Saint Barnabas

Feast of Saint Barnabas, June 11. Barnabas went to live with the Christians in Jerusalem after selling his estate and giving the money to the apostles. When Paul came to Jerusalem after his unexpected conversion, it was Barnabas who convinced the apostles to trust their old enemy. He and Paul then did missionary work together. At Iconium, the capital of Lycaonia, they narrowly escaped stoning at the hands of the mob whom the rulers had stirred up against them. A miraculous cure wrought by St Paul upon a cripple at Lystra led the pagan inhabitants to conclude that the gods were come amongst them. They hailed St Paul as Hermes or Mercury because he was the chief speaker, and St Barnabas as Zeus or Jupiter and were with difficulty restrained from offering sacrifices to them. But, with the proverbial fickleness of the mob, they soon rushed to the other extreme and stoned St Paul, severely wounding him.

Saint Bartholomew

Feast of Saint Bartholomew, August 24. Apostle.
Saint Bartholomew's Day, August 24. Observed by Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern churches. On this day in 1572 Catherine de Médicis initiated a slaughter of over 3,000 Huguenots, giving the incident the title Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre.

Saint Basil the Great

Feast of Saint Basil the Great, June 14.
Saint Basil's Day, January 1. Observed in Greece.

Saint Bede the Venerable

Feast of Saint Bede the Venerable, May 27. The Venerable Bede (673-735) is known for his many historical and theological writings. In an old folktale Bede became blind and, thinking he was in church, preached to a pile of stones. The stones were so moved by his sermon that they replied, "Amen, venerable Bede, Amen."

Saint Benedict

Feast of Saint Benedict, March 21. Patron saint of speleologists and founder of the Benedictine order.

Saint Blaise

Feast of Saint Blaise, February 3. The patron saint of sore throat sufferers, wool combers, and waxchandlers. He was believed to have the ability to cure sore throats with prayer. The Feast of Saint Blaise is observed with the blessing of throats. A public holiday in Paraguay. In Puerto Rico, where it is known as Fiesta of San Blas, it is celebrated in the sugar-harvest towns, especially Coamo, whose patron saint is Blaise.

Saint Boniface

Feast of Saint Boniface, June 5. Patron saint of Germany. Celebrated by Roman Catholics and Anglicans.

Saint Brendan the Navigator

Feast of Saint Brendan the Navigator, May 16. Brendan (c.486-c.577) was an Irish abbot whose identity as the patron saint of sailors and travelers comes from the Navigation of Brendan, a medieval manuscript that tells of a seven year voyage he took in search of the Land of Promise. In the story Brendan discovers a land that some believe was North America, but if he really did take a voyage at all, it may have also been Iceland or the Canary Islands.

Saint Briged

Feast of Saint Briged, February 1. Patron saint of Irish nuns, dairy workers, Ireland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand. The Festival of Saint Bridget is on February 1. Also known as St. Bride. In Ireland she is second only to Patrick in popularity.

Saint Canute

Feast of Saint Canute, January 19. King of Denmark.
Saint Knut's Day, January 19. 20th day after Christmas. Observed in Sweden by burning the Christmas tree. See also Norway.

Saint Casimir

Feast of Saint Casimir, March 4. Patron saint of Poland and Lithuania.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Feast of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, November 25. Patron saint of philosophers, maidens, and mechanics.

Saint Catherine of Siena

Feast of Saint Catherine of Siena, April 30. Patron saint of Italy.

Saint Christopher

Feast of Saint Christopher, July 25. Patron saint of travelers [and in recent times: motorists and bus drivers]. Invokes for protection from perils of water, storms, and plagues. His name means "Christ-bearer", which is what led to the following legend. Christopher carried travelers across a river on his back. One day he was carrying a small child who grew larger and larger until Christopher thought they would both drown. Then the child revealed himself as Jesus and told hime that he had just carried the sins of the whole world on his back. According to legend, anyone who sees a picture of St. Christopher will not die that day. His sainthood was later revoked because it was decided that his actions did not merit his becoming a saint.

Saint Columba

Feast of Saint Columba, June 9. Abbot of Iona and sceondary patron saint of Ireland.

Saint Crispin

Feast of Saint Crispin, October 25. Patron saint of shoemakers. Also called Saint Crispin's Day. Nigel Pennick mentions this day in The Pagan Book of Days as follows.

The feast of Saints Crispin and Crispinianus was immortalized by Shakespeare in Henry V, in the king's speech on the eve of the battle of Agincourt, fought on this day in 1415. These twin saints, patrons of shoemakers, are the continuation of the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, sons of Zeus.

Saint Dasius

Feast of Saint Dasius, November 20. In The Golden Bough Sir James Frazer describes the martyrdom of Dasius:

The Roman soldiers at Durostorum in Lower Moesia celebrated the Saturnalia year by year in the following manner. Thirty days before the festival they chose by lot from amongst themselves a young and handsome man, who was then clothed in royal attire to resemble Saturn. Thus arrayed and attended by a multitude of soldiers he went about in public with full license to indulge his passions and to taste of every pleasure, however base and shameful. But if his reign was merry, it was short and ended tragically; for when the thirty days were up and the festival of Saturn had come, he cut his own throat on the altar of the god whom he personated. In the year A.D. 303 the lot fell upoon the Christian soldier Dasius, but he refused to play the part of the heathen god and soil his last days by debauchery. The threats and arguments of his commanding officer Bassus failed to shake his constancy, and accordingly he was beheaded, as the Christian martyrologist records with minute accuracy, at Durostorum by the soldier John on Friday the twentieth day of November, being the twenty-fourth day of the moon, at the fourth hour.

Saint David

Feast of Saint David, March 1. Patron saint of Wales and poets. His feast day is on the anniversary of his death around 588 A.D. Life was especially strict for the monks in his monasteries, and he was criticized by St Gildas for being more ascetic than Christian. Butler's Lives of the Saints describes the environment in his many abbeys:

The community lived a life of extreme austerity. Hard manual labour was obligatory for all, and they were allowed no cattle to relieve them in tilling the ground. They might never speak without necessity, and they never ceased praying mentally, even when at work. Their food was bread, with vegetables and salt, and they drank only water, sometimes mingled with a little milk. For this reason St David was surnamed 'The Waterman'.

Saint Demetrios

Feast of Saint Demetrios, October 26. Patron saint of Salonika [Thessalonka?], Greece. Celebrated by Greeks.

Saint Devote

Feast of Saint Devote, January 27. Patron saint of Monte Carlo. Celebrated as Fête de Ste. Devote.

Saint Dionysius

Feast of Saint Dionysius, October 9. Patron saint of Paris and France. Also called Saint Denis.

Saint Dismas

Feast of Saint Dismas, March 25. Patron saint of prisoners, funeral directors, and persons condemned to death. Also known as The Good Thief.

Saint Dunstan,

Feast of Saint Dunstan,, May 19. Dunstan, the patron saint of goldsmiths, was archbishop of Canterbury until his death in 988. A popular tale is that once while Dunstan was busy working at his forge (for he was also a goldsmith), the Devil appeared and tried to tempt the saint. Dunstan gave the Devil's nose a good pull with his red hot tongs and sent him running.

Saint Dympna

Feast of Saint Dympna, May 15. Patron saint of the insane. The story of her life may be a complete folktale that evolved when the bodies of an unidentified couple were found in Gheel next to an inscription of the name Dympna. Her legend is told in The Book of Saints:

Dympna, the daughter of a Pagan Irish chieftain, but herself secretly a Christian, was forced to fly her country in order to escape the guilty love of her unnatural parent. She settled at Gheel [in Belgium], and devoted herself to works of charity. Her father pursued her and murdered both the Saint and the old priest who had advised and accompanied her. At her shrine lunatics and those possessed by devils were often miraculously cured; and in art she is frequently represented as dragging away a devil.

As word of the miraculous cures spred, more and more of the mentally ill made pilgrimages to Gheel. When the sick-room next to the church became inadequate, the townsfolk opened their doors to the pilgrims. In 1850, this was formally organized into a system of outpatient care with medical supervision, and is now one of the most effective programs for the mentally ill. Quite an accomplishment by a saint who may never have existed.