Mary, Michael and the Twenty-Four Elders: Saints and Angels in Christian Liturgical and Magical Texts

Abstract

This paper offers an overview of the role of saints and angels in Christian liturgical and magical texts based on the evidence of the papyri. It shows that whereas late antique liturgy had a predilection for the saints and it turned to angels relatively late, magical texts displayed a prominent interest in angels and their names. Among the magical texts, those in Greek were more ready to invoke saints; the Coptic ones preferred holy figures associated with numbers (e.g. the twelve apostles).