Catholic Saints & Feasts of the Liturgical Year

Read entire reflection online >>> September 14: Exaltation of the Holy Cross—Feast Liturgical Color: Red Quote : But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ~ Galatians 6:14 Prayer : Most glorious and triumphant Lord, You gave Your life for the salvation of my soul, using the most horrific act of...

Read entire reflection online >>> September 13: Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor—Memorial c. 347–407 Patron Saint of preachers, orators, lecturers, and public speakers Invoked against epilepsy Pre-Congregation canonization Liturgical Color: White Quote : Are you a sinner? Do not become discouraged, and come to Church to put forward repentance. Have you sinned? Then tell God, “I ha...

Read entire reflection online >>> September 12: Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary—Optional Memorial Liturgical Color: White Quote : The whole world is filled with her glory, and this is especially true of Christian peoples, who have chosen her as guardian and protectress of kingdoms, provinces, dioceses, and towns. Many cathedrals are consecrated to God in her name. There is no church...

Read entire reflection online >>> September 9: Saint Peter Claver, Priest—USA Memorial 1581–1654 Patron Saint of African missions, African-Americans, black missions, black people, foreign missions, interracial justice, slaves, and Colombia Invoked against slavery Canonized by Pope Leo XIII on January 15, 1888 Liturgical Color: White Quote : Yesterday, May 30, 1627, on the feast of the Mos...

Read entire reflection online >>> September 8: Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary—Feast c. 15 BC Patron Saint of chefs, cooks, distillers, drapers, fish dealers, goldsmiths, silversmiths, needlemakers, potters, restaurateurs, silkworkers, and tilemakers Liturgical Color: White Quote : The present Feast forms a link between the New and the Old Testament. It shows that Truth succeeds symbols...

Read entire reflection online >>> September 5: Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta—Memorial c. 975–1038 Patron Saint of bricklayers, kings, stonecutters, masons, and parents who have lost a child Canonized by Pope Gregory VII in 1083 Liturgical Color: White Quote : It was a call within my vocation. It was a second calling. It was a vocation to give up even Loreto where I was very happy and to...

Read entire reflection online >>> September 3: Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor—Memorial c. 540–604 Patron Saint of choir boys, educators, masons, musicians, popes, students, and singers Invoked against gout and the plague Pre-Congregation canonization Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Boniface VIII in 1295 Liturgical Color: White Quote : No one presumes to teach an art till...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 29: The Passion of Saint John the Baptist, Martyr—Memorial c. 1 BC–c. 30 Patron Saint of baptism, bird dealers, converts, monastic life, motorways, printers, tailors, lambs, and prisoners Invoked against epilepsy, convulsions, hailstorms, and spasms Pre-Congregation canonization Liturgical Color: Red Quote : Now Herod had arrested John, bound him,...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 28: Saint Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor of the Church—Memorial 354–430 Patron Saint of brewers, printers, and theologians Invoked against sore eyes and vermin Pre-Congregation canonization Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Boniface VIII in 1298 Referred to as “Doctor of Grace” by popular acclaim Liturgical Color: White Quote : Late ha...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 27: Saint Monica—Memorial c. 332–387 Patron Saint of homemakers, married women, mothers, abuse victims, alcoholics, and widows Invoked against difficult marriages and difficult children Pre-Congregation canonization Liturgical Color: White Quote : Son, for my own part I have no further delight in any thing in this life. What I do here any longer, a...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 25: Saint Joseph of Calasanz, Priest—Optional Memorial 1556–1648 Patron Saint of Catholic schools (especially ones for the poor), colleges, and schoolchildren Canonized by Pope Clement XIII on July 16, 1767 Liturgical Color: White Quote : Joseph Calasanz, wise interpreter of the signs of the times, considered education, given in a “brief, simple an...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 25: Saint Louis, King—Optional Memorial 1214–1270 Patron Saint of barbers, hairdressers, builders, construction workers, button makers, distillers, embroiderers, needleworkers, kings, sculptors, soldiers, stoneworkers, bridegrooms, parenthood, parents of large families, prisoners, sick people, and co-patron of the Third Order of Saint Francis Invok...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 24: Saint Bartholomew the Apostle—Feast First Century Patron Saint of bookbinders, butchers, cobblers, leatherworkers, plasterers, shoemakers, tanners, trappers, and whiteners Invoked against neurological diseases Pre-Congregation canonization Liturgical Color: Red Quote : Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 23: Saint Rose of Lima, Virgin—Optional Memorial 1586–1617 Patron Saint of the Americas, Peru, embroiderers, florists, gardeners, needleworkers, and people ridiculed for their piety Invoked against vanity and self-love Canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671 Liturgical Color: White Quote : Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 22: Queenship of Blessed Virgin Mary—Memorial Liturgical Color: White Quote : A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ~ Revelation 12:1 Prayer : Mother and Queen of Heaven, this day I run to you as a child with confidence and trust. You are the glorious Q...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 21: Saint Pius X, Pope—Memorial 1835–1914 Patron Saint of First Communicants and pilgrims Canonized by Pope Pius XII on May 29, 1954 Liturgical Color: White Quote : After careful deliberation on all these points, this Sacred Congregation of the Discipline of the Sacraments, in a general meeting held on July 15, 1910, in order to remove the above-me...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 20: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot and Doctor of the Church—Memorial 1090–1153 Patron Saint of beekeepers, bees, candlemakers, chandlers, Cistercians, and Knights Templar Canonized by Pope Alexander III on January 18, 1174 Declared a Doctor of the Church ( Doctor Mellifluus , “Honey-Sweet Doctor”) by Pope Pius VIII in 1830 Liturgical Color: Whit...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 19: Saint John Eudes, Priest—Optional Memorial 1601–1680 Patron Saint of Eudists, Order of Our Lady of Charity; Diocese of Baie-Comeau; and Missionaries Canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 31, 1925 Liturgical Color: White Quote : Father of mercies and God of all consolation, You gave us the loving Heart of your own beloved Son, because of the boundles...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 16: Saint Stephen of Hungary—Optional Memorial c. 975–1038 Patron Saint of bricklayers, kings, stonecutters, masons, and parents who have lost a child Canonized by Pope Gregory VII in 1083 Liturgical Color: White Quote : To thee, O Queen of heaven, and to thy guardianship, I commend the holy Church, all the bishops and the clergy, the whole kingdom...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 15: Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary—Solemnity First Century Patron Saint of fishmongers, French air crews, harnessmakers, and numerous countries, cities, and dioceses Liturgical Color: White Quote : …by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define i...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 14: Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Priest and Martyr—Memorial 1894–1941 Patron Saint of drug addicts, families, journalists, prisoners, and the pro-life movement Canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982 Liturgical Color: Red Quote : Remember that you belong exclusively, unconditionally, absolutely, irrevocably to the Immaculate: Whoever you...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 13: Saints Pontian, Pope and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs—Optional Memorial Unknown–c. 235 Saint Hippolytus—Patron Saint of horses Saint Pontian—Patron Saint of Carbonia and Montaldo Scarampi, Italy Pre-Congregation canonization Liturgical Color: Red Quote : But let each of the faithful be zealous, before he eats anything else, to receive the Euchar...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 12: Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious—Optional Memorial 1572–1641 Patron Saint of forgotten people, parents separated from their children, and widows Invoked against in-law problems Canonized by Pope Clement XIII in 1767 Liturgical Color: White Quote : How soon may I hope for the happy day when I shall irrevocably offer myself to my God? He...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 11: Saint Clare, Virgin—Memorial c. 1193–1253 Patron Saint of the Poor Clares, embroiderers, goldworkers, laundry workers, needleworkers, telephones, and television Invoked against eye diseases and for good weather Canonized by Pope Alexander IV in 1255 Liturgical Color: White Quote : As you contemplate further His ineffable delights, eternal riche...

Read entire reflection online >>> August 10: Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr—Feast c. 225–c. 258 Patron Saint of archivists, armories, book lovers, brewers, butchers, cooks, comedians, deacons, glaziers, laundry workers, librarians, firefighters, poor people, restaurateurs, schoolchildren, seminarians, tanners, vine growers, winemakers, and Rome Invoked against fire and lumbago (lower b...