Sometimes, he explains, it works in reverse: St. Sebastian, the good-looking martyr usually depicted as shot through with arrows, is the patron saint of archers. In this case, he wasn’t the archer, but the archer’s target.
There are 40,000 Catholic saints.
Here is Craughwell’s list of some special saints and the feast days on the Church’s liturgical calendar when that particular saint is commemorated.
Popular saints
St. Anne (1st century). The mother of the Virgin Mary and the grandmother of Jesus, St. Anne has been beloved by Catholics and Orthodox Christians for more than 1,500 years. Feast day: July 26.
St. Jude (1st century). Although he was one of the 12 apostles and a cousin of Jesus, there was almost no devotion to St. Jude until the 20th century. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, a priest on the South Side of Chicago urged his unemployed parishioners to pray to this almost forgotten saint. So many prayers were answered that devotion to St. Jude spread rapidly across the United States. Feast day: Oct. 28.
St. Therese the Little Flower (1873-1897). This French Carmelite nun is considered one of the great wonder-working saints of all time. It is said that through the prayers of St. Therese, miracles drop from heaven like a shower of roses. Feast day: Oct. 1.
St. Anthony of Padua (1195-1231). Anthony’ canonization process was the fastest in history: He was proclaimed a saint less than a year after his death. Feast day: June 13.
St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226). It is said that of all the saints, Francis of Assisi most closely imitated Jesus Christ. He is also the first person to receive in his hands, feet and side the stigmata — the wounds that Christ suffered on the cross. Feast day: Oct. 4.
More obscure saints
St. Tarsicius (died 3rd century). A Roman altar boy, Tarsicius concealed the Eucharist, the bread consecrated at Mass, under his clothes so he could bring Holy Communion to imprisoned Christians. A gang of men and boys suspected Tarsicius was hiding something and demanded that he show them what he had; when Tarsicius refused, they beat him to death. Feast day: Aug. 26.
St. Expeditus (died 4th century). Expeditus was a Roman soldier who, with six fellow Christians, was martyred in Armenia. In 19th century France, Catholics began to invoke St. Expeditus against procrastination. Feast day: April 19.
St. Marcellus of Paris (died. c.430). There is a legend that in a cemetery outside Paris there was a female vampire who fed on the people of Paris. To protect his flock, Bishop Marcellus entered the tomb, confronted the vampire and killed her. Feast day: Nov. 1.
St. Isidore of Seville (c.560-636). This Spanish bishop compiled a 20-volume encyclopedia of all existing knowledge. In the 1990s, when online technology was young, Catholics in the new industry interpreted St. Isidore’s encyclopedia as the world’s first database and adopted him as patron saint of the Internet. Feast day: April 4.
Not yet canonized
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-80). A Mohawk Indian, Tekakwitha was born near present-day Auriesville, New York, in the Mohawk Valley. In 1675, a French Jesuit missionary arrived in Tekakwitha’s village — she became his only convert to Christianity and took the name Kateri (Mohawk for Catherine). Subjected to relentless harassment, Kateri fled to a village of Christian Indians near Quebec, where she could practice her faith in peace. Feast day: July 14.
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