AUSILIATORI, saints. — This name designates a group of 14 saints to whose intercession the Christian people are accustomed to have recourse in difficult moments: Acacio (8 May), Egidio (1 September), Barbara (4 December), Biagio (3 February), Cristoforo (25 July), Ciriaco (8 August), Dionigi (9 October), Erasmo (2 June), Eustachio (20 September), Giorgio (23 April), Caterina (25 November), Margherita (13 July), Pantaleone (27 July), Vito (15 June). In some regions, certain saints are replaced: for example, Nicola and Leonardo take the place of Dionigi and Erasmo; instead of s. Pantaleone, s. Rocco. In the regions of Italy, the name of a 15th intercessor is often added: s. Magno, bishop of Oderzo.
The cradle of this devotion seems to have been Germany, whence it subsequently spread to other parts of Europe. It is found, in fact, in dioceses of northern Germany (Hildesheim, Breslau, Ermland), as well as in Alsace and Lorraine, Luxembourg, and Bohemia; but especially in Switzerland, Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, where numerous churches and altars dedicated to the A. arose. It also spread in certain regions of Italy (Sicily, the province of Brescia, Catanzaro). The time when this devotion arose cannot be determined precisely; the first document to mention it is a letter from the bishop of Passau dating from 1284. It was only in the 14th century, however, that it underwent considerable development. The reason, according to H. Weber, must be attributed to the epidemics that afflicted Europe in that period, especially during the years 1346–49. Blackening of the tongue, drying of the larynx, acute headaches accompanied by fever, the appearance of buboes in the lower abdomen, loss of consciousness, and death, often occurring within a few hours, were the characteristic symptoms of these diseases. In the general desolation that followed, the people began to appeal to the intercession of the A., who had been invoked since more remote times: Cristoforo and Egidio against the plague, Dionigi for headaches, Biagio for throat ailments, Caterina for diseases of the tongue, Erasmo for stomach pains, Barbara for fevers, Ciriaco against attacks by the devil, especially at the point of death, Acacio in the anguish of the death agony, and Eustachio in difficult situations.
The thesis is confirmed by the fact that hospitals and their attached chapels were dedicated above all to the A. Among the most celebrated sanctuaries, that of Vierzehnheiligen (Würzburg) must be mentioned. It was built in 1448, rebuilt in 1743–71 according to a design by B. Neumann, and decorated with frescoes by A. Appiani. Subsequently the object of important restorations, this monumental sanctuary is still today, after Altötting, the most popular pilgrimage destination in southern Germany.
In the liturgy, the cult of these Saints has left its traces in a proper Mass found in ancient missals, such as the Missa de XV Adiutoribus pro quacunque necessitate dicenda (1466) in cod. Vat. Palatino 500; other examples occur in the missals of Bamberg (1490), Mainz (1493), Constance (1504), and Isenheim (1516). In 1618 the Congregation of Rites prohibited it, prescribing the Missa de communi plurimorum martyrum. Later, a proper Mass was granted by Leo XIII to the sanctuary of Lichtenfels (1889) and to the Franciscan church of Hammelburg (1890). Art, too, was called upon to express this devotion, so beloved by the people, through wooden sculptures, paintings and frescoes, altarpieces, and so forth.