Saint James the Great

Feast of Saint James the Great, July 25. Patron saint of Spain and Chile.

Saint Januaris

Feast of Saint Januaris, September 19. Patron saint of blood banks, and Naples.

Saint Jerome

Feast of Saint Jerome, September 30. Patron saint of students of scripture, and librarians.

Saint Joan of Arc

Feast of Saint Joan of Arc, May 30. Patron saint of France. In her day, the English were allied with the Burgundians in a war against the rest of France. Joan was compelled by voices of her favorite saints to take up arms in defence of her country. Dressed in a suit of white armor, she led the French in battle against the English, who retreated, believing that she was in league with the devil. She continued to battle against the English, with dwindling support, until she was eventually captured and tried as a witch. She was found guilty and at the scaffold she pleaded guilty in exchange for a pardon from the Church. However, since the English had no intention of releasing her from prison, she quickly renounced her confession and resumed wearing men's clothing. For this they publicly burned her at the stake for witchcraft and heresy. The Church reversed its decision in 1455, and she was canonized in 1920.

Saint John the Baptist

Feast of Saint John the Baptist, June 24. Patron saint of missionaries tailors, prophet, etc. See also Midsummer Day. Today celebrates the birthday and feast day of Saint John the Baptist. When the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would concieve Christ, he also announced that Elizabeth was already six months pregnant with John, so it makes sense that his birthday comes three months after Annunciation Day.
Feast of the Beheading, August 29. Remembers the beheading of John by King Herod in 30 AD. King Herod was holding John prisoner, who had been criticizing him, but was reluctant to execute him since he was liked by the people. On Herod's birthday, his daughter's dancing pleased him so much that he promised to grant her one wish. She wished for the head of John the Baptist, and this was granted.

Saint Joseph

Feast of Saint Joseph, March 19. Saint Joseph's Day is a holiday in Columbia, and Costa Rica, and Rome.

Saint Joseph of Cupertino

Feast of Saint Joseph of Cupertino, September 18. Patron saint of air travelers and pilots. According to legend he could levitate.

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Public holidays   New Year's Day/Carnival, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Labor Day, Whit Monday, Queen's Birthday, August Monday, Independence Day (Sep 19), Prince of Wales' Birthday (Nov 14), Christmas, Carnival (Dec 31-Jan 1).

Saint Lawrence of Rome

Feast of Saint Lawrence of Rome, August 10. Patron saint of cooks. Invoked for protection against rheumatism and fire, and for protection of vineyards. Celebrated in Madrid. Coincides with the Perseid Meteor Shower, which is referred to in Italy as La Notre di San Lorenzo.

Saint Lucia

Independence Day, February 22. Saint Lucia became an independent nation within the British Commonwealth on this day in 1979.
Discovery Day, December 13. The island is named for Saint Lucia (Lucy) whose feast day is the day it is believed that Columbus discovered the island in 1502.
Thanksgiving Day, first Monday in October (Oct 4, 2004).

Public holidays   New Year's Day, Carnival, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Labor Day (May 1), Whit Monday, Queen's Birthday, Corpus Christi, August Bank Holiday, Thanksgiving Day, Discovery Day, Christmas, and Boxing Day.

Saint Lucy

Feast of Saint Lucy, December 13. Patron saint of lights, because her name is derived from the Latin "lux" meaning light, and patron saint of people with eye problems because her eyes were plucked out and her vision was miraculously restored (according to legend) shortly before she was burned at the stake by the Romas for being a Christian. In Sweden, St Lucy's Day is known as Luciadagen, and begins the Yuletide. See also Sweden. Saint Odilia, on the same day, has a similar theme.

Saint Macarius the Younger

Feast of Saint Macarius the Younger, January 2. Patron saint of pastry cooks and confectioners. He once killed a gnat that bit him. Then in penitence for this deed he spent the next six months in the marshes of Scete where the flies bit him until his body was unrecognizable.

Saint Marinus

Feast of Saint Marinus, September 4.
Saint Marino Day, September 3. A public holiday in San Marino honoring Saint Marinus, whose feast day is on September 4. San Marino is built on the death place of Marinus.

Saint Mark

Feast of Saint Mark, April 25. Evangelist and patron saint of Venice, glaziers, and notaries. He is the author of Mark's Gospel which is thought to be based on the teachings of Paul, of whom he was a disciple. In 829 his supposed relics were brought to Venice where they now lie under the main alter of St. Mark's Basilica.
Saint Mark's Eve, April 24. There is an English superstition that on Saint Mark's Eve apparitions of those who will die in the next year can be seen in the churchyard.

Saint Maarten

Concordia Day, November 11. Commemorates the agreement made in 1648 to divide the island between the Dutch and the French.

Saint Martha

Feast of Saint Martha, July 29. Patron saint of housewives, cooks, innkeepers, and laundresses. She is credited with having slayed a dragon that lived in the Rhone river. She sprinkled holy water on it to subdue it, then tied him up with her girdle and slew him.

Saint Martin of Tours

Feast of Saint Martin of Tours, November 11. Bishop of Tours, and patron saint of France, wine growers, tavern keepers, and beggars. This day is also known as Martinmas. In the Netherlands it is called Beggar's Day, and children go door to door acting like beggars.

Saint Mary

Nativity of Mary, September 8. Celebrates the birthday of the Virgin Mary. This feast was initiated by Pope Servius in 695, after hearing about a monk who heard a heavenly choir each year on this day. When the monk asked the angels why they were singing, he was told because it was the birthday of Mary.
Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, September 12.
Presentation of Our Lady at the Temple, November 21.
Our Lady of the Angels, August 2. Observed in Costa Rica.
Our Lady of the Snows, August 5.
Festival of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, August 22.
Visitation of the Virgin Mary, July 2. Commemorates the biblical account of the visit of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth.
Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 16.
Queenship of the Virgin Mary, May 31. [falls on Mother's Day]
Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, June 27.
Immaculate Conception, December 8. Commemorates the "preservation of the Virgin Mary from original sin from the moment of her conception".

Saint Matthew

Feast of Saint Matthew, September 21. Apostle, author of first gospel. Patron saint of tax collectors.

Saint Matthias

Feast of Saint Matthias, February 24. Apostle, patron saint of carpenters and tailors. In a leap year, this feast is observed on February 25, and any feast occuring from February 24 to the end of the month is postponed one day.

Saint Maurice and others

Feast of Saint Maurice and others, September 22. Maurice was an officer of the Theban Legion, consisting mainly of six or seven thousand Christian soldiers, who were sent to supress an uprising in Gaul. As they were crossing the Alps, the commander, Maximinian Herculeus, ordered that the whole army would join in a sacrifice to the Roman gods. The Christian soldiers refused to participate, and were therefore sentenced to death. They were surrounded by the other troups and massacred down to the last man.

Saint Michael the Archangel

Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, September 29. Patron saint of policemen and grocers.
Michaelmas, September 29. A festival honoring the archangel Michael. Mainly celebrated in Britain, where it was tradition to eat goose for dinner.
Feast of the Apparition of St Michael, May 8.