symbol of St. Luke because the sacrificial nature of Christ is emphasized in his gospel. The gospel writers' symbols - the winged man (St. Matthew), the winged eagle (St. John), the winged lion (St. Mark) and the winged ox - are drawn from the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, recorded in Ezekiel 1:5-14.

From Quiz When the Saints Go Marching In

Answer: Sebastian

Laurentius (3rd century; born at Huesca, Spain) is usually represented with a gridiron because that was the tool with which he was tortured to death in Rome where he was archdeacon. Cynically enough they made him the patron saint of cooks. Cosmas and Damian were two saintly doctors. They are usually represented with doctor's tools. Sebastian's martyrdom was often a pretext for painters to be allowed to paint the nude male body.

From Quiz Saints and Their Symbols II

Answer: St. Maria Goretti

Maria's murderer, a young neighbor named Alessandro Serenelli, was converted in prison after having a dream in which Maria forgave him and handed him one lily for each of her wounds. Upon his release, he was also forgiven by Maria's mother, who thereupon treated him as her own son. They both lived to see Maria canonized in 1950.

From Quiz Saints and their Symbols I

Answer: St. Dorothy

According to legend, St. Dorothy was mocked on her way to execution by a pagan governer who asked her to send him a basket of flowers and fruit from Paradise. After her death, he was visited by a child who brought him a basket of roses and apples. He was moved to convert to Christianity and was himself martyred

From Quiz Symbols of the Saints

Answer: Saint Cecilia

According to the traditional hagiography (written down several centuries after the alleged facts), Cecilia was a daughter of a wealthy Roman family in the Second Century. She pledged her virginity to Jesus Christ, but her family forced her to marry Valerian. During the pagan marriage rites, Cecilia is said to be singing to God in her heart. When Valerian was preparing to consummate the marriage, Cecilia threatened him that she was protected by an angel, and that Valerian would die instantly on touching her. After Valerian was baptized, he could see this angel, too. Valerian and Cecilia were martyred because of their refusal to sacrifice for the Roman (pagan) gods. Saint Cecilia is venerated on November 22nd. Saint Agatha was another martyr. She is associated with (church) bells, because of the specific way she was tortured: her breasts were cut off and presented on a platter. These two breasts had a similar shape as two church bells or as two loafs of bread. Gabriel the Archangel is associated with trumpets. Several passages in the Bible mention Gabriel as messenger of God, announcing his arrival with a trumpet or bassoon. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. That's why he is sometimes depicted with an Irish harp.

From Quiz Symbols of the Saints

Answer: Two eyes in a dish

St. Lucy was a virgin martyr, at Syracuse in Sicily, c 304. Since her name means 'light' (from lux,lucis - Latin for light) and the eyes, we're told, are the windows of the soul and windows let in light, Lucy is often invoked for diseases of the eye. Hence, the eyes in the dish. Grisly, but appropriate, I suppose.

From Quiz Saints and their Symbols I

Answer: St. Bartholomew

According to tradition, St. Bartholomew was martyred by being flayed alive (let's hope it was only a legend). He is depicted in Michelangelo's "Last Judgement" holding his flayed skin and a knife (because this resembles a cheese knife, he is venerated as patron of cheesemakers!)

From Quiz Symbols of the Saints

Answer: Saint Gertrude of Nivelles

As my cat is the boss in my house, I have to confess Saint Gertrude is exactly my kind of patron saint. Gertrude was born about 626 into the highest nobility. Indeed, she was a daughter of Pepin of Landen and thus a great-aunt of Charles Martel. After Pepin died, Gertrude's mother founded a convent in Nivelles, and Gertrude and her mother retired into this convent. From 646 until 656 Gertrude was the abbess at Nivelles. She died of natural causes in 659. After her death, farmers would invoke the divine intervention of Saint Gertrude against plagues of mice and rats. So Gertrude was soon seen as patron saint of cats, as these are excellent mouse hunters. Saint Gertrude is venerated on March 17th. It is a popular saying that if the weather on Saint Gertrude's feast is fine, the harvest will be abundant. Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar are the three wise men visiting Christ after His birth. They are usually depicted riding on camels. Perpetua and her maid Felicitas were devoured by wild animals. That's why Perpetua is sometimes depicted with a leopard. Theodore Stratelates is sometimes depicted as killing a crocodile or an alligator. According to the hagiography, he was a Roman soldier who killed a giant reptile and thus saved the inhabitants of Heraclea (Asia Minor, nowadays Turkey).

From Quiz Saints and Their Symbols II

Answer: St. James

Christ nicknamed James and John the "sons of thunder" (boanerges) because they once suggested that he call down thunder from heaven to smite the inhospitable Samaritans. James' martyrdom is mentioned in the "Acts of the Apostles", the only apostle whose death is described in the New Testament. According to legend, James is supposed to have evangelized Spain after the ascension of Christ; he is venerated there as San Jago. The French scallop dish "Coquilles au Ste. Jacques" (scallops in a savory butter sauce, served in their shells) is named for him.

From Quiz Saints and their Symbols I

Answer: St. Boniface

St. Boniface enraged the pagans of Germany by chopping down an oak tree sacred to the god Thor. He was murdered using an axe (possibly the same one he used on the tree?).

From Quiz Symbols of the Saints

Answer: Saint John the Baptist

Saint John the Baptist was a fierce opponent of the morals at the palace in Jerusalem and the household of King Herod. At a certain moment (before Christ's entry in Jerusalem), John the Baptist was imprisoned at the orders of Herod. Herod's wife Herodias then instigated her daughter Salome to dance for the King, and to ask as a reward John the Baptist's head on a silver platter. Saint John the Baptist is venerated on June 24th. Saint Denis (the patron saint of Paris), Saint Justus and Saint Solange are three martyrs who were beheaded. After their execution, they took their head in their hands and walked away - which is the manner in which they are frequently portrayed. One of the statues at the Notre Dame in Paris shows us Saint Denis, headless, carrying his head with mitre and all in his hands.

From Quiz Saints and Their Symbols II

Answer: St. Elizabeth

Elizabeth's in-laws disapproved of what they considered her extravagant generosity toward the poor. Once, during a famine, they informed her husband Ludwig that she was bringing some of the palace's limited supply of bread to the poor. Ludwig accosted her on her way and demanded that she show him what was in her cloak. When she opened her cloak roses, not bread, fell at her feet. On another occasion, she gave up her (and her husband's) bed to a sick beggar; when Ludwig heard of this, he angrily burst into the room. To his astonishment, he saw the figure of the crucified Christ upon the bed. After this, Ludwig gave approval of Elizabeth's acts of charity and defended her to his family. Unlike most married female saints, who always seem to want to be nuns and marry only with great reluctance, Elizabeth passionately loved her husband and was devastated by his early death.

From Quiz Saints and their Symbols I

Answer: St. Barbara

According to legend, St. Barbara's pagan father kept her imprisoned in a tower to keep her from being converted to Christianity. However, she heard the sermons of a Christian preacher from her window and ordered her father's architect, in his absence, to put two more windows alongside the one window to symbolize the Trinity.

From Quiz When the Saints Go Marching In

Answer: John Nepomucen

Bartholomew is represented with a skinning-knife because skinning was what happened to him. One of the oldest churches in London is dedicated to him and there is also the famous hospital that was originally linked to that church. Denis is a 3rd century bishop of Paris who was put to death by the Romans. He made a bit of a spectacle of himself by walking a long way from the place of decapitation to Montmartre where he decided to finally breathe his last. He got his shrine at Saint-Denis near Paris where a famous church was built for him, now the repository of the mortal remains of most of the French Kings. Though he was born an Italian, the French adopted him as their national patron saint. Blasius is represented with a spiked comb. That comb was used by his executioners to brutally tear the flesh off his body. Nepomucen( 1780-1851)is reputed to have been thrown into the Moldava for refusing to reveal to the King what the Queen had told him in the sacrament of confession. Throwing people out of windows and into rivers was a popular practice in what is now Czechia.

From Quiz Saints and Their Symbols II

Answer: St. Dominic

While she was carrying him, Dominic's mother, Joan of Aza (who has been beatified by the Church) dreamed of a dog carrying a torch to set the world on fire (figuratively speaking). At his baptism, she saw a star shining on his chest; it is usually depicted in art upon his nimbus. Dominic founded the order that bears his name and created the Rosary. One of the most famous paintings of him is by another saintly friar, Fra Angelico; he is depicted comtemplating the mockery of Christ.

From Quiz Symbols of the Saints

Answer: Saint Veronica

Veronica is not mentioned in the Bible. Her character has been added later on in the story about the Passion of the Christ. The story goes that while Christ was on His way to Golgotha to be crucified, one of the female spectators was moved to compassion and decided to wipe His face (stained with blood and sweat). This veil would then have produced miraculously a realistic image of Jesus' face. The Vatican would have this same veil as one of the most remarkable relics, but it has never been subjected to scientific research. Veronica's veil is not to be confused with the shroud of Turin, allegedly the piece of cloth draped around the body of Christ at His burial. Saint Veronica, venerated on July 12th, is the patron saint of laundry women, but also of photographers. Saint Jerome is depicted wearing a cardinal's hat and attire, and in most cases accompanied by a tame lion. Saint Ignatius of Loyola's attribute in artworks is the chasuble: the principal vestment worn by priests during the Holy Eucharist. Saint Martin of Tours is most frequently depicted cutting his cloak in two, and handing over a half cloak to a beggar.

From Quiz Symbols of the Saints

Answer: A jar of ointment

Although she is never identified by name in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the liturgical church tradition has it that the woman who anointed Jesus' feet with costly ointment is Mary Magdalene. (In the Gospel of St. John, it is Mary of Bethany, not the Magdalene, who anoints the feet of Jesus.) It was certainly Mary Magdalene who went to the tomb early on the third day to anoint the dead body of Jesus, only to find the tomb empty. In her distress, she asks a man, whom she believes to be a gardener, where the body of Jesus is, and when he says her name she recognizes him as the risen Christ. She makes haste to tell this news to the other disciples, and for this reason Mary Magdalene is known as the Apostle to the Apostles.

From Quiz When the Saints Go Marching In

Answer: Benedict

Abelardus was not exactly declared a saint, and it was not his holy life for which he was brutally tortured. Bernard was one of his main opponents. He is usually represented with a white dog lying at his feet. Because of his association with the baptism of the King of the Franks, Clovis, Remigius is usually represented with a flagon of ointment. He was born at Laon in 437 and died at Reims in 553.

From Quiz Saints and Their Symbols II

Answer: St. Thomas Becket

The extremely brutal murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral shocked all of Europe and is the subject of T.S. Eliot's play "Murder in the Cathedral". He was slaughtered during vespers by four knights loyal to Henry II, with whom Becket had repeatedly clashed and who had wished out loud for someone to rid him of "... this turbulent priest". His spectacular shrine was a magnet for pilgrims until its destruction during the reign of Henry VIII (Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" is about one such pilgrimage).

From Quiz Saints and their Symbols I

Answer: St. Bernadette Soubirous

Bernadette described "the lady" she had seen in the grotto at Lourdes as being dressed in white, but with a blue sash around her waist. The lady was praying the rosary and invited Bernadette to join her.

From Quiz Symbols of the Saints

Answer: Saint Brigid of Kildare

Saint Bridget is one of the most important Saints of Ireland, together with Saint Patrick. Most sources agree that she lived from around 453 to about 524. As an infant she would have been fed by a cow, and as a young child she miraculously multiplied milk and butter. One story tells how she gave away to the poor the entire produce of butter from her parent's dairy farm, only to find the granges full of butter once again. Another story tells how she would feed a leper with a bucket of milk, and the bucket would replenish itself. Saint Bridget is venerated on February 1st. Saint Kevin is usually depicted with a blackbird nesting in his hands, laying eggs and hatching them. Saint Guy (a Belgian saint) is depicted with horses, because a horse has uncovered his completely forgotten grave. The animals accompanying Saint Genevieve are sheep: she tended a flock of sheep when darkness set in. She lit a candle, which the Devil tried to put out, but Genevieve lit the candle time after time and so brought her flock safely home.

From Quiz Symbols of the Saints

Answer: Stigmata

St. Francis, one of the best loved of all the saints, saw God in all aspects of creation. The son of a wealthy family, he repudiated his heritage, and became a wandering preacher (his family tried to have him locked up because they thought he was insane). He soon had a following, which developed into the Order of St. Francis (aka the Franciscans) which emphasizes the rule of poverty, humility and evangelical freedom. In 1224, when he was deep in prayer on a mountainside, the five wounds of Christ appeared on his body. The stigmata never left him, and he suffered intense physical pain and increasing weakness from loss of blood from that time until his death in 1226.

From Quiz Saints and their Symbols I

Answer: St. Nicholas

The tradition of Christmas stockings began with the legend of St. Nicholas saving three dowerless girls from being sold into slavery by tossing three balls of gold through their window as they slept. The balls landed in their shoes, or stockings by the fire. St. Nicholas is patron of pawnbrokers, who have adopted the three golden balls as their symbol.

From Quiz When the Saints Go Marching In

Answer: Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc is usually represented in military outfit with banner, lance and sword, the "fleur de lis" being the decorative motif of her armour-suit. Jean-Marie le Pen tried to more or less annex her as a symbol for his extreme right political views. Saint Louis (Louis IX, 1214-1270) was a kind of French model king, who died when on Crusade, during a stop-over in what is now Tunisia. Saint Aubert, is a saint without "political potential". He is just the patron saint of bakers, and is represented with baker's tools, including an oven-shovel. St Genevieve (422-500) is the patron saint of Paris. She was born at Nanterre and was buried at Mont-les-Paris. During the French Revolution the Church of St Genevieve was taken over by the government. They changed it into the "Pantheon".

From Quiz Saints and Their Symbols II

Answer: St. Francis of Assisi

Francis' love for birds and animals is well-known. On one occasion, his preaching could not be heard over the chirping of some nearby birds. He spoke to the birds and promised to preach to them as well if they would cease their chatter, whereupon they fell silent. If you are puzzled about the winged crucifix, this was a vision Francis had when he received the stigmata (the wounds of Christ). In Gubbio, Francis tamed a rabid wolf which was terrorizing the village; he is often shown in its company.

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