Folk saint

Gauchito Gil (left) and San La Muerte (right), two examples of Argentine folk saints

Folk saints are dead people or other spiritually powerful entities (such as indigenous spirits) venerated as saints, but not officially canonized. Since they are saints of the "folk", or the populus, they are also called popular saints. Like officially recognized saints, folk saints are considered intercessors with God, but many are also understood to act directly in the lives of their devotees.

Frequently, their actions in life as well as in death distinguish folk saints from their canonized counterparts: official doctrine would consider many of them sinners and false idols. Their ranks are filled by folk healers, indigenous spirits, and folk heroes. Folk saints occur throughout the Catholic world, and they are especially popular in Latin America, where most have small followings; a few are celebrated at the national or even international level.

Origins[]

In the pre-Christian Abrahamic tradition, the prophets and holy people who were honored with shrines were identified by popular acclaim rather than official designation. In fact, the Islamic counterparts of the Christian saints, associated most closely with Sufism, are still identified this way.^[1] Early Christians followed in the same tradition when they visited the shrines of martyrs to ask for intercession with God.

Thus, there is a long tradition for the veneration of unofficial saints, and modern folk saints continue to reach popularity in much the same way as ever. Tales of miracles or good works performed during the person's life are spread by word of mouth, and, according to anthropologist Octavio Ignacio Romano, "if exceptional fame is achieved, it may happen that after his [or her] death the same cycle of stories told during life will continue to be repeated."^[2] Popularity is likely to increase if new miracles continue to be reported after death. Hispanic studies professor Frank Graziano explains:

[M]any folk devotions begin through the clouding of the distinction between praying for and praying to a recently deceased person. If several family members and friends pray at someone's tomb, perhaps lighting candles and leaving offerings, their actions arouse the curiosity of others. Some give it a try—the for and the to begin intermingling—because the frequent visits to the tomb suggest that the soul of its occupant may be miraculous. As soon as miracles are announced, often by family members and friends, newcomers arrive to send up prayers, now to the miraculous soul, with the hope of having their requests granted.^[3]

This initial rise to fame follows much the same trajectory as that of the official saints. Professor of Spanish Kathleen Ann Myers writes that Rose of Lima, the first canonized American saint, attracted "mass veneration beginning almost at the moment of the mystic's death." Crowds of people appeared at her funeral, where some even cut off pieces of her clothing to keep as relics. A lay religious movement quickly developed with Rosa de Lima at the center but she was not officially canonized until half of a century later.^[4] In the meantime, she was essentially a folk saint.

As the Church spread, it became more influential in regions that celebrated deities and heroes that were not part of Catholic tradition. Many of those figures were incorporated into a local variety of Catholicism: the ranks of official saints then came to include a number of non-Catholics or even fictional persons. Church leaders made an effort in 1969 to purge such figures from the official list of saints, though at least some probably remain. Many folk saints have their origins in this same mixing of Catholic traditions and local cultural and religious traditions. To distinguish canonized saints from folk saints, the latter are sometimes called animas or "spirits" instead of saints.

Local character[]

Folk saints tend to come from the same communities as their followers. In death, they are said to continue as active members of their communities, remaining embedded within a system of reciprocity that reaches beyond the grave. Devotees offer prayers to the folk saints and present them with offerings, and folk saints repay the favors by dispensing small miracles. Many folk saints inhabit marginalized communities, the needs of which are more worldly than others; they therefore frequently act in a more worldly, more pragmatic, less dogmatic fashion than their official counterparts.^[5] Devotion to folk saints, then, frequently takes on a distinctly local character, a result of the syncretic mixing of traditions and the particular needs of the community.

The contrast between the manner in which Latin American and European folk saints are said to intercede in the lives of their followers provides a good illustration. In Western Europe, writes anthropologist and religious historian William A. Christian, "the more pervasive influence of scientific medicine, the comparative stability of Western European governments and above all, the more effective presence of the institutional Church" have meant that unofficial holy people generally work within established doctrine. Latin American holy persons, on the other hand, often stray much further from official canon. Whereas European folk saints serve merely as messengers of the divine, their Latin American counterparts frequently act directly in the lives of their devotees.^[6]

During the Counter-Reformation in Europe, the Council of Trent released a decree "On the Invocation, Veneration, and Relics, of Saints, and on Sacred Images," which explained that in Roman Catholic doctrine images and relics of the saints are to be used by worshipers to help them contemplate the saints and the virtues that they represent but that those images and relics do not actually embody the saints. In the same way, folk saints in Europe are seen as intermediaries between penitents and the divine but are not considered powerful in and of themselves. A shrine may be built "that becomes the location for the fulfillment of the village's calendrical obligations and critical supplications to the shrine image—the village's divine protector," Christian writes, but "in this context the shrine image and the site of its location are of prime importance; the seer merely introduces it, and is not himself or herself the focal point of the worship."^[7]

In pre-Columbian Mesoamerican tradition, on the other hand, representation meant embodiment of these holy figures rather than mere resemblance, as it did in Europe.^[8] Thus, pre-Hispanic Mexican and Central American images were understood to actually take on the character and spirit of the deities they represented, a perspective that was considered idolatry by European Catholics. As the inheritors of this tradition, folk saints of the region often are seen to act directly in the lives of their devotees rather than serving as mere intermediaries, and they are themselves venerated. Visitors frequently treat the representations of folk saints as real people, observing proper etiquette for speaking to a socially superior person or to a friend depending on the spirit's disposition—shaking hands, or offering it a cigarette or a drink.

The popularity of a particular folk saint also depends on the changing dynamics and needs of the community over time. The popular devotion to Yevgeny Rodionov provides an example. Rodionov was a Russian soldier who was killed by rebels in Chechnya after he reportedly refused to renounce his religion or remove a cross he wore around his neck. He is not recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church as an official saint, yet within a few years of his death he had gained a popular following: his image appeared in homes and churches around Russia, his hometown started drawing pilgrims, and he began to receive prayers and requests for intercession. Rodionov became a favorite folk saint for soldiers and came to represent Russian nationalism at a time of conflict when the country was still reeling from the dissolution of the Soviet Union. As one journalist observed in 2003, his death and transition into the role of a folk saint served "to fill a nationalist hunger for popular heroes" when heroes were sorely needed.^[9]

Devotions[]

A devotee might visit the shrine of a folk saint for any number of reasons, including general requests for good health and good luck, the lifting of a curse, or protection on the road, but most folk saints have specialties for which their help is sought. Difunta Correa, for example, specializes in helping her followers acquire new homes and businesses. Juan Bautista Morillo helps gamblers in Venezuela, and Juan Soldado watches over border crossings between Mexico and the United States.^[10] This practice is not so different from that of canonized saints—St. Benedict, for example, is the patron saint of agricultural workers—but it would be hard to find a canonized saint to look after narcotics traffickers, as does Jesús Malverde. In fact, a number of folk saints attract devotees precisely because they respond to requests that the official saints are unlikely to answer. As Griffith writes, "One needs ask for help where the help is likely to be effective."^[11] So long as followers come before them with faith and perform the proper devotions, some folk saints are as willing to place a curse on a person as to lift one.

An offering to a folk saint might include the same votive candles and ex-votos (tributes of thanks) left at the shrines to canonized saints, but they also frequently include other items that reflect something of the spirit's former life or personality. Thus, Difunta Correa, who died of thirst, is given bottles of water; Maximón and the spirit of Pancho Villa are both offered cigarettes and alcohol; teddy bears and toys are left at the tomb of a little boy called Carlitos in a cemetery in Hermosillo, Mexico. Likewise, prayers to folk saints are often paired with or incorporate aspects of the Rosary but (as with many canonized saints) special petitions have been composed for many of them, each prayer evoking the particular characteristics of the saint being addressed. Other local or regional idiosyncrasies also creep in. In parts of Mexico and Central America, for example, the aromatic resin copal is burned for the more syncretic spirits like Maximón, a practice that has its roots in the offerings made to indigenous deities.

As long as the spirits come through for their followers, devotees will return. Word of mouth spreads news of cures and good fortune, and particularly responsive spirits are likely to gain a large following. Not all remain popular, however. While official saints remain canonized regardless of their popularity, folk saints that lose their devotees through their failure to respond to petitions might fade from memory entirely.

Relationship with the Catholic Church[]

In areas where the Catholic Church has greater power, it maintains more control over the devotional lives of its members. Thus, in Europe, folk devotions that are encouraged by the Church are quickly institutionalized, while those that are discouraged usually die out or continue only at reduced levels.^[12] For similar reasons, folk saints are more often venerated in poor and marginalized communities than in affluent ones. Nor are folk saints found in shrines to the canonical saints, though the reverse is often true: it is not uncommon for a folk saint's shrine to be decorated with images of other folk saints as well as members of the official Catholic communion. Shrines in the home, too, frequently include official and unofficial saints together. Graziano explains:

Catholicism is not so much abandoned as expanded [by folk practitioners]; it is stretched to encompass exceptional resources. Whereas Catholicism ... defends a distinction between canonical and non-canonical or orthodox and heterodox, folk devotion intermingles these quite naturally and without reserve.^[13]

List of folk saints by country[]

Picture	Name	Died	Countries of Devotion	Shrine	Patronage	Notes
	Taira no Masakado	940	Japan	Masakado-zuka, Otemachi, Tokyo, Japan		Japanese provincial magnate and samurai
	Catherine of Aragon	1536	Spain  United Kingdom  Italy  France	Peterborough Cathedral, Peterborough, England		First wife of King Henry VIII; mother of Queen Mary I of England
	Guaicaipuro	1568	Venezuela			Venezuelan chief of both the Teques and Caracas tribes
	Miguel de Ayatumo	1609	Philippines	San Pedro Apostol Church, Loboc, Bohol, Philippines		Filipino Jesuit seminarian
	Amakusa Shirō	1638	Japan			Japanese Catholic samurai and revolutionary
	Difunta Correa	1840s	Argentina  Chile  Uruguay	Vallecito, Argentina	cattle herders, ranches, truck driver, gauchos	Argentine mother found dead with a baby
	Apolinario de la Cruz (known as Hermano Pule)	1841	Philippines	Tayabas, Quezon, Philippines	Cofradía de San José, religious freedom, peace, native Filipinos	Filipino religious leader and revolutionary
	Jean Marie Villars	1868	United States		financial problems, good health, fortune, finding lost things, murder victims	French-American priest in Indiana
	Gauchito Gil	1878	Paraguay  Chile  Argentina  Brazil	Sanctuary of Gauchito Gil, Pay Ubre, Mercedes, Corrientes	gauchos, protection from harm, luck, fortune, good health, love, healing, outlaws, bravery, deserters, folk heroes, cowboys, safe passage	Robin Hood figure of Argentina
	Marie Catherine Laveau	1881	United States	International Shrine of Marie Laveau, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States	mothers, children, fevers, love, volunteerism, Louisiana voodoo	American practitioner of Voodoo, herbalist and midwife who was renowned in Louisiana
	Héléna Soutadé	1885	France	Terre-Cabade Cemetery, Toulouse, France	children	French teacher and mystic
	María Adelaide de Sam José e Sousa	1885	Portugal	Capilla de Santa Maria Adelaide, Arcozelo, Portugal		Portuguese woman with incorruptible body
	Pancho Sierra	1891	Argentina	Salto Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Argentina		Argentine faith healer
	José Rizal	1896	Philippines	Iglesia Sagrada ni Lahi, Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines	Rizalista religious movements	Filipino nationalist and polymath during the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines.
	Antônio Conselheiro	1897	Brazil			Brazilian religious leader, preacher, and founder of the village of Canudos
	José Tomás de Sousa Martins	1897	Portugal	Campo dos Mártires da Pátria, Lisbon, Portugal		Portuguese physician and philanthropist
	Francesc Canals i Ambrós (known as El Santet)	1899	Spain	Poblenou Cemetery, Barcelona	Marriage, fertility, non-monetary favors.	Catalan youth and miracle worker
	Teresa Urrea (known as Santa Teresa de Cabora)	1906	Mexico  United States	Chapel of Saint Teresa, San Pedro, Arizona, United States	soldiers, government, healing, Yaqui people, Mayo people, uprising, homeless, sick, revolution	Mexican mystic, folk healer, and revolutionary insurgent
	Don Pedro Jaramillo	1907	United States	Don Pedro Jaramillo Shrine, Falfurrias, Texas, United States	cures, good health, fortune, healing, protection from diseases	Mexican-American curandero, faith healer, and clairvoyant
	Jesús Juarez Mazo (known as Jesús Malverde)	1909	Mexico  United States	Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico	drug cartels, drug trafficking, outlaws, bandits, robbers, thieves, smugglers, people in poverty	Robin Hood figure of Mexico
	Maria Izilda de Castro Ribeiro (known as Menina Izildinha)	1911	Portugal  Brazil	Sanctuary of Menina Izildinha, Monte Alto, São Paulo, Brazil	Children, adolescents, orphans, good health, social welfare, protection from harm, protection from diseases, people in poverty	Portuguese girl who died of leukemia
	Grigori Rasputin	1916	Russia			Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man
	José Doroteo Arango Arámbula (known as Francisco "Pancho" Villa)	1923	Mexico			Mexican revolutionary general and politician
	Maria Basañes	1929	Philippines	Casanayan, Pilar, Capiz, Philippines		Filipino woman with an incorruptible body
	Cícero Romão Batista (known as Padre Cícero)	1934	Brazil	Capela do Socorro, Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará, Brazil	Juazeiro do Norte	Brazilian Roman Catholic priest and politician; canonized on 1973 by the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church
	Filomena Almarinez	1938	Philippines	Biñan, Laguna, Philippines		Filipino Catholic laywoman
	Juan Castillo Morales (known as Juan Soldado)	1938	Mexico  United States	Shrine of San Juan Soldado, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico	good health, criminals, family problems, crossing the U.S.–Mexico border	Mexican convicted rapist and murderer turned folk saint
	José de Jesús Fidencio Síntora (known as Niño Fidencio)	1938	Mexico  United States	Fidencista Christian Church, Espinazo, Nuevo León, Mexico	healings, cures, protection from diseases	Mexican curandero
	Sara Colonia Zambrano (known as Sarita Colonia)	1940	Peru	Capilla de Santa Sarita, Callao, Peru	bus and taxi drivers, prostitutes, homosexuals, job seekers, poor, migrants	Peruvian girl credited with the ability to make miracles
	Juan Bautista Bairoletto	1941	Argentina		love matters, immigrants, prostitute, bandits, financial problems, justice	Argentine outlaw dubbed as El Robin Hood criollo
	Eva Perón	1952	Argentina	Casa Museo Eva Perón, Los Toldos, Argentina		First Lady of Argentina (1946–1952)
	Valeriu Gafencu	1952	Romania	Târgu Ocna, Bacău, Romania		Romanian Orthodox theologian and martyr; venerated in the Romanian Orthodox Church
	Felix Manalo	1963	Philippines	Iglesia ni Cristo, Quezon City, Philippines		Filipino pastor and religious movement founder
	Miguel Ángel Gaitán (known as El Angelito Milagroso)	1967	Argentina	Banda Florida, San Juan, Argentina		Argentine baby who died in meningitis
	Che Guevara	1967	Cuba  Bolivia  Brazil  Argentina	Che Guevara Mausoleum, Santa Clara, Cuba	warfare, government, revolution	Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla, leader, diplomat, and military theorist.
	Hồ Chí Minh	1969	Vietnam	Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Hanoi, Vietnam		1st President of Democratic Vietnam (1945–1969)
	Josip Broz Tito	1980	Croatia			Former President of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1953–1980)
	Bruno Gumarao (known as Bruno Nazareno)	1981	Philippines	Chapel of San Bruno Nazareno, Victoria, Northen Samar, Philippines		Filipino faith healer
	Arsenie Boca	1989	Romania	Prislop Monastery, Hunedoara, Romania		Romanian theologian, mystic, and artist killed by the Romanian Communist Party
	Pablo Escobar Gaviria	1993	Colombia		drug trade, Medellín Cartel, drug lords, protection from harm	Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel
	Yevgeny Rodionov	1996	Russia	Kuznetsky District, Penza Oblast, Russia		Russian soldier killed in First Chechen War
	Diana, Princess of Wales	1997	United Kingdom	Althorp, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom		Daughter-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II
	Miriam Alejandra "Gilda" Bianchi	1996	Argentina	Gilda Shrine, Entre Ríos, Argentina	healing, Gilda fanatics	Argentine cumbia singer and songwriter
	Vangeliya Pandeva Gushterova (known as Baba Vanga)	1996	Bulgaria	Church of St Petka of the Saddlers, Sofia, Bulgaria	physical healing, personal problems, prophecies of life	Bulgarian clairvoyant and mystic
	Jun Andres (known as Kristohan)	2000	Philippines	Balay ni Kristohan, Maguindanao, Philippines	Teduray people	Filipino mystic and religious movement founder
	Rodrigo Bueno	2000	Argentina			Argentine singer of cuarteto music
	Nikolay Guryanov	2002	Russia			Russian Orthodox priest and mystic
	Maria Virginia Leonzon	2005	Philippines	Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, Hermosa, Bataan, Philippines		Filipino laywoman canonized in 1995 by the Apostolic Catholic Church
	Ferdinand Marcos	1989	Philippines	Rizalian Brotherhood, San Quintin, Abra[14]		10th President of the Philippines (1965–1986)
	Nazario Moreno González	2014	Mexico  United States	Holanda and Apatzingán, Mexico	La Familia Michoacana, Knights Templar Cartel, people of Michoacán, protection from harm, protection from Los Zetas	Mexican drug lord
	Marie-Paule Giguère	2015	Canada  United States	Our Lady of All Nations Church, Quebec, Canada	Community of the Lady of All Nations	Canadian mystic and religious movement founder
	Dobri Dobrev	2018	Bulgaria	Kremikovtsi Monastery, Sofia, Bulgaria		Bulgarian ascetic
	Diego Armando Maradona	2020	Argentina  Italy	Maradona Shrine, Naples, Italy	Iglesia Maradoniana	Argentine professional football player and manager
Legendary folk saints
	Santa Muerte		Mexico  United States  Philippines most countries in Central America	Shrine of Most Holy Death, Mexico City, Mexico	love, prosperity, good health, fortune, healing, safe passage, protection against witchcraft, protection against assaults, protection against gun violence, protection against violent death, safe delivery to the afterlife	Mexican female deity and personification of death
	San La Muerte		Paraguay  Argentina  Brazil		restore love, good fortune, gambling, protection against witchcraft, protection against imprisonment, inmates, prisoners, luck, good health, vengeance	Skeletal folk saint; male version of Santa Muerte
	Saint Sarah		France	Church of the Saintes Maries de la Mer, Camargue, France	Romani people
	Escrava Anastacia		Brazil	Independent shrines throughout Brazil	women, slaves, prisoners, abused victims	A slave woman of African descent wearing an oppressive facemask.
	Niño Compadrito		Peru	Cuzco, Peru		Son of a Spanish viceroy and an Inca princess
	Master Rákóczi (known as Count Saint Germain)		France			French spiritual master on Theosophical and post-Theosophical teachings
	Maximón		Guatemala  Mexico  United States	Santiago Atitlán, Guetamala	health, crops, marriage, business, revenge, death	Mayan deity
	San Pascualito (known as San Pascualito Muerte)		Guatemala  Mexico	Capilla de San Pascualito, Olintepeque, Guatemala	curing diseases, death, healings, cures, vengeance, love, graveyards	Folk saints associated with Saint Paschal Baylon
	María Lionza		Venezuela	Cerro María Lionza Natural Monument, Yaracuy, Venezuela	nature, love, peace, harmony, indigenous religions in Venezuela	Venezuelan goddess
	Saint Wilgefortis		Western Europe and some parts in Latin America		relief from tribulations, in particular by women who wished to be liberated ("disencumbered") from abusive husbands, facial hair	Female saint who grew a beard
	Santa Claus		Worldwide belief			Legendary character who is said to bring gifts on Christmas Eve
Folk saints recognized by the Catholic Church
	Sepé Tiaraju	1756	Brazil	Diocese of Bagé, Pelotas, Brazil		Guarani leader; Cause for sainthood opened on April 2017
	Luisa de la Torre Rojas (known as Beatita de Humay)	1869	Peru	Arquidiócesis de Lima, Lima, Peru		Peruvian laywoman and mystic; Cause for sainthood opened on July 1946
	José Gregorio Hernández	1919	Venezuela	La Candelaria Church, Merida, Venezuela	medical students, diagnosticians, doctors, medical patients	Venezuelan physician; declared "Venerable" in 1985.
	Phanxicô Xaviê Trương Bửu Diệp	1946	Vietnam	Nhà nguyện Trương Bửu Diệp, Giá Rai, Bạc Liêu, Vietnam		Vietnamese priest and martyr; Cause for sainthood opened on January 2012
	Melchora Saravia Tasayco (known as La Melchorita)	1951	Peru	Santuario de la Beata Melchorita, Chincha, Peru		Peruvian Franciscan tertiary and mystic; Cause for sainthood opened on April 1978
	Charlene Richard	1959	United States	St. Edward Church, Richard, Louisiana, United States	Cajun people, good health, converts to Catholicism	American girl who died of leukemia; Cause for sainthood opened on January 2020
Animals venerated as folk saints
	Saint Guinefort	13th century	France		dogs, dog owners, children, infants	13th-century French dog; devotion suppressed by the Catholic Church in the 1930s but persisted

See also[]

• Apotheosis
• Category:Folk saints
• Folk religion
• Folk Catholicism
• Folk Christianity
• Chinese folk religion
• Orisha

References[]

This article incorporates material from the Citizendium article "Folk saint", which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License but not under the GFDL.

Sources[]

• Graziano, Frank (2007). Cultures of Devotion: Folk Saints of Spanish America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-517130-3.
• Griffith, James S. (2003). Folk Saints of the Borderlands: Victims, Bandits & Healers. Tucson: Rio Nuevo Publishers. ISBN 1-887896-51-1.
• Macklin, B.J.; N.R. Crumrine (1973). "Three North Mexican Folk Saint Movements". Comparative Studies in Society and History. pp. 89–105.

External links[]

• Media related to Folk saints at Wikimedia Commons