Patron saints

Patron Saints and What They Watch Over

A patron saint is a Christian remembered as a special example and friend in prayer for a particular people, place, or need, from travelers to the sick to the lost. Here are the best-known patron saints and their feast days, with the real lives behind them, each one a window pointing to Jesus.

Find a patron saint

Patron saint of accountants and bankersSaint Matthew · September 21 Patron saint of actorsSaint Genesius · August 25 Patron saint of animals and ecologySaint Francis of Assisi · October 4 Patron saint of bakersSaint Elizabeth of Hungary · November 17 Patron saint of cancer patientsSaint Peregrine · May 1 Patron saint of childrenSaint Nicholas · December 6 Patron saint of cooksSaint Martha · July 29 Patron saint of dentistsSaint Apollonia · February 9 Patron saint of doctors and physiciansSaint Luke the Evangelist · October 18 Patron saint of expectant mothersSaint Gerard Majella · October 16 Patron saint of farmersSaint Isidore the Farmer · May 15 Patron saint of firefightersSaint Florian · May 4 Patron saint of fishermenSaint Andrew · November 30 Patron saint of huntersSaint Hubert · November 3 Patron saint of immigrantsSaint Frances Xavier Cabrini · November 13 Patron saint of impossible causes and difficult marriagesSaint Rita of Cascia · May 22 Patron saint of lawyersSaint Thomas More · June 22 Patron saint of lost causes and hopeless casesSaint Jude Thaddeus · October 28 Patron saint of lost thingsSaint Anthony of Padua · June 13 Patron saint of love and engaged couplesSaint Valentine · February 14 Patron saint of mental illness and anxietySaint Dymphna · May 15 Patron saint of missionariesSaint Francis Xavier · December 3 Patron saint of mothersSaint Monica · August 27 Patron saint of music and musiciansSaint Cecilia · November 22 Patron saint of nursesSaint Agatha · February 5 Patron saint of pilots and aviatorsSaint Joseph of Cupertino · September 18 Patron saint of priestsSaint John Vianney · August 4 Patron saint of prisonersSaint Maximilian Kolbe · August 14 Patron saint of sailors and marinersSaint Brendan the Navigator · May 16 Patron saint of scientistsSaint Albert the Great · November 15 Patron saint of soldiers and protectionSaint Michael the Archangel · September 29 Patron saint of students and scholarsSaint Thomas Aquinas · January 28 Patron saint of teachersSaint John Baptist de la Salle · April 7 Patron saint of the blind and eye illnessSaint Lucy · December 13 Patron saint of the internet and computer usersSaint Isidore of Seville · April 4 Patron saint of the poorSaint Lawrence · August 10 Patron saint of the sickSaint Camillus de Lellis · July 14 Patron saint of those with special needs and their familiesSaint Bernadette · April 16 Patron saint of throat ailmentsSaint Blaise · February 3 Patron saint of travelersSaint Christopher · July 25 Patron saint of workers and laborersSaint Joseph · March 19 Patron saint of writers and journalistsSaint Francis de Sales · January 24 Patron saint of young peopleSaint John Bosco · January 31

A note for all traditions: patron saints are honored in the Catholic and Orthodox churches as examples of faith and as friends who pray with us, never worshiped, for worship belongs to God alone. Many Protestant Christians honor the saints as examples without asking their intercession. Across all traditions, there is one Lord and one mediator between God and us, the man Christ Jesus, and every one of us, not only the saints, is called to holiness and to him.

One Lord, and you are called too

The saints are not distant heroes but your own family in Christ, and the holiness they show is the same you are called to. Pray, read the Word, and gather with the living family of God on The Living Bread. Free, with no ads, for all people.

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