Recently I received the question: “Why don’t we call Moses and Elijah ‘Saint'”?
In other words: Why aren’t they referred to as St. Moses and St. Elijah?
Evidence for Sainthood
After all, we have it on pretty good authority that they are holy and in heaven.
Both Old and New Testament attest to the holiness of both individuals. We have a clear indication that Elijah was taken directly into heaven, without dying, and while Moses did die, there’s no serious doubt about his making it to heaven (at least after heaven was generally opened to the righteous of the Old Testament).
Most impressively, both Moses and Elijah get to appear with Jesus in the Transfiguration.
That’s kind of a giveaway.
So why don’t we call them saints?
Old Testament Saints in General
A basic answer would be that we tend not to use the honorific “Saint” for human beings who lived in the Old Testament period.
We do use it for angels we read about in the Old Testament–St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael–but not human beings.
That is probably just an artifact of how the term “Saint” evolved. Originally it was an adjective, meaning “holy” (Latin, sanctus). People started prefixing it to the names of notably holy individuals (holy Peter, holy Paul), and eventually it came to be used as an honorific–like “Mister” or “Doctor” (thus St. Peter, St. Paul).
But for whatever reason, people tended not to do this for Old Testament figures.
Perhaps this was because holy figures of the Old Testament were thought to already be sufficiently hallowed by their inclusion in Scripture–although that would not explain why the apostles and other New Testament figures got the title “Saint.”
More likely, Old Testament figures were seen as less directly relevant as examples to Christians, because they lived before the Christian age. Those living in the Christian age, like the apostles and later saints, are more like us and thus more direct examples for us in a certain sense.
However that may be, Old Testament figures were generally not called “Saint.”
But sometimes they were. . . .
Meet St. Moses and St. Elijah
The Latin Church maintains an official list of saints and blesseds known as the Roman Martyrology, and it actually lists some humans from the Old Testament, including Moses and Elijah.
Here is part of the entry for September 4:
On Mount Nebo, in the land of Moab, [was the death of] the holy lawgiver and prophet Moses.
And here is part of the entry for July 20:
On Mount Carmel, [was the departure of] the holy prophet Elijah.
Latin or English?
The Roman Martyrology, of course, is in Latin, and the translation offered above is accomodated to standard English usage, which avoids using “Saint” for Moses and Elijah. The Latin original is a bit different.
Here is the Latin for these two entries, along with a more word-for-word translation:
In monte Nebo, terræ Moab, sancti Móysis, legislatóris et Prophétæ.
On Mt. Nebo, of the land of Moab, [was the death] of saint Moses, lawgiver and Prophet.
In monte Carmélo sancti Elíæ Prophétæ.
On Mt. Carmel [was the departure] of saint Elijah the Prophet.
This is the same construction that is used to report the deaths of other saints in the Matyrology. For example, a bit later on September 4th, we read:
Tréviris sancti Marcélli, Epíscopi et Mártyris.
Which would be:
At Treves [was the death] of saint Marcellus, Bishop and Martyr.
You might note that the term “saint” is lower-case in the Latin, and you might argue from that that it should be translated as an adjective–“holy”–but the point is that the Martyrology is applying to Moses and Elijah the same terminology that it applies to other saints.
It’s listing them in the same way, despite the fact that they’re Old Testament figures.
And then there’s this . . .
Meet Mar Musa and Mar Elia
English and Latin aren’t the only two languages in the Church, and the Latin Church isn’t the only body in union with the pope. Consider, for example, the Chaldean Church, which is one of the Eastern Catholic churches.
It uses a dialect of Aramaic as its liturgical language, and it refers to Moses and Elijah as saints, using the standard Aramatic term fors “saint”–“mar”–as a title for both of them.
They are referred to as “Mar Musa” (St. Moses) and “Mar Elia” (St. Elijah).
You will find various Chaldean institutions, like churches and monasteries, named after them the same way you find them named after other saints.
And Mar Musa and Mar Elia don’t just have particular days celebrating them on the Chaldean liturgical calendar. They actually have liturgical seasons devoted to them.
I should note that the term “mar” also has other meanings. Its root meaning is “lord.” And you can see it in the term “maranatha” (Marana tha = “Our Lord, come!”).
By extension it also is used as a title for saints, as with Mar Musa, Mar Elia, and all the other saints honored in the Chaldean Church.
Finally, it is also used as a title for bishops, but nobody is under the impression that Moses and Elijah were bishops.
We thus have to be a bit careful about who the “we” is when we ask why we don’t refer to Moses and Elijah as saints.
Some of us do, because the practice can vary from one language to another and from one Catholic rite to another.
When I lived in Birmingham, AL, I would occasionally attend St. Elias Maronite Church. So there is evidence here in the US and in English.
I live in Birmingham, AL and belong to St Georges Melkite Church. The Byzantine Rite refers to Old Testament saints as Saint Moses, St Solomon, etc.
Who says we don’t?
There are two Roman Catholic (as opposed to Eastern Catholic) churches dedicated to St. Daniel the Prophet. The Carmelite calendar has feasts of St. Elias (Elijah) and St. Eliseus (Elisha).
Thank you for not engaging in Latin chauvinism; it is refreshing compared to so many other bloggers who assume Latin Rite = Catholic Church! The peace of Christ be upon you!
@Mike the Geek Thank you! I always endeavor to think comprehensively across the Church’s rites and churches sui iuris. I want to recognize the legitimate diversity that exists within the Church, and if I ever fail to do so, it is because I am unaware of a fact, not because of a desire to omit it.
Alas, the Chaldean Rite has renamed its seasons beginning with 2012. The season of Mar Eliya the Prophet has now been simply absorbed into the Season of the Cross, and the Season of Moses is now basically replaced by the Season of the Triumph of the Cross. I am not sure if the seasonal propers have changed, or whether its merely a name change.
Ah. Thanks. I was aware of the revision of the Chaldean rite, and even know some of the people involved, but I had not heard this.
In our family prayers we periodically pray a personal family litany to the saints whose names we bear in our first and middle names. Some of them are New Testament or Church-age figures—Stephen, Elizabeth, John, James, Sebastian, Anne, Francis, Andrew, Catherine, Rose—but a few are Old Testament: David, Sarah and Nathan. (There’s also one name, Susanna, that appears in the OT, NT and early Church legend, though I always think of the Susanna whom Luke mentions as one of Jesus’ female supporters, since the figure in Daniel I take to be legendary, and nothing is known historically of the early Roman martyr. Almost nothing is known of the figure in Luke either—only that she was one of a group of women of means who followed Jesus and sponsored his ministry by supporting Jesus and the Twelve, but that’s remarkable enough in itself.)
As a private family devotion I think it’s okay to pray to “Saint David” (the man after God’s own heart), “Saint Sarah” (whom the author of Hebrews tells us conceived Isaac by divine faith), and “Saint Nathan” the prophet. Jimmy, any thoughts on this?
As a private family, it’s perfectly acceptable.
Canon law prohibits giving public veneration (e.g., in a church or in public under the auspices of a priest) to individuals not listed in the Roman Martryology (so one would want to check their first to see if the Old Testament individual is listed), but in private one can venerate other individuals.
The one caveat I’d have is making sure that the children understand this, so they aren’t tempted to invoke St. Old Testament in public without knowing that the individual is, in fact, in the Roman Martyrology (and knowing the principle involved), in keeping with the child’s age and capacity to understand this.
Thanks for the article on OT saints! I’ve always wondered why the Church doesn’t use the term “Saint” before people like Moses, Noah, etc. I tried to get an answer from my local church, but the results weren’t too definitive. Anyway, I’ve now used Saint Noah in my conversations. He is my “Patron Saint of flood victims” and I pray to him if we are about to get a storm!! So far, he seems to be doing the job!!
Interestingly, we needn’t leave the west to find Moses given the title saint. In Venice there is a church named for San Moise (Saint Moses). “Santo” (shortened to “San” here) is simply the Italian form of “Saint” coming straight from the Latin “Sanctus.” Venetians also have churches named for other Old Testament figures including San Giobbe (St Job) and San Samuele (St Samuel).
@NathanBarontini Thanks for the info, Nathan! That was part of my point–that it’s English that tends to avoid calling them “saints.” Nice to hear of some Italian churches with St. Old Testament names!
I’ve always wondered why the Church doesn’t call Moses, Noah, Abraham, etc.”Saint”..thanks Jim for the information. I’ve taken the liberty to start my own novena to Saint Noah….Patron Saint of Flood Victims! Whenever the forecast is for heavy rain, I start the Novena!!!….seems to be working!!!
I have heard a lovely Litaniae Sanctorum where “Sancte Abraham, ora pro nobis” comes before St John the Baptist. Search for “Litaniae Sanctorum” on YouTube and it should be the top one in the search.
We Orthodox call them Saints, dedicate parishes to them, and celebrate them with feast days. (St Elias — or Elijah — is one of the very most popular parish-dedications among Arab-speaking Orthodox.) We do the same with most of the other prophets and patriarchs.
Back when Christians named there children after saints, biblical figures were always included thereby assuming their saintity. Many of those names are listed by other posters, and we have known many ladies named Ruth. My wife had an uncle Elijah.
Actually, while he’s certainly deserving of the honorific “Saint”, I’m not sure Elijah is actually in heaven. This is based on a blurb I read in the Summa Theologica a while ago. Part 3, Question 49, Article 5, Response 2 reads: “Elias was taken up into the atmospheric heaven, but not in to the empyrean heaven, which is the abode of the saints: and likewise Enoch was translated into the earthly paradise, where he is believed to live with Elias until the coming of Antichrist.”
I’ve seen other dissenting opinions on where exactly Elijah/Enoch are, but I haven’t found one from a better source than good ol’ Thomas Aquinas.
This is an insightful article, and I appreciate the knowledgable author for giving voice to the Eastern aspect as well, which is often unknown and unvoiced. I actually had this discussion with an RC friend and we had a bit of a discrepancy, because as a Maronite I refer to them similarly as the Chaldeans, Mar Musa and Mar Elias. I actually just finished editing a Maronite synaxarion, and many Old Testament figures, including obscure and textually unnamed ones are listed (such as Mart Shmooni and her sons from the book of 2 Maccabees).
Not only does the Carmelite calendar celebrate July 20th as the Solemnity of the Prophet Elijah with its own office and Mass,but in your country the New York Carmelites belong to the Province of St.Elias.
Cheers.
Gordon Carter.
Adelaide. South Australia.
ALL those who followed Christ as their redeeming Lord in the New Testament were saints. The uppercase Saints which began to appear were the thin end of the wedge which became a burgeoning baggage trail until the present grouping of ‘Catholic’ churches obscured the true object of veneration and worship – Our Lord Jesus Christ. Those groups which have returned to the leading of the Holy Spirit are thriving and mobile, unimpeded by the accumulated baggage of generations.