What do patron saints do

Patrick referred to as the "patron saint" of Ireland, many may wonder just what a patron saint is and how saints become patrons of particular places, professions, etc. From the earliest days of the Catholic Church, groups of the faithful have chosen particularly holy deceased people to intercede with God on their behalf. Although individuals can still pray directly to God, praying to a patron saint as well is like asking a friend to speak on your behalf.

According to About: Religion, the practice of adopting patron saints dates back to the building of the first public churches in the Roman Empire, most of which were built over the graves of martyrs. The churches were then given the name of the martyr, and the martyr was expected to act as an intercessor for the Christians who worshiped there. Churches are largely dedicated to a patron. For example, St. Peter is the patron saint of St.

Peter's Church. Patron saints are not only advocates for churches, but also they can be the heavenly protector of a nation, profession, class, clan, occupation, family, or even a person. Patron saints are typically chosen because they have some connection to a particular region, profession or family. Joseph would be buried in the property. In the United States, it has become popular for homeowners , Catholic or not, to buy a statue of St. Joseph and bury it in the front yard of the house to help it sell more quickly.

Other saints too have had an influence on popular culture in the United States. For example, the figure of Santa Claus is based on St. Nicholas of Myra. Nicholas is not only the patron saint of children, but also certain professions. Nicholas was a real bishop active in the fourth century, but the later legend of his life included some dubious miracle stories, including bringing back to life three young students who had been killed by an innkeeper.

The man had hidden their dismembered bodies in a barrel, so medieval brewers and barrel-makers claimed him as their patron saint. Another popular saint in the United States is St.

Patrick , a fifth-century Christian missionary to the people of Ireland; he was soon regarded as the patron saint of that country. For centuries, the Irish observed his feast day on March In the 17th century this was made a universal feast day for all Roman Catholics.

Irish Catholic immigrants brought his feast to the United States , where it is celebrated in many cities through parades, wearing green clothing and drinking green beer. The city of Chicago for decades has dyed the Chicago river green on that day. Assignment of patron saints also keeps up with technological advances. Clare of Assisi, who died in the 13th century, the patron saint of television.

On her deathbed, St. Clare is said to have miraculously seen events at Christmas Eve Mass being celebrated some two miles away. Seeking the intercession of a patron saint does not mean that one cannot approach God directly in prayer; rather, it's like asking a friend to pray for you to God, while you also pray—except, in this case, the friend is already in Heaven, and can pray to God for us without ceasing.

It's the communion of saints , in actual practice. Some Christians argue that patron saints detract from the emphasis on Christ as our Savior.

Why approach a mere man or woman with our petitions when we can approach Christ directly? But that confuses Christ's role as mediator between God and man with the role of intercessor.

Scripture urges us to pray for one another; and, as Christians, we believe that those who have died still live, and therefore are capable of offering prayers as we do. In fact, the holy lives lived by the saints are themselves testimony to the saving power of Christ, without Whom the saints could not have risen above their fallen nature.

The practice of adopting patron saints goes back to the building of the first public churches in the Roman Empire, most of which were built over the graves of martyrs. The churches were then given the name of the martyr, and the martyr was expected to act as an intercessor for the Christians who worshiped there.

Soon, Christians began to dedicate churches to other holy men and women—saints—who were not martyrs. Today, we still place some relic of a saint inside the altar of each church, and we dedicate that church to a patron. That's what it means to say that your church is St. Mary's or St. Peter's or St. Thus, the patron saints of churches, and more broadly of regions and countries, have generally been chosen because of some connection of that saint to that place—he had preached the Gospel there; he had died there; some or all of his relics had been transferred there.

As Christianity spread to areas with few martyrs or canonized saints, it became common to dedicate a church to a saint whose relics were placed in it or who was especially venerated by the founders of the church.

Thus, in the United States, immigrants often chose as patrons the saints that had been venerated in their native lands. As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes , by the Middle Ages, the practice of adopting patron saints had spread beyond churches to "the ordinary interests of life, his health, and family, trade, maladies, and perils, his death, his city, and country.

The whole social life of the Catholic world before the Reformation was animated with the idea of protection from the citizens of heaven. Saints were usually chosen as patrons of occupations that they had actually held or that they had patronized during their lives. The same is true of patron saints for diseases, who often suffered from the malady assigned to them or cared for those who did.