Diffusion of His Veneration
The story was popularized in Jacobus de Voragine's "Golden Legend" (c. 1260). Eustace became known as a patron saint of hunters and firefighters, and also of anyone facing adversity; he was traditionally included among the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
As with many early saints, there is little evidence for Eustace's existence, even as a martyr. Elements of his story have been attributed to other saints (notably the Belgian Saint Hubert).
Saint Eustace's feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is September 20, as is indicated in the Roman Martyrology. In addition, a celebration of Saint Eustace and his companions was included in the Roman Calendar from the twelfth century until 1969, when it was removed because of the completely fabulous character of their Passio, resulting in a lack of sure knowledge about them. Some traditionalist Catholics continue to observe the pre-1970 Roman Calendar.
Read more about this topic: Saint Eustace
Famous quotes containing the word veneration:
“It is evident, from their method of propagation, that a couple of cats, in fifty years, would stock a whole kingdom; and if that religious veneration were still paid them, it would, in twenty more, not only be easier in Egypt to find a god than a man, which Petronius says was the case in some parts of Italy; but the gods must at last entirely starve the men, and leave themselves neither priests nor votaries remaining.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)