### Background Hebrews 7:3 makes the following startling statement about a character called "Melchizedek": > Without father, without mother, without genealogy, **having neither beginning of days nor end of life**, but resembling the Son of God, he [Melchizedek] remains a priest forever Having no beginning nor end sounds similar to language the Bible uses about God: > Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the whole world, **from everlasting to everlasting** You are God. *Psalms 90:2* The author of Hebrews also compares him to the "Son of God". ### Question Do any Christians believe that since Melchizedek has no beginning nor end that he is a divine being in some way? If so, do any Christians worship him?

The story of Pope Joan—a woman who allegedly disguised herself as a man and became pope in the Middle Ages—has circulated in various forms for centuries. However, I understand that the Catholic Church considers this story to be a legend rather than a historical event. What specific reasons do Catholic historians, theologians, or official Church sources give for rejecting the claim that a female pope ever existed? Are there particular historical inconsistencies, lack of documentation, or theological arguments that lead them to conclude the account is fabricated? I'm particularly interested in answers that reflect the Catholic perspective, supported by historical or doctrinal sources.

Judas Iscariot is the twin brother of St. Thomas the Apostle ? I am not saying that St. Thomas the Apostle's is the twin brother of Judas Iscariot. I am simply seeking resource historical information that states this so. Some years ago, a priest friend of mine stated that there was an obscure legend or tradition that St. Thomas the Apostle, who was called the twin, claimed that his twin brother was no one other than the infamous traitor of Our Lord, Judas Iscariot. My priest friend in no longer amongst us and I have never known him to be wrong on such things. I have not been able to locate a source of any such legend or tradition. Can anyone locate a possible source of this obscure legend or tradition?

**Imaginary or legendary saints associated with Catholicism?** I am doing a little research on so called imaginary or completely legendary saints that have been associated with Catholicism in one way or another! The ones I have come up with are as follows: - **Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte** > Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte (Spanish for Our Lady of the Holy Death), often shortened to Santa Muerte, is a idol, female deity or folk saint in Mexican and Mexican-American neo-paganism and folk Catholicism. A personification of death, she is associated with healing, protection, and safe delivery to the afterlife by her devotees.[1] Despite condemnation by leaders of the Catholic Church, and more recently Evangelical movements,[2] her cult[a] has become increasingly prominent since the turn of the 21st century. - **San La Muerte** > San La Muerte (Saint Death) is a skeletal folk saint that is venerated in Paraguay, Argentina (mainly in the province of Corrientes but also in Misiones, Chaco and Formosa) and southern Brazil (specifically in the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul). As the result of internal migration in Argentina since the 1960s the veneration of San La Muerte has been extended to Greater Buenos Aires and the national prison system as well. - **Saint Grobian** > Saint Grobian is a fictional patron saint of vulgar and coarse people. His name is derived from the Middle High German grob or grop, meaning coarse or vulgar. The Old High German cognate is gerob, gerop. The word "grobian" has thus passed into the English language as an obscure word for any crude, sloppy, or buffoonish person. - **Barlaam and Josaphat** > Barlaam and Josaphat are legendary Christian martyrs and saints. Their life story is very likely to have been based on the life of the Gautama Buddha. It tells how an Indian king persecuted the Christian Church in his realm. When astrologers predicted that his own son would some day become a Christian, the king imprisoned the young prince Josaphat, who nevertheless met the hermit Saint Barlaam and converted to Christianity. After much tribulation the young prince's father accepted the Christian faith, turned over his throne to Josaphat, and retired to the desert to become a hermit. Josaphat himself later abdicated and went into seclusion with his old teacher Barlaam. The tale derives from a second to fourth century Sanskrit Mahayana Buddhist text, via a Manichaean version, then the Arabic Kitāb Bilawhar wa-Būd̠āsaf (Book of Bilawhar and Budhasaf), current in Baghdad in the eighth century, from where it entered into Middle Eastern Christian circles before appearing in European versions. The two were entered in the Eastern Orthodox calendar with a feast-day on 26 August, and in the Roman Martyrology in the Western Church as "Barlaam and Josaphat" on the date of 27 November. - **Saint Guinefort** > Saint Guinefort was a 13th-century French dog that received local veneration as a folk saint after miracles were reported at his grave. - **Saint Sarah** > Saint Sarah, also known as “Sara the Black", is the patron saint of the Romani people. The center of her veneration is Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a place of pilgrimage for Roma in the Camargue, in southern France. Legend identifies her as the servant of one of the Three Marys, with whom she is supposed to have arrived in the Camargue. - **Saint Amaro** > According to Catholic tradition, Saint Amaro or Amarus the Pilgrim was an abbot and sailor who it was claimed sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to an earthly paradise. There are two historical figures who may have provided the basis for this legend. The first was a French penitent of the same name who went on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in the thirteenth century. On his return journey, he established himself at Burgos, where he founded a hospital for lepers. - **Santa Claus** is a spin off of a saint known as **Saint Nicholas** . > **Santa Claus**, also known as **Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa,** is a legendary character originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts to the homes of well-behaved children on the night of Christmas Eve (24 December) or during the early morning hours of Christmas Day (25 December). The modern character of Santa Claus was based on traditions surrounding the historical Saint Nicholas (a fourth-century Greek bishop and gift-giver of Myra), the British figure of Father Christmas, and the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas (himself also based on Saint Nicholas). Some maintain Santa Claus also absorbed elements of the Germanic deity Wodan, who was associated with the pagan midwinter event of Yule and led the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky. This probably an incomplete list of such imagery or completely legendary saints. Thus my question is quite simple: **Are their other such imagery persons called saints that are somehow associated with Catholicism, yet are *not* real saints?** Please note that I am not asking about legends associated with real saints that are recognized as such by the Catholic Church.

Are there any Church traditions or legends that state what species of fish the young man Tobias caught in the Book of Tobit according to the Catholic, Orthodox or other local churches of the East? > The Book of Tobi is a book of scripture that is part of the Catholic and Orthodox biblical canons, pronounced canonical by the Council of Hippo (in 393), Councils of Carthage of 397 and 417, Council of Florence (in 1442) and confirmed for Roman Catholics by the Council of Trent (1546). - Book of Tobit (Wikipedia) Here is what the Book of Tobit has to say about Tobias and the fish: > 1 And Tobias went forward, and the dog followed him, and he lodged the first night by the river of Tigris. 2 And he went out to wash his feet, and behold a monstrous fish came up to devour him. 3 And Tobias being afraid of him, cried out with a loud voice, saying: Sir, he cometh upon me. 4 And the angel said to him: Take him by the gill, and draw him to thee. And when he had done so, he drew him out upon the land, and he began to pant before his feet. 5 Then the angel said to him: Take out the entrails of the fish, and lay up his heart, and his gall, and his liver for thee: for these are necessary for useful medicines. 6 And when he had done so, he roasted the flesh thereof, and they took it with them in the way: the rest they salted as much as might serve them, till they came to Rages the city of the Medes. - Tobit 6: 1-6 . The Jewish Encyclopedia states that the Book of Tobit is was probably composed between 200 and 50 B.C.

Genesis 1:26 says: > 26 Then God said, “And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small.” 27 So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, 28 blessed them, and said, “Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals. Now I wonder why did God put Adam to sleep to make him another wife in Genesis 2:18 which says: > 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a suitable companion to help him.” 19 So he took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and all the birds. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and that is how they all got their names. 20 So the man named all the birds and all the animals; but not one of them was a suitable companion to help him. > > 21 Then the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the flesh. 22 He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him. 23 Then the man said, “At last, here is one of my own kind — Bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh. ‘Woman’ is her name because she was taken out of man.”

**Who was who during the Crucifixion of Jesus, who is called the Christ?** Just recently I came across this question: Who witnessed the crucifixion? I desire to expand this question to extra biblical sources as well. For this question, I desire to know who was who during the Crucifixion of Jesus, according to both what the historical Gospels tell and also what diverse traditions, and legends tell us about who were present on that first Good Friday? I believe some traditional responses will come from the Catholic or Eastern Orthodox viewpoints. I desire to also know if other denominations may have historical legends and or proofs of those who either witnessed or participated in Christ’s Crucifixion! I am guessing that roughly 25 or less number of people would be to able to be named for each category: Gospel accounts and extra biblical accounts.

With the present situation of the coronavirus affecting many of us, and many sensing the need to be able to get outside and do something, if one’s local restrictions permit it, I would like be able to go out “in the wild” and be able to identify various plants that are either related to Christian folklore and/or Christian symbolisms of some sort. What got my interest in this subject was when I was doing research on Christian traditions with foodstuffs from around the world. For example, some time ago I came across an interesting tidbit (at least for me) about Ostrich ferns also known as the fiddlehead fern: > Fiddleheads or fiddlehead greens are the furled fronds of a young fern, harvested for use as a vegetable. > > The fiddlehead resembles the curled ornamentation (called a scroll) on the end of a stringed instrument, such as a violin. **It is also called a crozier, after the curved staff used by bishops, which has its origins in the shepherd's crook **. - Fiddlehead fern (Wikipedia) Another more common example can be found in the plant known as St. John’s Wort : > The common name ***"St John's wort"*** may refer to any species of the genus Hypericum. Therefore, Hypericum perforatum is sometimes called "common St John's wort" or "perforate St John's wort" to differentiate it. > > **St John's wort is named as such because it commonly flowers, blossoms and is harvested at the time of the summer solstice in late June, around St John's Feast Day on 24 June.** *The herb would be hung on house and stall doors on St John's Feast day to ward off evil spirits and to safeguard against harm and sickness to man and live-stock.* The genus name Hypericum is possibly derived from the Greek words hyper and eikon, in reference to the tradition of hanging plants over religious icons in the home during St John's Day. Thus my question is as follows: **Does there exist a good resource material source book that deals with such plants involving Christian folklore, legends and traditions?** Symbolism is likewise included. If no book truly is out there, I would then prefer an online source of information. For what it is worth, I am not limiting this question to any specific Christian tradition. Any sources in other languages or non English countries are also welcome.

If one Googles [animals talking on Christmas Eve](https://www.google.com/search?q=animals+talking+on+christmas+eve) a wide number of hits will mention this practice. I get the connection to the animals in the manager, but I'm trying to ascertain the origin of this Christmas legend. Who practiced it first and when? How widespread is it? And, at what time does it work?

Someone purchased a copy of "The Christmas Cat " by MaryAnn MacDonald for my children. At the end of this fictional book depicting a cat which soothes a colicky baby Jesus and helps Jesus (and his family) escape to Egypt without being detected by Herod's guards by keeping him calm, the author claims in the author's note that this story has a basis in legend. The author writes, > Leonardo da Vinci loved to draw *La Madonna del Gatto*, or the Madonna of the Cat. He made many drawings of her in 1480 and 1481. In the drawings, the chubby child Jesus is depicted holding, stroking, and playing with a cat. > > Legend tells about a cat living in the stable in Bethlehem who purred Jesus to sleep the night he was born. Included with this author's note is the following drawing by Da Vinci What is the origin of this uncited legend? What is the earliest literary or pictographic representation of Jesus with a cat in Bethlehem?

There are different flood legends among several civilizations that are similiar to the flood in the Bible. >A flood myth or deluge myth is a mythical or religious story of a great flood sent by a deity or deities to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution. It is a theme widespread among many cultures, though it is perhaps best known in modern times through the biblical and Quranic account of Noah's Ark , the Hindu puranic story of Manu , through Deucalion in Greek mythology or Utnapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh . (Wikipedia ) - Are these other stories relevant to Christianity? - Do they describe the same event? - Why are they so similar and at the same time different (reasons and causes) - How can a valid exhaustive list of flood legends exist if it supposedly killed every man on earth besides the ones that were saved

Two films, each called Pope Joan [one in 1972](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069110/) and [one in 2009](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458455/) repeat an old legend about a female Pope. What is the nature of this theory, and is there anything to substantiate it?

We know that Jesus commanded his disciples to go to make disciples of all nations and to spread the word to the entire world ([Matthew 28:19](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28:19)) , but we know little of what happened to the twelve disciples. We have some record about them in the Book of Acts, but it is not recorded where they lived, if they founded a community or not, where and how they died... Is there any historical evidence as to what happened to the twelve disciples? I'm restricting this question to Peter, John and James who can be regarded as the main disciples. There are some legends regarding the disciples, although I don't know how historically accurate they are: - John lived and died in Ephesus - James preached in the actual territory of Spain - Peter went to Rome where he was also martyred Are these legends true?