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Find a patron saint

Carpenters and nurses, exams and lost keys, Sweden and São Paulo — the saints the Church turns to, and where you can pray at their tomb.

Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

277 patronages

Carpenters and woodworkers

  • Saint Joseph

Workers

  • Saint Joseph the Worker

Doctors and physicians

  • Saint Luke
  • Saints Cosmas and Damian
  • Saint Gianna Beretta Molla

Nurses

  • Saint Camillus de Lellis
  • Saint John of God
  • Saint Agatha

Hospitals and the sick

  • Saint Camillus de Lellis
  • Saint John of God

Pharmacists

  • Saints Cosmas and Damian

Dentists

  • Saint Apollonia

Teachers

  • Saint John Baptist de La Salle
  • Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Students

  • Saint Thomas Aquinas
  • Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Exams

  • Saint Joseph of Cupertino

Schoolchildren

  • Saint John Bosco
  • Saint Nicholas

Universities and scholars

  • Saint Thomas Aquinas

Scientists

  • Saint Albert the Great

Astronomers

  • Saint Dominic

Lawyers

  • Saint Ivo of Kermartin
  • Saint Thomas More

Politicians and statesmen

  • Saint Thomas More

Soldiers

  • Saint Michael the Archangel
  • Saint Martin of Tours
  • Saint Sebastian
  • Saint George
  • Saint Joan of Arc

Police officers

  • Saint Michael the Archangel

Firefighters

  • Saint Florian

Fishermen

  • Saint Peter
  • Saint Andrew

Sailors and seafarers

  • Saint Nicholas
  • Saint Brendan the Navigator

Farmers

  • Saint Isidore the Farmer

Gardeners

  • Saint Fiacre
  • Saint Dorothy
  • Saint Gertrude of Nivelles

Florists

  • Saint Dorothy
  • Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Why do we have patron saints?

The saints are friends of God who now live with him, and the Church has always asked for their prayers. A patron is a saint we turn to in a particular need, place or work — often because of their own life: St Joseph the carpenter for workers, St Luke the physician for doctors, St Monica, who prayed for her son Augustine for years, for mothers. Many patronages come from long popular devotion; some have been declared by the Popes. We do not pray to the saints instead of God, but with them, as the whole family of the Church.

Patronages of trades, needs and countries chosen by CathoNav from the Church’s tradition; the patron saints of cities from Wikidata. Feast days follow the General Roman Calendar or, for saints not in it, the Roman Martyrology. A link marks a saint whose tomb is on our map.