◇ Category · Forces
Saints
The saints the work actually calls on — the ones with a feast day, a patronage and a practice.
26 beings · every one has its own entry page
Saint Cyprian of Antioch September 26 MagiciansOccultistsNecromancers
Patronage
Magicians, Occultists, Necromancers, Conjure Workers
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Black Coffee, Rum, Dark Bread, Cigar, Red Wine
Life
A third-century bishop of Antioch who, according to his legend, was a magician before his conversion and burned his books when he became a Christian. He is not the same person as Cyprian of Carthage, the theologian and martyr. His Acts are legendary in their detail; the conversion from magic is the core the tradition remembers.
Saint Expedite April 19 Urgent CausesQuick ResultsTravelers
Patronage
Urgent Causes, Quick Results, Travelers, Merchants
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Red Wine, Flowers, Keys, Coffee
Life
A saint of the early church whose name means 'expedite' or 'make haste', and whose legend is a late compilation: a crate marked 'expedite' is said to have contained his relics, and the name became the man. The historical core is thin, and the devotion is modern and folk.
Saint Martha July 29 CooksServantsHospitality
Patronage
Cooks, Servants, Hospitality, Domestic Work, Women In Childbirth
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Bread, Wine, Cooked Food, Flowers
Life
The sister of Mary and Lazarus in the Gospel of Luke, who receives Jesus into her house and is rebuked for being busy. The medieval legend of Martha taming the Tarasque dragon is a later accretion and is the source of her folk-magic authority over unruly forces.
Saint Anthony of Padua June 13 Lost ThingsTravelersThe Poor
Patronage
Lost Things, Travelers, The Poor, Fertility
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Bread, Lilies, Coins, Candles
Life
A Portuguese Franciscan of the thirteenth century, canonised within a year of his death, and one of the most popular saints in the Catholic world. The 'finder of lost things' devotion is a folk extension of his reputation as a preacher and miracle-worker.
Saint Jude Thaddeus October 28 Desperate CausesHopeless CasesThe Forgotten
Patronage
Desperate Causes, Hopeless Cases, The Forgotten
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Green Candles, Coins, Bread, Flowers
Life
One of the twelve apostles, the author of the short epistle of Jude, and traditionally a martyr in Persia. The devotion to him as the patron of desperate causes is modern, and it is explicitly distinguished from Judas Iscariot.
Saint Benedict of Nursia July 11 MonksPoisonEvil Spirits
Patronage
Monks, Poison, Evil Spirits, A Happy Death
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Bread, Wine, Candles, The Benedict Medal
Life
The sixth-century founder of Monte Cassino and the author of the Rule that shaped Western monasticism. The medal and the medal's exorcism are later devotional developments attached to his name.
Saint George April 23 SoldiersRidersDragon
Patronage
Soldiers, Riders, Dragon, Plague, Agriculture
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Red Candles, Bread, Horse Figures, Red Wine
Life
A fourth-century martyr venerated across Christianity and, as Jirjis, in Islam. The dragon combat is a medieval legend, not part of the earliest martyrdom, and it is the source of his martial and protective patronage.
Saint Christopher July 25 TravelersDriversFerrymen
Patronage
Travelers, Drivers, Ferrymen, Children
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Bread, Water, Candles, Travel Tokens
Life
A martyr of the third or fourth century, of whom almost nothing historical is known. The legend of the giant who carried the Christ child across a river is medieval and gives him his name and his patronage of travelers.
Saint Clare of Assisi August 11 TelevisionEye DiseaseNeedlework
Patronage
Television, Eye Disease, Needlework, The Poor Clares
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
White Candles, Bread, Flowers
Life
The thirteenth-century founder of the Poor Clares and the first woman to write a monastic rule. The patronage of television is a twentieth-century extension, from the legend that she saw and heard a Mass from her sickbed.
Saint Rita of Cascia May 22 Impossible CausesAbusive MarriagesWidows
Patronage
Impossible Causes, Abusive Marriages, Widows, Wounds
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Roses, Figs, Bread, Red Candles
Life
A fourteenth-century Augustinian nun of Cascia, married against her will to a violent husband, widowed, and later received into the convent. The wound on her forehead and the rose legend are the devotional core of her cult.
Saint Barbara December 4 LightningMinersArtillery
Patronage
Lightning, Miners, Artillery, Fireworks, Sudden Death
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Red Candles, Bread, Metal Tokens
Life
A third-century martyr of Heliopolis, according to a legend that is historically thin. Her association with lightning and fire comes from the legend of her father's death by lightning, and it made her the patron of miners and artillerymen.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria November 25 PhilosophersStudentsWheelwrights
Patronage
Philosophers, Students, Wheelwrights, Apologists
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Red Candles, Books, Bread, Flowers
Life
A legendary fourth-century martyr who confounded the philosophers of Alexandria and was condemned to the wheel. The historical core is uncertain and the legend is early medieval; she was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969.
Saint Lucy December 13 LightEyesightThe Blind
Patronage
Light, Eyesight, The Blind, Syracuse
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
White Candles, Wheat, Bread, Saffron Buns
Life
A third-century martyr of Syracuse, whose name means light and whose feast falls near the winter solstice. The legend of the eyes is medieval; the light symbolism is older and is the core of the devotion.
Saint Agatha February 5 Breast CancerVolcanoesBell Founders
Patronage
Breast Cancer, Volcanoes, Bell Founders, Nurses
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Red Candles, Bread, Flowers
Life
A third-century martyr of Catania, whose legend includes the torture of her breasts and her survival of a fire. She is one of the seven women of the Roman Canon.
Saint Sebastian January 20 PlagueSoldiersAthletes
Patronage
Plague, Soldiers, Athletes, Archers
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Red Candles, Bread, Arrows, Flowers
Life
A Roman soldier and martyr of the third century, shot with arrows and later clubbed to death. His patronage of plague sufferers is medieval and is the reason he is one of the most depicted saints of the Black Death.
Saint Roch August 16 PlagueDogsPilgrims
Patronage
Plague, Dogs, Pilgrims, Surgeons
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Bread, Water, Dog Figures, Red Candles
Life
A fourteenth-century pilgrim of Montpellier who tended plague victims, caught the disease, and was fed by a dog. The historical details are thin and the cult spread across Europe after the Black Death.
Saint Dymphna May 15 Mental IllnessNervous DisordersRunaways
Patronage
Mental Illness, Nervous Disorders, Runaways, The Mentally Ill
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
White Candles, Flowers, Bread
Life
A seventh-century Irish princess, according to a legend of uncertain history, who fled her father and was martyred at Gheel in Belgium. The town became a centre for the care of the mentally ill, and the devotion grew from that.
Saint Gerard Majella October 16 Expectant MothersChildbirthThe Unborn
Patronage
Expectant Mothers, Childbirth, The Unborn, Mothers
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Red Candles, Flowers, Bread
Life
An eighteenth-century Redemptorist lay brother of Naples, known for his care of the poor and for the devotion that grew around his intercession for mothers and children. He was canonised in 1904.
Saint Joseph March 19 WorkersFathersA Happy Death
Patronage
Workers, Fathers, A Happy Death, The Universal Church
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Bread, Wine, Lilies, Tools
Life
The husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus in the Gospels; a carpenter by trade, and the patron of workers and of a happy death. He is a saint of the living tradition, not a deity, and the corpus marks the distinction.
Saint Anne July 26 MothersGrandmothersPregnant Women
Patronage
Mothers, Grandmothers, Pregnant Women, Miners
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
White Candles, Flowers, Bread
Life
The mother of Mary and the grandmother of Jesus, named in the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James rather than in the canonical Gospels. Her cult is ancient in the East and widespread in the West.
Saint Peter June 29 KeysGatesFishermen
Patronage
Keys, Gates, Fishermen, Rome, The Church
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Bread, Fish, A Key, White Candle
Life
Peter is the fisherman called first, the one who walks on the water and sinks, who confesses and denies, and to whom the keys are given - what is bound on earth is bound in heaven. He is the rock the church is built on and the keeper of the gate.
Saint Paul June 29 WritersTravellersMissions
Patronage
Writers, Travellers, Missions, Converts
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Bread, A Letter, A Road Journey
Life
Paul is the persecutor turned apostle, stopped on the road to Damascus by a light and a voice, and afterwards the tireless traveller and letter-writer of the early church. He argues, he is shipwrecked, and he writes the letters that shape the tradition.
Saint John the Evangelist December 27 WritersTheologiansFidelity
Patronage
Writers, Theologians, Fidelity, Poison, Friendship
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Bread, Wine, A Pen
Life
John is the evangelist of the Word and the vision, the disciple whom Jesus loved, and the author to whom the fourth gospel and the Apocalypse are traditionally ascribed. A cup of poisoned wine is one of his attributes: the poison leaves it unharmed.
Saint Nicholas December 6 SailorsChildrenGifts
Patronage
Sailors, Children, Gifts, The Falsely Accused, Travel
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Bread, A Coin, A Gift Left Unknown
Life
Nicholas is the bishop of Myra who gives dowries in secret, calms a storm for sailors, and saves three condemned men. The secret gift, not the public one, is the attribute - and the reason the gift is left unknown is the point.
Saint Patrick March 17 IrelandSnakesProtection
Patronage
Ireland, Snakes, Protection, The Bound, Travel
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Bread, A Three Leaf Sprig, Water
Life
Patrick is taken as a slave to Ireland, escapes, and returns as a bishop. The Breastplate attributed to him is a lorica - a binding prayer for protection on a journey - and the driving out of the snakes is the later legend of the land being cleared.
Saint Francis of Assisi October 4 AnimalsNaturePeace
Patronage
Animals, Nature, Peace, The Poor, Ecology
Stones
Herbs
Offerings
Bread, Water, Food Left For An Animal
Life
Francis is the poor man of Assisi who speaks to the wolf of Gubbio and to the birds, who receives the stigmata, and who writes the Canticle of the Creatures - the sun as brother, the moon as sister. Poverty is the practice, not the misfortune.
Everything in this section
6 collections, 847 entries. Every one of them is in the index, where each entry has its own page and shows what it points at and what points back at it.