Indentifying Saints in Your Church

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St Therese is always depicted with a bunch of roses, not just a single rose. And she usualy wears the brown habit of a carmelite nun, albeit with a black veil.
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Oh you’re right. I’ve never noticed her habit is actually brown, not white. (I’ve never studied her life, I thought she was a Domincan, just from glancing at her statues, but her spirituality does seem to fit in better with the Franciscans).

My next guess would be, as others have said, St. Catherine of Sienna. She’s usually portrayed with a book and flower, but I’ve seen depictions without the book (or without the flower), such as this one:
blog.siena.org/uploaded_images/192576~St-Catherine-of-Siena-Posters-724323.jpg

Maybe St. Rose of Lima, if she’s wearing a crown of roses?

Just my two cents, I think the monk is probably St. Padre Pio - St. Anthony is depicted carrying the Christ Child, and St. Francis almost always has an animal by him, but just having hands up is a common depiction of St. Padre Pio.
 
On Sunday 1st March I heard Mass at the SSPX Church of Christ the King, Keighley, West Yorkshire, England (not my usual church). There are two statues either side of the high altar, and because it is England and because I studied sixteenth century English history, I recognised them: two of the English martyrs, S John Fisher and S Thomas More, both put to death for our Faith by king Henry VIII.

However, would an American, European or other visitor instantly recognise them? If saints’ statues are to be an aid to devotion in the fullest sense, it would be adviseable for all churches to have a list on the wall of the porch of who the statues represent, a short note of the saints’ lives and work, and where they are placed in the church. We cannot take instant recognition for granted.
 
Rawb said:
St. Anthony is depicted carrying the Christ Child…
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St. Anthony also carries a Christ Child? Okay, well that may make it easier then. I got a really good look at the male Saint yesterday and lo and behold he WAS carrying a child. I thought it must have been St. Christopher (I know, “de-cannonized” as they say) but I didn’t know St. Anthony also carried the Christ Child. I tried to look at the female Saint again. Black head covering, dark white - tanish “habit” on. I thought St. Therese too, but I meant to get pictures to post them so I could get everyone off the pins and needles. (Obviously, too because I’m apparently a very poor observationalist.) Will, work to solve this ASAP. Continuing…
 
PetoVeritas said:
St. Christopher (I know, “de-cannonized” as they say)
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His memorial was simply not included in the universal calendar when it was revised (St. James the Greater was moved to July 25 instead). The memorial of many saints are not publicly celebrated on the universal calendar. However, he is still listed in the Roman Martyrology and his memorial is still celebrated on many local calendars.
 
I can see how statues without identifying signs on them can be confusing to people. So many saints are depicted wearing habits, especially female saints. The abandonment of the habit, after V2, didn’t help this much, especially for young people of today who rarely, if ever, see religious wearing the traditional habits.

The current pastor of my old church had plaques made for each statue that identified the particular saint.
 
PetoVeritas said:
LOL! During a Mass too… Flash and all. Priest stops and looks at me.
“Sorry, Father, everybody… *WELL, WHO IS THIS *and I’ll stop taking pictures!”

😃
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Bah! I take photos in Mass all the time.
 
what is the name of your church?
based on the number of statues of the blessed mother, i’ll bet its st. mary.
but if not, maybe the name of your church will give you a clue???
 
PetoVeritas said:
St. Anthony also carries a Christ Child? Okay, well that may make it easier then. I got a really good look at the male Saint yesterday and lo and behold he WAS carrying a child. I thought it must have been St. Christopher (I know, “de-cannonized” as they say) but I didn’t know St. Anthony also carried the Christ Child. I tried to look at the female Saint again. Black head covering, dark white - tanish “habit” on. I thought St. Therese too, but I meant to get pictures to post them so I could get everyone off the pins and needles. (Obviously, too because I’m apparently a very poor observationalist.) Will, work to solve this ASAP. Continuing…
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St Christopher wouldn’t be dressed in the Franciscan (monks) habit. And St Christopher always carries the Christ Child sitting up on his shoulder - kind of hard to miss.

So it appears that mystery saint #1 is St Anthony. To make totally sure, get a better look at the clothing - if he’s wearing a rope around his waist that hangs down and has three knots in it, that’s St Anthony.
 
PetoVeritas said:
St. Anthony also carries a Christ Child? Okay, well that may make it easier then. I got a really good look at the male Saint yesterday and lo and behold he WAS carrying a child. I thought it must have been St. Christopher (I know, “de-cannonized” as they say) but I didn’t know St. Anthony also carried the Christ Child. I tried to look at the female Saint again. Black head covering, dark white - tanish “habit” on. I thought St. Therese too, but I meant to get pictures to post them so I could get everyone off the pins and needles. (Obviously, too because I’m apparently a very poor observationalist.) Will, work to solve this ASAP. Continuing…
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They are probably Sts. Anthony of Padua and Claire of Assisi. Is your parish originally an Italian parish or a Franciscan parish?

St. Anthony carries the Christ Child in his arms and St. Christopher carries him on his shoulder. St. Anthony will be dressed as a Franciscan Friar and St. Christopher will be dressed rather crudely.
 
I think you nailed it with St. Anthony 👍

St. Clair usually holds a monstrance so it may not be her–hopefully we will find out soon, the suspense is killing me! :D.
 
chewchoo said:
what is the name of your church?
based on the number of statues of the blessed mother, i’ll bet its st. mary.
but if not, maybe the name of your church will give you a clue???
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My Church is St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Dallas, TX. There are a total of 8 statues in that church and it was built 50 years ago (which I’m so thankful for - I like the older more traditional churches/Masses).

Upon entering the church there is a statue to Mary on the right and Mary holding the Crucified Christ on the left. A little farther up there are the two statues I’m trying to figure out. Beyond that there is a statue for the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the left and the Infant of Prague on the right (the only one that has additional “clothing” changed regularly by the church) at the front on either side of the altar in their own alcoves are Sacred Heart of Mary on the left and St. Joseph on the right.

DARN IT! I need to get back to church so I can get some pictures!!! I’ve been such a bad Catholic about attending these past couple of weeks!!
I promise, before the week is out, I will have posted these pictures!!! 😊
 
PetoVeritas,
The sad part is that we had a guest speaker last week from your parish. I could have asked him if he knew. However, is this one of the statues in question?

pbase.com/rospotte/image/60364453

Also, very nice Church. My husband has actually been there for the Latin Mass

Mind you I am also bad at Identifying saints, but like I said before pictures do help.
 
Sorry, it’s only been three months since I’ve been to church!
Shameful!!!
I’ve just started going again and I haven’t been there since Easter. I also haven’t been able to get back online at work in ages too so I pretty much forgot about this post and answering the mystery.

For those that guessed the statues to be St. Anthony of Padua and St. Therese of Lisieux, you were right.
All it took was paying attention to details of what they were holding like I should have the first time around. Yikes! It’s amazing though that you start to realize how many saints there are and how they’re represented by what they have in their hands.
So, yes, mystery solved, and on top if it I’m actually going to church again like I should be. Bad, bad little Catholic!
Here they are in pictures and as the statues as they look in my church:
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Now, a little little humor for the day.
“Well, we have the popular, ‘Everybody Poops’ or the less popular, ‘Nobody Poops but You.’”
“Well, we’re Catholic so…”
"Oh, then you’ll want this book, “You’re a naughty child and that’s concentrated evil coming out the back of you.”

Sorry, that just always throws me into fits of hysterics.
 
WOW - I had read your original post - but hadn’t seen pics of the statues. I would have guessed correctly on both counts.

HINT: Re St. Anthony: Anytime you see that loaf of bread in his hand and Baby Jesus in his arms, it’s St. Anthony. Ever hear of St. Anthony’s bread? Usually blessed and distributed on his feast day.
 
Sometimes clues are given in the saint’s appearance but the best clues are in what the saint is holding. These objects might be the instruments of martyrdom, representations of events in their lives, or symbols of their teachings. cable internet services Google Ad Words This system of iconography of the saints has remained more or less consistent throughout the history of Christian art. To help you sort your saints, below is an alphabetical guide to the most popular saints and their attributes. This is a work in progress - more illustrations and more saints coming soon!
 
ConservativeOne said:
Anytime you see that loaf of bread in his hand and Baby Jesus in his arms, it’s St. Anthony. Ever hear of St. Anthony’s bread? Usually blessed and distributed on his feast day.
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Hey, thanks for the information. I think in our church St.Anthony has the lilies in his hand so I wasn’t certain what this statue was holding when I posted it, but I knew that was the saint I was looking for.
I actually haven’t ever heard of St. Anthony’s bread. It definitely makes me interested in learning more about him now.
I feel a real comfort knowing that St. Anthony and St. Therese’s statues are in our church. Most churches here are newer and most just have the staple statues… Mary (of course), Joseph, and St. Jude and that’s about it. Gosh, I love older churches (which this one is.)
 
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