Living saints? Have you met any? Not a Hindu or Catholic Saint, placed on candle-lit altar or in rose garden. But a living saint today. Someone who projects a oneness with the world, is filled with loving compassion, who has a purpose of being in service to others? A humble person who is truly awake?
I have been asking these questions, not as a religious person, but as a filmmaker who has made several films on past saints, the visionaries who woke us up like Naturalist John Muir and Mystic Saint Hildegard of Bingen; my own patron saint of creativity, has lead me to the idea who wouldn’t appreciate more saints?
What would they look like? Where would you meet them? At a volunteer or charity event? A yoga studio? A meditation retreat? At the office? I bet you haven’t met a lot, if any at all. So where have all the saints gone? We should have more. We have a greater population now than when historical saints lived. We are more educated. We have the internet of all things amazing. So, why don’t we have more saints? Is organized religion turning them away? Are we treating them with antipsychotics? Are they self-medicating with recreational drugs?
Obviously I am not alone if you google “Where have all the saints gone?” The question generally gets turned to who are the living saints today? With wonderful answers from people that have meet Mother Teresa or other Sainted modern religious figures that were only officially canonized after their deaths.
Living Saints?
I like this comment I found: “There are many living saints amongst us right now that we do not know of, simply because it wasn’t part of God’s will for them to be revealed to us. So it’s always good to love your neighbor, not only because we are called to do so, but also because you never know when you are talking to a saint!”
That is so true.
Michael Conti asks if you have ever met a living saint.
When I set out to make my films, I didn’t know at the time, that I would also be exploring that question in a more timely perspective as my subject material was historical figures that had personally inspired me and others into our live’s purposes. “Early Christian communities venerated hundreds of saints, but historical research by 17th- and 18th-century Catholic scholars determined that very few of these saints’ stories were backed by solid historical evidence. Lives of such well-known figures as St. George, St. Valentine, and St. Christopher were based either on a legend that often predated Christianity or were entirely made up. Other saints had local followings. In rural France, St. Guinefort was venerated as the protector of infants after he saved his master’s baby from a snakebite. Saint Guinefort was a dog!” (Appeared in the November 2013 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 78, No. 11, page 46).
If you want to learn more about saints, here is a list of recommended movies about saints that I have compiled. It is primarily Catholic Saints, but obviously that isn’t the only religion that has mystics and saints walking among them.
Based on historic quotations from the writings of Saint Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), Dr. Annette Esser wrote these nine texts in which Hildegard, so to say, speaks herself. This well-researched multi-language book includes chapter notes, a detailed historic timeline, an illustrated color map of Hildegard Way in Germany, along with colorful images from the land of Hildegard.
Read Aloud Hildegard Speaks
Dr. Annette Esser is a German theologian, teacher and artist. In 2008, she founded the Scivias-Institute for Art & Spirituality. In 2017, she co-initiated the Hildegard of Bingen Pilgrimage Way along the historic sites where the Saint lived in the 12th century. She edited the 59 tableaux texts along the Way. In 2019, Dr. Esser was filmed speaking as Hildegard for nine videos. This short video series was created by pilgrim-filmmaker, Michael M. Conti, creator of The Unruly Mystic: Saint Hildegardand premiered theatrically as “Hildegard spricht” (2022) in Bad Kreuznach, Germany.
We encourage you to read these texts out loud, hearing how Hildegard might have sounded, as you take your own pilgrimage along the Hildegard Way. The book contains the text of those presentations in German, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Spanish and Polish. We suggest doing this on the first nine stages of the Hildegard Way at the very spots which are marked by photos ahead of the nine chapters.
All the texts start with the heading “Hildegard speaks…”
Thus, Hildegard speaks
… about precious stones and the heavenly Jerusalem
… about her family and childhood
… about her visions
… about her art of healing
… about her entrance into the Monastery of St. Disibod
… about her teacher Jutta of Sponheim
… about pilgrimages and her preaching tours
… about how she gained fame as a seeress
… about the foundation of her Rupertsberg Women’s Monastery.
Experience a Pilgrimage with Saint Hildegard along the St. Hildegard Way in Germany.
Dr. Esser speaks in character as “Hildegard” at 9 stations along the trail and gives a small glimpse into the many teachings of Saint Hildegard. This special ecumenical video series has been created by pilgrim-filmmaker Michael M. Conti, who took the 85-mile “Hildegard Way” through the Nahe river region in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.
To conclude with Hildegard’s words: Now also you, oh human, speak out aloud about what you see and hear.
What good movies are about Saints? When you fall in love with a Saint, there is a spiritual thirst that can’t be quenched, and you want to learn as much as you can about your chosen saint. Some of these movies about things or office that people have done that would be considered saintly. Some are canonized while others are still waiting like Dorthey Day. Even Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098 – 17 September 1179) was only just canonized in 2012 into a full-fledged saint based upon the Catholic tradition. Some subjects will be familiar to you while others might be more obscure. There is no order of saintly preference on the list. I would probably easily do another list of movies about angels. What good movies about Saints would you recommend?
The Passion of Joan of Arc (French: La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc) is a 1928 French silent historical film based on the actual record of the trial of Joan of Arc.
In 1431, Jeanne d’Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.
Entertaining Angels (1996)
Entertaining Angels – The Dorothy Day Story is a 1996 independent film about the life of Dorothy Day, the journalist turned social activist and founder of the Catholic Worker newspaper. Trailer only.
Agony and the Ecstasy (1965).
This film deals with the conflicts of Michelangelo and Pope Julius II during the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Boys Town (1938)
Francesco is a 1989 docu-drama relating in flashback St. Francis of Assisi‘s evolution from rich man’s son to religious humanitarian and finally to full-fledged saint. Francis of Assisi
Boys Town is based on Father Edward J. Flanagan‘s work with a group of underprivileged and delinquent boys in a home that he founded and named “Boys Town”.
Claire of Assisi
She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, a monastic religious order for women in the Franciscan tradition, and wrote their Rule of Life, the first set of monastic guidelines known to have been written by a woman.
Francesco (1989)
The Hiding Place (1975)
The Hiding Place is a 1975 film based on the autobiographical book of the same name by Corrie ten Boom that recounts her and her family’s experiences before and during their imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust during World War II.
Hildegard of Bingen (2012)
In this one-woman film, international mezzo soprano Linn Maxwell embodies the extraordinary life of 12th century German prophetess, healer and composer, Hildegard of Bingen, who was canonized in 2012 and named a Doctor of the Church.
Jesus Of Nazareth (1977)
Jesus Of Nazareth (1977)Jesus Of Nazareth is a 1977 British-Italian television miniseries directed by Franco Zeffirelli and co-written by Zeffirelli, Anthony Burgess, and Suso Cecchi d’Amico which dramatizes the birth, life, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
Maximilian: Saint Of Auschwitz (Live drama)
Maximilian: Saint Of Auschwitz was a Polish Catholic priest and Conventual Franciscanfriar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the German death camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II.
Faustina (1995)
Throughout her life, Faustina Kowalska reported having visions of Jesus and conversations with him, which she noted in her diary, later published as The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul. Her biography, submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, quoted some of the conversations with Jesus regarding the Divine Mercy devotion.
The Night of the Prophet (1996)
The first full-length drama on the incredible life of Padre Pio who had such great spiritual gifts as mystical prayer, bilocation, reading souls and suffered the five wounds of Christ for fifty years.
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima takes place in 1917, three shepherd children living just outside Fatima, Portugal have visions of a lovely lady in a cloud.
John of the Cross (Live drama)
John of the Cross is known especially for his writings. He was mentored by and corresponded with the older Carmelite, Teresa of Ávila. Both his poetry and his studies on the development of the soul are considered the summit of mystical Spanish literature and among the greatest works of all Spanish literature.
Miracle of Marcelino (1955)
Marcelino is an orphan who grows up in a monastery. One day when he eats his small meal in a room full of old things he gives a piece of his bread to an old wooden Jesus figure – and indeed it takes the bread and eats it. Getting a wish granted for his donation Marcelino wishes to see his mother.
Thérèse(Live drama)
St. Thérèse is best known today for her spiritual memoir, L’histoire d’une âme (The Story of a Soul).
Saint Patrick – The Irish Legend (2000)
A young Christian boy attends a druid worship that is attacked by invading Irish tribes. Taken captive, he is taken back to Ireland to become a slave. Enduring many hardships, he finds comfort and eventually salvation in his faith. After several years, he escapes back to England, where he joins a convent to prove his faith. His greatest desire is to return to Ireland
The Reluctant Saint aka Joseph Desa – The Story of St. Joseph of Cupertino (1962)
In 17th century Italy, a simple and clumsy young man joins a Franciscan order, pursues full priesthood and performs a miracle that eventually ensures his sainthood.
A Time for Miracles (1980)
Miracle at Moreaux (1985)
A French Catholic boarding school allows three Jewish children to take refuge at Christmas during the Nazi occupation.
Pope John Paul II (2005)
Thanks to his unshakable tenacity, Pope John Paul II helps to change the course of history: the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 decrees the collapse of Communism. But the Pope does not stop being the voice of Christ, even among the injustices of the capitalistic Western world, and even among the provocations and challenges of modern times.
The Jewelers Shop (1988)
La bottega dell’orefice is based on The Jeweler’s Shop, a play written by Karol Józef Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II). In this romantic story The Jeweler (Burt Lancaster) sells wedding rings to a young couple and teaches them some precious truths about the meaning of love and marriage. The jeweller also helps another couple to fight for their troubled marriage, rebuilding their relationship. The reborn love between this second couple teaches their daughter that a loving marriage is possible, and she eventually accepts the marriage proposal from the first couple’s son.
The Fourth Wise Man (1985)
The story of Artaban, the fourth Magi, who spends his life looking for Jesus his King.
Ocean of Mercy (2011)
It tells the story of Maximilian Kolbe, Sor Faustina and Pope Johannes Paulus II, how they devoted their life to God, the difficulties they went through life and how well they went through adversities convinced that they were not alone.
Brother Sun – Sister Moon (1972)
Dramatization of events in the life of St. Francis of Assisi from before his conversion experience through his audience with the pope, including his friendship with St. Clare.
Vision – From the Life of Hildegard Von Bingen (2011)
A visionary in every sense of the word, this famed 12th-century Benedictine nun was a Christian mystic, composer, philosopher, playwright, poet, naturalist, scientist, physician, herbalist and ecological activist.
Please let me know in the comments below what other movies about saints or saintly behavior should be listed here. This list is first, basically Catholic leaning, but obviously, the saint and mystic tradition is widespread within other religions.
As the filmmaker-pilgrim behind The Unruly Mystic Series, I have always enjoyed hearing the answers that helped to inform me about the subject material for my films. I learned that knowing the right questions to task is the hardest part. Perhaps that comes from my DNA as the son of an astronomer (Peter S. Conti, September 5, 1934 – June 21, 2021). The answers I received through many hours of interviews helped inform me and gave me insight into my own constantly developing spirituality. That is entirely different in my new live virtual events where I don’t have the luxury of thoughtful editing.
Through the process of making these films and putting on these live virtual events, I gained more confidence in my own creative work and importance of making something of value for the world. For those of us that haven’t yet taken that plunge fully, I would say there is someone right now looking for something that your future self will be creating.
Going Live in virtual events
I have encounter more people whose subject knowledge would have included them in my films. Their personal journeys are inspirational to me, each unique in their own way. But it would be virtually impossible to include everyone into a 120-minute film!
Starting in 2020, during the pandemic, I decided to use a virtual live events format more fully where I can share those interviews in real-time and provoke a conversation in breakout rooms. These are the types of conversations which can lead to profound change and newer understanding of the world around us, and in us.
The first experiment with live virtual events occurred with a VMuir Day Panel 2020 in which we celebrated John Muir’s one hundred and eight-second birthday during the Covid-19 pandemic on April 21, 2020. I asked my panelists questions about death, how they are connecting with nature while in isolation, and why John Muir is still relevant today.
After running a bigger live virtual event in September of that same year for Saint Hildegard’s Feast Day on September 17th with over 150 virtual pilgrims attending the first live virtual Saint Hildegard Pilgrimage I have decided to make a repeat with Saint Hildegard presenters in 2021 (link below for sign-up).
Hildegard Requirements
Has a personal connection to Saint Hildegard’s teachings, medicine, art or music
Done something interesting around that creative connection (has taken the plunge).
Is able to share their own process in doing that work.
A work-in-progress
I see each of us in Saint Hildegard, and Saint Hildegard in each of us too. That is a work-in-progress.
Join with me in the conversation as we celebrate the spirituality and creativity of Saint Hildegard, as manifested by her natural medicine, art, writing, and music.
Offering a live virtual pilgrimage again in September for Saint Hildegard, both live and pre-recorded. Besides the 12-days of recordings, there are live 2-days of live virtual eventsover Saint Hildegard’s Feast Day, September 17 & 18, 2021.
On September 17th 2021, at 1 PM EST, Saint Hildegard Feast Day starts with the ringing of the bells from the Hildegard Haus in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, followed by a sermon byRev. Dr. Shanon Sterringer. On Saturday, September 18th, Rev. Carol Vaccariellostarts the day at 1 PM EST. LaterRector Susan Springer, provides a “solemnity” for St John’s Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colorado.
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