Patron Saints

[RaphaelJ]

Just wondering, but why are many saints considered patron of something? (Like from plague to television) I really don’t disagree with this but I would like to know the justification. As an Anti-Catholic website mentioned, it shares similarity with the ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Also, what effect would this have to our veneration of them? Thanks!

 

[Garyjohn2]

First, don’t listen to anti-catholic propoganda…that is silly.

My understanding of patron saints is that these saints, for some particular reason, have been associated with particular things because of what they did in life. For example, St. Francis is known to have preached to animals. Now we call him the patron saint of animals (among other things) because we know he has had experience in dealings with animals and can help us with our own issues. That doesn’t mean that some other saint cannot intercede on our behalf with it comes to things like this, but we know for a fact that St. Francis has the particular experience and grace required to help with this type of thing.

Take a different example from life on earth. Sometimes, if I need help with work related issues, I will talk to my wife. I know she has a great work ethic and experience…so naturally I turn to her when I need advice or guidance. The same is true for my friend, who I go to when I am having computer issues. He has the experience and talent needed for that area. In the same way, we ask our friends in heaven to help us with the things we already know they are good at.

We can pray to St. Raphael for healing, for we know God has given him the grace and power to heal in the past. We hope He will do this in the future!

We can pray to St. Mary for purity. We know that she was a virgin, and can help us with our struggles and temptations there…because we know she has already conquered this virtue, by the grace of God!

Patron saints of certain actions/professions/items are there to help guide us to the people we need to get the help where we need it. You can call them specialists if that helps.

 

[RedWings]

First, don’t listen to anti-catholic propoganda…that is silly.

My understanding of patron saints is that these saints, for some particular reason, have been associated with particular things because of what they did in life. For example, St. Francis is known to have preached to animals. Now we call him the patron saint of animals (among other things) because we know he has had experience in dealings with animals and can help us with our own issues. That doesn’t mean that some other saint cannot intercede on our behalf with it comes to things like this, but we know for a fact that St. Francis has the particular experience and grace required to help with this type of thing.

Take a different example from life on earth. Sometimes, if I need help with work related issues, I will talk to my wife. I know she has a great work ethic and experience…so naturally I turn to her when I need advice or guidance. The same is true for my friend, who I go to when I am having computer issues. He has the experience and talent needed for that area. In the same way, we ask our friends in heaven to help us with the things we already know they are good at.

We can pray to St. Raphael for healing, for we know God has given him the grace and power to heal in the past. We hope He will do this in the future!

We can pray to St. Mary for purity. We know that she was a virgin, and can help us with our struggles and temptations there…because we know she has already conquered this virtue, by the grace of God!

Patron saints of certain actions/professions/items are there to help guide us to the people we need to get the help where we need it. You can call them specialists if that helps.

What a great explanation and analogy, Garyjohn2. Thank-you!

 

[ESMDHokie77]

Think of it this way… during his life… St Peter, (along with Andrew, Nicholas, countless others), was a fisherman. And with peter in particular, we know that on several instances, after listening to Jesus’s direction on which side of the boat to throw his net, caught a lot of fish. So whether by his own actually being a fisherman… or more wonderfully because Peter listened to Jesus and was blessed by Him and thus was successful in fishing… we today ask Peter to intercede for us if we’re fishing for a big one or a lot of fish!

 

[Garyjohn2]

What a great explanation and analogy, Garyjohn2. Thank-you!

Hey, thanks for the encouragement!

I also wanted to add something in regards to the greek/roman pantheon. They are much different than patron saints. They were gods in their own right that had entire dominions (the sea, the underworld, ect) that were under their control. They had to be pleaded with, bargained with, and appeased. However, the biggest difference is that the pantheon are gods that are completely made up (or they are real and something worse!). The saints are people that we know to have lived on earth, we know they are holy worthy of emulation (so we know they are in heaven), and we know that they had certain experiences or skills on earth that are surely translated somehow to their heavenly existence.

The pantheon’s origins have faded into the mist of myth and legend, and they are, in fact, dead. The saints are actually alive now, and still with us, and they worship God together with us!

 

[EricFilmer]

Just to add to what has been posted so far, we can presume that saints have an affinity for those suffering from bad situations that they, themselves, experienced during their earthly lives. For example, St. Peregrine was once a cancer sufferer (and was miraculously cured of it). He is considered the patron saint of cancer patients.

As another example, consider St. Dymphna who was martyred by her mentally ill father. She is considered the patron saint of those suffering from mental illness. The way I see it, during her earthly life she was powerless to help people like her father, but as a saint in heaven she now can. As a side note, she is also designated as the patron saint of those afflicted with disorders of the nervous system due to miraculous healings of this nature which have been attributed to her.