I am happy to publish today a delightful table, with introduction, that was submitted to NLM by Isaac Olson, “a young Catholic, professional classical musician, and devotee of hagiography.” Mr. Olson’s goal was to compile a list of saints who were musicians in one sense or another. He writes that this list is not necessarily complete: there are, for instance, a Bl. Paula (buried in San Carlo ai Catinari in Rome) who played violin, and Marie-Anqelique of Jesus, OCD (Pontoise, France), who played the piano and violin and was a cousin of Mendelssohn by her grandmother. It may be that readers would like to add any names that are missing from the table. Thank you, Mr. Olson, for sharing this with NLM.
Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) noted that “it belongs to the essence of human beings that they come from God’s ‘art,’ that they themselves are a part of God’s art and as perceivers can think and view God’s creative ideas with him and translate them into the visible and the audible.”
From the rich, Catholic theological understanding of God and art has grown a keen interest in the interrelatedness of my own line of work - as a classical and studio musician - and the work of God - holiness. Hence, I have recently compiled an initial list of Saints, Blesseds, Venerables, and Servants of God who were musically gifted. This includes instrumentalists, singers, composers, hymnographers, music teachers, choir directors, and more.
The topics of saints and music are mutually complementary, in that they each reveal “the beauty that is already waiting and concealed in creation”. I treasure how the form of created beauty takes its shape or matter in the lives of those who correspond to God’s diffusive love through their gifts to our rich heritage of music. Would that all musicians might join their intentions with that of the musical Servant of God, Rosa Giovannetti, who responded to the applause of men with the heartfelt cry, “It is all for Jesus! The cello, the concerts? I use this gift for You only, to sing your praises and to praise You. Not to me the honors, but to You, the author of all grace.”
Note on the chart below: the term “musician” is applied as a general term to those saints whose specific musical accomplishments are unknown at this time of research. The term “composer”, as a general term, encompasses the classification of hymn-writers.
Musicians, Singers, and Composers Among the Saints
by Isaac Olson
From the rich, Catholic theological understanding of God and art has grown a keen interest in the interrelatedness of my own line of work - as a classical and studio musician - and the work of God - holiness. Hence, I have recently compiled an initial list of Saints, Blesseds, Venerables, and Servants of God who were musically gifted. This includes instrumentalists, singers, composers, hymnographers, music teachers, choir directors, and more.
The topics of saints and music are mutually complementary, in that they each reveal “the beauty that is already waiting and concealed in creation”. I treasure how the form of created beauty takes its shape or matter in the lives of those who correspond to God’s diffusive love through their gifts to our rich heritage of music. Would that all musicians might join their intentions with that of the musical Servant of God, Rosa Giovannetti, who responded to the applause of men with the heartfelt cry, “It is all for Jesus! The cello, the concerts? I use this gift for You only, to sing your praises and to praise You. Not to me the honors, but to You, the author of all grace.”
Note on the chart below: the term “musician” is applied as a general term to those saints whose specific musical accomplishments are unknown at this time of research. The term “composer”, as a general term, encompasses the classification of hymn-writers.
| Name | Lifetime | Contribution |
| Aldhelm of Sherborne, St. | 640-709 | harpist, fiddler, bagpiper, vocalist |
| Alphonsus de Liguori, St. | 1696-1787 | composer, harpsichordist |
| Amalia Streitel, Ven. | 1844 - 1911 | music teacher |
| Ambrose of Milan, St. | 338-397 | composer |
| Anatolios, St. | 4th century | composer |
| Andrew of Crete, St. | 650-740 | composer |
| Anne Catherine Emmerich, Bl. | 1774-1824 | organist |
| Bede the Venerable, St. | 672-735 | music teacher |
| Benignus of Armagh, St. | 5th century | vocalist, music arranger |
| Benildus (Pierre Romancon), St. | 1805-1862 | concertina/accordionist |
| Benno (Benedict) of Meissen, St. | 1010-1106 | musician |
| Caradoc of Wales, St. | 11th century | harpist |
| Carlos Manuel Cecilio Rodriguez Santiago, Bl. | 1918-1963 | pianist, organist, choral director |
| Catherine of Bologna, St. | 1413-1463 | musician |
| Charles Samuel Mazzuchelli, Ven. (aka Matthew Kelly) | 1806-1864 | musician |
| Colman of Cloyne, St. | 530-600 | musician |
| Columba of Iona, St. | 521-597 | composer |
| Dunstan of Canterbury, St. | 909-988 | composer, harpist |
| Edward Kazmierski, Bl. | 1919-1942 | vocalist, composer |
| Edward Poppe, Bl. | 1890-1924 | violinist |
| Elizabeth of the Trinity, St. | 1880-1906 | pianist |
| Ephrem the Syrian, St. | 306-373 | composer |
| Eugenius of Toledo, St. | 7th century | musician |
| Felix Echevarria Gorostiaga, Bl. | 1893-1936 | organist, choral director |
| Francis Solano, St. | 1549-1610 | violinist (lute) |
| Francisco Bandres Sanchez, Bl. | 1896-1936 | musician |
| Fulk of Toulouse, Bl. (known as the Minstrel Bishop) | 1155-1231 | minstrel |
| Fulton J. Sheen, Ven. Archbishop | 1895-1979 | organist |
| Gertrude the Great, St. | 1256-1302 | vocalist |
| Giovanni (Giovenale) Ancina, Bl. | 1545-1604 | musician, composer, music editor |
| Godric of Finchale, St. | 1069-1170 | composer (via miraculous visions) |
| Gregory the Great, St. Pope | 540-604 | collected melodies and plain chant |
| Grimbald, St. | 9th century | musician |
| Henry Garnet, St. | 1555-1606 | vocalist, lutist |
| Herman of Reichenau, Bl. | 1013-1054 | composer |
| Hermann Cohen, Ven. | 1821-1871 | pianist |
| Herve, St. | 6th century | vocalist, minstrel |
| Hildegard of Bingen, St. | 1098-1179 | composer |
| Hugh of Lincoln, St. | 1140-1200 | vocalist |
| Jarogniew Wojciechowski, Bl. | 1922-1942 | pianist |
| Jesus Mendez-Montoya, St. | 1880-1928 | musician, music teacher |
| John Damascene, St. | 676-749 | composer |
| John Koukouzelis, St. | 1280-1360 | musician |
| José Luciano Ezequiel Huerta Gutiérrez, Bl. | 1876-1927 | vocalist, organist |
| Jose Tapies y Sirvant, Bl. | 1869-1936 | organist |
| Joseph the Hymnographer, St. | 810-886 | composer |
| Leo II, St. Pope | 7th century | vocalist, musician |
| Louis de Montfort, St. | 1673-1716 | composer (used popular bar tunes) |
| Maria Climent Mateu, Bl. | 1887-1936 | vocalist, musician |
| Maria Crucified Satellico, Bl. | 1706-1745 | musician, vocalist, organist |
| Maria Orsola Bussone, Ven. | 1954-1970 | guitarist, vocalist |
| Maria Romero Meneses, Bl. | 1902-1977 | pianist, violinist |
| Marie-Elisabeth Pelissier, Bl. | 1741-1794 | vocalist, musician |
| Mechtilde of Hackeborn, St. | 1241-1298 | vocalist |
| Newman, Bl. Cardinal | 1801-1890 | violinist, composer |
| Nicetas of Remesiana, St. | 333-414 | composer |
| Noel-Hilaire Le Conte, Bl. | 1765-1794 | music director |
| Notkar Balbulus, Bl. | 840-912 | musician |
| Odo of Cluny, St. | 879-942 | musician |
| Paschasius Radbertus, St. | 785-865 | composer |
| Peter Julian Eymard, St. | 1811-1868 | pianist, violinist |
| Philemon of Antinoe, St. | 4th century | musician |
| Philip Evans, St. | 1645-1679 | harpist |
| Philip Neri, St. | 1515-1595 | developed musical style of oratorio |
| Rafal Chylinski, Bl. | 1694-1741 | harpist, lutist, mandolinist |
| Ranieri Scacceri, Bl. | 1117-1161 | minstrel |
| Raymond Lull, Bl. | 1234-1315 | troubadour |
| Robert Montserrat Beliart, Bl. | 1911-1936 | musician |
| Romanus the Melodist, St. | 490-556 | composer |
| Rosa Giovannetti, Servant of God | 1896-1929 | cellist |
| Solanus Casey, Bl. | 1870-1957 | violinist |
| Theodore Studite, St. | 759-826 | composer |
| Thomas Aquinas, St. | 1225-1274 | composer |
| Tutilo of Saint Gall, St. | 850-915 | composer, harpist |
| Venantius Fortunatus, St. | 530-607 | composer |
| Victor Chumillas-Fernandez, Bl. | 1902-1936 | organist, vocalist, choral director, composer |
