Word of mouth spreads news of cures and good fortune, and particularly responsive spirits are likely to gain a large following. 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]. Spirit unofficially recognized by a group of people, Michael Frishkopf. Whereas Catholicism ... defends a distinction between canonical and noncanonical or orthodox and heterodox, folk devotion intermingles these quite naturally and without reserve.[13]. 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]. 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. The popularity of a particular folk saint also depends on the changing dynamics and needs of the community over time. "Charismatic Medicine, Folk-Healing, and Folk Sainthood,", William A Christian Jr. (1973) "Holy People in Peasant Europe,", List of people who have been considered deities, From Village Boy to Soldier, Martyr and, Many Say, Saint, Watson, Julie. 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.
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. 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. In fact, the Islamic counterparts of the Christian saints, associated most closely with Sufism, are still identified this way. 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. 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. 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. ", Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Folk_saint&oldid=980538737, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from Citizendium, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 27 September 2020, at 02:49. 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. 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. Folk saints tend to come from the same communities as their followers. Graziano explains: Catholicism is not so much abandoned as expanded [by folk practitioners]; it is stretched to encompass exceptional resources.
"[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. 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. The Church emphasizes that they were ordinary people from ordinary families, and they were … Most known for her patronage of schools, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first native born American to be canonized. Saints of the Liturgical Year. 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]. 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. "Changing Modalities in the Globalization of Islamic Saint Veneration and Mysticism: Sidi Ibrahim al-Dasuqi, Shaykh Muhammad 'Uthman al-Burhani, and the Sufi Orders,", Octavio Ignacio Romano V. (1965). To distinguish canonized saints from folk saints, the latter are sometimes called animas or "spirits" instead of saints. Among the members of the Catholic Church, there is a small and noble group of people that stand out as shining examples of holiness and goodness. 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. Men and women should study lives of these 20 awe-inspiring woman saints. Catholics do not worship saints, but the saints are near and dear to Catholic hearts.