Thanks, Elaine, for the head's up! I suppose I should have googled the answer myself, but I've been lazy - LOL!! :D

I'm a member of the H and A fan club myself, something about those two just fascinates me, probably because we have so few documents to go by.

Well, she isn't a saint, but we visited the head of Mary Magdalene in France. As stated it is in a tomb with other notibles in Provence.

I have to say it was one of the more grotesque sights I have ever seen. The church is in deplorable condition. The tomb area is dank.

But I have to say, we won't forget that little trip for a long time.

ellenem, in regards to Mary Magdalene's blonde hair & red outfit I think that was to indicate that she'd been a prostitute. Was it Greek or Roman society where prostitutes bleached their hair blonde as advertisement? And naturally red = wickedness! Ooooh!

Mary Magdalene is indeed a saint; her feast day is July 22.

Yep, Mary Magdalene is traditionally shown wearing red.

The BVM (Blessed Virgin Mary) mother of Jesus is usually portrayed in blue.

It's been a while since I dipped into a New Testament, but I think I'm right in saying that there's no Biblical authority for identifying Mary Magdalen as a prostitute. I believe one theory has it that this association was deliberately engineered by early (mysoginist) Church fathers as a means of combatting the apostolic status accorded her by some early Christians. (And no, I haven't read "The Da Vinci Code!")

Neil, that's what I've read as well, but as you know, there is a tradition in Christian art of portraying her as a prostitute, or at least a 'fallen' and penitent woman. I think she's often identified, not through dogma necesarily, as the woman "taken in adultery."

Here's a photo I took in Montmartre of a statue of St. Denis holding his head::

http://www.rozault.com/Paris2003/source/stdenis.html

The statue is right next to a boules court -- Rick Steves comments that the saint looks like he's about to toss it out for a game.

While recently in Venice, we went into the church of Santa Lucia. at the far end of the church, near the altar, was a glass box (coffin?), with the body of Santa Lucia in it. they had a mask covering her face. she had on a dress of some sort, i recall, but her hands and bare feet were showing. you could walk all the way around the box. interesting. I don't know her importance as a Saint. does anyone?
thanks

Lucia is the Italian form of Lucy, and Lucy/Lucia was a martyr/saint in Sicily, I don't know why she ended up in Venice. I also don't know if she's the same St Lucy with the eye problem. The train station is named for her as well.

I have been away from the board for awhile and just read through this thread.

Maitaitom, you are a hoot--as usual.

I just got back from Italy. If you are interested in saintology (or whatever it is called) do not miss the tour of the excavations under St. Peter's Basilica. They began to dig under the building and think Peter was actually buried there. What they found was missing feet. Traditionally, Peter is believed to have been cruicified upside down. Perhaps that accounts for the missing feet (torn off when they pulled the body off the cross?). Who knows?

In any event, if you take what is called the "scavi" tour (advance booking required), you will see all of this. Very interesting tour. Please note, unlike many saints, who are reputed to have been buried in several places, St. Peter's was always thought to have been built atop his remains. The excavations provided some proof of that, although we will never know for sure.

Having visited museums in Rome and Florence, I saw many paintings of the saints--not to mention the madonna and child. Yes, they were all stylized because illiterate people in the Middle Ages would have known the stories about the saints and recognized them by whatever they were carrying or wearing.

Neil & Elaine, I'm sure you're both correct!

I wonder if people came to that conclusion because she was going to be stoned to death. Jesus wrote in the dirt that he who has not sinned should cast the first stone.

Even today in the Middle East women are stoned to death for charges (not proof) of adultery.

That, of course, is not to say that Mary Magdalene was or was not an adulteress/prostitute. Just some thoughts.

When I visited Notre Dame April of 2004. our local guide Etienne suggested we look for St. Denis outisde, the only figure wityh his head in his hands. I mistakenly thought he meant they had their hands to their face. Imagine my surprise when I saw his standing figure, holding his head in his hand. A visit to St. Denis is supposed to be a lovely day trip. After reading some of these posts, I really want to read up on some of the saints.

I have been to St. Denis. It is sort of on the northern exterior of Paris. If you take a taxi to CDG airport, you have probably passed the cathedral. Many French royals were buried there but many bones were scattered during the French Revolution of 1789. You can still, however, see the burial vaults. It is a very interesting church.

Beatchick,
Heloïse (bc1100-dc1163) lived at a time after Fulbert died. Her uncle may have been a relative, however, I have not done research to determine this fact.

Thank you, laurensuite, I appreciate the update! :)

OK I decided to look into St. Lucy. There are no less than 7 of the honored ladies.

Lucy
Lucy Bufalari
Lucy Filippini
Lucy de Freitas
Lucy of Amelia
Lucy of Syracuse
Lucy the Chaste

St. Lucy (Santa Lucia) of Syracuse is the "famous" one from Syracuse, Sicily.

Having witnessed her wealthy mother's miraculous cure at the Virgin Martyr Saint Agnes shrine she vowed to give all her possessions to the poor and die a virgin. Her gold-digger of a fiance was not happy with her decisions.

It was in the early days of Christianity so the fiance was able to publicly denounced her as a Christian. Condemned to be deflowered in a brothel, a team of oxen could not budge her from where she stood. Burning at the stake didn't work either. Stabbing in the throat finally did. It's not clear exactly when but sometime during the tortures she pulled out her eyes and gave them to her fiance who had always admired their beauty. The lady had some......pluck. (Ouch! Did I say that?)

Some of her representations in art are eyes on a dish and not surprisingly hitched to a yoke of oxen.

She's busy as a patroness: eye problems, throat problems, the city of Sicily, glaziers, lamplighters, authors and gondoliers. She is the "Santa Lucia" that gondoliers sing about.



As an early saint her bodily relic would have been subjected to the "hacksaw solution." For many of the early centuries a Christian church could not be consecrated unless it had a relic of its own. Varies bits & pieces of saints were spread through Europe this way.

St Agatha the lady with her breasts on a platter? She's also the patron saint of bell founders as her breasts were not just mistaken as loaves of bread but also bells.

Don't forget to pop into Rouen, France to visit where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake - if that interests.