Damaskenos Michael - Four military saints - Google Art Project

The military saints, warrior saints and soldier saints are

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

s and other

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

s associated with the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

. They were originally composed of the

early Christian Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and be ...

s who were soldiers in the

Roman army The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the W ...

during the

persecution of Christians The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point ...

, especially the Diocletianic Persecution of AD 303–313. Most of the early Christian military saints were soldiers of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

who had become Christian and, after refusing to participate in

Imperial cult An imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor or a dynasty of emperors (or rulers of another title) are worshipped as demigods or deities. "Cult (religious practice), Cult" here is used to mean "worship", not in the modern pejor ...

rituals of loyalty to the Roman Emperor, were subjected to corporal punishment including

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

and

dom. Veneration of these saints, most notably of

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

, was reinforced in the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

during the time of the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

. The title of " champion of Christ" (''athleta Christi'') was originally used for these saints, but in the

late medieval period The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

also conferred on contemporary rulers by the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

. Since the Middle Ages, more saints have been added for various military-related patronages.

Hagiography

Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

, Christian writers of

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...

, prominently including

Sulpicius Severus Sulpicius Severus (; c. 363 – c. 425) was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours. Life Almost all that we know of Se ...

in his account of the heroic, military life of

Martin of Tours Martin of Tours (; 316/3368 November 397) was the third bishop of Tours. He is the patron saint of many communities and organizations across Europe, including France's Third French Republic, Third Republic. A native of Pannonia (present-day Hung ...

, created a literary model that reflected the new spiritual, political, and social ideals of a post-Roman society. In a study of Anglo-Saxon soldier saints (Damon 2003), J. E. Damon has demonstrated the persistence of Sulpicius's literary model in the transformation of the pious, peaceful saints and willing martyrs of late antique hagiography to the Christian heroes of the early Middle Ages, who appealed to the newly converted societies led by professional warriors and who exemplified accommodation with and eventually active participation in holy wars that were considered just.

Iconography

The Military Saints are characteristically depicted as soldiers in traditional Byzantine iconography from about the 10th century (

Macedonian dynasty The Macedonian dynasty () Byzantine Empire under the Macedonian dynasty, ruled the Byzantine Empire from 867 to 1056, following the Byzantium under the Amorian dynasty, Amorian dynasty. During this period, the Byzantine state reached its greates ...

) and especially in Slavic Christianity. While early icons show the saints in "classicizing" or anachronistic attire, icons from the 11th and especially the 12th centuries, painted in the new style of ("imitating nature"), are an important source of knowledge on medieval

Byzantine military equipment The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

. The angelic prototype of the Christian soldier-saint is the

Archangel Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second ...

, whose earliest known cultus began in the 5th century with a shrine at Monte Gargano. The iconography of soldier-saints Theodore and George as cavalrymen develops in the early medieval period. The earliest image of St Theodore as a horseman (named in Latin) is from

Vinica, North Macedonia Vinica ( ) is a town in North Macedonia, in the Eastern Statistical Region of the country. The town of Vinica is the seat of Vinica Municipality. The town is located under the mountain of Plačkovica, in the southeastern part of the Kočani ...

and, if genuine, dates to the 6th or 7th century. Here, Theodore is not slaying a dragon, but holding a ''draco'' standard. Three equestrian saints, Demetrius, Theodore and George, are depicted in the "Zoodochos Pigi" chapel in central Macedonia in Greece, in the prefecture of

Kilkis Kilkis () is a city in Central Macedonia, Greece. As of 2021 there were 24,130 people living in the city proper, 27,493 people living in the municipal unit, and 45,308 in the municipality of Kilkis. It is also the capital city of the regional un ...

, near the modern village of Kolchida, dated to the 9th or 10th century.Melina Paissidou
"Warrior Saints as Protectors of the Byzantine Army in the Palaiologan Period: the Case of the Rock-cut Hermitage in Kolchida (Kilkis Prefecture)"
in: Ivanka Gergova Emmanuel Moutafov (eds.), ''ГЕРОИ • КУЛТОВЕ • СВЕТЦИ / Heroes Cults Saints'' Sofija (2015), 181-198. The "dragon-slaying" motif develops in the 10th century, especially iconography seen in the Cappadocian cave churches of Göreme, where frescoes of the 10th century show military saints on horseback confronting serpents with one, two or three heads.Paul Stephenson, ''The Serpent Column: A Cultural Biography'', Oxford University Press (2016),
179–182
In later medieval Byzantine iconography, the pair of horsemen is no longer identified as Theodore and George, but as George and Demetrius.

List

Catholic

(NB: some saints on the list remain unclassified as of 2021)

Eastern Orthodox Church

In the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the East ...

: * Michael the Archangel: protector of the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Forc ...

, and, as the patron saint of

Michael the Brave Michael the Brave ( or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593–1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711), Transylvani ...

and as the symbol of the Romanian victory in the Great War, the protector of the unity of all

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

. *

: patron of the

Romanian Land Forces The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Force ...

Saint Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and Miracle Worker (disambiguation), miracle worker who lived in the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in t ...

: patron of the Romanian Air Forces *

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

: patron of the

Romanian Naval Forces The Romanian Naval Forces () is the principal naval branch of the Romanian Armed Forces and operates in the Black Sea and on the Danube. It traces its history back to 1860. History The Romanian Navy was founded in 1860 as a river flotilla on ...

The

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

: * Michael the Archangel: military; paratroopers; policemen (including MVD Police and the Military Police), heavenly guardian of the Russian lands. * Barbara: missile servicemen including those of the

Strategic Missile Forces The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation (RVSN RF; ) is a separate combat arm of the Russian Armed Forces that controls Russia's land-based intercontinental ballistic miss ...

, the

Missile Forces and Artillery A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this u ...

and the Air Defence Forces of the Ground Forces, Air Defence of the Air Force,

Russian Space Forces The Russian Space Forces () is the space force branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces. It was reestablished following the August 1, 2015 merger between the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces, after the independent arm of s ...

and Russian Aerospace Defence Force *Saint Alexander Nevskiy: soldiers protecting Russian lands,

National Guard of Russia The Federal Service of Troops of National Guard of the Russian Federation (), officially known as the (),#Official website, Official website is a federal executive body which is responsible for law enforcement, internal security, counter-terro ...

, Spetsnaz. *Saint

Dmitry Donskoy Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy (; 12 October 1350 – 19 May 1389) was Prince of Moscow from 1359 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1363 until his death. He was the heir of Ivan II. He was the first prince of Moscow to openly challenge Mongol ...

: soldiers under the Tank Troops and all motorized rifle units *

: soldiers and all people protecting the nation, and patron saint of the city of Moscow. Also co-patron of cavalry and Tank Troops. *Saints

Alexander Peresvet Alexander or Aleksandr Peresvet (; died 8 September 1380) was a Russian Orthodox monk who fought in single combat with the Tatar champion Temir-Mirza, known in most Russian sources as Chelubey, at the opening of the Battle of Kulikovo on 8 Se ...

and Rodion Oslyabya: Radonezhskiy holy monk-warriors. *Saint Nicetas the Goth (Vesoron): Orthodox soldiers. *Saints Boris and Gleb, holy Orthodox princes of Russia: soldiers. *Saint John the Warrior: soldiers. *Saint Merkuriy of Smolensk, warrior-martyr: soldiers. *Saint Evgeniy Sevastiyskiy, warrior-martyr: soldiers. *Prince Vladimir: Patron saint of the National Guard of Russia *Saint Iliya Muromets: Patron of the Border Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation *Saint Theodore Stratelates: Orthodox soldiers. *Saint Elijah the Prophet: the

Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...

. *Saint Feodor Ushakov: the Navy, including nuclear submarines. *

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Church stems from the Gospel of Jo ...

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

(principal patron) *Holy Prophet

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...

: Russian Airborne Forces *Saint

Seraphim of Sarov Seraphim of Sarov (; – ), born Prókhor Isídorovich Moshnín (Mashnín) �ро́хор Иси́дорович Мошни́н (Машни́н) is one of the most renowned Russian saints and is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and t ...

: nuclear warhead specialists (12th GUMO) *Saint Martin of Tura: cavalry and the Tank Troops

References

*Monica White, ''Military Saints in Byzantium and Rus, 900–1200'' (2013). *Christopher Walter, '' The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition'' (2003). *Piotr Grotowski, ''Arms and Armour of the Warrior Saints: Tradition and Innovation in Byzantine Iconography (843–1261)'', Volume 87 of The Medieval Mediterranean (2010).

External links

David Woods, "The Military Martyrs"
(ucc.ie)
The Warrior Saints (iconreader.wordpress.com)
(2012)
Military Saints
Mission Capodanno website. Catholics in the Military. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
Military Blesseds
Mission Capodanno website. Catholics in the Military. Retrieved 2011-08-11. * http://kurufin.ru/html/Saints/saints-profession.html {{Catholic saints

Military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

Ante-Nicene Christian martyrs Christian iconography Byzantine art Lists of saints Military traditions Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian