The Saints

In the Catholic Church, a "Saint" (with a capital 'S') is someone who lived a life of extraordinary holiness and virtue, is believed to be in Heaven with God, and has been officially recognized by the Church through a formal process called canonization.

Key points:

1. Holy Lives: Saints are recognized for their heroic faith, love for God and neighbor, and living the Christian virtues to an exceptional degree during their earthly lives.2

2. In Heaven: Catholics believe these individuals are already in the presence of God after death.

3. Role Models: They serve as inspiring examples for Catholics on how to live a faith-filled life.3

4. Intercessors: Catholics believe Saints in Heaven can pray for people on Earth (intercede) because of their closeness to God.4 Catholics ask Saints to pray for them, similar to asking a friend on Earth to pray for them; they do not worship Saints (worship is reserved for God alone).5

5. Canonization: This is the official declaration by the Pope that a person is indeed in Heaven and worthy of public veneration (honor and respect) by the entire Church.6 It typically involves a lengthy investigation into their life and confirmation of miracles attributed to their intercession after their death.7

In a broader sense, Catholics also believe that many people are in Heaven who haven't been formally canonized; these are sometimes referred to as "saints" (lower case 's').8 Canonized Saints are those the Church specifically holds up for emulation and veneration.

While not a complete list, here are some of the most famous Saints:

Catholic Saints List

• St. Mary, Mother of God: Feast Day: January 1, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Motherhood, aircraft personnel, travelers, universal Church

• St. Basil the Great: Feast Day: January 2, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Monks, hospital administrators

• St. Gregory of Nazianzus: Feast Day: January 2, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Poets, theologians

• St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: Feast Day: January 4, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Catholic schools, the sea services

• St. John Neumann: Feast Day: January 5, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Immigrants, Diocese of Philadelphia

• St. André Bessette: Feast Day: January 6, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Sick people, caregivers

• St. Raymond of Penyafort: Feast Day: January 7, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Canon lawyers, Barcelona, Catalonia

• St. Anthony the Abbot: Feast Day: January 17, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Animals, skin diseases, grave diggers

• St. Agnes: Feast Day: January 21, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Girls, chastity, crops

• St. Vincent of Saragossa: Feast Day: January 22, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Winegrowers, vinegar makers, brickmakers

• St. Francis de Sales: Feast Day: January 24, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Writers, journalists, deaf people

• St. Thomas Aquinas: Feast Day: January 28, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Catholic schools, universities, students

• St. John Bosco: Feast Day: January 31, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Editors, young people, magicians

• St. Brigid of Kildare: Feast Day: February 1, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Ireland, poets, blacksmiths, healers

• St. Blaise: Feast Day: February 3, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Throat illnesses, wool combers

• St. Agatha: Feast Day: February 5, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Breast cancer, nurses, bellfounders

• St. Paul Miki and Companions: Feast Day: February 6, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Japan

• St. Jerome Emiliani: Feast Day: February 8, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Orphans, abandoned children

• St. Josephine Bakhita: Feast Day: February 8, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Sudan, victims of modern slavery

• St. Scholastica: Feast Day: February 10, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Nuns, against storms

• St. Cyril: Feast Day: February 14, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Europe, Slovakia

• St. Methodius: Feast Day: February 14, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Europe, Slovakia

• St. Valentine: Feast Day: February 14, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Love, engaged couples, happy marriages

• St. Peter Damian: Feast Day: February 21, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Priests

• St. Polycarp of Smyrna: Feast Day: February 23, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Earaches, dysentery

• St. Casimir: Feast Day: March 4, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Poland, Lithuania, young people

• St. Perpetua and Felicity: Feast Day: March 7, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Expectant mothers, martyrs

• St. John of God: Feast Day: March 8, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Hospitals, nurses, the sick, firefighters

• St. Frances of Rome: Feast Day: March 9, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Widows, motorists

• St. Patrick: Feast Day: March 17, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Ireland, engineers

• St. Cyril of Jerusalem: Feast Day: March 18, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Catechists

• St. Joseph: Feast Day: March 19, May 1, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Universal Church, fathers, workers, happy death

• St. Turibius of Mogrovejo: Feast Day: March 23, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Latin American bishops

• St. Francis of Paola: Feast Day: April 2, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Boatmen, mariners, sailors

• St. Isidore of Seville: Feast Day: April 4, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Internet, students, computer technicians

• St. Vincent Ferrer: Feast Day: April 5, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Builders, bridge builders

• St. John Baptist de la Salle: Feast Day: April 7, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Teachers

• St. Stanislaus: Feast Day: April 11, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Poland

• St. George: Feast Day: April 23, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): England, scouts, soldiers, cavalry

• St. Adalbert of Prague: Feast Day: April 23, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Poland, Bohemia

• St. Mark the Evangelist: Feast Day: April 25, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Notaries, Venice, lawyers

• St. Peter Chanel: Feast Day: April 28, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Oceania

• St. Catherine of Siena: Feast Day: April 29, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Italy, nurses, against fire

• St. Pius V: Feast Day: April 30, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Against heresy

• St. Philip: Feast Day: May 3, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Hatters, pastry chefs

• St. James the Less: Feast Day: May 3, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Fullers, hat makers

• St. Peregrine Laziosi: Feast Day: May 4, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Cancer patients

• St. Florian: Feast Day: May 4, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Firefighters, chimney sweeps

• St. John before the Latin Gate: Feast Day: May 6, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A (Feast of a historical event)

• St. Damien de Veuster: Feast Day: May 10, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): People with leprosy, outcasts

• St. Pancras: Feast Day: May 12, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Children

• St. Matthias: Feast Day: May 14, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Alcoholics, carpenters, tailors

• St. Isidore the Farmer: Feast Day: May 15, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Farmers, rural communities

• St. John I: Feast Day: May 18, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Bernardine of Siena: Feast Day: May 20, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Advertising, respiratory problems, compulsive gambling

• St. Christopher Magallanes and Companions: Feast Day: May 21, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Mexico

• St. Rita of Cascia: Feast Day: May 22, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Impossible causes, difficult marriages, abused women

• St. Bede the Venerable: Feast Day: May 25, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Historians, lectors

• St. Gregory VII: Feast Day: May 25, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi: Feast Day: May 25, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Against bodily ills, insanity

• St. Philip Neri: Feast Day: May 26, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Rome, joy, U.S. Special Forces

• St. Augustine of Canterbury: Feast Day: May 27, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): England

• St. Joan of Arc: Feast Day: May 30, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): France, soldiers

• St. Justin Martyr: Feast Day: June 1, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Philosophers

• St. Marcellinus and Peter: Feast Day: June 2, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Charles Lwanga and Companions: Feast Day: June 3, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Africa, youth

• St. Boniface: Feast Day: June 5, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Germany

• St. Norbert: Feast Day: June 6, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Ephrem the Syrian: Feast Day: June 9, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Spiritual directors

• St. Barnabas: Feast Day: June 11, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Cyprus, against hailstorms

• St. Anthony of Padua: Feast Day: June 13, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Lost items, travelers, the poor

• St. Romuald: Feast Day: June 19, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Aloysius Gonzaga: Feast Day: June 21, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Youth, students, AIDS patients

• St. Paulinus of Nola: Feast Day: June 22, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. John Fisher: Feast Day: June 22, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Lawyers

• St. Thomas More: Feast Day: June 22, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Lawyers, politicians, difficult marriages

• St. Irenaeus: Feast Day: June 28, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Peter: Feast Day: June 29, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Popes, Rome, fishermen, net makers

• St. Paul: Feast Day: June 29, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Missionaries, theologians, gentile Christians

• The First Martyrs of the Church of Rome: Feast Day: June 30, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Junipero Serra: Feast Day: July 1, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): California, vocations

• St. Thomas the Apostle: Feast Day: July 3, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Architects, builders, blind people

• St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria: Feast Day: July 5, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Maria Goretti: Feast Day: July 6, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Children, purity, victims of assault

• St. Augustine Zhao Rong and Companions: Feast Day: July 9, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): China

• St. Benedict: Feast Day: July 11, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Europe, students, engineers

• St. Henry II: Feast Day: July 13, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Childless people

• St. Camillus de Lellis: Feast Day: July 14, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): The sick, hospitals, nurses

• St. Bonaventure: Feast Day: July 15, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Bowel disorders, theologians

• Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Feast Day: July 16, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Carmelites, sailors

• St. Apollinaris: Feast Day: July 20, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Bridget of Sweden: Feast Day: July 23, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Europe, Sweden

• St. Sharbel Makhluf: Feast Day: July 24, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Lebanon, the sick

• St. James the Greater: Feast Day: July 25, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Spain, pilgrims, laborers

• Sts. Joachim and Anne: Feast Day: July 26, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Grandparents

• St. Martha: Feast Day: July 29, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Housewives, cooks, servants

• St. Peter Chrysologus: Feast Day: July 30, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Ignatius of Loyola: Feast Day: July 31, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Jesuits, soldiers, spiritual retreats

• St. Alphonsus Liguori: Feast Day: August 1, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Confessors, moral theologians, arthritis

• St. Eusebius of Vercelli: Feast Day: August 2, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Peter Julian Eymard: Feast Day: August 2, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Perpetual adoration

• St. John Vianney: Feast Day: August 4, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Priests

• The Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major: Feast Day: August 5, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Rome

• The Transfiguration of the Lord: Feast Day: August 6, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Sixtus II and Companions: Feast Day: August 7, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Cajetan: Feast Day: August 7, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Job seekers, bankers

• St. Dominic: Feast Day: August 8, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Astronomers

• St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein): Feast Day: August 9, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Europe, loss of parents

• St. Lawrence: Feast Day: August 10, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Cooks, deacons, comedians

• St. Clare of Assisi: Feast Day: August 11, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Television, eye diseases

• St. Jane Frances de Chantal: Feast Day: August 12, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Widows

• St. Pontian: Feast Day: August 13, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Hippolytus: Feast Day: August 13, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Maximilian Kolbe: Feast Day: August 14, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Families, journalists, political prisoners

• The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Feast Day: August 15, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Stephen of Hungary: Feast Day: August 16, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Hungary, kings

• St. John Eudes: Feast Day: August 19, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Bernard of Clairvaux: Feast Day: August 20, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Bees, candlemakers

• St. Pius X: Feast Day: August 21, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): First communicants

• The Queenship of Mary: Feast Day: August 22, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Rose of Lima: Feast Day: August 23, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Peru, the Americas, florists

• St. Bartholomew: Feast Day: August 24, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Butchers, tanners, shoemakers

• St. Louis IX of France: Feast Day: August 25, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): France, barbers, builders

• St. Joseph Calasanz: Feast Day: August 25, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Catholic schools

• St. Monica: Feast Day: August 27, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Difficult marriages, mothers, abuse victims

• St. Augustine of Hippo: Feast Day: August 28, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Theologians, printers, brewers

• The Beheading of St. John the Baptist: Feast Day: August 29, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Gregory the Great: Feast Day: September 3, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Musicians, popes, teachers

• St. John Henry Newman: Feast Day: September (varies), Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Convert to Catholicism, educators

• Our Lady of Sorrows: Feast Day: September 15, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Cornelius: Feast Day: September 16, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Earache, epilepsy

• St. Cyprian: Feast Day: September 16, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Algeria, North Africa

• St. Robert Bellarmine: Feast Day: September 17, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Canon lawyers

• St. Januarius: Feast Day: September 19, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Blood banks, Naples

• St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions: Feast Day: September 20, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Korea

• St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist: Feast Day: September 21, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Accountants, bankers, tax collectors

• St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio): Feast Day: September 23, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Stress relief, civil defense volunteers, adolescents

• St. Cosmas and Damian: Feast Day: September 26, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Doctors, surgeons, pharmacists

• St. Vincent de Paul: Feast Day: September 27, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Charities, hospitals, volunteers

• St. Wenceslaus: Feast Day: September 28, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Czech Republic

• St. Lawrence Ruiz and Companions: Feast Day: September 28, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Philippines

• St. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels: Feast Day: September 29, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Police officers, emergency medical technicians, travelers, blind people

• St. Jerome: Feast Day: September 30, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Archaeologists, biblical scholars, librarians

• St. Thérèse of Lisieux: Feast Day: October 1, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Missionaries, florists, pilots

• The Guardian Angels: Feast Day: October 2, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Francis of Assisi: Feast Day: October 4, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Animals, ecology, merchants

• St. Bruno: Feast Day: October 6, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• Our Lady of the Rosary: Feast Day: October 7, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Denis and Companions: Feast Day: October 9, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): France, against headaches

• St. John Leonardi: Feast Day: October 9, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Pharmacists

• St. Daniel Comboni: Feast Day: October 10, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Africa

• St. Callistus I: Feast Day: October 14, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Teresa of Ávila: Feast Day: October 15, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Spain, headaches, religious orders

• St. Hedwig of Silesia: Feast Day: October 16, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Silesia, debt, difficult marriages

• St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: Feast Day: October 16, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Devotion to the Sacred Heart

• St. Ignatius of Antioch: Feast Day: October 17, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Greece, the Church

• St. Luke the Evangelist: Feast Day: October 18, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Artists, doctors, surgeons

• St. Isaac Jogues and Companions: Feast Day: October 19, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): North America

• St. Paul of the Cross: Feast Day: October 19, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Passionists

• St. John Paul II: Feast Day: October 22, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Families

• St. Anthony Mary Claret: Feast Day: October 24, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Weavers, textile workers

• St. Simon: Feast Day: October 28, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Sawmen, tanners, curriers

• St. Jude Thaddeus: Feast Day: October 28, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Desperate causes, lost causes, hospitals

• All Saints: Feast Day: November 1, Martyred: Varies, Patronage(s): N/A (Commemoration of all saints)

• All Souls: Feast Day: November 2, Martyred: N/A, Patronage(s): N/A (Commemoration of the faithful departed)

• St. Charles Borromeo: Feast Day: November 4, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Catechists, seminarians, spiritual directors

• St. Leo the Great: Feast Day: November 10, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Martin of Tours: Feast Day: November 11, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Soldiers, cavalry, beggars

• St. Josaphat: Feast Day: November 12, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Ukraine, unity of Christians

• St. Frances Xavier Cabrini: Feast Day: November 13, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Immigrants, hospital administrators

• St. Albert the Great: Feast Day: November 15, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Scientists, philosophers, students

• St. Gertrude the Great: Feast Day: November 16, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Elizabeth of Hungary: Feast Day: November 17, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Charities, bakers, homeless people

• The Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul: Feast Day: November 18, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Rose Philippine Duchesne: Feast Day: November 18, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Native Americans, difficult marriages

• St. Agnes of Assisi: Feast Day: November 18, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions: Feast Day: November 24, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Vietnam

• St. Catherine of Alexandria: Feast Day: November 25, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Philosophers, students, unmarried girls

• St. Stephen the Younger: Feast Day: November 28, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Andrew the Apostle: Feast Day: November 30, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Scotland, Greece, fishermen

• St. Edmund Campion: Feast Day: December 1, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Francis Xavier: Feast Day: December 3, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Missionaries, foreign missions

• St. John Damascene: Feast Day: December 4, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Theologians, iconographers

• St. Nicholas: Feast Day: December 6, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Children, sailors, merchants

• St. Ambrose: Feast Day: December 7, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Bees, candlemakers, Milan

• The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Feast Day: December 8, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): United States, Philippines, purity

• St. Juan Diego: Feast Day: December 9, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Indigenous people of the Americas

• St. Damasus I: Feast Day: December 11, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Archaeologists

• Our Lady of Guadalupe: Feast Day: December 12, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Americas, Mexico

• St. Lucy: Feast Day: December 13, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): The blind, eye problems, epidemics, writers, peasants, salesmen, martyrs

• St. John of the Cross: Feast Day: December 14, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Contemplatives, mystics, Spanish poets

• St. Peter Canisius: Feast Day: December 21, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Germany

• St. John Cantius: Feast Day: December 23, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Students, Poland

• The Nativity of the Lord: Feast Day: December 25, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

• St. Stephen the Protomartyr: Feast Day: December 26, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Deacons, stonemasons

• St. John the Evangelist: Feast Day: December 27, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): Authors, theologians, burns, friendships, loyalty, poisons, art dealers

• The Holy Innocents: Feast Day: December 28, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Babies, children

• St. Thomas Becket: Feast Day: December 29, Martyred: Yes, Patronage(s): Clergy

• St. Sylvester I: Feast Day: December 31, Martyred: No, Patronage(s): N/A

Please note that compiling a definitive and exhaustive list of all saints recognized by the Catholic Church is challenging due to the vast number throughout history and changes in canonization processes. This list includes many well-known saints but is not exhaustive, especially regarding early saints whose veneration was localized or pre-dated standardized formal processes. For a truly comprehensive list, further research into specific calendars and hagiographies would be needed.