Patron Saints: Your Holy Intercessors With The Divine

Do you know who your patron saint is? Do you know how to find out who to call upon to intercede for you when you have lost your keys or when you are trying to get a poem published? Patron saints are meant to plead with the Lord on your behalf for virtually anything that is important to you--causes, countries, regions, professions, and so forth.

The tradition of patronage dates back as far as the fourth century A.D. When new churches were established, they were frequently named after apostles or martyrs, especially because early gathering places were at or near their final resting places.

This helped to inspire early Christians to follow their example of faithfulness and piety. Since then, the canonization of any exemplary Christian is meant to do the same: show us the path to heaven and guide us along the way. It is also fairly common for the angels to become patron; for example, the Archangel Michael is known as the patron of battle.

Sometimes the associations between saints and their patronage are somewhat loose. For example, Clare of Assisi was deemed the patron saint of television because she experienced a miracle in which she saw and heard the Christmas Mass, taking place miles away, while she was confined to her bed with a serious illness.

Each day of the year is designated as a feast day for at least one patron saint. Your personal patron saint is determined by the saint whose feast day coincides with your birthday. With the convenience of modern technology, you can go to any search engine on the Internet and find a calendar that will help you determine this, if you don't already know.

You may have an additional advocate with the divine based on your namesake. For example, if your name is Patrick, you can claim the heavenly assistance of the famed St. Patrick, missionary to Ireland.

You may want to do some in-depth study on the life of your holy intercessor in order to find greater connections between him (or her) and you. The areas of life in which they were particularly pious can inspire you to seek strength through them where you may be spiritually struggling.

It may be helpful to keep some kind of reminder of your patron saints close to you in a place where you will be most likely to call on them. If you are an accountant, you may want to keep an image of St. Matthew at your desk or on your computer. For the upcoming baseball season, you may want to keep a representation of Saint Sebastian in your gym bag. Anything that you can keep with you all the time may be even better--to remind you that the divine is always with you.