HEAVENLY
BRICKS

Along with Agatha , Lucy , Agnes, Cecilia , and Anastasia , Saints Perpetua and Felicity are women saints mentioned during the Eucharistic prayer in the Roman Canon. Both Perpetua and Felicity were catechumens when they were arrested for their faith - Perpetua with a nursing baby, and Felicity about to give birth. Shortly after Felicity gave birth to her daughter, Perpetua and Felicity were beheaded in the public amphitheater. Their children were raised by other Christians in Carthage. Lifetime:  182 to 203 Region:  Carthage (modern Tunisia) Patronages:  Mothers; Ranchers; Butchers Iconograpy:  Two close women; Wearing red and/or white Feast Day:  March 7 (Western); February 1 (Eastern)

When I was converting to the Catholic faith, St. Felix was one of the first saints I learned about. Mostly because, as a horror writer and bug lover, I was Googling things like "spookiest Catholic saints".  Nonetheless, the scant details of St. Felix's life are an inspiration today, and a lesson about facing our fears and trusting in God. And it's just cool that there's a patron saint of spiders. Lifetime: ~200 to ~250 Region:  Nola, Campania, Italy Patronages:  Spiders; Against eye disease; Nola, Italy Iconograpy:  Spider or spider web; Prison chains; Grapes  Feast Day: January 14  Felix, in a refrain that is very common among early church saints, grew up wealthy, but sold off his estate and gave his money and possessions to the poor. He soon became the assistant to the local bishop Maximus (who himself would go on to be canonized as well). I don't want to gloss over that, though, just because it was common among the canon. Could you imagine growing up in...