| All Saints 1st November | This dedication signifies all the known and unknown Christian martyrs, and may be a dedication of Saxon origin. The vigil, or evening before the feast day, is popularly called Halloween. |
| Holy Innocents | |
| St Agnes 21st January | Agnes, a young Christian convert, is honored as one of the four great virgin martyrs of the Christian Church. She died for her faith in the early fourth century during the reign of Diocletian (284-305), the Roman emperor who ordered the last great persecution of Christians, starting in early 303. St. Agnes not only had no desire to marry, but was prepared to die for the sake of her faith and her virginity as "the bride of Christ", rather than become the wife of the son of a Roman prefect. She was martyred when she was only 12. |
| St Alban 22nd June | St Alban was the first English martyr. While still a pagan, he hid a priest in his house during a time when Christians were being persecuted. The priest made such an impression that Alban became a Christian. When the authorities discovered that he was hiding the priest, Alban swapped clothes and gave himself up in the priest's stead. Despite threats, he refused to recant his new faith and was sentenced to be whipped and beheaded. On the way to the execution, the soldier who was to kill him was converted and was martyred too. |
| St Alphege 19th April | Alphege, born in 953, he was successively a monk of Deerhurst (Glocs.), a hermit in Somerset, Abbot of Bath and, in 984, bishop of Winchester in succession to St. Ethelwold. In 1005 he became Archbishop of Canterbury . A Danish force overran southern England (1011) and the king, the famously named Ethelred the Unready, was unable to cope with them, despite the payment of the tribute tax known as the Danegeld. They besieged Canterbury and took Alphege hostage, demanding an enormous ransom which the Archbishop refused to allow the people to pay. Finally, in 1012, after a drunken feast, the Danes had Alphege axed to death at Greenwich. |
| St Andrew 30th November | An apostle who preached in the near east after the death of Christ. He is believed to have been crucified at Patras in Achaia and his body recovered by crusaders in 1204 and returned to Italy. His is also thought to have travelled to Scotland and built a church in Fife. He is the patron saint of Scotland and fishermen. |
| St Anne 26th July | The traditional name of the mother of the Virgin Mary. The Hebrew form, Hannah, means grace. St Anne is often depicted teaching the young Mary to read. The supposed relics of St Anne were brought to Constantinople in 710. She is the patron saint of miners. |
| St Anthony | |
| St Augustine of Canterbury 28th May | First archbishop of Canterbury; died in 604. |
| St Augustine of Hippo 28th August | Doctor of Grace. Patron saint of students for the priesthood. He was killed on August 28, 430, when his city was invaded by Vandals. |
| St Barbara 4th December | St. Barbara's legend was immensely popular, but all we know about her is that was martyred, probably in Asian Minor in the 3rd or 4th century. Legend relates she was a beautiful maiden, and her father isolated her in a high tower. While there, she was tutored by philosophers, orators and poets and converted to Christianity. Her father Dioscorus was furious and denounced her to the authorities. They ordered him to kill her. She tried to escape, but he caught her, dragged her home by her hair and then beheaded her. He was immediately struck by lightning, or according to some sources, fire from heaven. Patron of builders, artillerymen and miners, often pictured with a tower. |
| St Barnabas 11th June | A Jew, born in Cyprus and named Joseph, he sold his property, gave the proceeds to the Apostles, who gave him the name Barnabas, and lived in common with the earliest converts to Christianity in Jerusalem. He persuaded the community there to accept Paul as a disciple, was sent to Antioch, Syria, to look into the community there, and brought Paul there from Tarsus. |
| St Bartholomew 24th August | One of the twelve apostles who, after the death of Christ, went on to preach Christianity in India and Armenia. Tradition says he was executed at Albanopolis in Armenia, some sources suggest by beheading, others by being flayed alive and crucified upside down. The latter version has led to his frequent depiction as flayed and holding his own skin, such as in Michelangelo's Last Judgement. His remains were eventually returned to Italy and are thought to be preserved n the church of St Bartholomew-in-the-island, Rome. He is the patron saint of tanners. |
| St Bede | Often called "The Venerable Bede". |
| St Bernadette | |
| St Boniface 5th June | c. 675-754? English missionary monk and martyr, called the Apostle of Germany, b. Devonshire, England. His English name was Winfrid. He was educated in the monastery of Nursling, near Winchester. In 716 he made his first trip to Friesland to aid the mission of St. Willibrord, but unsettled conditions forced his return to England. In 718 he left England for Rome where Pope Gregory II encouraged his missionary zeal and gave him the name Boniface. Under the protection of the Frankish ruler Charles Martel, Boniface and his companions made many converts in Thuringia, Hesse, Franconia, and Bavaria. His chopping down of Thor's famed sacred oak at Fritzlar symbolized the advance of Christianity in pagan Germany. He was martyred by pagans in Friesland. |
| St Catherine 25th November | St. Catherine was born at Alexandria and martyred under Maximinus Daia c. 310. Ancient accounts relate that when she was eighteen years old the emperor gathered together a group of philosophers to persuade her to deny Christ and worship idols. She instead convinced them of their error and converted them to Christianity. She is often pictured with a broken wheel, because she was scourged and bound to wheels on which knives were fixed, but the instrument broke. She was finally beheaded. Patron of Christian philosophers, of maidens, preachers, wheelwrights, and mechanics. |
| St Cecelia 22nd November | Patron saint of musicians and the blind. Her musical association rests on a passing notice in her legend that she praised God by instrumental as well as vocal music. She perished in Sicily under Marcus Aurelius between 176 and 180. A church in her honour existed in Rome from about the 4th century, and was rebuilt with much splendour by Pope Paschal I. about the year 820, and again by Cardinal Sfondrati in 1599. St Cecelia is the subject of one of the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. |
| St Christopher 25th July | A martyr, probably of the third century. Although St. Christopher is one of the most popular saints in the East and in the West, almost nothing certain is known about his life or death. He is the patron saint of bookbinders, gardeners and mariners. The oldest picture of the saint, in the monastery on the Mount Sinai dates from the time of Justinian (527-65). His emblems are the tree, the Christ Child and a staff. |
| St Clement 23rd November | Clement was a first century bishop of Rome who was exiled to the Crimea where he was martyred by having an anchor chain wrapped around him and being thrown into the sea. A letter written by him, to the church in Corinth, survives. He is the patron saint of lighthouse keepers. |
| St Cosmos and Damian 27th September | These were twin doctors who were born in Arabia. After becoming Christians, they no longer charged their patients for their services. Both were martyred at Cyrrhus by beheading with the sword. They are patron saints of doctors and pharmacists and often depicted with medical emblems. |
| St Cuthburga
| |
| St Cuthman 8th February | St Cuthman was an 8th century hermit who was orphaned at an early age. He became a shepherd but received a vision of St Aidan entering heaven, which led him to become a Benedictine monk at the age of 17 in the monastery of Melrose, founded by St Aidan. Following a dispute concerning liturgy, Cuthbert relocated to Lindisfarn, become prior and then abbot. |
| St Cyriac 8th August | An unusual dedication in Britain. There are two possibilities. First is that he was a young Christian deacon martyred by the Emperor Diocletian and the other, traditionally recognised at Lacock, Wiltshire, that he was a three year old child killed by the Governor of Silicia in 303 A. D. for supporting the Christian faith of his mother, Julitta. |
| St Denys 9th October | Born in Italy in the 3rd century, he was sent to Gaul by Pope Fabian to convert and build a church on an island in the Seine in Paris. He became Bishop of Paris, but was later imprisoned, racked, thrown to wild beasts, burnt at the stake and finally beheaded and his body thrown into the river Seine. An abbey was built on the spot where his body was found. The saint is usually represented in art with his head in his hands, because, according to legend, after his execution the corpse rose again and carried the head for some distance. |
| St Dominic 4th August | 1170 1221. Founder of the Dominican order of preaching friars. He is the patron saint of astronomers. |
| St Dunstan 19th May | Born of Heorstan, a West Saxon noble, was educated at Glastonbury in the 10th century. He was twice exiled from court but rose to become Archbishop of Canterbury. While a hermit at Glastonbury he is said to have been tempted by the Devil, Dunstan responded by seizing him in the face with his tongs. He died in 988. He is the patron saint of the blind, blacksmiths and goldsmiths. |
| St Eanswyth 12th September | A Saxon princess who founded a nunnery on the coast near Folkestone, Kent. She is also known as Eanswida, Eanswide, Eanswith (a). She died August 31, c. 640. The monastery was destroyed by the Danes, but restored by King Athelstan, then refounded in 1095 for the Black Benedictines. Part of it was swallowed up by the sea, and so the community was moved to Folkestone. Her relics were translated to the church built by Eadbald in honor of Saint Peter, but later known as Saints Mary and Eanswyth. In 1885, a Saxon coffer was found in the north wall containing the bones of a young woman, which were assumed to be those of the saint. In art, Saint Eanswyth is portrayed as a crowned abbess with a book and two fish. She is venerated at Folkestone (Roeder), where her image is incorporated on its seals (Farmer). |
| St Edmund | |
| St Edward 13th October | Also known as Edward the Confessor or Edward, King of the West Saxons. |
| St Elisabeth | |
| St Ethelbert 24th February | King of Kent, born 553, died 24 February 616. |
| St Ethelburga 12th October | Born at Stallington, Lindsey, England; died at Barking, England, 678. In art, Ethelburga is depicted as an abbess holding Barking Abbey. Sometimes she is shown with St Erconwald, her brother. |
| St Francis of Assisi 4th October | The founder of the Franciscan Order, born at Assisi in Umbria c. 1181/2; died 1226. He took the gospel literally and tried to espouse Jesus in everything he died, attracting criticism and persecution in the process. He is the patron saint of animals and ecology. |
| St Gabriel | |
| St George 23rd April | He replaced St Edward the Confessor as the patron saint of England after the Crusades. He is thought to have been a soldier who died in Palestine under the persecution of the Christians by Diocletian around 303 AD. The legend of St George and the Dragon was made popular by "Legenda Aurea", translated into English by Caxton. He is the patron saint of soldiers, archers and knights. |
| St Giles 1st September | An eighth century hermit who founded a monastery in France, which became a stopping place for pilgrims en-route to the Holy Land. Returning Crusaders spread his cult, as witnessed by the large number of churches dedicated to him in France, Germany, Poland, Hungary as well as Britain. Not enjoying the publicity he attracted in his lifetime, the saint withdrew to a forest near Nimes, where he spent many years in solitude, his only companion being a hind. He is often therefore depicted in art with the said animal. He is the patron saint of cripples, lepers, hermits and mothers. |
| St Gregory | |
| St Helen 18th August | The mother of Constantine the Great, born in the middle of the third century. She was known for her charitable acts, the poor and destitute were her special concern. She is credited with having discovered the "True Cross" upon which Jesus was crucified. |
| St Hubert | |
| St Jacob | |
| St James the Great 25th July | St James the Apostle, brother of St John the Evangelist, sons of Zebedee; nicknamed "Sons of Thunder" by Jesus. He is known as James the Great to distinguish him from James the Less, or James the brother of the Lord. The only certain fact recorded of James outside of the gospels is his martyrdom (Acts 12, 1-2) at the hands of Herod Agrippa I in 44 A.D. He was adopted by the crusaders as defender of the faith and is the patron saint of pilgrims. |
| St James the Less 3rd May | |
| St John the Baptist 24th June | John was the son of the Virgin Mary's cousin. He began preaching before Christ, and baptised Jesus in the river Jordan. He made an enemy of Herod Antipas and his wife Salome, who demanded his head for comments he had made. He was arrested and killed without trial, his head being brought to Salome on a platter. |
| St John the Evangelist 27th December | Or St John the Apostle, brother of St James the Apostle. |
| St Jude 28th October | St Jude was a first century apostle who, with St Simon, preached in Persia where they were both martyred. He is the patron saint of lost causes. |
| St Laurence 10th August | St Lawrence (or St Laurence) was one of seven deacons in charge of giving to the poor. His Pope, St. Sixtus, was condemned to death. As he was led to execution, Lawrence followed, asking "Where are you going without your Deacon?". The Pope replied, "In three days you will follow me." Overjoyed, Lawrence quickly gave all the money to hand away to the poor. The Prefect of Rome, a pagan, demanded that Lawrence bring the Church's treasure to him. Lawrence brought all the sick and poor, showed them to the Prefect saying, "This is the Church's treasure!" This angered the Prefect who sentenced Lawrence to death by roasting on a gridle. He endured the agonies with much fortitude, even, according to legend, managing a joke with the executioner. He is the patron saint of deacons, fire-fighters and cooks. |
| St Leonard | A sixth century hermit who started life as a nobleman. He founded an abbey at Noblac where he died and is buried. |
| St Luke 18th October | He is the patron saint of physicians. |
| St Margaret of England | A Cistercian nun, who travelled to the Holy Land, settled in Sauve Benite where she died. She is the patron saint of the dying. |
| St Margaret of Scotland | Margaret Queen of Scotland (1045 - 1093 AD), the wife of Malcolm the King. She was canonised for the domestic virtues, being an exemplary wife and mother. Otherwise known as St Margaret the Queen. She was the daughter of Edward the Atheling who fled to Scotland after the Norman Conquest in 1066. She revived the church in Scotland and built hostels and churches. |
| St Margaret of Antioch 20th July | Margaret, of Antioch in Pisidia, was martyred under the Emperor Diocletian c. A.D. 304. In the Eastern Church she is known as St Marina. One of the legends attached to St. Margaret is that she met the devil, who was in the shape of a dragon. She was swallowed by the dragon, but then escaped safely when the cross she carried irritated the dragon's innards. This is why she is the patron for women in childbirth. She is often pictured holding a dragon in chains. |
| St Mark 25th April | |
| St Martha 29th July | The sister of Mary of Bethany and Lazarus. |
| St Martin of Tours 11th November | Born in Hungary, the son of a pagan army officer, he joined the army but was discharged because of his Christian beliefs. He stayed in France where he worked against paganism. He is buried at Tours. He is the patron saint of beggars and soldiers. |
| St Mary 15th August
| The Blessed Virgin, mother of Christ. After the death of Christ she went to Turkey under the protection of St John, where she lived out her life. She is the patron saint of mothers, nuns and virgins. The Feast of the Assumption is the principle feast of the Virgin Mary. |
| St Mary Magdalen 22nd July | Follower of Christ. Thought to be a sinner. Witnessed the resurrection. Perhaps a true apostle but this fact may have been suppressed in the early Christian Church when the role of women was unsure. She is the patron saint of women's hairdressers, penitents and prostitutes. |
| St Matthew 21st September | A former tax collector who joined the apostles and wrote the first gospel. He is the patron saint of bankers, accountants and tax men. |
| St Matthias 24th February | |
| St Melor 1st October | St Melor was a boy saint of Brittany who was murdered on the instruction of his uncle. Legend tells that his murderer intended to take the saint's head back to his uncle. On the journey he became faint from thirst and cried out for help. He was answered by St. Melor's head, which told him to plant his staff in the ground. 'When he had done this, not only did a spring of water spout forth from the ground but the staff took root and was turned into a most beautiful tree and brought forth branches and fruit, and from its root an unfailing fountain began to well forth.' |
| St Michael the Archangel 29th September | The messenger and defender of God. His cult is usually associated with churches on high ground. He is the patron saint of radiologists and the sick. |
| St Mildred 14th July | The abbess of Minster-in-Thanet, died AD 732. Supposedly survived an attempt to burn her alive in an oven for refusing to marry a nobleman rather than be taught Godly ways. |
| St Monica | |
| St Nicholas of Myra 6th December | Bishop of Myra, died 6th December 352. Born at Parara in Asia Minor, he was imprisoned under the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian. He was released on the accession of Constantine and was present at the Council of Nicaea. His body was stolen from Myra in 1087 and taken to Bari in Italy. In popular tradition St. Nicholas has become identified with Santa Claus who distributes gifts to children on Christmas eve. His relics are still preserved in the church of San Nicola in Bari. He is patron of mariners, merchants, bakers, travellers, children, etc. |
| St Olave (St Olaf) 29th July | King of and patron saint of Norway. 995 - 1030; king from 1015 - 1028. During his lifetime he was known as 'the Stout'. |
| St Oswald 5th August | Soldier King of Northumbria who became a Christian in Iona. He was killed and mutilated by a pagan king at the battle of Maserfield and his body parts buried in various places causing his cult to be spread over a wide area. He is the patron saint of soldiers. |
| St Pancras 12th May | An orphan brought to Rome where he was converted only to be martyred at the age of 14. His cult arrived in England in 664 when the Pope sent relics of the saint to King Oswiu of Northumbria. |
| St Panteleimon 27th July | St Panteleimon was born about 284 AD in the city of Nicodemia and was martyred by beheading in 304 AD. |
| St Patrick 17th May | |
| St Paul 29th June | A nobleman who was converted to Christianity by after a vision on the road to Damascus. He worked tirelessly to spread the gospel until his beheading in Rome at the time of Nero. He was buried outside of the walls of Rome. |
| St Peter 29th June | The leader of the apostles, who preached mainly in Rome. He was crucified by Nero, possibly at the same time as St Paul, as the both share the same saints day and are often linked together. He is the patron saint of fishermen. |
| St Philip 3rd May | |
| St Richard 3rd April | 1197 - 1253, also known as Richard de Wyche. Orphaned as a child, but regained his wealth and education eventually becoming chancellor to Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury. After accompanying Edmund into retirement at the Cistercian abbey of Pontigny, France, he departed the community upon Edmund’s death, taught at the Dominican house in Orkans, and was ordained there in 1243. Upon going home to England, he was named chancellor to Edmund’s successor, St. Boniface of Savoy. When King Henry Ill appointed Ralph Neville to the see of Chichester in 1244, Boniface declared the nomination invalid and named Richard to the post, an act which caused an uproar in the kingdom. Finally, in 1245, Pope Innocent IV found in Richard’s favour, but Richard was prevented from entering his palace by the machinations of Henry. Only after the king was threatened with excommunication was Richard able to take up his duties. He insisted upon strict adherence to discipline among the clergy, aided the poor, and fearlessly denounced the corruption and vices of the contemporary Church and the royal court. His death came at Dover, in a home for poor priests, while delivering a plea for a crusade. Richard was canonized in 1262, and his tomb became a popular shrine noted for its miracles until the Reformation in England. |
| St Rumwold 2nd November | Rumwold was a medieval infant saint in England, said to have lived for three days in 662, the son of St Cyneburga and King Alchfrid. Legend says he was miraculously full of Christian piety despite his tender age, and able to speak from the moment of his birth, professing his faith, requesting baptism, and delivering a sermon to his parents prior to his early death. Several churches were dedicated to him of which about six survive. |
| St Simon 28th October | Saint Simon the Tanner lived towards the end of the tenth century when Egypt was ruled by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Muizz, and Abraam the Syrian was the 62nd Coptic Pope (975 - 978). He is suggested to have aided the Pope to demonstrate a miracle - the moving of a mountain to demonstrate the validity of Christianity to the Caliph. The resulting miracle resulted in the conversion of the Caliph to Christianity. |
| St Sithe or St Zita 27th April | A roman serving girl in the household of the Fatinelli family of Lucca. Her piety earned her ill treatment from her fellow servants and their accusations brought punishment on her from her employers. However her meekness and humble approach finally enabled her to overcome and she was placed in charge of all the affairs of the house. Far from using her command to reek revenge, Zita defended servants from their employers and was generous in alms giving. After her death miracles were attributed to her. She died in 1271. |
| St Stephen 26th December | The first martyr. His feast day is commonly called Boxing Day. |
| St Swithyn 15th July | Bishop of Winchester; died 2 July, 862. Swithin was one of the two trusted counsellors of Egbert, King of the West Saxons (d. 839). He is best known from the popular superstition attached to his name and expressed in the following rhyme: St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain For forty days it will remain St. Swithin's day if thou be fair For forty days 'twill rain nae mair. |
| St Theodore 12th November (Roman) | A zealous champion of the veneration of images and the last geat representative of the unity and independence of the Church in the East, born in 759; died on the Peninsula of Tryphon, near the promontory Akrita on 11 November, 826. |
| St Thomas the Apostle 3rd July | St. Thomas was a Jew, called to be one of the twelve Apostles. He was a dedicated but impetuous follower of Christ. He was speared to death at a place called Calamine. Patron Saint of Architects, Builders, and Geometricians, India, and Pakistan. |
| St Thomas à Becket 29th December | Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury, born in London and died at Canterbury, 29 December, 1170. He was killed by four knights in Canterbury Cathedral His murder provoked enormous public reaction and he was canonized only two years after his martyrdom. |
| St Wulfran or St Wulfram 20th March | Bishop of Sens, missionary in Frisi, born at Milly near Fontainebleau, probably during the reign of Clovis II (638-56); died 20 March, before 704. The relics of the saint were brought to Notre Dame at Abbeville in 1058. |
| St Wilfrid 12th October | Bishop of York, Northumbrian-born in 634; died at Oundle in Northamptonshire, 709. Bishop of York from 665. He defended the cause of the Roman Church at the Synod of Whitby in 664 against that of Celtic Christianity. |
Note: Feast days and other information are taken from various sources on the Internet, please let me know if there are mistakes
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