Our Patrons Saints

St. Sebastian

St. Sebastian is most commonly depicted tied to a post and shot with arrows. He was rescued and healed before being clubbed to death by the Romans around 290 A.D. Not surprisingly, he is the patron saint of archers, fletchers and people seeking relief from pain and suffering. He became tremendously popular during the Middle Ages for protecting the devoted against the plague.

St. Anthony of Padua

St. Anthony of Padua was born into a noble Portuguese family and traveled to Italy, where his gifted preaching became famous. This Franciscan was the patron of all lost causes, people and articles. He was canonized only a year after his death in 1231, a process that usually can take hundreds of years.

St. Lucy

St. Lucy distributed her inherited wealth to the poor. She is often depicted with eyeballs on a plate because according to legend, her eyes were plucked out during the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. She is the patron saint of vision and the blind. In December, her birthday is celebrated in Scandinavia with singing and candles. Her name means “light.”

St. George

St. George was born circa 201 in Lod, Israel. Emperor Diocletian executed St. George circa April 23, 303 in Nicomedia, Turkey, for protesting Diocletian’s persecution of Christians. Circa 322, he was written about by Eusebius of Caesarea. He was made know to England by Arculpus and Adamnan in the early 700s. He was made patron saint of England in 1098, after appearing to soldiers at the Battle of Antioch.
St. George is the patron saint of England and several football/soccer teams. He is also associated with battling a dragon. Martyred by the Romans in the late 3rd century, the saint’s legends bear a remarkable resemblance to classical Greek mythology.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) is honored as the Patron of people who love nature, work in ecology, and work to preserve the natural and human environments. She is the first Native North American saint.

Kateri's baptismal name is Catherine, which in the Iroquois languages is Kateri. Kateri's Iroquois name can be translated as, "One who places things in order."1 or “To put all into place.”2 Other translations include, "she pushes with her hands" and "who walks groping for her way" (because of her faulty eyesight).
Kateri was born at Ossernenon, which today is near Auriesville, New York, USA. Kateri's father was a Kanienkehaka (Kanien’kehá:ka or Mohawk) chief and her mother was a Catholic Algonquin.

At the age of four, smallpox attacked Kateri's village, taking the lives of her parents and baby brother, and leaving Kateri an orphan. Although forever weakened, scarred, and partially blind, Tekakwitha survived. The brightness of the sun blinded her and she would feel her way around as she walked.