Review article
Patron Saints and Gastrointestinal Diseases in the Christian Tradition
Ante Škrobonja
Abstract
Goal: To register saints who are attributed
the power to protect against gastrointestinal diseases in the
Christian tradition and explain their correlations or symbolic
meaning. Methods: The analysis of hagiographic and sacrediconographic
literature; tour of churches, monasteries and
museums, and interviews with people familiar with sacred and
popular tradition. Results: 15 saints believed to have protective
powers or helping with gastrointestinal diseases represent a
specifi c phenomenon and make a part of the rich Christian and
ethnographic heritage. The following saints are associated with
gastric and related diseases: Francis of Assisi, Jane Frances
de Chantal and Thomas Aquinas. The saints associated with
abdominal cramps, intestinal diseases, diarrhea and appendicitis
are: Albertino, Bathilde, Erasmus, Ignatius Loyola, Pantaleon,
Paul, Udalric, Veronica Giuliani and Wolfgang. The saints
protecting from liver diseases are: Francis of Assisi, Joseph
Benedict Cottolengo and Thomas Aquinas. The people suffering
from typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever can ask for help
from St. Damasus, while St. Francis Mary Camporosso and St.
Udalric protect in cholera epidemics. Brief hagiographic descriptions
are accompanied with the explanations of the relationship
between a particular saint and a disease. Conclusion: The
presented examples show how an interdisciplinary approach to
the Christian tradition can expand our knowledge beyond the
religious message itself. In this particular example, this is the
contribution to the history of medicine in the full sense.
Keywords
ethnomedicine; gastrointestinal system; religion; Christianity; saints
Hrčak ID:
18853
URI
Publication date:
26.1.2006.
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