patron saint

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im sure this has been asked before (maybe even by me) but…how do you know who your patron saint is?
 
Well, one way to study up on who is patron of what is just look 'em up -this index is great. You can choose a patron based on occupation, interests, personal characteristics like nationality, or just a saint who appeals to you.

Of course if you’ve been baptised or confirmed you may have been given a patron at those times as well. (One of mine is my confirmation saint)

Or you might look up which saints have feasts on your birthday or so (that’s how I found one of mine)
 
thank you. but in looking up my birhtday november 8 i noticed that there is no saint feast dayon my birhtday (ferial) how odd.
 
passivesquid said:
thank you. but in looking up my birhtday november 8 i noticed that there is no saint feast dayon my birhtday (ferial) how odd.
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Maybe they’re not mandatory feasts but optional ones. There ARE, however, saints commemorated on every single day of the year (well, maybe not Christmas) - the Church has over 10,000 saints so there have to be saints for each day, but its not mandatory for the whole church to celebrate the feasts of each one!

These saints are commemorated on November 8 according to this site:

St. Castorius
St. Wiomad
Sts. Tysilio
St. Cybi
St. Pope Deusdedit
Four Crowned Martyrs (?) not sure what that means
St. John Baptist Con
St. Joseph Nghi
St. Martin Tho
St. Martin Tinh
St. Moroc
St. Paul Ngan
St. Willehad
 
passivesquid said:
im sure this has been asked before (maybe even by me) but…how do you know who your patron saint is?
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You don’t choose then–they choose you. How? By the way God reveals them to you. Your patron saint(s) are already busy praying for you and helping you. All you have to do is look at the ways in which you have been helped and you will know who they are.
 
Della said:
You don’t choose then–they choose you. How? By the way God reveals them to you. Your patron saint(s) are already busy praying for you and helping you. All you have to do is look at the ways in which you have been helped and you will know who they are.
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That’s great. I never thought of it that way.

When I was confirmed I chose St. Matthew.
Why? Because I liked the name. Dumb reason, huh?
Fell away from the faith for many years (became a heavy metal drummer and then came out as a gay man…you’re laughing, LOL!..that’s in the past now, and another story for another thread). When I came back to the Church I started reading lots of holy books. My favorite subject to read about (aside from Jesus) became Padre Pio. He just seemed like such a loveable saint. I like his approach to God. Some of the things he wrote I could relate to so well. Eventually, he made himself known to me in a big way (it could not have been more obvious). His response(s) really blew me away! Truly, it was Padre Pio. He loves Jesus very much. He hangs out at the gates of heaven now (we have an agreement that I get to meet him when I arrive).

So, St. Pio is my new patron saint (and St. Matthew is cool with it). Sometimes after my Rosary or Divine Mercy chaplet I will ask for St. Pio’s intercession. I ask my guardian angel to take my prayer directly to him.

It’s been awhile since he sent me a sign. But when I first discovered him he made himself known. I think he did it to draw me closer to God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit. And it worked.
 
i think i got him figured out! its st anthony of padua. he is the saint of seekers of lost articles, as long as i could remeber i was always good at finding things. heis also the parron saint of several pilipino towns, his symbol is bread and books i love bread and books! also hows this?, a while back i was sent in the mail for no apparent reason a medal of him. so hows that for fried beans!
 
your baptismal saint is your patron saint, in fact in some cultures babies used to be named for the saint on whose feast day they were born. Or you can have the saint for your birthday be your patron saint, or you can choose a new one at Confirmation.
 
passivesquid said:
…he is the saint of seekers of lost articles…
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St. Teresa of the Little Flower is good for that too.
Whenever I lose something I say,

St. Teresa of the Little Flower
In this hour show your power.

I always find what I’m looking for when I say that prayer.
🙂
 
So if you chose a different confirmation name as your baptismal name, are both your patron saints or has the confirmation saint usurped your baptismal saint?

I’m not sure we were given good information in our RCIA class on this one.
 
You don’t have to choose just one… nor are you “bound” to that one saint…
They’re all in this together, so it’s not a competition or anything… 😃

Each saint is unique and can be your patron in different situations… they’re all quite talented and have special gifts for special circumstances…

A patron saint is just one that you have a particularly strong relationship with…
Feel free to mix 'em up as you feel necessary… they love working together too!
 
If you read some books on saints, see if there is one that “speaks to you.” I have found that different saints have spoken to me at different times in my spiritual journey.
One way to begin this is to look at a collection of different saints’ stories in a book (and there are many such collections) and then explore one or more in greater depth.
 
I was given St. Therese of Liseux as my baptismal saint and I took for for my confirmation as well, but it was really only because my birthday is Oct. 3. I see some sources say her feast day is Oct. 8, but "back in the good ol’ days of the Church (40s & 50s) 10/3 was her feast. But I have never had or felt any special devotion to her, nor was it ever encouraged. While I was away from the Church for 20+ years of course I never thought about saints in the Catholic manner. But since returning I have found several saints that I like to feel are patrons. St.Anthony for my lost things, St. Dymphna for my mental problems, St. Philomena for many things, St. Benedict because I am a Benedictine Oblate, St. Faustina because of my mercy apostolate, among others. When my hubby entered the Church he took Albertus Magnus who was Aquinas’ teacher and a linguist because he is a linguist and a Bible scholar.
 
Della said:
You don’t choose then–they choose you. How? By the way God reveals them to you. Your patron saint(s) are already busy praying for you and helping you. All you have to do is look at the ways in which you have been helped and you will know who they are.
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Amen to that – that is my experience as well. When I was preparing to enter the Church, I read up on many different saints, and two touched me deeply, and since then (ten years have gone by) I have seen more and more “why” they were chosen for me:)
 
passivesquid said:
i think i got him figured out! its st anthony of padua. he is the saint of seekers of lost articles, as long as i could remeber i was always good at finding things. heis also the parron saint of several pilipino towns, his symbol is bread and books i love bread and books! also hows this?, a while back i was sent in the mail for no apparent reason a medal of him. so hows that for fried beans!
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That’s so cool! Sounds like you found him!

Saint Anthony of Padua is just an awesome awesome saint! He is a doctor of the church as well. You are so blessed that he chose you!

I love the “fried beans” comment, that just cracks me up. 😃 😃
 
LilyM said:
Well, one way to study up on who is patron of what is just look 'em up -this index is great. You can choose a patron based on occupation, interests, personal characteristics like nationality, or just a saint who appeals to you.

Of course if you’ve been baptised or confirmed you may have been given a patron at those times as well. (One of mine is my confirmation saint)

Or you might look up which saints have feasts on your birthday or so (that’s how I found one of mine)
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I always thought that one’s patron saint (or saints) is the one whom your Christian name is based on and the one you chose for your confirmation name. For instance, if one’s Christian name is Mary, I thought that her patron saint would be either the Blessed Virgin or another saint named Mary; and if she chose Elizabeth as her confirmation name, then her other patron saint would be one of the saints named Elizabeth. Can people have more patron saints besides the two that they have from their baptism and their confirmation?
 
puzzleannie said:
your baptismal saint is your patron saint, in fact in some cultures babies used to be named for the saint on whose feast day they were born. Or you can have the saint for your birthday be your patron saint, or you can choose a new one at Confirmation.
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That’s what I thought. I’m confused since there is mention of having more patron saints than just two (or three, if you count the one on your birthday separately if you were not named after a saint of the day you were born).
 
lak611 said:
I always thought that one’s patron saint (or saints) is the one whom your Christian name is based on and the one you chose for your confirmation name. For instance, if one’s Christian name is Mary, I thought that her patron saint would be either the Blessed Virgin or another saint named Mary; and if she chose Elizabeth as her confirmation name, then her other patron saint would be one of the saints named Elizabeth. Can people have more patron saints besides the two that they have from their baptism and their confirmation?
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Absolutely yes! A patron is just a saint who you choose as an intercessor and/or rolemodel. You can choose them at any time, for any reason or no reason, you can choose more than one. Take my father - he has a first and middle names, neither of them have any saints associated. But he’s a secular Franciscan, so St Francis of Assisi is his patron, and a physician, so St Luke is another.

Each country, each city and most occupations have patron saints designated to them, so the patron of your country, city or occupation is in that sense your own patron too.

And lots of other causes have their patrons as well - St Francis of Assisi for animals, St Monica for people in difficult family situations, St Peregrine for cancer sufferers and so on.

Kinda nice to know all these saints have been praying for me when I didn’t even realise it!
 
LilyM said:
And lots of other causes have their patrons as well - St Francis of Assisi for animals, St Monica for people in difficult family situations, St Peregrine for cancer sufferers and so on.
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I knew that. I actually have prayed to certain saints for their intercession in these types of things: for instance, St. Peregrine for a family member with cancer, St. Francis for sick pets, St. Anthony when I lost something, etc. I just didn’t know that praying to them in these instances made them my patron saints. I just thought that my patron saints were the ones whose names I had (my baptismal name and confirmation name).
 
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