Patron saints of ailments, illness, and dangers explained

Saints have often been prevailed upon in requests for intercessory prayers to protect against or help combatting a variety of dangers, illnesses, and ailments. This is a list of saints and such ills traditionally associated with them. In shorthand, they are called the patron saints of (people guarding against or grappling with) these various troubles.

A

• Against abortion, miscarriage - Catherine of Vadstena
• Alcoholism - Martin of Tours
  • Angina - Suitbert of Kaiserwerdt Arthritis - Alphonsus Liguori
• Auditory conditions and diseases - Ovidius
• Earache, dysentery - Polycarp
• Autism - Thorlak

B

• Victims of betrayal and of torture - Epipodius
• Against motorcycle/bicycle accidents - Denise^{[1] [2]}
• Invoked against blight, frost, storms, alcoholism, and faintness - Urban of Langres^[3]
• Blind and the lame - Abel of Reims
• The blind - Aloysius Gonzaga
• Blindness, eye disease, eye problems, sore eyes - Leodegar
• Protectress of blind people - Paraskevi of Rome
• Protector of sufferers from broken bones and hernias - Mammes
• Against bullies and verbal abuse - Kentigern

C

• Cancer - Peregrine Laziosi
• Breast cancer - Agatha
• Stomach cancer, youth, people who suffer from shyness - Alfie Lambe
• Invoked against cattle diseases - Berlinda of Meerbeke^[4]
• Chest problems, lung problems, gambling addictions- Bernardino of Siena
• Invoked during childbirth and against diseases of the eye - Hemma of Gurk
• Childbirth, sickness - Juliana of Nicomedia
• Women in difficult labor - John of Bridlington
• Difficult pregnancy and safe child birth - Peter and Fevronia of Murom
• Invoked by pregnant women for safe delivery of children - Silvia^[5]
• Childhood illnesses - Deicolus
• Childhood diseases; difficult marriages; victims of abuse - Pharaildis
• Convulsive children; invoked against storms and rain - Scholastica
• Invoked against cholera, epidemics, knee problems, plague, skin diseases - Roch
• Choreas (Sydenham's chorea, Huntington's disease), epilepsy, seizures, oversleeping - Vitus
• Invoked against cirrhosis and other liver diseases - Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo^[6]
• Riot, civil disorder - Andrew Corsini
  • Against cold and cold weather - Sebaldus Against colic - Agapitus of Palestrina
• Invoked against colic in children, intestinal ailments and diseases, cramps and the pain of women in labour - Erasmus of Formiae or St Elmo
• Convulsions, epilepsy, epileptics - Willibrord
• Coughs, sneezes, and dropsy - Quentin^[7]
• Invoked against cramps, afflictions associated with the nerves and ears - Cornelius
• Cramp, headache, bearing false witness, perjury - Pancras
• Involved against criminals - Saint Peter
• Crohns disease and IBS - Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago

D

• Deafness - Audoin (Ouen)
• Dying people, expectant mothers, hesitation, happy death, holy death, interior souls, people in doubt, pioneers, pregnant women, travellers, and fetuses - Joseph
• Demons, fever - Patroclus of Troyes^[8]
• Diabetics - Paulina
• Invoked against dropsy, childhood sicknesses, hailstones, the pain of childbirth, and gout - Gotthard of Hildesheim
• Invoked against drought - Reverianus^[9]
• Against drought - Trophimus of Arles
  • Those in danger of drowning - Hyacinth Drug addiction - Maximilian Kolbe

E

• Invoked against earthquakes - Emygdius of Ascoli
• Epidemics, diseases - Four Holy Marshals^[10]
• Invoked against epilepsy and headaches - Gerard of Lunel
• Epilepsy, against rabies, against infantile convulsions - Guy of Anderlecht
• Invoked against erysipelas, lightning, horse theft, wildfires, and drowning - Castulus –
• Invoked against evil spirits, leprosy, thunderstorms, bacterial diseases, and bacterial infections - Agrippina of Mineo
• Sore eyes - Augustine of Hippo
• Eye disease - Cyriacus
• Eye and skin conditions; knee pains; invoked against adultery and marital difficulties - Gangulphus
• Eye problems, eye disease - Harvey

F

• Fainting, plague, epilepsy - Valentine
• Against diseases in the feet - Saint Alphonsa
• Invoked against foot troubles, lameness, rheumatism, rats, and mice - Servatius^[11]
• Invoked against fever, rats, and mice, particularly field-mice - Gertrude of Nivelles
• Fever - Hugh of Cluny
• Invoked against fever; afflictions associated with the eyes; Dry cough; infertility; panic attacks - Theobald of Provins
• Invoked against fire, floods and drowning - Florian
• Invoked against flooding, and for the good success of Caesarean section - Caesarius of Terracina

G

• Against gallstones, colic - Liborius of Le Mans^[12]
• Invoked against illegal gambling - Cajetan
• Diseases and sicknesses affecting the genitals - Vitalis of Assisi
• Gout, sore throat, fever, whooping cough - Andrew the Apostle
• Gout - Apollinaris

H

• Pathologies of the hands and the feet - Julia of Corsica
• Against hanging - Coloman
• Hangovers - Bibiana
• Against headache - Agathius, Teresa of Ávila, Bibiana, Crescentinus, Denis of Paris, William Firmatus,^[13]
• Heart disease - John of God
• Haemorrhage, eye complaints - Lucy of Syracuse
• Against hernias - Conrad of Piacenza
• The homeless - Benedict Joseph Labre, Nicholas of Trani
• Sick horses - Hippolytus of Rome

I

• Patron of immigrants, migrant workers, separated families - Lorenzo Ruiz
• Invoked against infertility - Maturinus^[14]
• Female infertility (in Syria) - Abd-al-Masih
• Against infestations of bedbugs, rodents and locusts - Tryphon^[15]
• Against insanity, mental disorders - Bibiana, Christina the Astonishing

K

• Against kidnapping, illness - Arthelais
• Kidney disease, and rheumatism - Ursus of Aosta^[16]
• Diseases of the kidneys, invoked against physical defects, back pains, and school-related students' crises - Nonnosus^[17]

L

• Leprosy, HIV and AIDS - Damien of Molokai
• Against lightning; fear of insects - Gratus of Aosta
• Invoked against lightning - Victor of Marseilles^[18]
• Lost causes, desperate situations - Jude Thaddaeus
  • Lost causes or impossible cases, marital problems, abuse - Rita of Cascia Missing people and lost things - Anthony of Padua

M

• Difficult marriage - Olaf
• Mental illness - Bibiana, Fillan, Hermes, Dymphna
• Migraine - Aspren, Gereon

N

• Invoked as a protector from natural disasters, plague, invasion - Leoluca
• Invoked against stiff neck - Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne
• Neuralgia, sick children, obsessive compulsive disorder - Ubald
• Nyctophobia - Cannera

P

• Chronic pain - Pacificus of San Severino
• Patron saint against pandemics - Edmund the Martyr of East Anglia^[19]
• Invoked as protection against perjury, loss at sea and destructive rains - Maximin of Trier
• Against pirate attack - Albinus of Angers
• Plague, epilepsy - Adrian of Nicomedia
  • • Against plague - Sebastian Plague, epilepsy - Natalia of Nicomedia Bubonic plague, misfortunes - Agricola of Avignon
• Bubonic plague or the Black Death - Fourteen Holy Helpers
• Invoked against the bubonic plague, smallpox, and gout - Quirinus of Neuss
• Pneumonia - Casimiro Barello Morello
• Poverty - Macrina the Elder
• Against poverty, impoverishment, torture victims - Regina^[20]
• Pregnancy - Gerard Majella
  • Invoked against procrastination - Expeditus The souls in purgatory - John Macias

R

• Rabies - Domninus of Fidenza
• Rabies - Hubertus
• Against rabies - Quiteria – ^[21]
• Invoked against rabies - Sithney^[22]
• Victims of rape - Clementina Nengapeta
• Victims of rape, crime victims, invoked against pedophiles - Maria Goretti
  • Rape victims - Potamiana Against venomous reptiles - Abhai
• Invoked against snakes, and snake bites; also invoked against demonic possession, mental illness, poison, wild beasts - Amabilis of Riom
• Against snake bites - Peregrine of Auxerre^[23]
• Rheumatism - James the Great
• Maurus – rheumatism, gout, epilepsy
• Against rheumatism - Miliau –
• People ridiculed for their piety, repentance, temptation - Mary Magdalene
• Politicians, athletes, road safety - Alberto Marvelli

S

• Invoked against sciatica - Dometius of Persia^[24]
• Those who suffer scoliosis, against animal attacks - Joseph of Anchieta
• Scrofula - Saint Balbina
• Scrofula, diseases of the skin - Marculf
• Against danger at sea, against temptations, sick people, storms at sea, police officers - Michael the Archangel
• For protection against the dangers of the sea - Wulfram of Sens
• Against sepsis - John Henry Newman
• The sick, asthma sufferers, nurses and carers - Bernadette
• Those who serve the sick - Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur^[25]
• Skin disease, Saint Anthony's fire - Anthony
• Skin diseases, victims of child abuse - Germaine Cousin
• Sleepwalking, epilepsy, insanity, mental illness - Dymphna
• Smallpox - Matthias
• Invoked against stomach pains, especially in children - Rasso
• Invoked against storms, hail storms, lightning - Eurosia^[26]
  • Stress relief and New year blues - Saint Pio of Pietrelcina Invoked against stress - Walter of Pontoise^[27]
• Students, youth - John Berchmans
• Sudden death - Andrew Avellino
• Syphilis, eye troubles - Symphorian^[28]

T

• Ailments of the throat - Blaise
• Throat trouble - Godelina
• Against thunderstorm, evil spirits, and plague - Deodatus of Nevers^[29]
• Toothache - Apollonia
• Invoked against toothache - Engelmund of Velsen^[30]
• Toothache - Medard
• Stenographers, printers, lawyers, epileptics, thieves, torture victims - Genesius of Rome
• People seeking relief from tribulations, in particular by women who wished to be liberated from abusive husbands - Wilgefortis^[31]

W

• Protector of soldiers against the dangers of war; also invoked for fertility - St. Bessus
  • Whooping cough - Winnoc Invoked against wolves and fires - Defendens
• Invoked to cure wounds - Marciana of Mauretania^[32]
• Curing of wounds - Marciana of Toledo
• To cure open wounds, against eye diseases - Reinildis^{[33] [34]}

V

• Venereal disease sufferers, hemorrhoids - Fiacre

See also

• Patron saints of occupations and activities
• Patron saints of places
• Patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Notes and References

1. Web site: L'Abbaye de Flône . September 2001. Cyberliege. 19 February 2009.
2. Web site: Le site officiel du Comité des Fêtes de Yernawe. 2003. Le Comité des Fêtes de Yernawe.. 19 February 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090403033252/http://www.yernawe.be/quartier1.htm. 3 April 2009. dmy-all.
3. Web site: Saint Patrick's Church: Saints of April 2 . Saintpatrickdc.org . 2013-11-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180429025041/http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0402.shtml#urba . 29 April 2018 . dead .
4. Web site: Saint Patrick's Church: Saints of February 3 . Saintpatrickdc.org . 2013-11-24.
5. Web site: Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Silvia . Newadvent.org . 1 February 1912 . 2013-11-24.
6. Škrobonja. Ante. 2006-01-26. Patron Saints and Gastrointestinal Diseases in the Christian Tradition. Medicus. hr. 15. 1. 195–200. 1330-013X.
7. Web site: saintpatrickdc.org . saintpatrickdc.org . 2013-11-24.
8. Web site: saintpatrickdc.org . saintpatrickdc.org . 2013-11-24 . 24 October 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071024021333/http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0121.shtml#patr . dead .
9. = Mémoires, Volumes 33-34, Société d'archéologie de Beaune (Côte d'Or). Histoire, lettres, sciences et arts, Société d'histoire d'archéologie et de littérature de l'arrondissement de Beaune. Impr. Beaunoise, 1910, pp. 167-8.
10. Web site: Vier Marschälle – Kathpedia . de . Kathpedia.com . 2013-11-24.
11. Web site: Saint Patrick's Church: Saints of May 13 . Saintpatrickdc.org . 2013-11-24.
12. Web site: Saints of July 23 . Saintpatrickdc.org . 2013-11-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120123093541/http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0723.shtml#libo . 23 January 2012 . dead .
13. Web site: Rabenstein . Katherine I. . William Firmatus, Hermit (AC) . Saint of the Day . St. Patrick's Catholic Church . Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen M (Optional Memorial) April 24 . 1998 . 2007-04-24 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070206174334/http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0424.shtml . 6 February 2007 .
14. Web site: Saint Mathurin . Pagesperso-orange.fr . 2013-11-24.
15. Book: Parry . Ken . David . Melling . The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity . Blackwell Publishing . 1999 . Malden, MA . 0-631-23203-6 .
16. Web site: Saint Patrick's Church: Saints of February 1 . Saintpatrickdc.org . 2013-11-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110103071232/http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0201.shtml#ursu . 3 January 2011 . dead .
17. Alban Butler, David Hugh Farmer, Paul Burns, Butler's Lives of the Saints (Liturgical Press, 1995), 10.
18. Web site: Saints of July 21 . Saintpatrickdc.org . 2013-11-24.
19. Ball, Encyclopaedia of Catholic Devotions and Practices, p. 276.
20. http://www.archregina.sk.ca/Sister/AskSisterQ22.htm Archdiocese of Regina – Ask a Sister
21. Web site: Santos . ACI Prensa . 2013-11-24.
22. Web site: saintpatrickdc.org . saintpatrickdc.org . 8 January 1905 . 2013-11-24 . 19 May 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110519030700/http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0804.shtml . dead .
23. Web site: La cathédrale Saint-Etienne d'Auxerre – 2. Saint Pèlerin . Catholique-sens-auxerre.cef.fr . 19 November 2013 . 2013-11-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090401044936/http://catholique-sens-auxerre.cef.fr/auxerre/article.php3?id_article=20 . 1 April 2009 . dead .
24. Sean Kelly, Rosemary Rogers, Saints preserve us!: Everything you need to know about every saint you'll ever need (Random House, Inc., 1993), 78.
25. Web site: Santo Hermano Pedro, patrono de los servidores de salud. 2020. CRN Noticias. 17 September 2021.
26. Web site: antropologia/santa orosia . Andarines.com . 2013-11-24.
27. Book: Sandoval, Annette . The Directory of Saints: A Concise Guide to Patron Saints . Signet . 1997 . 226 .
28. Web site: saintpatrickdc.org . saintpatrickdc.org . 2013-11-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110408130028/http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0822.shtml . 8 April 2011 . dead .
29. Web site: Saints of June 19 . Saintpatrickdc.org . 2013-11-24.
30. Web site: Saints of June 21 . Saintpatrickdc.org . 2013-11-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110907145010/http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0621.shtml . 7 September 2011 . dead .
31. Book: Friesen, Ilse E. . 2001 . The Female Crucifix: Images of St. Wilgefortis Since the Middle Ages . limited . 47-48 . Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press . 0-88920-365-2 .
32. Web site: saintpatrickdc.org . saintpatrickdc.org . 2013-11-24 . 5 November 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071105090944/http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0109.htm . dead .
33. Web site: Stocks, Relics and... 'Tarte al Djote' . Office de Promotion du Tourisme de Wallonie et de Bruxelles . June 2006 . 2007-02-21 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927182335/http://www.opt.be/informations/suggestions/en/O/48872.html . 27 September 2007 . dmy-all .
34. Web site: Sainte Renelde et comp. . Nominis . 2007-02-21.