Fourteen Holy Helpers

Fourteen Holy Helpers
Venerated in	Catholic Church
Feast	8 August (locally)

The Fourteen Holy Helpers are a group of saints venerated together in Roman Catholicism because their intercession is believed to be particularly effective, especially against various diseases. This group of Nothelfer ("helpers in need") originated in the 14th century at first in the Rhineland, largely as a result of the epidemic (probably of bubonic plague) that became known as the Black Death.

Devotion to the fourteen "Auxiliary Saints" began in Rhineland, now part of Germany, in the time of the Black Death.

At the heart of the fourteen were three virgin martyrs:

Sankt Margaretha mit dem Wurm,
Sankt Barbara mit dem Turm,
Sankt Catharina mit dem Radl,
das sind die heiligen drei Madl.

Saint Margaret with the dragon
Saint Barbara with the tower
Saint Catherine with the wheel
those are the three holy maids.

As the other saints began to be invoked along with these three virgin martyrs, they were represented together in works of art. Popular veneration of these saints often began in a monastery that held their relics. All of the saints except Giles were accounted martyrs.

Saint Christopher and Saint Giles were invoked against the plague itself. Saint Denis was prayed to for relief from headache, Saint Blaise for ills of the throat, Saint Elmo, for abdominal maladies, Saint Barbara for fever, and Saint Vitus against epilepsy. Saint Pantaleon was the patron of physicians, Saint Cyriacus invoked against temptation on the deathbed, and Saints Christopher, Barbara, and Catherine for protection against a sudden and unprovided-for death. Saint Giles was prayed to for a good confession, and Saint Eustace as healer of family troubles. Domestic animals were also attacked by the plague, and so Saints George, Elmo, Pantaleon, and Vitus were invoked for their protection. Saint Margaret of Antioch is the patron of safe childbirth.

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Wikipedia