General knowledge · Religion & belief

Patron saints

the practice is ancient; many modern patronages date from the 20th century

Catholic and Orthodox devotion — a heavenly protector for every place and trade

In Catholic and Orthodox practice, a saint held to intercede for a particular country, city, craft, condition or cause. Some patronages are ancient and local, growing up where a saint's relics lay; others were assigned by popes, often on the strength of a single story in the saint's life. Because the pairings are usually memorable and sometimes comic, they are a reliable source of quiz questions — as are the attributes by which saints are identified in paintings.

How to spot them

▸The four nations: George, Andrew, David and Patrick, with their feast days in that order through the year
▸Trades and troubles: Jude for hopeless causes, Anthony of Padua for lost property, Cecilia for music
▸Modern assignments made by popes — television to Clare, ecology to Francis
▸In paintings, identify by attribute: keys, a wheel, a gridiron, arrows, a dish of eyes

Key facts

George on 23 April, Andrew on 30 November, David on 1 March, Patrick on 17 March

England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland; George probably never set foot in England and was adopted after the Crusades

Jude for hopeless causes; Anthony of Padua for whatever you have just mislaid

Jude's patronage is often explained by his name's similarity to Judas, so that he was rarely invoked and had time to spare

Pius XII gave television to a woman who, too ill to attend Mass, saw it on the wall of her cell (1958)

Clare of Assisi, named in 1958

John Paul II named the friar who preached to the birds the heavenly protector of ecologists (1979)

Francis of Assisi, declared patron of ecology in 1979; his feast on 4 October is World Animal Day

Cecilia for musicians, Luke for doctors and painters, Genesius for actors

Cecilia is said to have sung in her heart at her own wedding; Luke was traditionally a physician who painted the Virgin

Isidore of Seville, the encyclopaedist, is widely proposed for the internet

Often cited, though never formally proclaimed by the Vatican

Barbara, whose tower had three windows, watches over miners, gunners and firework makers

Her father was struck by lightning after killing her, hence the link with explosions

In paintings, a pair of keys, a spiked wheel, a gridiron and a dish holding two eyes

Peter, Catherine of Alexandria, Lawrence and Lucy — the standard attributes

Key ideas

A patronage is usually a pun, a relic or a story. Lawrence got cooks because he was roasted on a gridiron; Apollonia got dentists because her teeth were pulled out; Venice got Mark because merchants stole his body from Alexandria in 828.

Quick-fire facts

•England's is St George, feast day 23 April; Edward III made him patron of the Order of the Garter in 1348
•Scotland has St Andrew (30 November), Wales St David or Dewi Sant (1 March), Ireland St Patrick (17 March)
•St Jude is invoked for hopeless or desperate causes; St Anthony of Padua for lost objects
•Pius XII declared Clare of Assisi patron of television in 1958; John Paul II gave ecology to Francis of Assisi in 1979
•St Cecilia is patron of music, St Luke of physicians and painters, St Genesius of actors, St Matthew of accountants
•St Christopher is patron of travellers; his feast was reduced to local observance in the calendar reform of 1969
•Standard attributes in art: Peter's keys, Catherine's spiked wheel, Lawrence's gridiron, Sebastian's arrows, Lucy's eyes on a dish, Jerome's lion
•St Barbara is patron of miners, artillerymen and anyone working with explosives
•Mark is patron of Venice, whose winged lion is his symbol; Mark's relics were brought there from Alexandria in 828
•Isidore of Seville, author of the Etymologiae, is commonly proposed as patron of the internet and computer users

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Sources

Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent) — Patron Saints
Alban Butler — Butler's Lives of the Saints