Catholic Saints & Feasts

November 21: The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Mary was likely consecrated to God as a child Stillbirths, infant mortality, and mothers’ dying during labor have been among the most predictable human tragedies since time immemorial. Medical progress has only in recent generations dramatically reduced such deaths, albeit unevenly throughout the world. In l...

November 20: Saint Bernward of Hildesheim, Bishop c.960–1022  Optional Memorial; Not on Universal Calendar; Liturgical Color: White  Patron saint of goldsmiths & architects  A well-educated and pious bishop sponsors the practical arts  Some doors in the city of Rome draw people in like huge vertical magnets, pulling groups of pilgrims slowly towards them across broad atriums. The dots of laser...

November 18: Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, Virgin 1769–1852 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of perseverance amid adversity Born into a refined French family, her life ended in hardship on the American prairie Today’s saint was born into a large, refined, educated Catholic family situated in an enormous home in the venerable city of Grenoble, France. Rose’s parents and ext...

November 18: The Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White The Apostles Peter and Paul are the Patron Saints of the City of Rome The barque of Peter is tethered to two stout anchors A cathedral is theology in stone, the medievals said, a truism which extends to all churches, not just cathedrals, and to their sacred web of translucent...

November 17: Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious 1207–1231 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of the Third Order of Saint Francis A faithful wife loses her husband and becomes a Franciscan The marriage of today’s saint was not any less happy for being arranged. Elizabeth of Hungary’s parents betrothed her at the age of four to a young German nobleman named Ludwig and sent her away as...

November 16: Saint Gertrude, Virgin 1256–1302 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of nuns and of the Diocese of Magdeburg, Germany Incandescent visions of Christ drew her into the deep Today’s saint, known as Saint Gertrude the Great, is one of the most provocative spiritual writers in the long and rich history of the Church. When just a child, she was placed in the care of Ben...

November 16: Saint Margaret of Scotland c. 1045–1093 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of Scotland, large families, and parents who have lost children A foreign-born royal becomes queen and inspires by her refinement and devotion In the early eleventh century, a Danish Viking named Canute reigned as King of England. Canute exiled his potential rivals from an Anglo-Saxon royal...

November 15: Saint Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor c. 1206–1280 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of natural scientists He knew everything, taught Aquinas, and placed his complex mind at the Church’s service Saint Francis de Sales wrote that the knowledge of the priest is the eighth Sacrament of the Church. If that is true, then today’s saint was a sacrament unto himself....

November 13: Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin (USA) 1850–1917 USA Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of immigrants and hospital administrators Indomitable and charismatic, she moved mountains for God The hurricane of apostolic activity that was Mother Cabrini motored powerfully over the Atlantic Ocean, gathered force as it swept into the American heartland, and then rested there, p...

November 12: Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr 1580–1623 Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of reunion between Orthodox and Catholics A holy bishop is murdered for unifying East and West Saint Josaphat died for something few in his era died for—ecumenism. In fact, the word ecumenism did not even exist when Josaphat was martyred. Josaphat was born in Ukraine but grew to manhood working a...

November 11: Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop c. 336–397 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of France, soldiers, and conscientious objectors He gave away half of his cloak and then all of his life Many great and holy men and women are unknown to history because they lacked the one crucial ingredient to become well known—a biographer. Today’s saint was one of the fortunate ones. A historia...

November 10: Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor Late Fourth Century–461 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of popes and confessors A Pope vigorously exercises his universal ministry and defines Christ’s divinity History has so far conferred on just two popes the title of “Great,” and today’s saint is one of them. Leo the Great’s origins are obscure, so nothing is known with certainty...

November 9: Dedication of the Lateran Basilica Feast; Liturgical Color: White A venerable basilica is the mother of all churches In the eighth chapter of his Confessions, Saint Augustine relates the story of an old and learned Roman philosopher named Victorinus. He had been the teacher of many a Roman senator and nobleman and was so esteemed that a statue of him was erected in the Roman Forum. As...

November 4: Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop 1538–1584 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of bishops, cardinals, and seminarians A young nobleman becomes a Cardinal, exemplifies holiness, and reforms the Church Today’s saint was born in a castle to an aristocratic family. His father was a count, his mother a Medici, and his uncle a pope. This last fact was to determine the trajectory of...

November 3: Saint Martin de Porres, Religious 1575–1639 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of mixed-race peoples and barbers A humble, mixed-race Dominican brother works miracles Today’s saint was born in colonial Lima, Peru, to a well-connected Spanish father and a black Panamanian mother who had been a slave. While parentage is revealing, focusing uniquely on someone’s origi...

November 2: The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day) Commemoration; Liturgical Color: White, Violet, or Black The earthly Church prays for the Church in Purgatory in hope of a reunion in Heaven Every country has a civic feast day dedicated to soldiers who died for the nation. Every country has a tomb of the unknown soldier where an honor guard stands solemnly erect near an un...

November 1: All Saints Solemnity; Liturgical Color: White Heaven is populated with holy people known to God alone Martyrs were so revered in the early Church that their places and dates of death were sanctified by the candles, prayers, and votive offerings of the faithful, grateful for their witness. So many were the martyrs, though, that by the early fourth century it became impossible to solemni...

October 28: Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles First Century Feast; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saints of hopeless causes (Jude) and tanners (Simon) The Apostles laid the foundation for the household of faith There is often a crosshatch of bloody scratches on the right cheek of statues of the suffering Christ in Latin America. It’s called the “Judas Kiss,” a reminder of Judas Iscariot’s act of both...

October 24: Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop 1807–1870 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of textile merchants, the Catholic press, and vocational educators A tireless bishop founds an Order and moves mountains Today’s saint was a finely tuned, high-octane engine of evangelization. Anthony Claret was from Catalonia, the region around Barcelona, Spain. He studied for the pries...

October 23: Saint John of Capistrano, Priest 1386–1456 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of military chaplains and jurists A worldly man becomes a Franciscan and a great preacher Today’s saint, like Saints Francis of Assisi, Maximilian Kolbe, Jerome Emiliani and many other male saints, was a prisoner of war. And just like all the others, imprisonment changed John of Capistran...

October 22: Saint John Paul II, Pope 1920–2005 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of World Youth Day Fully prepared, possessing every skill, a pope for the ages makes maximum impact Thirty-three years after the dark cloud of communism had settled over Eastern Europe, on a crisp autumn night, heavy bells across Poland began to sway and toll in their high towers. Their clangs pe...

October 20: Saint Paul of the Cross, Priest (U.S.A.) 1694–1775 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of Ovada, Italy, and founder of the Passionists He was a marathoner whose “runner’s high” lasted a lifetime After unsuccessfully living the life of a soldier, today’s saint left the military to live a secluded life of prayer for over five years. But then in 1720, he received a vis...

October 19: Saints Jean de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and their Companions, Martyrs (U.S.A.) Saint Jean: 1593–1649; Saint Isaac Jogues 1607–1646; Frs. Gabriel Lalemant, Noel Chabanel, Charles Garnier, Anthony Daniel; and laymen René Goupil and Jean de Lalande Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saints of North America, co-patrons of Canada French priests and laity leave hearth and home...

October 18: Saint Luke, Evangelist First Century Feast; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of artists, physicians, and surgeons A disciple of Christ gives the Church two foundational works Saint Luke was one of the four Evangelists but not one of the Twelve Apostles. Like Saint Mark, Luke was not among that select group who walked step by step alongside Jesus as he journeyed through Palestine. Luk...

October 17: Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr c. Mid First Century–c. 110 Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of the Church in Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa An early Bishop-martyr elaborates on Catholic theology Although not the most famous Saint Ignatius in the Church, today’s saint was the first to offer a theology of martyrdom. He also wrote seven famous letters en...