Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/621

 PATRON

563

PATRON

Rome. — Rome is illustiious for churches named after its local martyrs. The most important are the basilicas of St. Peter, of St. Paul Outside the Walls, of St. Lawrence, St. Sebastian, and of St. Agnes in the Via Nomentana. Other churches have received their title from the fact of being constructed in connexion with houses belonging to the martyrs in question: St. Clement's, St. Pudentiana's, St. Alexius's, St. Cecilia's, St. Praxedes's, St. Bartholomew's, Sts. John and Paul, St. Frances's of Rome. Santa Croce recalls St. Helen ; the Domine quo vadis chapel refers to the meeting of Our Lord and St. Peter on the Appian Way ; San Pietro in Carcere is erected above the Mamer- tine prison; San Pietro in Montorio adjoins the place of St. Peter's martyrdom; San Pietro in Vincoli con- tains the actual chains with which St. Peter was bound. St. John Lateran's was first dedicated to Our Saviour, but the title was changed in the twelfth century; St. Gregory on the Coelian recalls the home of St. Gregory antl the site of the church he built in honour of St. Andrew; St. Lorenzo in Damaso re- calls its founder. Pope Damasus. There are thirty- four churches dedicated to the Mother of God, dis- tingui.shed often topographically (as Sta Maria in Via lata, or Sta Maria in Trastevere) and also in other ways (a.s Sta Maria Maggiore, so called in relation to other Roman cliuri-hes of Our Lady, Sta Maria della Pace, Sta Maria dcU'Anima, etc.). The formal dedi- cations to God consist of Trinit^, dei Pellegrini, Tri- nita dei Monti, S. Spirito in Sassia, S. Salvatore in Lauro, S. Salvatore in Thermis, and the Gesu. There are no dedications to the Angels nor (until recently) to St. Joseph, the Sacred Heart, All Saints, or All Souls. In a few instances titulars occur more than once: Lawrence, 6; Peter, 4; Paul, Andrew, Charles, John, Nicholas, 3 each (see Rome).

England. — St. Augustine and his companions brought with them to England the Roman customs and traditions respecting the naming and dedication of churches. Altars were consecrated with the ashes of the martyrs. One of the earliest dedication prayers of the Anglo-Saxon Church runs thus: "Tibi, sancta Dei genitrix, virgo Maria (vel tibi, sancte J. B. Do- mini, . . . vel martyres Christi, vel confessores Domini) tibi commendamus hanc curam templi hujus, quod consecravimus Domino Deo nostro, ut hie inter- cessor existas; preces et vota offerentium hie Domino Deo offeras; odoramenta orationum plebis . . . adpatris thronumconferas",etc. (Lingard, "The His- tory and Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church", II, 40). Among the titulars of the Anglo-Saxon period are found: Christ Church (Canterbury), St. Mary's de Comeliis, St. Mary's of Huntingdon, and of Lym- ing, All Hallows (Lincoln), Peter (to whom the greater part of the Anglo-Saxon churches were dedicated), Peter and Paul (Canterbury), Paul (Jarrow), Andrew (Rochester), Martin (near Canterbury), Pancratius (Canterbury). Accepting the figures of F. A. Foster in her "Stuclies in Church Dedications", and with- out drawing a line between pre-Reformation and post-Reformation English churches (not now Cath- olic), we get the following enumeration of titulars: Christ 373, Holy Cross or Holy Rood 83, Michael, or Michael the Archangel, or St. Michael and the Angels 721 (one in six of the churches, ancient and modern, now attached to the Eslablislicd Church hears the name of Our Lady or one of her lilies, flic total being 2162, and the proportion in prc-Rcforniation times was still larger), John Baptist, .570; Peter, 936; Peter and Paul, 277; Paul, 329; Holy Innocents, 15; Helen, 117; Augustine of Canterbury, 57; Thomas of Canter- bury, 70 ; Nicholas, 397 ; Lawrence, 228. The Catholic Church in England at the present time has shown the same .spirit of conservatism and of independence which is everywhere manifested in the choice of patrons. Among the cliii^f of the 170 dedications to God of the churches and chapels (not counting religious houses,

colleges, or institutions), the numbers are: Holy Trin- ity, 16; Holy Cross, 15; Sacred Heart, 90. Consecra- tions in honour of the Blessed Virgin maintain their ancient pre-eminence, reaching a total of 374. The simple designation of St. Mary's is the most frequent appellation. The form "Our Lady" occurs usually in combination with other titles. Among the numerous sjX'cial titles are the following: Immaculate Concep- tion, ur Lady of Sorrows, Help of Christians, Star of tlie Sea, Assumption, Our Lady of the Rosary. One church only bears the title of the Transfiguration, and one only is distinguished by each of the following titles: Our Lady of Refuge, of England, of Pity, of Paradise, of Reparation, of Reconciliation, Spouse of the Holy Ghost, Most Pure Heart of Mary. The angels are not favoured, Michael standing almost alone, but with 38 dedications. St. John Baptist has 20, while the name of Joseph appears as titular in no fewer than 145 churches. Apostles and Evangelists reach a total of 153 : Peter leads the way with 43; the Beloved Disciple counts his 30, Peter and Paul follow with 17. Each of the remaining Apostles has at least 2 churches under his invocation, except Matthias, Barnabas, and Mark, who have but 1. Among the mal<- saints: Anthony of Padua, Charles, Edward, ICdmund, George, and Richard have each between 10 and 20; but Patrick, with 46, heads the list; then follow Augustine 22, Benedict 19, Cuthbert 18, and Francis of Assisi 21. A special interest attaches to names which occur but once, for frequently they are dedications to a local saint, as in the instances of Birinus (Dorchester), Dubritius (Treforest), Gwladys (Newport, Mon.), la (St. Ives), Neot (Liseard), Oswin (Tynemouth), Prian (Truro), Teilo (Tenby), Simon Stock (Faversham), Frideswide (Abingdon), and Walstan (Cossey). Noth- ing could have been more appropriate than the saints' names selected in the northern dioceses correspond- ing with the ancient Northumbria. There we meet with dedications to Aidan, Bede, Bennet, Columba, Cuthbert, Ninian, Hilda, Oswald, etc. Among the female saints Anne, the mother of Our Lady, occupies a position of eminence with 30 churches, Winefrid ranks next with 10, and Catherine follows with 8. The Saxon virgins and widows are honoured in the localities which they hallowed by their saintly lives, thus: Begh (Northumbria) ; Etheldreda (Ely); Hilda (Whitby); Mildred (Minster); Modwena (Burton- on-Trent); Osberg (Coventry); Wereburg (Chester); Winefrid (Holywell).

Scotland. — Celtic and Medieval. — In the days of the Picts, St. Peter was held in preference, from a. d. 710 when Roman usages were adopted, but Andrew claimed the greater number of dedications from the time his relics had been brought to the coast by St. Regulus. As instances of double titulars, native and foreign, the following may be taken: St. Mary and St. Mancliar (ld Aberdeen); St. Mary and St. Boniface; Sts. Mary and Peter; Madrustus and John Baptist; Stephen and Moanus. In pre-Reformation times Holy Trinity occurred less frequently than in England; the Holy Ghost is met with three times; many churches bore the title of Christ (Kilchrist, Kildomine); Holy Blood and IIolv Rood are found in several instances. A ch.tpcl styled "Teampull-Cro-Naomh" (Temple of the Holy Heart) once stood on the shore at Gauslan in Lews. Numerous churches bore Our Lady's name (Lady Kirk) ; the Assumption is found as early as 1290, and a church is de<licated to Our Ladv of Loreto in 15.30. Many churches had St. Michael forpatron (Kil- michael). St. Anne is the titular in several places, and an altar to the Thiec Kin^s existed in almost every church. St. Joseph is nowhere found as a church titu- lar, though he held t Ik p. isit ion of joint titular of an al- tar in 1518. The ])rcs<'nt day. — The choice of titulars in the Catholic churches of Scotland at the present time displays the same twofold direction that we find elsewhere; the honour of the saints of Scotland and of