About Superstitions Concerning the Saints

In the region of the Abruzzi, in Italy, more especially in the province of Teramo, wonderful virtues are attributed to the intercession of St. Donato. So great is thought to be his power to cure those afflicted with epilepsy that in this region the disease is called the malady of St. Donato. This saint, however, is credited with much more extensive powers, for he is believed to cure hydrophobia, to prevent the ill effects of the Evil Eye, and in general to bring to naught the enchantments of witches. Such being his powers, it is not surprising that his image was added to many amulets, those figuring the lunar crescent being frequently surmounted with the bust of the saint. This type of amulet owes its supposed efficacy to the horn-like shape of the crescent, horns or substances having a likeness to a horn, like certain branches of coral, being regarded as a sure protection against the Evil Eye. A curious amulet bears the bust of St. Donato surmounting a crescent moon within which is the dreaded number thirteen. This fateful number is considered to be a source of misfortune for those who do not wear it inscribed on an amulet; but it becomes a source of good fortune and a happy life for those who possess such an amulet.

A notable instance of the use of a saint's name to facilitate the perpetration of a crime is afforded in the case of the poison known as Aqua Tofana. This appears to have been a preparation of arsenic and was concocted by a woman named Tofana, a native of Palermo, in Sicily, who eventually took up her abode in Naples and devoted herself to the preparation and sale of her poison in Naples, Rome and elsewhere. To divert suspicion she used vials marked "Manna of St. Nicholas of Bari," and bearing the image of this saint. Most of her clients are said to have been women who were anxious to rid themselves of their husbands, and she must have had a large practice in this specialty, for so many husbands died in Rome in a mysterious manner that in 1659 the authorities finally took cognizance of the matter and instituted a searching investigation. This revealed the fact that there existed in Rome a secret society entirely composed of women who wished to "remove" their husbands by poison. The leader of this society and many of the members were duly executed, but Tofana does not seem to have been molested.

Many strange superstitions as to the saints prevail among the Spanish-speaking inhabitants of New Mexico. If a saint whose aid has been invoked fails to respond to the appeal, his image is shut up in some receptacle until he vouchsafes to render the service desired. On the other hand, if the image of a saint falls to the ground, this is interpreted as a sign that the saint has performed a miracle. One means of forcing a saint to perform a miracle was to hang the image head downward; this was especially recommended in the case of St. Anthony. All strangers who presented themselves on St. Anthony's day or St. Joseph's day were to be hospitably received and entertained, for one of them might be the saint himself. Those who wished to read the future were instructed to put the white of an egg in a glass of water on the eve of St. John's day; on examining the contents of the glass the next morning they would see written in black characters on the white background a prophecy of what was to happen. On this saint's day women were assured that if they cut the tip of their hair with an axe, or merely washed it, they would be blessed with an abundant growth of hair.

A strange legend of angelic activity is that touching the miraculous transportation through the air (from Galilee to Dalmatia) of the "Santa Casa," the house wherein the Virgin Mary dwelt. This event is placed in 1295, and the reverse of an Italian medallion engraved in 1508, during the pontificate of Julius II, gives a representation of the journey to Dalmatia, two angels sufficing to bear the little edifice. The sea, over which the house is being borne, is conventionally indicated by waves; but the fact that the medallist has seen fit to show a relatively large figure of the Virgin seated on the roof of the little structure and holding the Infant Jesus in her arms, scarcely adds to the realism of the effect.

Quite naturally Catholicism could not be satisfied with the pagan idea that the constellations held sway over the different parts of the human body, and the saints were substituted for the stars.

The saints of the Romanists have usurped the place of the zodiacal constellations in their government of the parts of man's body, and so for every limbe they have a saint. Thus, St. Otilia keepes the head instead of Aries; St. Blasius is appointed to govern the necke instead of Taurus; St. Lawrence keepes the backe and shoulders instead of Gemini, Cancer and Leo; St. Erasmus rules the belly with the entrayls, in the place of Libra and Scorpius; in the stead of Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius and Pisces, the holy church of Rome hath elected St. Burgarde, St. Rochus, St. Quirinius, St. John, and many others, which govern the thighes, feet, shinnes and knees. 26 Pettigrew, "On Superstitions Connected with the History and Practice of Medicine and Surgery," p. 36. (Quotation from Melton, "Astrologaster," p. 20.)

When we consider how many beautiful and symbolic rites and observances have marked the celebration of saint's days and holidays in the Old World, and how few of these have been preserved by the inhabitants of our own country, we must find this most regrettable. Of late years there has been a marked tendency to increase the number of holidays, and in a few cases to revive the celebration of old holidays, but the popular idea of the best way to celebrate these occasions seems to be confined to making them carnivals of noise and disorder. This is largely owing to a lack of intelligent guidance, for it is too much to expect that any people, above all those so practical as our American people, can spontaneously evolve, at short notice, an emblematic expression of the idea underlying the festival. If, however, a beautiful and adequate symbolism were presented in a concrete form, the masses of the people would grasp its significance quickly enough, and would thus gain a higher and better conception of the historic anniversary or the time-honored festival they were called upon to celebrate.

The saint's days on which the summer and winter solstices fell were memorized by distichs. For instance:

St. Barnaby bright! St. Barnaby bright!

The longest day and the shortest night.

St. Thomas gray! St. Thomas gray!

The longest night and the shortest day.

The former of the verses is probably the earlier, as St. Barnabas' Day is June 11, the day on which the summer solstice fell in England for some time before the reform of the "Old Style" calendar, in 1752, replaced this date; while St. Thomas' Day is December 21, the date of the winter solstice in our modern calendar. 27(Notes and Queries, 2d Series, vol. viii, London, 1859, p. 242.)

Writing of the origin of the rural superstitions in regard to the weather on certain saint's days, Wehrenfels quotes the distich:

If Paul's Day be fair and clear

It foreshows an happy Year.

and continues: