Catholic Saints & Feasts of the Liturgical Year

Read entire reflection online >>> December 26: Saint Stephen, the First Martyr—Feast Early First Century–c. 33–36 Patron Saint of altar servers, builders, casket makers, deacons, horses, masons, and quarrymen Invoked against headaches Pre-Congregation canonization Liturgical Color: Red Quote : “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the Holy Spirit; yo...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 27: Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist—Feast Early First Century–c. 101 Patron Saint of arms manufacturers, art dealers, authors, basketmakers, bookbinders, booksellers, publishers, butchers, candlemakers, compositors, editors, engravers, friendships, glaziers, government officials, harvests, lithographers, notaries, painters, papermakers, pri...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 25: Nativity of the Lord—Solemnity Quote : In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 23: Saint John of Kanty (Cantius), Priest—Optional Memorial c. 1390–1473 Patron Saint of teachers, students, priests, pilgrims, Lithuania, and Poland Canonized by Pope Clement XIII on July 16, 1767 Liturgical Color: Violet Quote : Fight all false opinions, but let your weapons be patience, sweetness and love. Roughness is bad for your own soul an...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 21: Saint Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor—Optional Memorial 1521–1597 Patron Saint of the Catholic press, Germany, and writers of catechisms Canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI on May 21, 1925 Liturgical Color: Violet Quote : There I felt that a great consolation and the presence of grace had been granted to me through...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 14: Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor—Memorial c. 1542–1591 Patron Saint of contemplatives, mystical theology, and Spanish poets Canonized by Pope Benedict XIII on December 27, 1726 Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1926 Commonly referred to as the “Mystical Doctor” Liturgical Color: White Quote : In order to expound and...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 13: Saint Lucy of Syracuse, Virgin and Martyr—Memorial c. 283–c. 304 Patron Saint of blind people, martyrs, peasants, penitent prostitutes, poor people, sick children, authors, cutlers, farmers, glassmakers, glaziers, gondoliers, laborers, lawyers, maidservants, notaries, eye doctors, porters, printers, saddlers, sailors, salesmen, seamstresses,...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 12: Our Lady of Guadalupe—USA Feast Patroness of the Americas Quote : Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish for? Do not grieve nor be disturbed...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 11: Saint Damasus I, Pope—Optional Memorial c. 305–384 Patron Saint of archeologists Pre-Congregation canonization Liturgical Color: White Quote : You who read, whoever you are, recognize the equal merit of the two to whom Damasus the bishop has dedicated this inscription after their rewards. The Jewish people stoned Stephen when he was instructi...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 10: Our Lady of Loreto—Optional Memorial Patron Saint of aviators and builders Quote : I was indeed happy when on the way to Loreto. Our Lady had chosen an ideal spot in which to place her Holy House. Everything is poor, simple, and primitive; the women still wear the graceful dress of the country and have not, as in the large towns, adopted the...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 9: Saint Juan Diego, Hermit—Optional Memorial 1474–1548 Patron Saint of Indigenous peoples Canonized by Pope John Paul II on July 31, 2002 Liturgical Color: White Quote : I beg you to entrust your message to someone more known and respected so that he will believe it. I am only a simple Indian whom you have sent as a messenger to an important per...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 8: Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary—Solemnity Patronal Feast of the United States—Holy Day of Obligation c. 15 BC Patron Saint of the United States, clothmakers, clothworkers, coopers, upholsterers, the Amazon rainforest, and numerous dioceses, cities, and countries Liturgical Color: White Quote : We declare, pronounce, and define...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 7: Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor—Memorial c. 339–c. 397 Patron Saint of beekeepers, bishops, candlemakers, domestic animals, geese, honey cake bakers, learning, livestock, police officers, schoolchildren, security personnel, starlings, and wax refiners Pre-Congregation canonization Liturgical Color: White Quote : To avoid dissensions we should...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 6: Saint Nicholas, Bishop—Optional Memorial c. 270–c. 346 Patron Saint of children, sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, brewers, pawnbrokers, unmarried people, Russia, and numerous countries and cities Pre-Congregation canonization Liturgical Color: White Quote : “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor,...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 3: Saint Francis Xavier, Priest—Memorial 1506–1552 Patron Saint of foreign missions, missionaries, navigators, and parish missions Invoked against plague epidemics Canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 12, 1622 Liturgical Color: White Quote : By the favor of God we all arrived in Japan in perfect health on the 15th of August, 1549. We landed at C...

Read entire reflection online >>> December 4: Saint John Damascene, Priest, Religious and Doctor—Optional Memorial c. 676–749 Patron Saint of pharmacists, icon painters, and theology students Pre-Congregation canonization Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1890 Liturgical Color: White Quote : In other ages God had not been represented in images, being incorporate and face...

Read entire reflection online >>> November 30: Saint Andrew the Apostle—Feast c. 5–10–c. 60–80 Patron Saint of boatmen, butchers, farm workers, fish dealers, fishermen, happy marriages, maidens, miners, paralytics, pregnant women, ropemakers, sailmakers, sailors, singers, spinsters, textile workers, water carriers, and women who wish to become mothers Invoked against cramps, convulsions,...

Read entire reflection online >>> USA: Thanksgiving Day—Optional Memorial Fourth Thursday in November Prayer : Most Holy Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are One God in Three Persons, perfectly united by divine love. I thank You profoundly for the gift of Your grace in my life, especially as that Gift is communicated to me through the Mass. In gratitude for all You have bestowed upon me,...

Read entire reflection online >>> November 25: Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr—Optional Memorial c. 287–c. 305 Patron Saint of apologists, apprentice milliners and seamstresses, archivists, attorneys, barbers, potters, spinners, the dying, educators, girls, jurists, knife sharpeners, librarians, maidens, mechanics, millers, nurses, old maids, philosophers, preachers, scho...

Read entire reflection online >>> November 24: Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest and his Companions, Martyrs—Memorial Seventeenth–Nineteenth Centuries Patron Saints of Vietnam Canonized by Pope John Paul II June 19, 1988 Liturgical Color: Red Quote : I, Paul, in chains for the name of Christ, wish to relate to you the trials besetting me daily, in order that you may be inflamed with love for...

Read entire reflection online >>> Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe—Solemnity Last Sunday in Ordinary Time Liturgical Color: White or Gold Quote : Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as...

Read entire reflection online >>> November 23: Saint Columban (Columbanus), Abbot—Optional Memorial 543–615 Patron Saint of motorcyclists Invoked against floods Pre-Congregation canonization Liturgical Color: White Quote : All we Irish dwelling on the edge of the world are disciples of Saints Peter and Paul and of the disciples who, under the Holy Spirit, wrote the Sacred Canon. We accept...

Read entire reflection online >>> November 23: Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, Priest and Martyr—USA Optional Memorial 1891–1927 Invoked by the Mexican Church and in times of political persecution Beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 25, 1988 Liturgical Color: Red Quote : Deceitful are the ephemeral pleasures and joys of this world. Our supreme comfort in this life is to die to the wor...

Read entire reflection online >>> November 23: Saint Clement I, Pope and Martyr—Optional Memorial c. 35–c. 99 Patron Saint of sailors, mariners, sick children, and stonecutters Pre-Congregation canonization Liturgical Color: Red Quote : Concerning the things pertaining to our religious observance which are most profitable for a life of goodness to those who would pursue a godly and righte...

Read entire reflection online >>> November 22: Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr—Memorial Late Second or Early Third Century Patron Saint of bodily purity, composers, luthiers, martyrs, music, musicians, musical instrument makers, poets, and singers Pre-Congregation canonization Liturgical Color: Red Quote : Almachius urged, “Set aside your delusions and worship the gods.” Cecilia responde...