Saints of Medicine Patron Saints in General Patrons of Trades and Professions Patrons of Medical Topics Saints who were Physicians Saints of Medicine About this Book and More Patron Saints in General A patron saint is one who has been chosen by long tradition, or by competent authority, as a special intercessor with God, and is honoured by clergy and people with a special form of religious observance. The term patron may be applied to many types of subjects, places or topics; the word titular is applied only to the patron of a church or institution. The underlying doctrine of patrons is that of the communion of saints, or the bond of spiritual union existing between God's servants on earth, in heaven, or in purgatory. The saints are regarded as advocates and intercessors for those still making their earthly pilgrimage. Most Christians understand the concept of having a friend, a family member, or a fellow parishioner pray for them; intercession by patrons is simply prayer by a member of your spiritual family who is already closer to God. Patrons of Trades and Professions The beliefs of a Christian in an age of Faith prompted him to place not only his churches under the protection of some illustrious servant of God, but 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. In England there were 40,000 religious corporations, including ecclesiastical bodies, monasteries, convents, military orders, industrial and professional guilds, and charitable institutions, each of which had its patron, its rites, funds, and methods of assistance. Patrons were chosen on account of some real correspondence between the patron and the object of patronage, their work in a particular place or field, by reason of some play on words, or as a matter of individual piety. Thus, while the great special patrons had their clients all over Christendom, other patrons might vary with different times and places. Honouring the saints has sometimes been an occasion of abuse. Spells and incantations have been intruded in the place of trust and prayer, prayerful vigils have become drunken parties. Reverence has sometimes run to extravagance; and patrons chosen before there was sufficient proof of their heroic Christian virtues. But considering there's 2,000 years of history and an entire world of the faithful, the Christian honour paid to angels and saints has been singularly free from human excess and error. Patrons of the Medical Field patrons of AIDS care-givers Saint Aloysius Gonzaga patrons of anesthetists and anethesiologists Saint Rene Goupil patrons of blood banks Saint Januarius of Naples patrons of children's nurses Saint Foilan of Fosses patrons of dentists Saint Apollonia of Alexandria Saint Foilan of Fosses patrons of dieticians Saint Martha patrons of emergency medical technicians and paramedics Michael the Archangel patrons of hospital administrators Saint Basil the Great Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini patrons of hospital public relations Saint Paul the Apostle patrons of hospital workers Saint Camillus of Lellis Saint John of God Saint Jude Thaddeus Saint Vincent de Paul patrons of hospitals Saint Camillus of Lellis Saint Camillus of Lellis Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Saint Erhard of Regensburg Saint John of God Saint Jude Thaddeus Saint Vincent de Paul patrons of medical record librarians Saint Raymond of Penyafort patrons of medical social workers Saint John Francis Regis patrons of medical technicians Saint Albert the Great patrons of mental hospitals or asylums Saint Dymphna patrons of midwives Saint Brigid of Ireland Saint Cosmas Saint Damian Saint Dorothy of Caesarea Saint Drogo Saint Margaret of Cortona Saint Peter Verona Saint Raymond Nonnatus patrons of nurses Raphael the Archangel Saint Agatha of Sicily Saint Alexius of Rome Saint Camillus of Lellis Saint Catherine of Alexandria Saint Catherine of Siena Saint John of God Saint Margaret of Antioch patrons of nursing homes Saint Elizabeth of Hungary patrons of nursing services Saint Catherine of Siena Saint Elizabeth of Hungary patrons of obstetricians Saint Raymond Nonnatus patrons of opticians Saint Hubert of Liege patrons of pharmacists, druggists and apothecaries Raphael the Archangel Saint Cosmas Saint Damian Saint Gemma Galgani Saint James the Greater Saint James the Lesser Saint Mary Magdalen Saint Nicholas of Myra patrons of physicians or medical doctors Raphael the Archangel Saint Cosmas Saint Damian Saint Joseph Moscati Saint Luke the Evangelist Saint Pantaleon patrons of public health Saint Martin de Porres patrons of surgeons Saint Cosmas Saint Damian Saint Foilan of Fosses Saint Luke the Evangelist Saint Roch patrons of veterinarians and animal doctors Saint Blaise Saint Eligius Saint Eligius Saint James the Greater Saints who were Physicians Blessed Gabriel of Saint Magdalen Blessed Ladislao Batthyány-Strattmann Saint Aemilianus the Martyr Saint Alexander of Vienne Saint Blaise Saint Caesarius of Nanzianzen Saint Codratus of Corinth Saint Cosmas Saint Cyrus the Physician Saint Damian Saint Gianna Beretta Molla Saint Giuse Hoàng Luong Canh Saint Joseph Moscati Saint Luke the Evangelist Saint Rene Goupil Saint Richard Pampuri Saint Ursicinus of Ravenna Saint Valentine of Rome Saints of Medicine The following Saints and Beati have connections to the medical field, either as patrons of medical topics, or having worked in the field. Note that by medical field I'm including support services and anyone who works to heal the sick and injured in body or mind. If you see the little "image" icon you can click it for a holy card, painting or other portrait of the profiled saint. Saint Aemilianus the Martyr Also known as Emilian the Martyr Memorial 6 December Profile Physician. Martyred in the persecutions of the Arian Vandal king Huneric. Died flayed alive in 484 somewhere in North Africa Saint Agatha of Sicily Memorial 5 February Profile We have little reliable information about this martyr, who has been honoured since ancient times, and whose name is included in the canon of the Mass. Young, beautiful and rich, Agatha lived a life consecrated to God. When Decius announced the edicts against Christians, the magistrate Quinctianus tried to profit by Agatha's sanctity; he planned to blackmail her into sex in exchange for not charging her. Handed over to a brothel, she refused to accept customers. After rejecting Quinctianus's advances, she was beaten, imprisoned, tortured, her breasts were crushed and cut off. She told the judge, "Cruel man, have you forgotten your mother and the breast that nourished you, that you dare to mutilate me this way?" One version has it that Saint Peter healed her. She was then imprisoned again, then rolled on live coals; when she was near death, an earthquake stuck. In the destruction that followed, a friend of the magistrate was crushed, and the magistrate fled. Agatha thanked God for an end to her pain, and died. Legend says that carrying her veil, taken from her tomb in Catania, in procession has averted eruptions of Mount Etna. Her intercession is reported to have saved Malta from Turkish invasion in 1551. saved Malta from Turkish invasion in 1551. Born in prison at Catania or Palermo, Sicily (sources vary) Died martyred c.250 at Catania, Sicily by being rolled on coals Name Meaning good Patronage against breast cancer against breast disease against earthquakes against eruptions of Mount Etna against fire against natural disasters against sterility against volcanic eruptions Ali, Sicily, Italy bell-founders Capua, Italy Catania, Sicily, Italy fire prevention jewelers Malta martyrs nurses Palermo, Sicily, Italy rape victims San Marino single laywomen torture victims wet-nurses Zamarramala, Spain Representation breasts on a dish embers knife loaves of bread on a dish pincers shears tongs veil virgin martyr wearing a veil and bearing her severed breasts on a silver platter Readings Jesus Christ, Lord of all things! You see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am - you alone. I am your sheep; make me worthy to overcome the devil. - Saint Agatha Lord, my creator, you have protected me since I was in the cradle. You have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer. Now receive my spirit. - Saint Agatha My fellow Christians, our annual celebration of a martyr's feast has brought us together. Agatha achieved renown in the early Church for her noble victory. For her, Christ's death was recent, his blood was still moist. Her robe is the mark of her faithful witness to Christ. Agatha, the name of our saint, means "good." She was truly good, for she lived as a child of God. Agatha, her goodness coincides with her name and her way of life. She won a good name by her noble deeds, and by her name she points to the nobility of those deeds. Agatha, her mere name wins all men over to her company. She teaches them by her example to hasten with her to the true Good, God alone. - from a homily on Saint Agatha by Saint Methodius of Sicily Saint Albert Magnus Also known as Albertus Magnus Doctor Expertus Doctor Universalis Memorial 15 November Profile Son of a military nobleman. Dominican. Priest. Taught theology at Cologne, Germany, and Paris, France. Teacher of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Influential teacher, preacher, and administrator. Bishop of Regensburg, Germany. Introduced Greek and Arabic science and philosophy to medieval Europe. Known for his wide interest in what became known later as the natural sciences - botany, biology, etc. Wrote and illustrated guides to his observations, and was considered on a par with Aristotle as an authority on these matters. Theological writer. Doctor of the Church.