The Righteous Made Perfect
Approaching the History and Theology of the Cult of the Saints
“God is wonderful in his saints: the God of Israel is he who will give power and strength to his people. Blessed be God.”
[Ps 67:36 LXX]
“Behold…he comes, to be glorified by his saints and to be marvelled at on that day among all who have believed”
[2 Thess 1:10.]
The concept of a cultus sanctorum or ‘cult of the saints’ sparks varying reactions from different groups of people. Usually, it refers to practices such as prayers to the saints, veneration of the saints, and the keeping and veneration of their relics. In some places it is viewed as ‘Catholic ’ with little scriptural grounds, and to be avoided at all costs, while in others, it is something that Christians have always known and practiced, and thus have thought little about its implications.
But what do I make of it?
The Cult of the Saints
Well firstly, ‘cult’ of the saints does not mean what most modern people think of when they hear the word ‘cult’. Rather, cultus in Latin, carries the notion of ‘devotion’, and while this can pertain to worship, in the case of the saints, we are more referring to the concept of devotion to them, rather than worship of them.
Historically speaking, most scholars affirm a relatively early date for the ‘cult of the saints’ as it is present within Christianity today, stating that it “came to prominence in the fourth century” though “important elements of the cult can be traced through the first three centuries.”1
The concept was not of a distinctly Christian origin, but was rather assumed within the culture of the time.2 Practices common to the early veneration of the saints, such as annual visitations to the deceased’s tomb, along with festive meals and the of addressing the souls of the dead with prayers and supplications, were also representative of Hellenic and Roman religion and society.3 While some may find the presence of such practices in the Church concerning, perhaps representative of an early Gentile corruption of the Jewish roots of the faith, it is important to note that in the Second Temple period, similar customs were attested in Judaism. The careful treatment and veneration of the remains of the deceased was common in Jewish funerary custom, along with an understanding of the intercessory role of some figures, such as Moses, or Elijah. Indeed, as we shall see throughout the evidence discussed in this article, the concepts at the heart of the Christian cult of the saints have much more of their origins in the Church’s Jewish roots, then in the Greco-Roman culture the Church found herself imbedded in.
Made Like the Angels
Let’s begin by defining our terminology.
With regards to ‘saints’, the English noun is derived from the Latin sanctus, used to render both the Hebrew קָדוֹשׁ ‘qadosh’ and the Greek ἅγιος ‘agios’ both of which mean ‘holy’. The terms are descriptive of both objects and persons. God is ‘holy’, and all ‘holy’ things derive their holiness from their proximity to God. Thus, the angels around the throne of God are described as ‘holy ones’ (Ps 89:5-7; Dan 7:18-22), for they behold the holiness of God, covering their faces in reverence and crying the thrice holy hymn ‘Holy, holy, holy’ (Isa 6:1-3). So too are physical objects and people when they come into contact with the holiness of God. Exodus and Leviticus are full of things and persons that are described as ‘holy’ before the Lord; the burning bush (Exod 3:5), the mountain of God (Exod 19: 23) and later, the tabernacle itself (Exod 29:43). The show bread (Lev 24:5–9) altar (Exod 29:37) and incense (Exod 30:34-38). The priests (Lev 21:6) and their vestments (Exod 28:2), are all “holy before the Lord”. Indeed, God commands all of his people to “be holy, as I the LORD your God, am holy” (Lev 11:44-45, 19:2, 20:7; cf. 1 Pet 1:16).
There is thus a participatory link between the holiness of God and the holiness of those in service to him, which leads us to the concept of the exaltation or glorification of the saints. First attributed to the angels and priests (who are mirrors of each other) these ideas are later used to refer to glorified, indeed, deified humans. Christ himself likens the righteous to the angels when he states:
“For when they rise from the dead, [the righteous] shall be made like the angels in heaven, neither marrying nor being given in marriage.”
[Mark 12:25]
Likewise the prophet Daniel links astral and fire imagery, strongly associated with the angels (Exod 3:2; Ps 104:4; Job 38:7; Isa 6:2-34 Ezek 1:13:14; Dan 8:10), with the glorification of the righteous:
“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”
[Daniel 12:2-3]
Such an understanding is only strengthened by the theology of the incarnation. As God has taken on the form of humnaity, so too may humnaity partake of the divine nature5, as St Peter affirms (1 Pet 2:4). Likewise, St Paul, on several occasions refers to the glorification of the saints (Rom 8:23; 1 Cor 15:50-54; Phil 3:20-21; Col 3:4) which is a product of the salvific work of Christ. Indeed, Christ himself indicates that:
“the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
[Matt 13:43.]
Adding to this are accounts of the ascension of humans into heaven, a process which is synonymous with their glorification. Both Enoch and Elijah were μετατίθημι ‘taken up’ bodily into heaven (Gen 5:24; 2 Kgs 2:11; Sir 44:16; Heb 11:5; ). No shortage of Second Temple literature was written expounding upon their glorification among the angels (2 Enoch, Apocalypse of Elijah). It is likely that they are the ‘two witnesses’ mention in St John’s Apocalypse, who are raised and ascend once more into heaven:
“…after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and those who saw them were terrified. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud while their enemies watched them.”
[Rev 11:11-13.]
These accounts, particularly that of Elijah, have striking similarities with the apotheosis of figures such as Herakles (the heavenly chariot included) and Romulus in Greco-Roman mythology.6 Of course, Christ himself also, following his resurrection, was ‘taken up’ into heaven (Lk 24:52; Acts 1:9), which serves as the model for all the saints.
These concepts of the deification of human reach their zenith within the early Christian understandings of the participation of the saints in Christ’s death. Many, if not all of the earliest saints were martyrs [the apostles of the Lord, and many of their disciples] and for their confession, were counted among the ranks of the angels, and who through their deaths, bore witness μαρτύριον ‘marturion’ to the death and resurrection of Christ. This death was synonymous with their glorification, as we read in Wisdom of Solomon:
….even if they are punished in the sight of people, their hope is full of immortality; having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good because God tested them and found them worthy of himself.
He tested them like gold in a smelting furnace, and he received them like a whole burnt offering of sacrifice.
And in the time of their examination they will shine out, and they will run around like sparks in straw. They will judge nations, and they will rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them ⌊forever⌋
[Wisdom 3:4-8.]
Of course, the most apparent example of this is the account of the ‘proto-martyr’ St Stephen, who is described upon his death at the hands of the Jewish leaders as “having the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15).
The answer to the question ‘what is a saint’ is thus found within this conceptualisation of holiness and glory, and humanity’s participation in it both in life, and particularly, in death. When we refer to ‘saints’ typically, we are referring to holy individuals who have obtained the glory of Christ in both their lives and their passing into death - though this “falling asleep” in Christ (1 Thess 4:14), is the affirmation of their enduring life in him, the eternal son of the Father who is “not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matt 22:32) [more on the ramifications of this later].
We are all ‘saints’, for we all, as St Paul explains, “are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Co 1:2). Yet there are also individuals, great prophets, martyrs, confessors, etc. who in their example have become recognised by the Church as exceptional examples of this calling.
Intercession of the Saints
The portrait of the ‘saints’ or ‘holy ones’ is thus apparent across scripture. However, when we turn to the intercessions of the saints, this concept can seen a little less desirable, or indeed, even necessary. Yet it is important to note that this, as we shall also see in our discussion on relics, flows quite natural from our above discussion on the glorification of the saints. Nevertheless, one may often here the Protestant rebuttal of necromancy levelled at this practice. The logic is quite straightforward - the saints are dead, and talking to the dead, conjuring them, asking them things, is condemned in the Torah (Deut 18:10-12; Lev 19:31). Take, for example, the infamous episode of King Saul and the witch of Endor, who brought up the Prophet Samuel, who famously said to the desperate king:
“Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? Why do you ask of me?”
[1 Sam 28:15.]
What’s more, why have Christians need of any other mediator but Christ? Indeed, St Paul seems to state quite clearly,
“there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus…”
[1 Tim 2:5].
These are fair rebuttals. I shall leave the understanding of the saints as ‘dead’ aside for now, in order to first demonstrate that the concept of heavenly mediators between humanity and God was in fact not invented by Christianity. When we turn to the practices of Second Temple Judaism in the time of Jesus, we find far more warrant to these later Christian practices than we might assume. Indeed, while not present in the Greco-Roman hero-cults, Judaism had a long history of just such a concept. In many texts, for example, the angels themselves are viewed as intercessors (3 Bar. 11.4, 9; 12.5; 15.2–3; 1 En. 15;5; 40:6) As we explored in our first section, the righteous are made ‘like the angels’, and thus, just as the angels are understood to intercede for the people of God, so too do the saints in glory:
I saw another vision—the dwellings of the holy ones, and the resting places of the righteous. There my eyes saw their dwellings with his righteous angels and their resting places with the holy ones. And they were petitioning and interceding and were praying for the sons of men. And righteousness was flowing like water before them, and mercy like dew upon the earth; thus it is among them forever and ever.
[1 En 39:4-5]
4 Ezra combines the concept of the glorification of the saints with their intercessions:
“The faces of those who practiced abstinence shall shine more than the stars… shall they intercede for the sins of those on earth?”
[4 Ezra 7:97, 103]
2 Baruch notes how the patriarchs of Israel pray for the nation and it’s leadership:
“Have not the righteous prayed continually on behalf of us to the Mighty One?
And the Mighty One has heard the prayer of the righteous, and has appointed me to lead them again.”[2 Baruch 85:1-2]
In the Testament of Abraham, Abraham functions as an intercessor for sinners (cf. Gen 18:16-33)
And Abraham said “Come, let us offer prayers on behalf of the souls of the sinners.’”
[Test. Ab. 14:5-6]
We encounter attestations to the prayers of Old Testament prophets such Elijah and Moses who have an ongoing intercessory role for the people of Israel:
“How glorious you were, Elijah, in your marvellous deeds! Whose glory is like yours?
You, who was taken up in a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot of fiery horses, who reproofs at proper times to calm the wrath before the anger, and to turn the heart of a father to a son, and to set the tribes of Jacob in order.”
[Sir 48:4,9–10.]
There is also the fascinating account of the appearance of the prophet Jeremiah to Judas Maccabaeus:
“…a man appeared in this manner: He excelled in old age and honor, and the dignity about him was a certain wonder and glory. And responding, Onias [the high-priest] said, “This is one who loves his kin, Jeremiah, the prophet of God, who prays much for the people and the holy city.” Then, stretching forth his right hand, Jeremiah gave a golden sword to Judas and, while giving it, he spoke as follows: “Take this holy sword, a gift from God, by which you will smite your enemies.”
[2 Mac 15:13–16.]
Note that Jeremiah is called “the prophet of God who prays much for the people and the holy city.” Political propaganda? Perhaps. But what this narrative shows is that the concept of the ongoing life of the prophets and their intercessory role, indeed, their active role in watching over Israel did not stop with their deaths. Even if one is not inclined to take this account literally it nevertheless attests to the common held understanding of second temple Jews that the prophets were indeed alive and active and watching over Israel.
These concepts are also clear in the NT concepts of the saints. Moses and Elijah appear alongside Christ at his Transfiguration (Matt 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36). In the Apocalypse of St John, the righteous elders around the throne are depicted holding bowls of incense, which are the “prayers of the saints” (Rev 5:8). The martyrs around the throne cry out to God (Rev 6:9-11), and it is particularly this place of the martyrs that is key to their central role in the concept of saintly intercession. As Brown notes, “[the martyrs] intimacy with God [through their deaths] was the sin qua non of their ability to intercede for and to protect their fellow mortals”7
As such, many early writers attributed the words of Psalm 33:16 to the intercession of the saints:
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears listen to their entreaty.
[Ps 33:16.]8
And a similar understanding was associated with the words of St James:
“The fervent prayers of a righteous man availeth much…”
[James 5:16 KJV. ]
The logic is obvious here. The martyrs, and indeed, the saints in general, are those who have entered into the glory of the Lord and behold him with unveiled faces (2 Cor 3:18), they are “the righteous made perfect in faith” (Heb 12:23) and who have received the admonition “well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master” (Mt 25:23) from the Lord. Why would the saints on earth not ask for their prayers? If indeed, they are praying for us, as the above discussion shows, then whose prayers would be more effective, more than those of the saints in glory?
Relics
The practice of keeping and venerating relics is by far the most strange for modern people, particularly Protestants. There is a fundamental aversion to what seems an archaic and disturbing practice. The label of ‘necromancy’ regarding the invocation of the saints seems all the more confirmed by the ancient Christian practice of keeping and venerating parts or items (the word ‘relic’ being derived from the Latin reliquiae ‘fragment’) of deceased saints. This is perhaps strengthened by traditional Jewish attitude towards dead bodies - that of impurity and uncleanliness, particularly with regards to the Israelite conception of sacred space;
“All who touch a corpse, the body of a human being who has died, and do not purify themselves, defile the tabernacle of the Lord; such persons shall be cut off from Israel. Since water for cleansing was not dashed on them, they remain unclean; their uncleanness is still on them.”
[Num 19:13.]
Such views regarding the pollutive nature of corpses and death were shared by their Greco-Roman contemporaries, whose sprawling necropolises were strictly relegated outside the walls of cities, and who viewed the Christians as those who:
“collected the bones and skulls of criminals…made them out to be gods and thought to better themselves by defil[ing themselves] at their tombs”
[Eunapius of Sardis, Vita Sophia, 472.]9
Yet within Christianity, very early on it would seem, there was a deliberate reversal of such perspectives. As Mayer’s notes, “[in response] a distinct theology of relics and the resurrection arose, which held that relics neither made a place impure nor had a neutral impact, but in fact purified the place where they resided, a reversal of traditional beliefs which paved the way for the placement of relics initially inside places of worship and ultimately within churches located inside city precincts”10. Christianity did what it normally did, and subverting cultural expectations, brought those things relegated to the periphery, in this case, the bones of the dead, from the outskirts of the city, to the very heart of the place of worship.11
Akin to the practice of invocation, we find at least some scriptural weight for the conceptualisation of relics. Consider the peculiar pericope which concludes the Elisha narrative. Soon after reading of the prophets death, the narrator informs us:
So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. As a man was being buried, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha; as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he came to life and stood on his feet.
[2 Kgs 13:20–21.]
While this text may not distinctively describe or support the theology of relics as it is understood within the Church, it certainly does portray an Old Testament attestation to the miraculous properties of the relics of the prophets. A concept which seems to lie behind the petition found in Sirach 49:10 that:
“…the bones of the twelve prophets may raise new life from their place.”
[Sir 49:10.]
Such Old Testament shadows, concerned as they are with ‘new life’ and ‘resurrection’ help us to understand how the theological innovations surrounding the relics of the martyrs can no doubt be traced to the Christian concepts of the resurrection of Christ and the defeat of death. Rather than representing death and decay, the remains of the saints were a sign of victory, a powerful representation of the power of God in his saints on earth. As Mayer’s notes “the martyr’s relics were not a grim reminder of death (memento mori) but rather a triumphal expression of death’s suppression. Whereas the fetid smell of death hung around ordinary bones, those of the martyr exhaled the sweet smell of sanctity.” The bones of the martyrs are thus akin to the fragrant spices and aloes of Eden. The reality of Christ who defeated the grave in the midst of the garden (John 19:41), transforms the spices for burial into the aroma of paradise itself (Song 4:14–15). Through the resurrection of Christ, the bones of the saints, just like the bones of the twelve prophets, may indeed “bring new life form their place”.
As far as the practice of preserving relics within the Church may be traced as early as the first to second centuries. The Martyrdom of Polycarp attests that:
And so we finally took away his bones, more precious than costly stones and honored more than gold. We deposited them in a fitting place. There, according to our ability, having come together in exultation and joy, the Lord will grant us to commemorate the birthday of his martyrdom, both for the memory of those who have already competed and of those who are about to compete; both those in training and those in preparation.
[Martyrdom of Polycarp 18:2-3.]
The importance of the relics was tied up with concepts of the presence of the saint themselves. Indeed, as God is “not the god of the dead, but the living” (Mark 12:27), the saint is understood to be truly present within their remains. St Gregory of Nyssa attests to this understanding when he notes how:
“those who behold them [the relics] embrace, as it were, the living body in full flower: they bring eye, mouth, ear, all the sense into play, and then, shedding tears of reverence and passion, they address to the martyr their prayers of intercession as though he were present…”
[St Gregory of Nyssa, Ecomium on Saint Theodore 46.]12
Eventually, the relics of the saints would not only be kept and held within the precincts of the city and even in the church, but would come to be placed within the very sanctuary itself within the altar. Our earliest attestation to this practice comes from the Letters of St Ambrose in AD 380, who, upon his discovery of the relics of Sts Gervasius and Protasius, interned them in the altar with the words:
“Let these triumphant victims be brought to the place where Christ is the victim. But He upon the altar, Who suffered for all; they beneath the altar, who were redeemed by His Passion.”
[St Ambrose Letter 22, 13.]
This practice seems to have stemmed from the practice of celebrating the eucharist upon the graves of the martyrs, perhaps in the catacombs.13 The practice became so wide spread, that St Jerome could later claim that:
“the graves [of Peter and Paul] are held to be altars of Christ”
[St Jerome, Contra Vigilantum 8.]14
In this, it seems that the real presence of the saints in their relics becomes associated with the real presence of Christ at the altar. In being interned in the altar, the relics of the martyrs continue to bare witness to the mystery of Christ, who is ‘glorified in his saints’ (Ps 67:36) at the heart of the Church’s worship.
In this, the words of St Paul to the Hebrews were made vividly clear in the worship of the church among the relics of the saints. They had come “to the heavenly Jerusalem, to innumerable angels in festal gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, the spirits of the righteous made perfect,” (Heb 12:22-23) and were joining the heavenly worship of the angels and the saints, glorifying the Father and the Spirit, and Jesus Christ, the mediator of the new covenant.
Conclusion
While this article can by no means serve as a decisive answer to the question of the cult of the saints, I hope that it at least shows that the concept not only has a reasonable Scriptural basis and historical data to establish it, but it also confirms and strengthens many Christian doctrines concerning the salvific work of Jesus Christ.
The saints are sanctified through him, glorified with him, and intercede with him for our sake. While Christ alone is the one true mediator between the Father and humnaity, the role of the saints is not unimportant, rather, like the angels, they serve the heavenly liturgy, pray for the saints on earth, and glorify the Lord of glory. Furthermore, in their remains, the first fruits of the resurrection are manifest. Death has indeed “lost its sting” and the fragrance of Eden wafts from the staleness of the tombs, bringing the “new life” of Christ, who is the firstborn of the dead.
It is no wonder then, that the cult of the saints has served to enrich the Church from her earliest days and continues to show forth the wonder of the God who is “glorified in his saints”, and is alive and active through them unto ages of ages.
From Wendy Mayer’s introduction in her edition; St John Chrysostom , The Cult of the Saints PPS Vol. 31 (New York: St Vladimir’s Seminary, 2006), 8.
As Mayer’s states, it was “a process of the adoption and transformation of a number of related concepts and practices that already existed in the ancient Mediterranean world”, Chrysostom , The Cult of the Saints , 8.
Mayer’s highlights particularly the practice of “sleeping overnight in a healing shrine. In response, [to the healing]. votive offerings in the shape of the healed body part were left at the shrine.” This is still observed in Eastern Orthodoxy, where one can find small metal body parts linked on chains around icons of the Mother of God or any other healing saint. Duffy attests to this same practice as common at Western Pilgrimage sites during the Middle Ages; Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, 1400-1580. (), .
There is debate as to whether the Seraphim constitute ‘fiery’ angels. Certainly, the Patristic witness supports this (Pseudo-Dionysius Celestial Hierarchy . 7; St. John of Damascus The Orthodox Faith II.3). Though it should be noted that the link between the verb (burn) and the noun (serpent) is equally likely.
As is the logic of St Athanasius’ famous saying “God became man that man may become god” (On The Incarnation, 53.4.)
Scholars, such as David Eastwood, have identified ties between the roots of the cult of the saints and Greco-Roman hero cults, particularly with regards to the apotheosis or deification of figures such as Theseus, Romulus and Herakles. Though others, such as Brown, have cautioned against oversimplify the similarities. As Brown retorts “to explain the Christian cult of the martyrs as a continuation of the pagan cult of heroes helps as little as to reconstruct the form and function of a late-antique Christian basilica from the few columns and capitals from classical buildings that are occasionally incorporated in its arcades,” Peter Brown, The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity. (London: University of Chicago, 1981), 6.
Brown, The Cult of the Saints, 6.
Brown, The Cult of the Saints, 6.
Brown, The Cult of the Saints, 7.
Chrysostom , The Cult of the Saints , 9.
Brown, The Cult of the Saints, 5.
Brown, The Cult of the Saints, 11.
See particularly the many invitatory inscriptions to Sts Peter and Paul found throughout Catacombs of St Sebastian in Rome.
Brown, The Cult of the Saints, 9.