According to religious sources, there are numerous saints to whom the ability to
flyFlight is the process by which an object moves either through the air, or movement beyond earth's atmosphere , by aerodynamically generating lift, propulsive thrust or aerostatically using buoyancy, or by simple ballistic movement.-Buoyant flight:Humans, although not apparently other animals, have...
or levitate has been attributed. Most of these
flying saints are mentioned as such in literature and sources associated with them.
The ability was also attributed to other figures in early
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
. The apocryphal
Acts of PeterThe Acts of Peter is one of the earliest of the apocryphal acts of the apostles. The majority of the text has survived only in the Latin translation of the Vercelli manuscript. It is mainly notable for a description of a miracle contest between Saint Peter and Simon Magus, and as the first record...
gives a legendary tale of
Simon Magus'Simon Magus , also known as Simon the Sorcerer and Simon of Gitta, was a Samaritan proto-Gnostic and traditional founder of the Simonians in the first century A.D...
death. Simon is performing
magicMagic, sometimes known as sorcery, is the practice of consciousness manipulation and/or autosuggestion to achieve a desired result, usually by techniques described in various conceptual systems...
in the forum, and in order to prove himself to be a
godGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
, he flies up into the air.
According to religious sources, there are numerous saints to whom the ability to
flyFlight is the process by which an object moves either through the air, or movement beyond earth's atmosphere , by aerodynamically generating lift, propulsive thrust or aerostatically using buoyancy, or by simple ballistic movement.-Buoyant flight:Humans, although not apparently other animals, have...
or levitate has been attributed. Most of these
flying saints are mentioned as such in literature and sources associated with them.
The ability was also attributed to other figures in early
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
. The apocryphal
Acts of PeterThe Acts of Peter is one of the earliest of the apocryphal acts of the apostles. The majority of the text has survived only in the Latin translation of the Vercelli manuscript. It is mainly notable for a description of a miracle contest between Saint Peter and Simon Magus, and as the first record...
gives a legendary tale of
Simon Magus'Simon Magus , also known as Simon the Sorcerer and Simon of Gitta, was a Samaritan proto-Gnostic and traditional founder of the Simonians in the first century A.D...
death. Simon is performing
magicMagic, sometimes known as sorcery, is the practice of consciousness manipulation and/or autosuggestion to achieve a desired result, usually by techniques described in various conceptual systems...
in the forum, and in order to prove himself to be a
godGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
, he flies up into the air. The apostle
PeterSimon Peter , Pétros “Rock”, Kephas in Hellenized Aramaic) was a leader of the early Christian Church, who features prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Peter was the son of John, and was from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee...
prays to God to stop his flying, and he stops mid-air and falls, breaking his legs, whereupon the crowd, previously non-hostile, stones him to death.
The church of
Santa Francesca RomanaSanta Francesca Romana, previously known as Santa Maria Nova, is a church in Rome, situated next to the Roman ForumThe church was built in the second half of the 10th century, incorporating an eighth-century oratory that Pope Paul I excavated in the wing of the portico of the Temple of Venus and...
claims to have been built on the spot in question (thus claiming that Simon Magus could indeed fly), claims that Saint Paul was also present, and that a dented slab of marble that it contains bears the imprints of the knees of Peter and Paul during their prayer.
The phenomenon of levitation was recorded again and again for certain saints. Saint Francis of Assisi is recorded as having been "suspended above the earth, often to a height of three, and often to a height of four cubits." St. Alphonsus Liguori, when preaching at
FoggiaFoggia is a city of Puglia, Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the "granary of Italy".-History:...
, was lifted before the eyes of the whole congregation several feet from the ground. Liguori is also said to have had the power of
bilocationBilocation, or sometimes multilocation, is a term used to describe the ability/instances in which an individual or object is said to be, or appears to be, located in two distinct places at the same instant in time...
.
Flying or levitation was also associated with
witchcraftWitchcraft, in various historical, anthropological, religious and mythological contexts, is the use of certain kinds of supernatural or magical powers. Witchcraft can refer to the use of such powers in order to inflict harm or damage upon members of a community or their property...
. When it came to female saints, there was a certain ambivalence expressed by theologians, canon lawyers, inquisitors, and male
hagiographersHagiography is the study of saints. A hagiography, from the Greek and , refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of ecclesiastical and secular leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though...
towards the powers that they were purported to have. By 1500, the image of the female saint in popular imagination had become similar to that of the witch. Both witches and female saints were suspected of flying through the air, whether in saintly levitation or bilocation, or in a witches’
SabbathThe Witches' Sabbath or Sabbat is a supposed meeting of those who practice Paganism, Wicca, or other rites.European records tell of innumerable cases of persons being accused or tried for taking part in Sabbat gatherings, from the Middle Ages to the 17th century or later...
.
In his best seller 'Autobiography of a Yogi' Paramahamsa Yogananda mentioned about a levitating saint in India. His name was Nagendranath Bhaduri. The saint had mastered in 'Astanga Yoga', which means eightfold Yoga. Yoga, in Sanskrit means Combination or Union. Thus Yoga is technique to unite with the ultimate being.
Nagendranath Bhaduri had mastered in several Yogic techniques including various Pranayamas or the breathing techniques as mentioned in Patanjali's 'Yoga Sootra' (Yoga techniques).
Paramahamsa Yogananda mentioned in the book that Nagendranath Bhaduri had performed Bhastrika Pranayama so strongly that he felt like he was in the middle of storm and after performing the Pranayama, Bhaduri Mahasaya entered into a state of an ecstatic calm. The chapter which gives description about Bhaduri Mahasaya titles 'The Levitating Saint'.
In India there is description of another saint Gyaneshwara who too had the power to levitate.
List of levitating saints
- Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Saint Alphonsus Liguori was a Roman Catholic Bishop, spiritual writer, Theologian, and founder of the Redemptorists, an influential religious order. He was canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and declared a Doctor of the Church.-Biography:Saint Alphonsus Liguori was born in Marianella, Campania...
- Saint Archangela Girlani
- Saint Catherine of Siena
Saint Catherine of Siena, O.P. was a tertiary of the Dominican Order, and a Scholastic philosopher and theologian. She also worked to bring the Papacy back to Rome from its displacement in France, and to establish peace among the Italian city-states. She was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1970...
- Saint Christina the Astonishing
Christina the Astonishing , also known as Christina Mirabilis, was a Christian holy-woman born in Brustem in 1150. She is sometimes considered a saint. Christina is as much remembered for her faith as for her numerous and violent fits of ecstasy. Her memorial day is 24 July.- Life :Born a peasant,...
- Blessed Christina von Stommeln
Blessed Christina of Stommeln, was a Roman Catholic mystic, ecstatic, and stigmatic....
- Saint Edmund Rich
Edmund Rich was a 13th-century Archbishop of Canterbury in England.-Early life and career:...
- Saint Francis of Paola
Saint Francis of Paola was an Italian mendicant friar and the founder of the Roman Catholic Order of the Minims.-Biography:...
- Saint Francis Fasani
Saint Francis Fasani was an Italian saint.He was a friend of Blessed Antonio Lucci.-Early Life:...
- Saint Francis Xavier
Saint Francis of Xavier, born Francisco de Jaso y Azpilcueta was a Kingdom of Navarre pioneering Roman Catholic missionary of Basque origin. He was a student of Saint Ignatius Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who dedicated themselves to the service of God at Montmarte in 1534...
- Saint Gemma Galgani
Maria Gemma Umberta Pia Galgani was an Italian mystic, who is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.-Early life:...
- Saint Gerard Majella
Saint Gerard Majella is a Roman Catholic saint. He is the saint whose intercession is requested for children , childbirth, mothers , motherhood, falsely accused people, good confessions, lay brothers and Muro Lucano,...
- Saint Holos
Holos is an influential OLAP product of the 1990s. Developed by Holistic Systems in 1987, the product remained in use until around 2004.-Conception:...
- Armenian Saint and "faith healer" ( Armenian Apostolic Church )
- Saint Ignatius Loyola
- Saint John Bosco
Saint John Bosco , born Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco, also called Don Bosco, was an Italian Catholic priest and educator, who put into practice the dogma of his religion, employing teaching methods based on love rather than punishment...
- Saint John Joseph of the Cross
Saint John-Joseph of the Cross , known most commonly in the Italian language as San Giovan Giuseppe della Croce is an Italian saint. He is the patron of Ischia, the place where he was born.-Biography:...
- Saint Joseph of Cupertino
- Saint Ludgardis of Tongeren
- Saint Luke Thaumaturgus
Luke Thaumaturgus is venerated as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox, Byzantine Catholic, and Roman Catholic Churches. He lived as a hermit and stylite from the age of 18 until his death on Mount Joannitsa near Corinth...
(Luke the Younger)
- Saint Martin de Porres
Saint Martín de Porres was a Dominican cooperator brother who was beatified in the year 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII....
- Saint Michael Garicoits
Saint Michael Garicoits was a Basque saint. He was ordained priest at Bayonne in December 1823 and combated Jansenism in his parish of Cambo. He founded the Society of Priests of the Sacred Heart of Betharram, which received official approval from the Pope after his death. -External links:**...
- Blessed Miguel Pro
Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez, S.J. was a Mexican Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, executed during the persecution of the Catholic Church under the presidency of Plutarco Elías Calles after trumped up charges of involvement in an assassination attempt against former President Álvaro Obregón. Fr...
- Saint Paul of the Cross
Paul of the Cross was an Italian mystic, and founder of the Passionists.-Biography:Saint Paul of the Cross originally named Paolo Francesco Danei, was born on 3 January 1694, in the town of Ovada, Piedmont, between Turin and Genoa in the Duchy of Savoy in northern Italy...
- Saint Peter Claver
Saint Peter Claver was a Jesuit who, due to his remarkable life and work, became the patron saint of slaves, of Colombia and of African Americans.-Fame spreads and sainthood beckons:...
- Saint Peter of Alcantara
Saint Peter of Alcantara was a Spanish Franciscan. He was born at Alcántara, Province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. His father, Peter Garavito, was the governor of Alcántara, and his mother was of the noble family of Sanabia...
- Saint Philip Neri
Philip Romolo Neri , was an Italian priest, noted for founding a society of secular priests called the "Congregation of the Oratory".-Early life:...
- Saint Teresa of Avila
Saint Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a prominent Spanish mystic, Carmelite nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation...
- Saint Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas, O.P. was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in the Dominican Order from Italy, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis...
- Saint Seraphim of Sarov
Saint Seraphim of Sarov , born Prokhor Moshnin , is one of the most renowned Russian monks and mystics in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is generally considered the greatest of the nineteenth century Startsy , and arguably the first...
- Saint Nagendranath Bhaduri (India)
- Saint Gyaneshwara (India)
See also
- Mystical Levitation in Christianity
External links