Saint Movies

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?

What good movies are about Saints?

Please share in the comments below.

• Best Saints and the saintly in modern movies
  1. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1927)
  2. Entertaining Angels (1996)
  3. Agony and the Ecstasy (1965).
  4. Boys Town (1938)
  5. Claire of Assisi
  6. Francesco (1989)
  7. The Hiding Place (1975)
  8. Hildegard of Bingen (2012)
  9. Jesus Of Nazareth (1977)
  10. Maximilian: Saint Of Auschwitz (Live drama)
  11. Faustina (1995)
  12. The Night of the Prophet (1996)
  13. The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)
  14. John of the Cross (Live drama)
  15. Miracle of Marcelino (1955)
  16. Thérèse (Live drama)
  17. Saint Patrick – The Irish Legend (2000)
  18. The Reluctant Saint aka Joseph Desa – The Story of St. Joseph of Cupertino (1962)
  19. A Time for Miracles (1980)
  20. Miracle at Moreaux (1985)
  21. Pope John Paul II (2005)
  22. The Jewelers Shop (1988)
  23. The Fourth Wise Man (1985)
  24. Ocean of Mercy (2011)
  25. Brother Sun – Sister Moon (1972)
  26. Vision – From the Life of Hildegard Von Bingen (2011)

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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)

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 Franciscan friar 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. 

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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.