Along with days marking events in the life of Jesus, the Christian calendar was filled with saints’ days. People believed that the saints possessed supernatural powers that enabled them to perform miracles, and the saint became the special property of the locality in which his or her relics rested. In return for the saint’s healing and support, peasants offered the saint prayers, loyalty, and gifts.

The Virgin Mary, Christ’s mother, was the most important saint. In the eleventh century, theologians began to emphasize Mary’s spiritual motherhood of all Christians. Special masses commemorated her, churches were built in her honor, and hymns and prayers to her multiplied. Villagers listened intently to sermons telling stories about her life and miracles.

Along with the veneration of saints, sacraments were an important part of religious practice. Twelfth-century theologians expanded on Saint Augustine’s understanding of sacraments (see "Saint Augustine on Human Nature, Will, and Sin" in Chapter 7) and created an entire sacramental system. In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council formally accepted seven sacraments (baptism, penance, the Eucharist, confirmation, marriage, priestly ordination, anointment of the dying). Medieval Christians believed that these seven sacraments brought God’s grace, the divine assistance or help needed to lead a good Christian life and to merit salvation. Most sacraments had to be dispensed by a priest, although spouses officially administered the sacrament of marriage to each other, and laypeople could baptize a dying infant or anoint a dying person if no priest could be found. The sacramental system enhanced the authority of priests over people’s lives, but it did not replace strong personal devotion to the saints.