{"id":17860,"date":"2019-11-01T11:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T15:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/?p=17860"},"modified":"2023-11-08T13:59:46","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T18:59:46","slug":"remembering-the-saints-of-the-plague","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2019\/11\/01\/remembering-the-saints-of-the-plague\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering the Saints of the Plague"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Laura Hartman ~<\/em><\/p>\n

Today, as many Western Christian churches celebrate All Saints\u2019 Day, it seems fitting to remember the saints in the historical collections of the National Library of Medicine (NLM).<\/p>\n

In Medieval and Early Modern Europe widespread suffering from the plague epidemics<\/a> and general pestilence provided ample opportunity for saints to heal the sick and treat the terminally ill.\u00a0 Sufferers commonly prayed to the saints to intercede for them.\u00a0 Three saints that prominently grace the pages in early modern rare book collections at NLM are St. Roch, St. Charles Borromeo, and St. Sebastian.<\/p>\n

St. Roch or Rocco (lived 14th<\/sup> century)<\/h3>\n

As a Christian pilgrim, Roch traveled to Rome and throughout Italy healing those suffering from an outbreak of the plague.\u00a0 At Piacenza he contracted the disease and withdraw to the countryside, where he drank water from a spring that miraculously arose from the ground; he was healed by a dog who licked his bulbous sores and brought him bread to sustain him. \u00a0Living proof that one could survive the plague, St. Roch was often called upon by sufferers to relieve them of bubonic plague and other diseases.<\/p>\n

\"Title<\/a>
Vita Sancti Rochi<\/em> by Francesco Diedo. Mainz, Peter von Friedberg, ca.1494\u20131495.
Diedo\u2019s Vita Sancti Rochi<\/em> (Life of St. Roch<\/em>) was first published in 1478, during an outbreak of bubonic plague in Italy in 1477\u20131479. The title page image features an angel tending Roch\u2019s sores, while a dog brings him bread in his mouth.
National Library of Medicine #9412014<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Title<\/a>
Relatione verissima del progresso della peste di Milano<\/em> by Paolo Bisciola. Ancona, Per Alessandro Benacci, 1577.
This contemporary account of the plague epidemic in Milan, details Charles Borromeo\u2019s efforts to care for the afflicted. Images of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Roch adorn the title page.
National Library of Medicine #2223007R<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

St. Charles Borromeo (1538\u20131584)<\/h3>\n

While modern day Roman Catholics may recognize Charles Borromeo as an author of the first Roman Catholic catechism, he was venerated in his lifetime for his compassion to the people of Milan, during the famine and plague outbreak of 1576\u20131577. \u00a0Borromeo, then Archbishop of Milan, provided critical governance and care to the suffering people when the governor and many of the nobility fled the growing humanitarian crisis.\u00a0 Borromeo issued guidelines to control the plague outbreak, organized makeshift hospitals, used his own vast fortune to provide food for the hungry, and personally attended the poor and sick.\u00a0 He never contracted the plague and credited his generally healthy nature to a regular regimen of fasting and prayer.<\/p>\n

\"Title<\/a>
Della cura della peste<\/em> by Charles Borromeo. Vicenza, Francesco Grossi, 1630.
Editions of Charles Borromeo\u2019s instructions for treating the plague were still being produced decades later.
National Library of Medicine #2322031R<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Title<\/a>
Exenterationis cadaueris illustrissimi Cardinalis Borrhomaei Mediolani Archiespiscopi<\/em>, by Carcano Leone and Giovanni Battista. Mediolani, Ex typographia Michaelis Tini: ad instantiam Petri Tini, 1584.
Autopsy report conducted on the death of Charles Borromeo.
National Library of Medicine #8804669<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

St. Sebastian (circa 256\u2013288)<\/h3>\n

Sebastian was a Christian martyr who was sentenced to die for his faith by the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ordered him tied to a post and shot to death by arrows. During the Middle Ages he became a popular saint to pray to during plague epidemics. \u00a0He epitomizes the suffering Christian and some see similarities between his arrow wounds and the bulbous sores of the plague. \u00a0His popularity increased during the plague epidemics in Europe.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Oratio ad depellendam pestem<\/em>, circa 16th or 17th century.
A prayer sheet to be used during times of plague epidemic. St. Sebastian is at center, flanked by Sts. Adrian, Anthony, Benno, and Roch.
National Library of Medicine #1013927655<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
Love AIDS people poster<\/em>. Washington, D.C., Shoshin Society, ca. 1989.
This poster featuring a 17th century painting of St. Sebastian<\/a>, likens the AIDS epidemic to the bubonic plague epidemic of the Middle Ages.
National Library of Medicine #101438940 <\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/h3>\n

Many miraculous cures have been attributed to saints throughout history.\u00a0 Besides Sts. Roch, Charles Borromeo, and Sebastian, the NLM stacks are home to many other saints waiting in the wings.\u00a0 To see more, try searching \u201csaints\u201d or individual saint names in NLM Digital Collections<\/a> and NLM Catalog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can arrange a tour of the NLM and its incunabula collection by contacting the NLM Visitor Center<\/a>. For information on access to the collections explore our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Laura Hartman is Rare Book Cataloger in the History of Medicine Division at the National Library of Medicine.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Laura Hartman ~ Today, as many Western Christian churches celebrate All Saints\u2019 Day, it seems fitting to remember the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19605840,"featured_media":17877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12763,347145303],"tags":[413021,903712,275516,136219,1183026,12499,145811,116,11115,668],"class_list":["post-17860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-collections","category-rare-books-journals","tag-1400s","tag-1500s","tag-1600s","tag-epidemic","tag-incunabula","tag-libraries","tag-plague","tag-religion","tag-remembering","tag-research"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/9412014_2_feature.jpg?fit=900%2C399&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3xcDk-4E4","jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19605840"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17860"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17897,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17860\/revisions\/17897"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}