The vast majority of the 16,500 [1] churches in the Church of England are dedicated to one or more people. Most are dedicated to a single 'patron saint', such as Saint Peter or The Virgin Mary, or one of the persons of God, such as Holy Trinity, Christ Church, or The Good Shepherd. Others commemorate Christian events such as the Assumption of Mary or Ascension of Jesus.
All churches are dedicated to God, but certainly by the fourth century it was common practice to dedicate a Christian place of worship to one or more patron saints. An early example of this was in 386 when Saint Ambrose dedicated Milan Cathedral to Gervasius and Protasius whose graves he found nearby. Once the Church was established in England it became practice to dedicate a new church's patron saint during the act of consecration by the diocesan bishop, and in fact mass could not be held in a building until the consecration act had taken place. There is much evidence of the dedication of churches prior to 800, with most being dedicated to Saint Peter or to Saint Mary. [2]
During consecration the building would usually be named in honour of a "holy martyr", but sometimes instead a "confessor", "matron", or "virgin", but nonetheless many churches remained undedicated up until the thirteenth century. In 1229 the Bishop of Worcester William of Blois mandated that all churches in his diocese display the date of dedication and name of patron saint alongside the altar, and many medieval churches would also have a painted image of their patron nearby. Churches would also celebrate the feast day of their patron or patrons in what is now known as the 'patronal festival', with local parishioners taking a holiday or naming children after their patron. [2]
The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century swept away centuries of church tradition; the whitewashing of sacred images led to a backlash against saints associated with the church. Whilst not prohibiting them, the Book of Common Prayer contained no text for a dedication service, and with newle constructed churches becoming rarer the practice became less well known. By the 18th century many churches had even forgotten their dedication entirely, so that when the first books were published listing church dedications in the early 18th century (e.g. Browne Willis) many of the dedications had been lost; in a modern analysis of his results on the churches of Devon, around a third of the churches were listed as having unknown dedication, and a further 30% listed dedications that were incorrect, or at the very least differed from their medieval dedication. Worse still, having appeared in print, many dedications were taken to be authoritative and some were thus subsequently adopted by the parish as the authentic dedication. [2]
It was the Victorian era, the first great English church-building era for centuries, that finally revived the interest in patron saints. By this stage many cases the original dedication of churches had rediscovered, whereas others changed the dedication to a new patron saint for any number of reasons. Others gave their dedication a more prosaic twist, giving rise to the many churches now known as "St Michael and All Angels", "All Hallows", or "The Blessed Virgin Mary". By the 20th century, the dedication's continued usage was once again assured, with common usage referring to "St Peter's" as opposed to "Newton Parish Church". In many cases these are names that have been used at that site for well over a thousand years, and in others they are simply 18th century mistakes or creations of the Victorian age. [2]
There was no single set of rules that governed the choice of patron saint for a church, chapel or religious foundation, but analysis of existing and historical dedications shows a number of patterns that demonstrate how patrons were often chosen. [3] The most popular saints in terms of numbers of dedications demonstrate the influence of Rome on the history of English Christianity, as well as being major characters in Biblical studies, with the most popular being St Mary, St Peter, St Michael, St Andrew, and St Paul. [4]
One of the clearest reasons for the choice of many dedications was that the church was founded on or near the site of a saint's activity. A large number of these give rise to the dedications of the churches of Cornwall, but others where a settlement built up around a saint's oratory or residence include Saint Culbone at Culbone in Devon, Saint Beza at St Bees in Cumberland, and Saint Everildis at Everingham in Yorkshire. To these we can add churches founded in existing towns where a saint worked, such as Saint Cuthman at Steyning, Sussex, or Saint Congar at Badgeworth, Somerset, or those where the saint's remains were buried, such as Saint Urith at Chittlehampton, Devon, or Saint Ethelbert at Marden, Herefordshire. Other dedications commemorate a site's founder, for example Saint Etheldreda at Ely Cathedral or Saint Cuthberga at Wimborne Minster, and the collection of relics of foreign saints seems to have inspired the dedications to Saint Firmin at North Crawley, Buckinghamshire, and Saint Sebastian at Great Gonerby, Lincolnshire. One particularly interesting pair of dedications are the churches of Saint Olave at either end of London Bridge, whose destruction he initiated to prevent the advance of invading armies. [3]
Other saints became known across particular geographical areas, and their church dedications reflect that. Saint Kentigern, who reputedly originated in Cumberland has ten churches dedicated to him – nine in Cumberland and one in neighbouring Northumberland. [5] Similarly the many churches dedicated to Saint Chad are clustered across Mercia in the former diocese of Lichfield which he was instrumental in founding. [6]
The patronage of particular professions by saints has also influenced choices. For example, most English coastal towns have a church dedicated to Saint Nicholas, patron saint of sailors and fisherman, and churches dedicated to Saint Giles, patron saint of beggars and cripples, are often found near the medieval gates of fortified towns. In a similar fashion, the choice of Saint Catherine was favoured by many institutions as she is also the patron saint of educators and philosophers. [3]
A number of churches seem to have selected their patron according to the feast day on which the church was dedicated. Though these are often hard to discern, they include several churches dedicated to the Ascension or the Assumption. [3]
The table lists the most common dedications in the Church of England. Note that churches with more than one patron saint are counted towards the totals of both. [4]
| Dedication | Number |
|---|---|
| St Mary | 2368 |
| All Saints | 1467 |
| St Peter | 1327 |
| St Michael | 816 |
| St Andrew | 801 |
| St Paul | 667 |
| Holy Trinity | 600 |
| St John the Baptist | 573 |
| St James | 546 |
| St Nicholas | 436 |
| Christ Church | 392 |
| St John the Evangelist | 351 |
| St John (ambiguous) | 288 |
| St Lawrence | 245 |
| St George | 243 |
| St Luke | 242 |
| St Margaret | 235 |
| St Mary Magdalene | 226 |
| St Mark | 179 |
| St Martin | 179 |
| St Bartholomew | 178 |
| St Thomas | 178 |
| St Leonard | 174 |
| St Giles | 160 |
| St Matthew | 145 |
| St Stephen | 145 |
| St Barnabas | 139 |
| St Helen | 121 |
| St Cuthbert | 106 |
| St Anne | 103 |
Among other Biblical saints the following have dedications: St Philip (92), St Jude (37), St Gabriel (29), St James the Less (24), Holy Spirit (22), St Simon (19), Holy Innocents (18) and St Matthias (16).
A number of churches are dedicated to Jesus by other names: as well as the 392 Christ Churches listed above, there are 80 St Saviours, 69 Emmanuels, 62 Good Shepherds, 18 Christ the Kings, and 12 Saviours.
Saint George, also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition, he was a soldier in the Roman army. He was of Cappadocian Greek origin and a member of the Praetorian Guard for Roman emperor Diocletian, but was sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith. He became one of the most venerated saints and megalomartyrs in Christianity, and he has been especially venerated as a military saint since the Crusades. He is respected by Christians, Druze, as well as some Muslims as a martyr of monotheistic faith.
Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early fourth century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar who became a Christian around the age of 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity and was martyred around the age of eighteen. More than 1,100 years after Catherine's martyrdom, Joan of Arc identified her as one of the saints who appeared to and counselled her.
According to apocrypha, as well as Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come only from New Testament apocrypha, of which the Gospel of James seems to be the earliest that mentions them. The mother of Mary is mentioned but not named in the Quran.
Saint Christopher is venerated by several Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman emperor Decius, or alternatively under the emperor Maximinus Daia. There appears to be confusion due to the similarity in names "Decius" and "Daia". Churches and monasteries were named after him by the 7th century.
Petroc or Petrock was a British prince and Christian saint.
The rood screen is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or wrought iron. The rood screen would originally have been surmounted by a rood loft carrying the Great Rood, a sculptural representation of the Crucifixion. In English, Scottish, and Welsh cathedrals, monastic, and collegiate churches, there were commonly two transverse screens, with a rood screen or rood beam located one bay west of the pulpitum screen, but this double arrangement nowhere survives complete, and accordingly the preserved pulpitum in such churches is sometimes referred to as a rood screen. At Wells Cathedral the medieval arrangement was restored in the 20th century, with the medieval strainer arch supporting a rood, placed in front of the pulpitum and organ.
A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross, is a cross or crucifix, especially the large crucifix set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church. Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the crucifixion of Jesus.
The Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree which rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. It is the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a genealogy.
The Litany of the Saints is a formal prayer of the Roman Catholic Church as well as the Old Catholic Church, Anglo-Catholic communities, and Western Rite Orthodox communities. It is a prayer to the Triune God, which also includes invocations for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Angels and all the martyrs and saints upon whom Christianity was founded, and those recognised as saints through the subsequent history of the church. Following the invocation of the saints, the Litany concludes with a series of supplications to God to hear the prayers of the worshippers. It is most prominently sung during the Easter Vigil, All Saints' Day, and in the liturgy for conferring Holy Orders, the Consecration of a Virgin and reception of the perpetual vows of a religious or a diocesane hermit.
Charles Eamer Kempe was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lychgates and memorials that helped to define a later nineteenth-century Anglican style. The list of English cathedrals containing examples of his work includes: Chester, Gloucester, Hereford, Lichfield, Wells, Winchester and York. Kempe's networks of patrons and influence stretched from the Royal Family and the Church of England hierarchy to the literary and artistic beau monde.
The term Poor Man's Bible has come into use in modern times to describe works of art within churches and cathedrals which either individually or collectively have been created to illustrate the teachings of the Bible for a largely illiterate population. These artworks may take the form of carvings, paintings, mosaics or stained-glass windows. In some churches a single artwork, such as a stained-glass window, has the role of Poor Man's Bible, while in others, the entire church is decorated with a complex biblical narrative that unites in a single scheme.
Anglican Marian theology is the summation of the doctrines and beliefs of Anglicanism concerning Mary, mother of Jesus. As Anglicans believe that Jesus was both human and God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity, within the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglican movement, Mary is accorded honour as the theotokos, a Koiné Greek term that means "God-bearer" or "one who gives birth to God".
Nottingham alabaster is a term used to refer to the English sculpture industry, mostly of relatively small religious carvings, which flourished from the fourteenth century until the early sixteenth century. Alabaster carvers were at work in London, York and Burton-on-Trent, and many probably worked very close to the rural mines, but the largest concentration was around Nottingham. This has led to all the English medieval output being referred to as "Nottingham alabaster".
Marian feast days in the liturgical year are celebrated in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The number of Marian feasts celebrated, their names can vary among Christian denominations.
Throughout history, Catholic Mariology has been influenced by a number of saints who have attested to the central role of Mary in God's plan of salvation. The analysis of Early Church Fathers continues to be reflected in modern encyclicals. Irenaeus vigorously defended the title of "Theotokos" or Mother of God. The views of Anthony of Padua, Robert Bellarmine and others supported the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, which was declared a dogma in 1850.
The title Virgin is an honorific bestowed on female saints and blesseds, primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church.
Mary has been one of the major subjects of Western art for centuries. There is an enormous quantity of Marian art in the Catholic Church, covering both devotional subjects such as the Virgin and Child and a range of narrative subjects from the Life of the Virgin, often arranged in cycles. Most medieval painters, and from the Reformation to about 1800 most from Catholic countries, have produced works, including old masters such as Michelangelo and Botticelli.
The consecration and entrustment to the Virgin Mary is a personal or collective act of Marian devotion among Catholics, with the Latin terms oblatio, servitus, commendatio and dedicatio being used in this context. Consecration is an act by which a person is dedicated to a sacred service, or an act which separates an object, location or region from a common and profane mode to one for sacred use. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments clarifies that in this context, "It should be recalled, however, that the term "consecration" is used here in a broad and non-technical sense: the expression is use of 'consecrating children to Our Lady', by which is intended placing children under her protection and asking her maternal blessing for them".
Dedication of churches is a dedication ceremony of a church building. Churches under the authority of a bishop are usually dedicated by the bishop.