Saints through the Ages
Some time ago I started the exercise of naming a few favorite saints, with at least one from each century. Some centuries were a little easier than others - the 16th, for example, seems to have been a great time for being a saint - but what was really exciting was to see that in every age, men and women have answered the call to love and serve God. Though we hear time and again that you can be a saint today, this list makes that proposition just a little bit easier.
1st century: St. Stephen (d. c. 33)
2nd century: St. Polycarp* (69-155)
3rd century: St. Lawrence of Rome (225-285)
4th century: St. Ambrose of Milan (340-397), St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
5th century: St. Benedict of Nursia (480-547)
6th century: St. Columba (521-597)
7th century: St. Bede the Venerable (672-735)
8th century: St. Boniface (672-754), pictured
9th century: Sts. Cyril & Methodius (827-869 and 826-885, respectively)
11th century: Sts. Robert of Molesmes (1028-1111), Alberic of Citeaux (d. 1108) and Stephen Harding (d. 1134)
12th century: St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
13th century: St. Clare of Assisi (1194-1253), pictured, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
14th century: Bl. Julian of Norwich (1342-1423)
15th century: St. Thomas More (1478-1535), pictured
16th century: St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), and St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552), St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), St. John of the Cross (1542-1591)
17th century: St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621)
18th century: Bl. Junipero Serra (1713-1784)
19th century: Ven. John Henry Newman (1801-1890), Bl. Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916)
20th century: Bl. José Sánchez del Río (1913-1928), St. Gianna Molla (1922-1962), John Paul the Great (1920-2005), pictured
"pious fictions": St. Julian the Hospitaller**
* Yes, I could have gone with Our Lady, one of the Apostles or Gospel Writers. But that kind of felt like a cop-out.
** I'm really hoping that I'll get to the Pearly Gates and find St. Julian there, confounding all the historians.
1st century: St. Stephen (d. c. 33)
2nd century: St. Polycarp* (69-155)
3rd century: St. Lawrence of Rome (225-285)
4th century: St. Ambrose of Milan (340-397), St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
5th century: St. Benedict of Nursia (480-547)
6th century: St. Columba (521-597)
7th century: St. Bede the Venerable (672-735)
8th century: St. Boniface (672-754), pictured
9th century: Sts. Cyril & Methodius (827-869 and 826-885, respectively)
10th century: St. Adelaide (931-999)
11th century: Sts. Robert of Molesmes (1028-1111), Alberic of Citeaux (d. 1108) and Stephen Harding (d. 1134)
12th century: St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
13th century: St. Clare of Assisi (1194-1253), pictured, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
14th century: Bl. Julian of Norwich (1342-1423)15th century: St. Thomas More (1478-1535), pictured
16th century: St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), and St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552), St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), St. John of the Cross (1542-1591)
17th century: St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621)
18th century: Bl. Junipero Serra (1713-1784)
19th century: Ven. John Henry Newman (1801-1890), Bl. Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916)
20th century: Bl. José Sánchez del Río (1913-1928), St. Gianna Molla (1922-1962), John Paul the Great (1920-2005), pictured
"pious fictions": St. Julian the Hospitaller**
* Yes, I could have gone with Our Lady, one of the Apostles or Gospel Writers. But that kind of felt like a cop-out.
** I'm really hoping that I'll get to the Pearly Gates and find St. Julian there, confounding all the historians.
posted by Aaron Linderman at
11:20 AM
1 Comments:
this is quite a list. for a long time i've toyed with the idea of making my own littany fo the saints, with all my favorites, and all my patrons and my families patrons. I'll have to add all of these to that list. It'll take half an hour to recite!
By
Margaret E. Perry, at 9:34 AM, June 18, 2008
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