raven
Also refers to
- black bird
- crow
Article
Large, black bird noted for its intelligence. Depending on where the viewer is from, he may never have seen a raven, but this emblem in Christian art, and this article, covers crows and similarly all-black birds. They are emblematic of penance, and of the solitary life of hermits and desert monks. However, they are often included in art because actual ravens were involved in significant incidents in the saint‘s life. Muslim tradition say that God sent a raven to Cain which, by scratching in the earth, showed Cain how to bury his murdered brother Abel. According to Jewish tradition, Adam and Eve were taught by the raven how to bury their son, and God rewarded the raven by granting three things: (1) his young were to be inviolable, (2) abundance of food, (3) his prayer for rain should be granted.
Profiled saints that may be depicted with a raven
- Adam the Patriarch (with animals in general; being taught to bury Abel)
- Elijah the Prophet (fed by ravens while living as a hermit)
- Eve the Matriarch (with animals in general; being taught to bury Abel)
- Noah the Patriarch (first bird released to see if the Flood waters had receded)
- Saint Anthony the Abbot
- Saint Benedict of Nursia (symbol of eremitical life)
- Saint Boniface (possibly because he “defeated” Odin, one of whose symbols were the ravens that brought him knowledge)
- Saint Columba of Iona (woken by ravens to deliver a prophecy)
- Saint Erasmus (fed by ravens while on the run from Diocletian)
- Saint Kevin of Glendalough (during one Lent, while he held his arms outstretched in prayer, a blackbird laid an egg in the Kevin‘s hand; he remained in that position in prayer until the baby bird hatched)
- Saint Meinrad (two ravens led authorities to the hiding place of Meinrad‘s killers)
- Saint Oswald of Northumbria (had a pet raven; following Oswald‘s death, the bird rescued his severed arm, and where it fell a holy well sprang up)
- Saint Paul the Hermit (fed by ravens while living as a hermit)
- Saint Vincent of Saragossa (a raven protected Saint Vincent‘s martyred body from attacks from other animals)
- Saint William Firmatus
MLA Citation
- “raven”. Emblems of the Faith. CatholicSaints.Info. 15 August 2010. Web. 24 April 2024. <http://catholicsaints.info/raven/>