10 Influential Saints and Their Legends

In today’s society a Saint is most commonly associated with the Catholic Church. While the Catholic Church does not maintain a definitive list of named saints, the number is easily over 10,000. However popular Catholics saints are not just related to the Church, many religions and cultures have identified individuals as saints and we as a culture have embraced those individuals and their life stories.

It is often said the church does not make a saint, God does. Individuals who become names as saints most often demonstrate the qualities of being a positive role model and teacher who exemplifies generous and unselfish behavior. Often saints are believed in their lifetime to be channels for God in some fashion. Saints are believed to have a life mission where they intercede for the salvation of others and help humanity to evolve. In many cases the life of the saint, over time, becomes something of legend that inspires, guides us toward our truth and tells of the time in which they lived.

Saints at times are chosen by a specific group or cause because of the values that saint espoused to be the Patron Saint for the group or cause. While saints are not to be prayed to or worshiped, often we keep pictures or statues of those saints whose struggles or virtues are relevant to what we face in our own lives nearby just as we keep pictures of our ancestors nearby in order to magnify the feeling that they are close to us especially in times of crisis. The following ten famous saints are shared across many religions and cultures. Learn about their lives and virtues to find a Catholic saint that can help to motivate and inspire you along life’s journey.

St. Patrick

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St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. His symbol is the shamrock. Ironically St. Patrick was not Irish. He is believed to have been born in Scotland. As a teenager he was kidnapped by pirates and forced into slavery in Ireland as a sheep herder. After six years in captivity legend says he received a dream from God guiding him to escape. He continued his life becoming a priest then a bishop, returning to Ireland after another dream guided him to do so. St. Patrick spent the rest of his life traveling through Ireland, converting the country to Christianity and writing his Memoir. Legend also speaks of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland, while there is no evidence that there were ever snakes in Ireland, the snakes could have been a metaphor for the eradication of pagan religions. St. Patrick was humble and courageous. St. Patrick has been said to help those in interpreting dreams and in following divine guidance.

St. Francis of Assisi

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St. Francis was born in Italy to a wealthy family. He served as a soldier. During war he was captured as a prisoner of war and held for ransom, which his father paid after nearly a year of imprisonment. During his imprisonment St. Francis began receiving visions telling him to build God’s church. After his release from prison he abandoned his life of luxury to spread the word of God. Later in his life legend says that he received a vision that left him with “the stigmata of Christ”, meaning marks that resemble the wounds Christ suffered at his crucifixion. St. Francis is the first recorded person to receive the stigmata.

St. Francis is known for his compassion and for his deep connection to all beings particularly the animal kingdom. During his lifetime he cared for the sick and the poor. St. Francis traveled the country side delivering sermons to humans and to the animals. He believed all creatures were his brothers and sisters under God.

St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment.

St. Valentine

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Little factual information is known about this saint. Some legends claim he was a priest or possibly a bishop who went against the direction of the Emperor by marrying young couples. It was the Emperor’s theory that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers. Other legends claim that the Emperor simply forbade the marrying of Christians. Whatever the reason for the edict, it is believed St. Valentine was beheaded for defying the Emperor’s edict around 270 A.D.

St. Valentine is believed to have been kind hearted and compassionate soul. As with many who go on to become saints after their death, St. Valentine was persecuted for his beliefs. It was his courageous behavior demonstrated by acting as he believed was right despite the consequences that lead to his death and also his martyrdom. Some scholars believe that St. Valentines was not actually recognized at the time, but that it was actually the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer who rewrote history creating Valentine’s Day as a holiday. However, romance and love is not all St. Valentine is known for.

St. Valentine is known as the patron saint of lovers and romance. St. Valentine also is the patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy.

St. Christopher

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According to legend St. Christopher was a very tall, strong man who served the king of his time. St. Christopher determined he wanted to serve the greatest king, so he left his human king’s service to serve the devil. While serving the devil St. Christopher saw that the devil was afraid of the cross and of Jesus Christ. Seeing this, St. Christopher left the service of the devil in search of Jesus Christ so that he could serve the greatest of kings. For a period of time St. Christopher believed he was serving God by carrying people across a dangerous river on his shoulders. Because of his size and strength he could easily carry people across where others of lesser strength would succumb to the currents and drown. One day St. Christopher was asked by a small child if he could carry the child across the river. As they entered the river with the child on his shoulders the river became turbulent and the child became heavier than anyone St. Christopher had ever carried. When they reached the other side the child revealed that he was in fact Jesus Christ. This story has been passed down from century to century.

It is because of this legend that St. Christopher is known as the patron saint of travelers.

St. Bernadette

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St. Bernadette lived in Lourdes, France. As a teenager she began receiving visions from the Virgin Mary. Over the course of her life she was reported to receive 18 visions from the Virgin Mary. These visions guided her to dig in the ground where there appeared to only be dry dirt, to open up a spring. The spring at Lourdes still flows today. The water from that spring is believed to have healing properties. When Bernadette reported her visions she was interrogated and threatened with imprisonment, however St. Bernadette did not waiver and continued to speak her truth. Later visions instructed St. Bernadette to build a chapel. Today Lourdes with its healing spring and chapel is a pilgrimage site for people all over the world. Over the centuries many who have made this pilgrimage have experienced miraculous healings after drinking the spring water.

St. Bernadette is the patron saint of illness, those who are ridiculed for their beliefs, the poor and shepherds.

St. Anthony

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St. Anthony was born into Portuguese nobility. He was very intelligent and spent a most of his youth focusing on his studies, especially those related to theology, sacred texts and the church. After the death of 5 Franciscan monks who were murdered in Morocco by the Moslems, St. Anthony was so moved by their faith and suffering that lead to their death that he decided to dedicated his life to preach the gospel to the Moslems. St. Anthony was an eloquent and passionate preacher who claimed to preach by allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through him. Throughout his life St. Anthony spent his time preaching the gospel, organizing relief efforts for the poor, the abolition of debtor’s prisons and advocating for the release of prisoners of war.

St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost things, lost causes and most importantly lost souls.

St. Augustine

St. Augustine was the son of a minor officiant of the Roman Empire. He was born on the northern coast of Africa in 354 A.D. At 16 his parents sent him away to the university at Carthage. Soon after leaving for school St. Augustine’s father died. After his father’s death St. Augustine took to a life of partying and sin, living with his concubine and mother of his child. While St. Augustine was interested in religion and mythology it wasn’t until he was 32 that he experienced a spiritual awakening that would lead him to renounce his career and life of sin and partying to dedicate his life to God. For the rest of his life St. Augustine committed to live a life of poverty. Ultimately St. Augustine became a bishop for the church and wrote over 800 sermons and letters on religious topics of the time.

St. Augustine’s miraculous conversion is shared as an inspiration with those who are struggling with a vice or a habit they are trying to break. It is because of this conversion and his partying ways as a young man that St. Augustine is known as the patron saint of patron of brewers and of those who struggle with a vice or habit they wish to break

St. Joan of Arc

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Joan of Arc was born a peasant girl in France during medieval times. It was during these times that France and England were embroiled in what historians now refer to as the Hundred Years’ War. As a child Joan took care of the families animals and became a skilled seamstress. Around the age of 10 Joan of Arc began having spiritual visions instructing her to live a virtuous and God-fearing life. As Joan of Arc grew the visions she received became more and more vivid. At 16 Joan’s visions instructed her to lead an army into war to support the efforts to take back France from the English and restore the French thrown. Joan and her army won their first battle known as “The Battle of Orleans” however in a subsequent battle she was captured and taken prisoner. Ultimately Joan of Arc was turned over to the church who charged her with multiple crimes including witchcraft, heresy and dressing like a man. St. Joan of Arc was convicted of the charges and publicly burned at the stake at the age of 19.

St. Joan of Arc is a patron saint of soldiers, prisoners, captives, the Woman’s Army Corps and France. St. Joan of Arc’s integrity courage and strength of character are an inspiration and remind us that anyone can make a difference.

St. Catherine

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St. Catherine was born to nobility in Alexandria, Egypt sometime in the 4th century. Nothing factual is known of her life and legends vary. She is thought to have been very beautiful and intelligent. Legends say that she was a student of philosophy, medicine and spoke numerous languages. She loved to read and it was through her love of reading that she learned about Christianity. She never married; refusing to marry any man she did not consider her equal.

At the age of 18 legends say that she challenged the emperor on the issue of Christianity. The emperor is said to have brought in 50 philosophers to debate her ideas on Christianity. The outcome of this was that she converted all 50 of them and others including the empress herself. When the emperor ordered St. Catherine to be his mistress she refused and was subsequently tortured on a spiked wheel. When the wheel miraculously fell apart the emperor had her beheaded.

St. Catherine is said to be one of the voices heard by Joan of Arc. Some legends believed her to have had a mystical marriage to Christ. She is the patron saint to philosophers, wheelwrights, mechanics, millers, scribes and preachers. She is considered a protector of young girls.

St. Padre Pio

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St. Padre Pio was born in a small farming town in Italy in 1887. His family was a strong family of faith and by the age of 5 St. Padre Pio dedicated his life to God. Even as a small child his family reported that he loved to pray and loved the church. In early childhood St. Padre Pio communicated with spiritual guides, angels, Jesus and the Virgin Mary. St. Padre Pio joined an order of Friars at 15 years old and by the age of 23 was ordained as a priest. It is said that even spending a few moments in St. Padre Pio’s presence was life changing.

St. Padre Pio suffered from ill health his entire life, although the cause of this was never found. After offering himself as a “victim for poor sinners and souls in purgatory,” at the age of 31 the stigmata of Christ, the wounds of Christ, appeared on his hands, feet and side remaining there painfully for 50 years.

St. Padre Pio was a tireless worker being of service in the church and in hospitals consistently working 19 hour days without ever being known to take a vacation day in all of his 51 years. His miraculous healings and protections from harm are legendary. St. Padre Pio is the patron saint of civil defense workers, adolescents and stress relief.

St. Augustine Zhao Rong and Companions (17th-20th centuries)