Phallic saints were actual saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

s or local deities

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 who were invoked for fertility

Fertility

Fertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...

. More than vulgar representations of the phallus

Phallus

A phallus is an erect penis, a penis-shaped object such as a dildo, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. Any object that symbolically resembles a penis may also be referred to as a phallus; however, such objects are more often referred to as being phallic...

, phallic saints were benevolent symbols of prolificacy and reproductive fruitfulness, and objects of reverence and especial worship among barren women and young girls. Many were legitimate saints who acquired their priapic

Priapus

In Greek mythology, Priapus or Priapos , was a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his absurdly oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term priapism...

 attributes through the process of folk-etymology. Sir William Hamilton

William Hamilton (diplomat)

Sir William Hamilton KB, PC, FRS was a Scottish diplomat, antiquarian, archaeologist and vulcanologist. After a short period as a Member of Parliament, he served as British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764 to 1800...

 (1730-1803) reported that, among the wax representations of body parts then presented as offerings to Cosmas and Damian at Isernia

Isernia

Isernia Isernia Isernia (Latin: Aesernia or, in Pliny and later writers, Eserninus, or in the Antonine Itinerary, Serni is a town and comune in the central Italian region of Molise, and the capital of Isernia province.- Geography :...

, near Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, on their feast day, those of the penis

Penis

The penis is a biological feature of male animals including both vertebrates and invertebrates...

 were the most common. Hamiliton's observations led Richard Payne Knight

Richard Payne Knight

Richard Payne Knight was a classical scholar and connoisseur best known for his theories of picturesque beauty and for his interest in ancient phallic imagery.-Biography:...

 to write his Account of the Remains of the Worship of Priapus, in which he reproduced examples of the effigies.

Some examples include:

• Ters, or St. Ters, of Antwerp, whose cult was reported on by Johannes Goropius Becanus
  Johannes Goropius Becanus
  Johannes Goropius Becanus was a Dutch physician, linguist, and humanist.-Life:He was born Jan Gerartsen van Gorp in the town of Gorp, situated in the municipality of Hilvarenbeek...
  
  . He was also named Semini or God Jumenas.
• Saints Cosmas and Damian, twin physicians, one of whose cult-centers was Isernia
  Isernia
  Isernia Isernia Isernia (Latin: Aesernia or, in Pliny and later writers, Eserninus, or in the Antonine Itinerary, Serni is a town and comune in the central Italian region of Molise, and the capital of Isernia province.- Geography :...
  
  , in Italy.
• Saint Guignolé
  Saint Winwaloe
  Saint Winwaloe was the founder and first Abbot of Landévennec Abbey, literally Lann of Venec, or Monastery of Winwaloe...
  
   (Winwaloe), first Abbot of Landévennec, who acquired his priapic status by confusion of his name with gignere (Fr. engendrer, "to beget"). His shrine was not destroyed until 1793.
• Saint Foutin
  Saint Foutin
  Saint Foutin was a syncretic amalgam of Priapus with Pothinus, a figure of uncertain historicity alleged by Irenaeus to have been the first bishop of Lyon. The similarity of the name Pothinus and the Old French verb foutre led to linguistic assimilation; the name Saint Foutin is roughly equivalent...
  
  , by assimilation of the name of Pothin (Pothinus)
  Saint Pothinus
  Saint Pothinus is a figure of uncertain historicity, who is first mentioned in a letter attributed to Irenaeus of Lyon. The letter was sent from the Christian communities of Lyon and Vienne to the Roman province of Asia....
  
  , first bishop of Lyon, to the verb foutre (“to fuck
  Fuck
  "Fuck" is an English word that is generally considered obscene which, in its most literal meaning, refers to the act of sexual intercourse. By extension it may be used to negatively characterize anything that can be dismissed, disdained, defiled, or destroyed."Fuck" can be used as a verb, adverb,...
  
  ”). People worshipped the phallus
  Phallus
  A phallus is an erect penis, a penis-shaped object such as a dildo, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. Any object that symbolically resembles a penis may also be referred to as a phallus; however, such objects are more often referred to as being phallic...
  
   of St. Foutin by pouring wine on it.
• Saint Guerlichon (Greluchon) at Bourg-Dieu.
• Saint Giles
  Saint Giles
  Saint Giles was a Greek Christian hermit saint from Athens, whose legend is centered in Provence and Septimania. The tomb in the abbey Giles was said to have founded, in St-Gilles-du-Gard, became a place of pilgrimage and a stop on the road that led from Arles to Santiago de Compostela, the...
  
   (Aegidius) at Cotentin.
• Saint Rene in Anjou
  Anjou
  Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...
  
   (by confusion with reins, "kidneys" - once believed to be the seat of sexual power).

External links

• Phallic Saints, ourcivilisation.com
• Phallic Worship, sacred-texts.com
• Priapus Worship, sacred-texts.com
• Priapeia, public-domain-content.com