Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Valentine, Saint, d. c.270, Roman martyr priest. The customs connected with him in English-speaking countries are probably a survival from a period when a pagan festival associated with love occurred ...

(Encyclopedia) saint [O.Fr., from Latin sanctus=holy], in Christianity, a person who is recognized as worthy of veneration. Accounts of saints' lives have been favorite reading material for many, and at times thei...

(Encyclopedia) Damasus I, Saint dămˈəsəs [key], c.305–384, pope (366–84), a Spaniard; successor of Liberius. His election was opposed by the Arian Ursinus (antipope 366–67). The Roman emperor Valentinian I...

(Encyclopedia) Saint Gotthard: see Szentgotthárd, Hungary. ...

(Encyclopedia) Timothy, Saint, d. c.100, early Christian, addressee of two books of the New Testament. The son of a Greek father and a Jewish mother, he was the friend and companion of St. Paul. He became first bish...

(Encyclopedia) Brendan, Saint, d. 577?, Irish abbot of Clonfert, Co. Galway. A popular medieval story told how he traveled westward to wonderful islands—an Irish version of a widespread legend. His feast is May 16...

(Encyclopedia) Agnes, Saint, 4th cent., virgin martyr. A noble Roman girl martyred at the age of 13 after rejecting a well-born suitor. She was included in the Depositio Martyrum of 354. On her feast day lambs are b...

(Encyclopedia) Barbara, Saint, fl. 3d or 4th cent., virgin martyr, whose life is shrouded in contradictory legends. Her father is said to have shut her up in a tower and then to have killed her for being a Christian...

(Encyclopedia) Celestine I, Saint sĕlˈəstĭn [key], d. 432, pope (422–32), an Italian; successor of St. Boniface I. The opposition of St. Cyril of Alexandria to Nestorianism inspired both sides to appeal to the...

(Encyclopedia) Meletius, Saint mĭlēˈshəs [key], d. 381, Catholic bishop, leader of the Meletian faction in the Antiochene schism. Meletius became (361) Catholic patriarch after the Arians deposed Eustathius. The...