Warrior Saint

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Is there a canonized Saint who died in the middle of a military battle? I know that there are Saints who did fight (e.g., Saint Joan of Arc), but I’m wondering if there are any who died while fighting.
 
St. Alexander Nevsky comes to mind.

And there’s also Emperor St. Constantine XI.
 
Nothing personal against the Orthodox Church or their post-schism Saints, but any Catholic Saints? (I guess I should have been more specific ;))
 
JMJ_coder said:
Nothing personal against the Orthodox Church or their post-schism Saints, but any Catholic Saints? (I guess I should have been more specific ;))
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I’m sorry, but the only warrior saint I can think of is St. Jeanne d’ Arc. She is the patron saint of soldiers. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.

-Jeanne
 
How about St. Michael the Archangel? He is about as mighty as warriors get… :knight2:
 
I don’t know of any saints who died in battle, but there are a number of saints who were soldiers. St. Ignatius of Loyola comes to mind. He was known to be a courageous soldier and his deeper conversion came as he recovered from wounds he suffered in battle. I recommend his Autobiography, which is quite short and very readable.
 
If you look at the medieval saint-kings, you will find a good number who died fighting for their people and for Christianity. St. Oswald, king of Northumbria in England, was a good example of this. He died in the battle of Maserfeld, fighting the forces of the pagan King Penda of Mercia. I believe a number of the early Christian Welsh kings died this way as well, such as St. Geraint/Gerren of Dumnonia, who died at the battle of Catraeth, fighting against great odds.

Other warrior martyrs were captured in battle, then killed for their beliefs, like St. Edmund.
Still others were killed for their beliefs off the battlefield, like St. Maurice and his Theban Legion. Then, of course, there were also many saintly warriors who were not martyrs, but died of natural causes or were killed for political or personal reasons by enemies.

And of course there are tons of retired military personnel who became saints later in life. Like that Welsh pirate king. 🙂

So there are certainly plenty of warriors and warrior kings among the great saints of God! They may not get the publicity these days, but they are certainly out there.
 
How about Crusaders of the Latin Kingdoms? Is there a list of canonized saints from those conflicts anywhere? I’m having a hard time finding one. 🤷
 
JMJ_coder said:
Is there a canonized Saint who died in the middle of a military battle? I know that there are Saints who did fight (e.g., Saint Joan of Arc), but I’m wondering if there are any who died while fighting.
Click to expand...

There is:​

  • St. Vartan Mamikonian (d.454)
  • St. Constantine II King of Scotland (died fighting the Vikings in 874)
  • St. Olaf of Norway (killed at the battle of Stiklestad in 1030)
  • St. Constantine XI (died defending Constantinople against the Ottomans in 1453)
There are a good few: this list has some more royal Saints & martyrs:
If one stretched your terms a bit, St. Edmund King & Martyr would have to be included; he was taken prisoner in battle by the Danes & put to death.
 
I would like to suggest St. Maximilian Kolbe to you. He died in a Nazi Concentration Camp… during World War II. He died in the midst of one of the most horrible wars this planet has ever known.

Having offered his own life, as a replacement… that another prisoner could live. So, he certainly did die in the midst of a battle. A Warrior for Christ.

God bless.
 
Nobly today,a young Catholic man, at the age of 18 is walking in Afghanistan and sacrificing his life for our freedom. We won’t know his name. We have gone to the count of 6000 young men, Protestants and Catholics and some atheists have lost their lives and their souls. All for the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on them and on the whole world. In this group will be Saints. Those who laid their body’s over grenades and IED’s.Remember to pray for our soldiers who are fighting today. The Caliphate plans to take over the world. It is
their prophecy. Pray for the Catholics being martyred. Psalm 68.1 Oh Lord, arise and scatter your enemy. Let those that hate you see your Holy Face and flee. Jesus have mercy.

FOR OUR SAINTS OF TODAY.
FOR MY SON-IN LAW SGT JASON SWIGER AGE 24.
NUNEZ, GONSOLEZ AND WHITE AND MO.
In Christs love,
tweedlealice
 
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