The name of all that is holy

Naming children after saints and martyrs is one way parents have devised to protect their children.  Their hope being that the child will not only reflect the qualities of their namesake but also get their divine protection at all times.

It is still a tradition, particularly amongst Roman Catholics, to name the child after the ‘Saint of the Day’.  Although there are many versions of the Saints’ calendar, they share the same major saints’ days and a child who happens to be born on one of these days is more likely to be named after the saint of that day. Here are some of the patron saints and a selection of the important Saints’ days in the Calendar…

Some of the Patron Saints

Saint	Patron of	Saint's Day
St Andrew	Scotland	30 November
St Anne	Women in labour	26 July
St Camillus	Hospitals, nurses	14 July
St Christopher	Travellers	25 July
St David	Wales	1 March
St Dorothy	Gardeners, brides	5 February
St George	England	23 April
St Gerard	Pregnant women	16 October
St Joseph	Families and married couples	19 March
St Nicholas	Children	6 December
St Patrick	Ireland	17 March

Some important Saints’ Days in Roman Catholic and Anglican Calendars

January
1	The Virgin Mary
2	St Basil the Great, St Gregory of Nazianzen
6	The Epiphany
7	St Hilary of Poitiers
17	St Anthony of Egypt
21	St Agnes
22	St Vincent of Saragossa
24	St Francis de Sales
25	St Paul
26	St Timothy and St Titus
28	St Thomas Aquinas
31	St John Bosco
February
2	Presentation of the Lord
5	Saint Agatha
11	Our Lady of Lourdes
14	St Valentine’s Day
March
1	St David, Patron of Wales
7	St Perpetua and St Felicity
17	St Patrick’s Day, Patron of Ireland
18	St Cyril of Jerusalem
19	St Joseph of Nazareth
25	Annunciation of the Lord
April
21	St Anselm of Canterbury
23	St George, Patron of England
24	St Mark the Evangelist
28	St Peter Chanel
29	St Catherine of Siena
May
2	St Athansius
3	St Philip and St James
14	St Matthias the Apostle
25	St Bede the Venerable
26	St Philip Neri
27	St Augustine
31	Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
June
1	St Justin
5	St Boniface
9	St Ephrem
11	St Barnabas the Apostle
13	St Anthony of Padua
24	The Birth of Saint John the Baptist
28	St Irenaeus
29	St Peter and St Paul, Apostles
July
3	St Thomas the Apostle
11	St Benedict
15	St Bonaventure
22	St Mary Magadalene
23	St Birgitta
24	St James the Apostle
26	St Anne and St Joachim
29	St Martha
31	St Ignatius of Loyola
August
4	St Jean-Baptiste Vianney
6	Transfiguration of the Lord
8	St Dominic
10	St Lawrence
11	St Clare of Assisi
14	St Maximilian Mary Kolbe
15	Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
20	St Bernard of Clairvaux
24	St Bartholomew the Apostle
27	St Monica
28	St Augustine of Hippo
September
3	St Gregory the Great
8	Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary
13	St John Chrysostom
14	Triumph of the Holy Cross
21	St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
25	St Vincent de Paul
29	Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels
30	St Jerome
October
4	St Francis of Assisi
9	St Denis
15	St Teresa
17	St Ignatius of Antioch
18	St Luke the Evangelist
28	St Simon and St Jude, Apostles
November
1	All Saints’ Day
2	All Souls’ Days
10	St Leo the Great
11	St Martin of Tours
16	St Margaret of Scotland
22	St Cecilia
23	St Clement I
25	St Catherine of Alexandria
30	St Andrew the Apostle, Patron Saint of Scotland
December
3	St Francis Xavier
4	St John Damascene
6	St Nicholas
7	St Ambrose
8	The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
13	St Lucy of Syracuse
14	St John of the Cross
25	Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Day
26	St Stephen
27	St John, Apostle and Evangelist
28	The Holy Innocents
29	St Thomas Becket