y, after he had driven his flock to the pasture, it
seemed to him that he saw two lighted candles descending from the sky to
the place where he had seen the apparition. A woman who was passing at
the time declared that she also saw them. The boy hastened to the
monastery and told about the two apparitions. The abbot, Frederic IV,
and the rest of the community, were not inclined to believe in the
apparition, and ascribed it to the boy's visionary fancy. But when, in
the course of time, several extraordinary favors were granted to people
who prayed at the place of the apparition, the monks built a chapel
there. It was begun in 1447, and finished and dedicated next year under
the invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
The bishop granted an indulgence for the day of the anniversary of the
dedication, the Papal Nuncio, Cardinal Joannes, granted another, and
Pope Nicholas V a third. These indulgences, and a number of other
spiritual privileges granted to the chapel, attracted a great many
visitors, so that it became a place of pious pilgrimage. Elector
Frederic III, in fulfilment of a vow made when beset with difficulties,
visited the chapel in 1485. Emperor Ferdinand also visited it and left,
as a votive offering, his gold pectoral chain on the altar.

Devotion to the Fourteen Holy Helpers continued to spread. In 1743, a
magnificent church, to replace the old chapel, was begun, and completed
in 1772. Churches and altars in honor of these saints are found in
Italy, Austria, Tyrol, Hungary, Bohemia, Switzerland, and other
countries of Europe. In the United States of America two churches are
dedicated under the invocation of the Holy Helpers: one in Baltimore,
Md., the other in Gardenville, N. Y. Wherever and whenever invoked,
these saints have proved themselves willing helpers in all difficulties,
vicissitudes, and trials of their faithful clients.

CHAPTER II

Legends

BEFORE proceeding to relate the lives of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, we
deem it opportune to define the term usually applied to the narrative of
the lives of the saints.

The histories of the saints are called Legends. This word is derived
from the Latin, and signifies something that is to be read, a passage
the reading of which is prescribed. The legends of the saints are the
lives of the holy martyrs and confessors of the Faith. Some of them
occur in the Roman Breviary which the Catholic clergy is obliged to read
every d