Saints

What are saints and why pray to saints?  

Saints are persons who have died and have gone to heaven. They lived a life of heroic virtue because of their love for Jesus Christ. The saints are the good and faithful servants of the Lord (cf. Matthew 25:21), they are the blessed ones who have inherited the kingdom (cf. Matthew 25:34).

Christians need to be reminded of the saints because although saints are human persons like us, they inspire us to live a life of heroic virtue out of love for Jesus Christ. We ask the saints to pray for us so that we too can live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. We can always pray directly to God, but God has given us the saints to be our helpers. In this life, God always sends people to help us. In the same way, God also sends angels and saints to help us, even if we don’t see them with our eyes.   

Saints of the Month

Holy Innocents
m. 7-2 BC

Acknowledgement: painting by Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs Holy Innocents (martyred 7-2 BC) Feast Day: December 28 When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the ...

Read More

St. Stephen
5-34 AD

Saint Stephen (5-34 AD) Feast Day: December 26 The martyrdom of Stephen (from the Acts of the Apostles 6:8-7:2a, 44-59) Stephen was a man filled with grace and power, who worked great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called “Synagogue of Roman Freedmen” (that is, the ...

Read More

St. John
d. 100 AD

Saint John (d. 100 AD) Feast Day: December 27 From the First Letter of John 1:1-4 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life – for the life ...

Read More

St. Ambrose
340-397 AD

Saint Ambrose (340-397 AD) Feast Day：December 7 Let us die with Christ, to live with Christ We see that death is gain, life is loss. Paul says: For me life is Christ, and death a gain. What does “Christ” mean but to die in the body, and receive the breath ...

Read More

St. Francis Xavier
1506-1552 AD

Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552 AD) Feast Day: December 3 Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel We have visited the villages of the new converts who accepted the Christian religion a few years ago. No Portuguese live here—the country is so utterly barren and poor. The native ...

Read More

St. John of the Cross
1542-1591 AD

Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591 AD) Feast Day: December 14 In Christ, God has spoken to us Under the ancient law prophets and priests sought from God revelations and visions which indeed they needed, for faith had as yet no firm foundation and the gospel law had not yet ...

Read More

More Saints

Holy Innocents
m. 7-2 BC

St. Joseph
c100 BC-1 AD

St. John the Baptist
m. 28–29 AD

St. Stephen
5-34 AD

St. James
m. 44 AD

St. Andrew
m. 60 AD

St. Barnabas
m. 61 AD

St. Peter
m. 64-68 AD

St. Paul
m. 64-68 AD

St. Jude
m. 65 AD

St. Mark
m. 68 AD

St. Thomas
m. 72 AD

St. Matthew
m. 74 AD

St. Clement
35-99 AD

St. Luke
d. late 1st century

St. John
d. 100 AD

St. Ignatius of Antioch
m. 108 AD

St. Polycarp of Smyrna
69-155 AD

St. Justin Martyr
100-165 AD

St. Melito of Sardis
d. 180 AD

St. Irenaeus
130-202 AD

St. Agatha
231-251 AD

St. Cyprian
200-258 AD

St. Lawrence
225-258 AD

St. Sebastian
256-288 AD

St. Agnes
291-304 AD

St. Blaise
m. 316 AD

St. Anthony of Egypt
251-356 AD

St. Hilary of Poitiers
315-368 AD

St. Zeno
300-371 AD

St. Athanasius
296-373 AD

St. Basil the Great
330-379 AD

St. Cyril of Jerusalem
313-386 AD

St. Monica
331-387 AD

St. Gregory Nazianzen
329-390 AD

St. Pacian
310-391 AD

St. Ambrose
340-397 AD

St. Martin of Tours
d. 397 AD

St. John Chrysostom
349-407 AD

St. Jerome
347-420 AD

St. Augustine
354-430 AD

St. Cyril of Alexandria
378-444 AD

St. Vincent of Lerins
d. 445 AD

St. Proclus
370-446 AD

St. Peter Chrysologus
406-450 AD

St. Leo the Great
400-461 AD

St. Caesarius of Arles
470-542 AD

St. Scholastica
480-543 AD

St. Benedict
480-547 AD

St. Gregory the Great
540-604 AD

St. Sophronius
560-638 AD

St. Maximus the Confessor
580-662 AD

St. Bede the Venerable
673-735 AD

St. Andrew of Crete
650-740 AD

St. Boniface
672-754 AD

St. Theodore the Studite
759-826 AD

St. Cyril aka Constantine
826-869 AD

St. Anselm
1033-1109 AD

St. Bernard
1090-1153 AD

St. Amadeus of Lausanne
1110-1159 AD

St. Aelred
1110-1167 AD

St. Dominic
1170-1221 AD

St. Francis of Assisi
1182-1226 AD

St. Anthony of Padua
1195-1231 AD

St. Elizabeth of Hungary
1207-1231 AD

St. Clare of Assisi
1194-1253 AD

St. Thomas Aquinas
1225-1274 AD

St. Bonaventure
1221-1274 AD

St. Catherine of Siena
1347-1380 AD

St. Bernardine of Siena
1380-1444 AD

St. John Fisher
1469-1535 AD

St. Francis Xavier
1506-1552 AD

St. Ignatius of Loyola
1491-1556 AD

St. Teresa of Avila
1515-1582 AD

St. Charles Borromeo
1538-1584 AD

St. John of the Cross
1542-1591 AD

St. Aloysius Gonzaga
1568-1591 AD

Holy Martyrs of Japan
m. 1597

St. Francis de Sales
1567-1622 AD

St. Josaphat
1580-1623 AD

St. Lorenzo Ruiz
1594-1637 AD

Holy Martyrs of China
m. 1648-1930 AD

St. Vincent de Paul
1581-1660 AD

Holy Martyrs of Vietnam
m. 1745–1862

St. Alphonsus Liguori
1696-1787 AD

St. Peter Wu Guosheng
1768–1814 AD

St. Joseph Zhang Dapeng
1754-1815 AD

St. Agnes Cao Guiying
1821-1856 AD

Saint John Vianney
1786-1859 AD

St. Lucy Yi Zhenmei
1815 – 1862 AD

St. Bernadette
1844-1879 AD

Holy Martyrs of Uganda
m. 1886

St. John Bosco
1815-1888 AD

St. Therese of Lisieux
1873-1897 AD

St. Mary Fu Guilin
1863–1900 AD

St. Anna Wang
1886-1900 AD

St. Joseph Freinademetz
1852-1908 AD

St. Pius X
1835-1914 AD

St. Maximilian Kolbe
1894-1941 AD

St. Padre Pio
1887-1968 AD