I know that catholics do not “worship” saints. But did catholic saints, many who have their own feast day and cause replace the Roman gods who also had their own feast days and causes?
For example:
“Pudicitia” was the goddess of modesty and chastity. “Auster” wad the god of the South Wind. “Porus” was the god of plenty. “Apollo” was the god of healing who taught man medicine. The god of light. The god of truth, who can not speak a lie. Although these pagan gods are obviously not a part of catholic worship, the saints are. In practice, these saints have been elevated to a similar status, sometimes almost deified.
Since these “gods” of the Roman pantheon, were worshipped with their own feast days isn’t the practice of “honoring” catholic saints dangerously close to violating the first commandment?
Simple answer: a big NO.
First of all, what is interesting is that most of the feast days of the saints were actually their death days: i.e. the days they died. The early Christians were already big on venerating their martyrs - to the point that in some areas, they would sometimes resort on bribery or stealth just to get the remains of the martyrs from their places of execution! The main reason they celebrated the days they died is because that was the day that they ‘gave witness’ to Christ through their words and their blood. It was their birthday in heaven, so to speak. As time passed, the Christian Church also put the deathdays of holy people who did not suffer martyrdom into the calendar - soon there was at least a saint or more for each day.
Let me quote from the Old Catholic Encyclopedia (from the article
Patron Saints):
Origin
During the first three centuries of the Church’s history, the faithful assembled for worship in private houses, in cemeteries, or other retired places. At intervals it had been possible to erect or adapt buildings for the sacred rites of religion. Such buildings, however, were not dedicated to the saints, but were spoken of as the House of God, the House of Prayer, and sometimes as the Temple of God. They were also known as Kyriaca, Dominica, or Oratoria. Larger structures received the name of basilicas, and the term church (ecclesia) was constantly employed to designate the place where the faithful assembled to hear the word of God and partake of the sacraments. After peace had been given to the Church by Constantine, sacred edifices were freely erected, the emperor setting the example by the character and magnificence of his own foundations. The Christians had always held in deep reverence the memory of the heroes who had sealed with blood the profession of their faith. The celebration of the solemn rites had long been intimately associated with the places where the bodies of the martyrs reposed, and the choice of sites for the new edifices was naturally determined by the scene of the martyrs’ sufferings, or by the spot where their sacred remains lay enshrined. The great basilicas founded by Constantine, or during his lifetime, illustrate this tendency. The churches of St. Peter, St. Paul outside the walls, St. Lawrence in Agro Verano, St. Sebastian, St. Agnes on the Via Nomentana were all cemeterial basilicas, i.e. they were built over the spot where the bodies of each of these saints lay buried. The same practice finds illustration in the churches of SS. Domitilla and Generosa, SS. Nereus and Achilleus, St. Felix at Nola, and others. From this custom of rendering honour to the relics of the martyrs were derived the names of Memoriœ (memorial churches), Martyria, or Confessio, frequently given to churches. The name of “Title” (Titulus) has from the earliest times been employed with reference to the name of the saint by which a church is known. The practice of placing the body or some relics of a martyr under the altar of sacrifice has been perpetuated in the Church, but the dedication was early extended to confessors and holy women who were not martyrs. The underlying doctrine of patrons is that of the communion of saints, or the bond of spiritual union existing between God’s servants on earth, in heaven, or in purgatory. The saints are thereby regarded as the advocates and intercessors of those who are making their earthly pilgrimage.
Choice of patrons
Down to the seventeenth century popular devotion, under the guidance of ecclesiastical authority, chose as the titulars of churches those men or women renowned for their miracles, the saintliness of their lives, or their apostolic ministry in converting a nation to the Gospel. Urban VIII (23 March, 1638) laid down the rules that should guide the faithful in the future selection of patrons of churches, cities, and countries, without, however, interfering with the traditional patrons then venerated (Acta S. Sedis, XI, 292). As during the days of persecution the most illustrious among the Christians were those who had sacrificed their lives for the faith, it was to be expected that during the fourth century the selection of the names of martyrs as titulars would everywhere prevail. But with the progress of the Church in times of comparative peace, with the development of the religious life, and the preaching of the Gospel in the different countries of Europe and Asia, bishops, priests, hermits, and nuns displayed in their lives lofty examples of Christian holiness. Churches, therefore, began to be dedicated in their honour. The choice of a particular patron has depended upon many circumstances. These, as a rule, have been one or other of the following:
- (1) The possession of the body or some important relic of the saint;
- (2) his announcement of the Gospel to the nation;
- (3) his labours or death in the locality;
- (4) his adoption as the national patron;
- (5) the special devotion of the founder of the church;
- (6) the spirit of ecclesiastical devotion at a given time.
