Auxiliary Saints
A group of fourteen saints traditionally venerated together, especially in Germany. They comprise three bishops (Denis of Paris, Erasmus or Elmo, Blaise), three virgins (Barbara, Margaret, Catherine of Alexandria), three knightly patrons (George, Achatius, Eustace), the physician Pantaleon, the deacon Cyriacus, the martyr Vitus, the monk Giles, the travelers' patron Christopher. There are local variations, e.g., Leonard of Noblat, Dorothy, Nicholas (“Santa Claus”), Pancras, the English king Oswald. The cult, first advanced by the Dominicans, reached its climax in mid-fifteenth century.