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Fourteen Holy Helpers

1910 New Catholic Dictionary

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Saints having special power of invoking help from God in time of sickness, want, or peril. The group includes

• Saint Achatius
• Saint Barbara
• Saint Blaise
• Saint Catherine of Alexandria
• Saint Christopher
• Saint Cyriacus
• Saint Denis
• Saint Erasmus
• Saint Eustachius
• Saint George
• Saint Giles
• Saint Margaret
• Saint Pantaleon
• Saint Vitus

In various localities the Blessed Virgin or Saint Magnus are added to the list, and in some places other favorite saints are substituted for the fourteen mentioned, e.g., Saint Quirinus and Saint Pancratius. The earliest mention of the cult occurred in 1284 with reference to an altar built in honor of the Fourteen Helpers at the parish church of Krems, Austria. The veneration of these saints collectively probably arose from the religious practises of the people at the time when the Black Death was raging throughout Europe and causing great distress. Its origin is usually traced to Germany, there having appeared to the shepherd-boy of the Cistercian Abbey of Langheim in Frankenthal, 1445-1446, apparitions accompanied by the command to build a church there in honor of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. This order was executed and in 1448 the chapel was consecrated and became a place of pilgrimage; a brotherhood devoted to the cult was established, 1466, and sanctioned by Pope Paul V, 1618. The cult spread rapidly to Bohemia, Moravia, Galicia, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and America. Shrines, holy articles, hospitals, and celebrations were dedicated to these saints. In 1890 the Congregation of Rites gave permission for a Mass in their honor to be celebrated on the fourth Sunday after Easter at Langheim and also at Hammelburg in the Diocese of Würzburg, renowned for observance of the devotion.