The term "saint" comes from the Latin "sanctus" which means "holy".
To each saint is dedicated a feast day.
Many of the saints are patrons of something.
Feast days are usually the day of martyrdom.
Cults have sprung up around many of the saints, and pilgrims may travel to the location of a saint's death or where miracles were supposed to have taken place.
There are legends about many of the saints, often about miraculous ways in which they were unharmed by attempts at execution, and yet the executioners usually had their way in the end.
In a leap year, any feast in February after the 24th is postponed by one day.
Often observed locally by towns which are named after a saint,
or which have a patron saint, or invoked for various reasons.
Saint Afra
Feast of Saint Afra, August 5. Patron saint of penitent women.
It is believed she was a prostitute who was arrested for being a Christian.
Saint Agatha
Feast of Saint Agatha, February 5. Patron saint of nurses, bell-founders, and fire fighters.
She was identified as a Christian, and in an attempt to make her renouce her faith she was submitted to tortures which included cutting off both of her breasts.
She was martyred on this day in 251 AD.
Agatha is often portrayed as a virgin martyr carrying her severed breasts on a tray.
These have sometimes been incorrectly identified as bells,
which led to her association with bell-founders.
Saint Agnes
Feast of Saint Agnes, January 21. Patron saint of virgins, chasity, young women, and betrothed couples.
She came from a wealthy Roman family, and was martyred at an early age for being a Christian.
St Ambrose gives her age as twelve, and St Augustine says she was thirteen.
In the many embellished accounts of her martyrdom she always appears incredibly
beautiful and vowed to chasity.
Perhaps she was exposed as a Christian by a rejected suiter, or perhaps she declared
herself Christian after the imperial edict against Christians.
In one account of her legend, she was sent to a brothel so that her virginity would be
taken, but when a young man looked upon her with impure thoughts,
he was stricken with blindness.
On this day in Rome the Pope blesses two lambs whose wool is used to make pallia, circular bands which are sent to the Pope's archbishops.
The association with lambs is due to the similarity of her name to the Latin
agnus, meaning "lamb".
Saint Agnes' Eve, January 20. Superstition has it that on this night a girl may see the image of her future husband by performing certain rituals.
These rites often consisted either of not eating anything that day, or of eating something rotten, which may explain the visions.
John Keats wrote about this superstition in his poem
The Eve of St Agnes.
They told her how, upon St. Agnes' Eve,
Young virgins might have visions of delight,
And soft adorings from their loves receive
Upon the honey'd middle of the night
If ceremonies due they did aright;
As, supperless to bed they must retire,
And couch supine their beauties, lily white;
Nor look behind, nor sideways, but require
Of Heaven with upward eyes for all that they desire.
These customs were once common in the British Isles, but have now been all but forgotten.
It is probably only a coincidence that this superstition is related to St Agnes,
considering that she chose to be tortured to death rather than get married.
Second feast of Agnes, January 28. Listed in the Roman Catholic Missal.
Saint Alban
Feast of Saint Alban, June 22. First Christian martyr of Britain.
Alban was a soldier in the Roman town of Verulamium, England, which has since been renamed St Albans.
Around 305 AD, Alban gave shelter to a fleeing Christian priest who converted him.
When they came in search of the priest, Alban switched clothes with him, and was taken away while the priest escaped.
When Alban refused to make a sacrifice to the pagan gods, he was revealed as a Christian and condemned to death.
Legend has it that on his way to the execution, Alban parted the waters under the bridge.
The executioner immediately converted and chose to be executed along with Alban.
A new executioner performed the deed, and his eyes then popped out of his head.
There is a rose festival at annually on this day at Saint Alban's Cathedral in
Hertfordshire, England.
Saint Ananias of Damascus
Feast of Saint Ananias of Damascus, January 25. Baptized Paul and brought him into the Church.
Also celebrated by Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches as the
Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.
Saint Andrew
Feast of Saint Andrew, November 30. The Sunday nearest this day begins the Advent season.
Saint Andrew's Eve, November 29. In Poland it is popular for young women to play
Andrzejki, or Andrew's games, to discover who will get married during the year.
Saint Angela Merici
Feast of Saint Angela Merici, May 31. Founder of the Ursuline Order.
Saint Anne
Feast of Saint Anne, July 26. Mother of the Virgin Mary and wife of Joachim.
Patron saint of housewives, miners, and Canada.
Saint Anskar
Feast of Saint Anskar, February 3. Patron saint of Denmark.
Saint Antony of Padua
Feast of Saint Antony of Padua, June 13. Patron saint of the illiterate, the poor, and of Portugal.
The
Feast of St.
Anthony of Lisbon is celebrated in Lisbon, his birthplace.
Saint Augustine of Canterbury
Feast of Saint Augustine of Canterbury, May 28. Apostle to the English.
Saint Augustine of Hippo
Feast of Saint Augustine of Hippo, August 28. Doctor of Grace.
Patron saint of students for the priesthood.
He was killed on August 28, 430, when his city was invaded by Vandals.
He is most famous for the writing of his Confessions.
Sabbath to Syria
Second feast of Agnes, January 28. Listed in the Roman Catholic Missal.
