Learning about the lives of holy men and women is a common and helpful practice among Christians for growth in devotion and holiness. While we might take some time to consider these saints in their real historical contexts, it is easy to look past the ways their lives and actions influence our own present culture. Saints are made within specific cultural and historical circumstances. Just as importantly, the saints of ages past have borne deep impact on this current age of history. This series, then, seeks to identify the saints from the history of our Church who have borne the greatest influence on our present culture, that is, the way we think about and experience the Christian life in our present era, and in our segment of geography (i.e., the West and, in particular, the United States).
For the purpose of this series, Christian history is delineated into eight ages: the Apostolic Age (A.D. 35-100); the Early Patristic Age (A.D. 100-480); the Later Patristic Age (A.D. 480-800); The Age of Early Christendom (A.D. 800-1200); the Age of Later Christendom (A.D. 1200-1400); the Renaissance and Baroque Age (A.D. 1400-1660); the Modern Age (A.D. 1660-1900); and the Post-Modern Age (the twentieth century). Each essay within this series will examine a handful of saints who sought and found holiness within their historical epochs and who, in turn, have borne an outsized influence on the ways Catholic-Christians in the third millennium understand and live the Catholic Faith. The great hope is that learning these influences gives us inspiration and stamina as we seek to answer the call to holiness in the world and the culture of the twenty-first century.
The first era to examine is the Apostolic Age, the period most foundational for the remainder of Christian history. It was the era of missionary preaching and the writing of the New Testament, which lasted from the time of Pentecost to the close of the first century. It was an era influenced, ordered, and illuminated by three ancient Mediterranean cultures and their iconic cities: the Hebrew culture in Jerusalem; the Greek culture in Athens; and the Roman culture in the Eternal City. The first Christians thought of themselves as fulfilled Jews, and so they brought the culture of ancient Judaism to their daily lives. The also lived in a world influenced for centuries by Hellenism, which relied on the intellectual system developed in ancient Greece. Finally, they lived under Roman occupation and relied on the system of law and justice established by the grand empire.
As in any of the ages, good arguments could be made to include a hefty number of saints among the most influential. In the Apostolic Age, this list could certainly include the Blessed Mother. Indeed, a devotion to the Mother of Jesus is part and parcel of the Christian life in every age, according to the teaching of the Church (see CCC 963-970, for just one instance). The list could also include all eleven faithful apostles, or some above others, like Peter, James, and John who made up the “inner circle” that Jesus took to the top of Mount Tabor for the Transfiguration. We might also point to an apostle like Matthew, who wrote the Gospel that set out to prove Jesus was the long-expected Messiah of the Jews. Any of those would certainly make worthy choices.
Still, there are three saints other than these whose work bore an outsized influence on the establishment of Christian culture for the subsequent twenty centuries. The first of those influencers, the one who might have had the largest influence of all, is St. Paul, the thirteenth Apostle. He bequeathed to the Church a corpus of New Testament writings second in length only to the combined Gospel accounts. His letters laid the foundation from which the Church Fathers as well as pastors and theologians in every century would deal with pastoral, moral, exegetical, and spiritual questions.
Perhaps even more than his teaching through the written word, St. Paul laid out the paradigm for the missionary Church in action, first by his own conversion and then in three extended missionary journeys, detailed in the Acts of the Apostles. There, the Apostle preached the Gospel to the Mediterranean world and established churches with episcopal hierarchies from Antioch to Crete to Rome; and we know that he desired to do the same in Spain (see Rom. 15:22-29).
In his missionary travels and preaching, Paul always held up the death and Resurrection of Jesus as the primary and efficacious fact of Christianity: without these, nothing else mattered. Paul’s means of conveying this truth was to preach first to God’s covenant people. On his travels to various cities, he always went first to the Jewish synagogue to make his evangelical appeal that Jesus was, indeed, the Jewish Messiah, the fulfillment of their covenant faith. In essence, St. Paul provided a template for the effective fulfillment of Jesus’ Great Commission (see Mt. 28:18-20).
The next great influencer of Catholic history and culture is St. Luke, a traveling companion of St. Paul and an author of a significant portion of the New Testament. Out of his experiences on the Apostle’s last two missionary journeys, Luke authored a single work of contemporary historical documentation that has since been broken into two parts: the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.
This first historian of the Church intended to show how the Person of Jesus of Nazareth was, at one and the same time, the fulfillment of the history of the old covenants as well as the power source of all the works of this new sect of fulfilled Jews, for the work that would be done in coming generations. Even more specifically, Luke sought to show that “this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; [and] they will listen” (Acts 28:28).
In his writing, Luke established the Catholic understanding of history: all history before Jesus points forward to the Messiah, and all history since Jesus draws its efficacy from and points backward to the divine Source. And, most importantly, he shared Jesus’ and Paul’s message that this Source was open to those beyond the covenant people.
Another element of Luke’s influence is that his Gospel contains details and stories, not contained in other Gospels, that are very common in our lived experience of the Christian Faith. Such details and episodes include the Annunciation at Nazareth, a very common image in sacred art; the Magnificat, which is prayed daily by countless numbers of Catholics; the Nativity story, which is the biblical reference for the creche scenes that populate our homes during the Advent and Christmas seasons each year; and the story of the Good Thief on Calvary. Beyond these, Luke is the only evangelist who tells two parables that are perhaps the best-known and best-loved in all Christendom: the Parable of the Good Shepherd (see Lk. 10) and the Parable of the Prodigal Son (see Lk. 15). Without Luke’s history and details, we would be left without these prevalent images, words, stories, and devotions. Even non-Catholics and non-Christians would view and apply Christianity differently.
The third great influencer is St. Clement of Rome, who died right around the turn of the second century. We know he served as pope because he is named among the early popes in the Roman Canon (also known as Eucharistic Prayer 1). Clement’s influence is extraordinary because he is iconic of apostolic and papal succession. He was ordained by St. Peter to eventually lead the Church of Rome, confirming his spiritual authority in the Church, the authority of the one to whom Jesus gave the keys to the Kingdom (see Mt. 16:18-19).
Out of his authority, Clement wrote his well-known Epistle to the Corinthians just a handful of years before his death. The letter teaches the faithful of the veracity of the Resurrection, the miraculous event that is the foundation of Christianity; the importance of humility in the Christian spiritual and moral life; the necessity of renouncing obstinacy and schism; remaining united under the authority of those charged with Church leadership, specifically the bishops; and a call to ongoing conversion of heart and works of mercy to heal and sustain the world. In short, Clement’s letter is among the first sources outside of the New Testament writings that provides an extended catechesis on Christian doctrine, morality, and spirituality. Simply, Clement’s greatest influence was to faithfully hand on what had been given by Jesus and His apostles.
Like other early Christians, Clement personifies the courage required by authentic Christianity, as he was exiled from Rome for being Christian. He was sent to Crimea where he died. Quite simply, Clement initiated the Catholic understanding and practice of courageous and humble unity under authority, which has remained present and prevalent for more than nineteen centuries now. Because of the life and writings of St. Clement, Christians in every age have understood and benefited from clear expressions of Christian teaching; from encouragement to lead holy lives sustained by Eucharistic worship; and from accepting that their choices may leave them hated, even killed, by the surrounding culture(s). He was an inspiration for martyrs over many centuries.
Taken together, St. Paul, St. Luke, and St. Clement of Rome established the intellectual, pastoral, and moral patterns that would serve as the foundations of the life of the Church in every subsequent age. Without their work, moving forward and building up in succeeding centuries would have been a more difficult task than it already was. Thus, among so many other worthy saints, these men stand out as the most influential saints of the first century of Christianity.
Editor’s Note: Stay tuned for Part 2 of “Saintly Influencers,” coming June 24th! Please consider contributing to this influential new series here.
Image from Wikipedia
