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St. Cecilia

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St. Cecilia is well known as the patron saint of musicians. They even named the cemetery in Coco after her. But beyond the fact that she was one of the early virgin martyrs, and that she loved praising God through music, not much is known about her life. Lifetime:  Early 200s Region:  Rome; Sicily Patronages:  Musicians and singers; Poets; Argentina Iconograpy:  Musical instrument; Songbird; Lilies; Palm Feast Day: November 22 While Cecilia is believed to be a historical figure, not many facts about her life are proven, including her name. However, she was widely believed to be a noble lady of Rome. According to traditional accounts, Cecilia took a vow of virginity from a young age, promising that she would never marry and would instead dedicate her life to God. Despite this, her parents arranged her in marriage to a pagan nobleman named Valerian. In submission to her parents, Cecilia talked with Valerian. She told him that an angel of the Lord watched over her, and that if Valerian c
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St. Martin de Porres

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St. Martin de Porres shows that the holiest of people can come from the humblest beginnings. Because of the circumstances of his birth, Martin was prevented from ever becoming a priest, but rather than resent his station, he instead embraced his role with humility and generosity.  Lifetime:  1579 to 1639 Region:  Lima, Peru Patronages:  Mixed race people; Hair stylists; Public health workers; Poor people Iconograpy:  Broom; Animals coexisting; Scissors Feast Day: November 3 Martin was the illegitimate son of Spanish nobleman father and a freed slave mother, who herself was of mixed African and Native descent. However, his father left his family when he was young, just after the birth of his sister, leaving them all to live in extreme poverty.  As he grew up, Martin's mother wanted the best for him. She sent him to a primary school, then sent him to apprentice with a barber surgeon (at the time, surgeries were performed by barbers rather than physicians, owing to their expertise wit
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St. Hedwig of Silesia

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You'd think if you buried someone in a lead coffin with their name on it and kept it in the same place they died, it would be pretty easy to keep track of. But over centuries, even such seemingly obvious things can get lost. St. Hedwig's bones are one such artifact, forgotten sometime around 1764 and rediscovered by a fluke in 2020 . Beyond the interesting history of her remains, St. Hedwig was a devout duchess, who dedicated her life (and her sizable resources) to helping the poor, the orphans, and the widows in her community.   Lifetime:  1174 to 1243 Region:  Bavaria; Poland Patronages:  Orphans; Poland; Berlin; Brandenburg Iconograpy:  Crown; Barefoot; Lay sister habit Feast Day: October 16 Hedwig was born in Bavaria as the daughter of a count. She had several siblings, and through her sister Gertrude was the aunt of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. At the age of 12, Hedwig married Henry the Bearded, duke of Silesia, though his reign was hotly contested by several other members of
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Bl. Carlo Acutis

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Blessed Carlo Acutis was born in 1991, making him younger than me. It's an interesting experience, adoring a saint who was born later than yourself. I hope I get other opportunities to, for it's easy to imagine the lives of the saints as being in far away times and places, rather than wearing a Spider-Man costume for Halloween. It really drives home the point that, in any time and place, each of us are called to sainthood in our own way. Lifetime:  May 3, 1991 to October 12, 2006 Region:  Milan, Italy Patronages:  Youth; Programmers; Video gamers Iconograpy:  Rosary; Computer; Monstrance Feast Day: October 12 Carlo Acutis was born in London, but his Italian family moved back to Italy when he was young. Though he was baptized as an infant, his family wasn't particularly religious. In fact, before his birth, his mother says she had only been to church three times. Nonetheless, Carlo learned about the faith from a young age from his grandmother before she died, from his babys
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St. Raphael the Archangel

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Unlike the archangels Michael  and Gabriel, Raphael only appears in the books of Tobit and Enoch, books that are not in all denominations' Bibles. However, he is also featured very prominently especially in the story of Tobit, which is a very interesting story indeed! Lifetime:  Eternity Region:  Heaven & Earth Patronages:  Pharmacists; Physicians; The blind; Lovers Iconograpy:  Angel with fish; Staff; Bottle or flask Feast Day: September 29 (with other Archangels) Raphael's name means "God healed", and his role in Tobit is a great example of that. In the book of Tobit, Tobit himself, a faithful man of God, gets blinded by... Well, there's no tame way to put this. He falls asleep and birds poop in his eyes. Afflicted by this blindness, Tobit prays that God let him die so he can stop being a burden upon his family, but the blindness persists for years. However, he eventually recalls a big bunch of money he had left behind in a far-off land, so he decides to sen
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St. Andrew Kim Taegon and the Korean Martyrs

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St. Andrew Kim Taegon was the first Korean-born priest, and has his own feast day on the date of his martyrdom, September 16. However, he is also celebrated with the other 102 Korean martyrs, with whom he was canonized, on September 20. Lifetime:  August 21, 1821 to September 16, 1846 Region:  Korean peninsula Patronages:  Korean clergy Iconograpy:  Black gat hat; Red stole; Crucifix and Bible Feast Day: September 16; September 20 (with Korean martyrs) The victims of a mass persecution in the mid 1800s, 103 of the Korean martyrs have been declared saints in the Catholic church, and an additional 124 have been beatified. These martyrs were killed for practicing their Christian faith in the heavily Confucian country they lived in.  When Christian missionaries first entered Korea, they were surprised to find thousands of faithful Christians already living there. Though they had never seen a priest, these Korean Christians had learned of the faith through books traded from China and slowly
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St. Helena of Constantinople

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St. Helena is famous for many things, one of the premier of which is being the mother of Emperor Constantine I, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity and in many ways the progenitor of the so-called "Holy Roman Empire".  However, St. Helena's accolades go much further than being a mother to one of the most influential figures in history. She is also credited with discovering the relic of the True Cross on which Jesus was executed, as well as (according to various accounts) several other relics including the nails of the crucifixion, the holy tunic, and the rope that tied Christ to the cross. Helena was instrumental in founding churches at several holy sites, including the believed sites of the Nativity, the Ascension, and the Crucifixion of Jesus as well as the Burning Bush where Moses spoke to God. And for lovers of cats, according to tradition Helena imported hundreds of cats to Cyprus to solve a local snake problem, and is the reason for the Cyprus cat br
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