Calendar Of Saints
Basic Information
The Roman Catholic Church has a long-standing tradition of setting aside certain days for the honoring of specific saints. The dates chosen are usually the date, when known, of that saint's death; (or, from the Christian perspective, that saint's "heavenly birth" when they entered Heaven). Most Christian churches use the basic outline of the Catholic calendar, adding or subtracting saints and martyrs as they see fit. This listing, likewise, will mostly follow the Catholic version, with minor additions of interesting saints.
January
- January 1:
- The Circumcision of Jesus
- January 6:
- Epiphany — Feast of the Adoration of the Magi
- January 17:
- Feast of St. Anthony of Egypt
- January 20:
- Feast of St. Sebastian — martyr; patron saint of pincushions
- January 21:
- Feast of St. Agnes — virgin and martyr
- January 25:
- The Conversion of St. Paul
- January 26:
- January 28:
- Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas — priest and doctor
February
- February 2:
- Feast of the Presentation of Jesus — also known as Candlemas
- February 10:
- Feast of St. Scholastica — twin sister of St. Benedict and patron of nuns
- February 11:
- Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes — commemorates an appearance of a vision of the Virgin Mary
- February 14:
- Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius — apostles to the Slavs; credited with devising the Cyrillic alphabet
- St. Valentine's Day — yes, he really was a saint. Don't you believe me?
- February 22:
- Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter — yes, a chair gets its own Saint's Day. It was Peter's chair! Do you hear me?
- February 23:
- Feast of St. Polycarp — one of the earliest Church Fathers with possibly the funniest-sounding name
March
- March 4:
- Feast of St. Casmir — patron saint of Poland, Lithuania and of youth
- March 17:
- March 19:
- Feast of St. Joseph — husband of Mary
- March 25:
- Annunciation of the Lord
April
- April 11:
- Feast of St. Stanislaus — bishop of Kraków
- April 13:
- Feast of St. Martin I — an early pope who convened the Lateran Council of 649
- April 23:
- Feast of St. George — patron saint of England and dragon-slayers
- April 25:
- Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist — author of the Gospel of Mark
- April 29:
- Feast of St. Catherine of Siena — patron saint of Italy, also a doctor of the church
May
- May 1:
- Feast of St. Joseph the Worker — an alternate feast day for Joseph, emphasizing his vocation as a laborer
- May 2:
- Feast of St. Athanasius — theologian who argued against Arius at the Council of Nicaea in 325
- May 3:
- May 13:
- Feast of Our Lady of Fátima —- commemorates appearance of visions of the Virgin Mary in 1917
- May 14:
- Feast of St. Matthias the Apostle — The guy who took Judas Iscariot's place
- May 25:
- Feast of St. Bede the Venerable
- May 27:
- Feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury — Considered the founder of the English church
- May 31:
- The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
June
- June 1:
- Feast of St. Justin Martyr — early Church Father and Christian apologist
- June 5:
- Feast of St. Boniface — missionary to the Germans in the Frankish Kingdom
- June 11:
- Feast of St. Barnabas — companion of St. Paul
- June 24:
- Nativity of St. John the Baptist
- June 29:
July
- July 3:
- Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle
- July 11:
- Feast of St. Benedict - founder of the Benedictine order of monks
- July 22:
- Feast of St. Mary Magdalene
- July 25:
- Feast of St. James — brother of John
- Feast of Saint Christopher
- July 26:
- Feast of Joachim and Anne — the parents of the Virgin Mary
- July 29:
- Feast of St. Martha — Sister of Mary and Lazarus
- July 31:
- Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola — founder of the Jesuits
August
- August 6:
- August 15:
- August 16:
- Feast of St. Stephen of Hungary — founder of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1000
- August 24:
- Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle
- August 28:
- Feast of St. Augustine of Hippo — bishop and theologian; author of The City of God and Confessions
- August 29:
- The Beheading of John the Baptist
September
- September 8:
- Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- September 13:
- Feast of St. John Chrysostom — early Church Father noted for his eloquent preaching; (chrysostomos means "golden mouthed")
- September 15:
- Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows — specifically remembering the sorrows that Mary endured; because Catholics love suffering
- September 21:
- Feast of St. Matthew the Evangelist
- September 26:
- Feast of Saints Cosmas and Damien — twin brothers martyred by Diocletian in 287
- September 28:
- Feast of St. Wenceslaus — Good King Wenceslaus; patron saint of Czech Republic
- September 29:
- Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels
- September 30:
- Feast of St. Jerome — responsible for the Vulgate translation of the Bible
October
- October 4:
- Feast of St. Francis of Assisi - founder of the Franciscan Order of monks
- October 7:
- Our Lady of the Rosary — another commemoration of the Blessed Virgin; this one focusing on the Rosary
- October 18:
- Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist
- October 28:
- October 31:
- Reformation Day — not observed by the Roman Catholic Church
November
- November 1:
- All Saints Day
- November 2:
- All Souls Day
- November 11:
- Feast of St. Martin of Tours
- November 16:
- Feast of St. Albert the Great — German priest and theologian who advocated the coexistence of religion and science and who applied the philosophy of Aristotle to Christian theology.
- November 22:
- Feast of Saint Cecilia — patron saint of musicians
- November 23:
- Feast of St. Clement I — early pope and Church Father
- November 30:
- Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle — brother to Saint Peter and patron saint of Scotland
December
- December 3:
- Feast of St. Francis Xavier — co-founder of the Jesuits
- December 6:
- Feast of Saint Nicholas
- December 8:
- The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- December 13:
- Feast of Saint Lucy — patron saint of Italy and of the blind
- December 25:
- December 26:
- Feast of Saint Stephen — the first martyr
- December 27:
- Feast of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist
- December 28:
- Feast of the Holy Innocents
- December 29:
- Feast of St. Thomas Becket — Archbishop of Canterbury, assassinated by Henry II of England
See Also
Sources
Bibliography
Game and Story Use
- Some places have big celebrations on the feast day of a local saint; such a celebration can be an interesting background for an adventure.
- According to tradition, many of the Saints had adventurous lives and might make good inspirations for characters or plots.
page revision: 13, last edited: 31 Mar 2021 00:01