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
B Victims of betrayal and of torture – Epipodius Against motorcycle/bicycle accidents – Denise Invoked against blight, frost, storms, alcoholism, and faintness – Urban of Langres 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 Bodybuilders - Hyacinth, Sebastian Against bullies and verbal abuse – Kentigern, Therese of Lisieux, Galileo Nicolini
C Cancer – Peregrine Laziosi Breast cancer – Agatha Stomach cancer, youth, people who suffer from shyness – Alfie Lambe Invoked against cattle diseases – Berlinda of Meerbeke 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 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 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 (St Elmo) Saint Bonaventure Convulsions, epilepsy, epileptics – Willibrord Coughs, sneezes, and dropsy – Quentin 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 Diabetics – Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus Invoked against dropsy, childhood sicknesses, hailstones, the pain of childbirth, and gout – Gotthard of Hildesheim Invoked against drought – ReverianusMémoires, 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. Against drought – Trophimus of Arles Those in danger of drowning – Hyacinth Drug addiction – Maximilian Kolbe
E Earache, dysentery – Polycarp Invoked against earthquakes – Emygdius of Ascoli Epidemics, diseases – Four Holy Marshals 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 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 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, Heart disease – John of God Haemorrhage, eye complaints – Lucy of Syracuse Against hernias – Conrad of Piacenza The homeless – Benedict Joseph Labre, Nicholas of Trani, Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur Sick horses – Hippolytus of Rome
I Patron of immigrants, migrant workers, separated families – Lorenzo Ruiz Invoked against infertility – Maturinus Female infertility (in Syria) – Abd-al-Masih Against infestations of bedbugs, rodents and locusts – Tryphon Against insanity, mental disorders – Bibiana, Christina the Astonishing Against insomnia and other sleep disorders and difficulties – Peter Damian
K Against kidnapping, illness – Arthelais Kidney disease, and rheumatism – Ursus of Aosta Diseases of the kidneys, invoked against physical defects, back pains, and school-related students' crises – NonnosusAlban Butler, David Hugh Farmer, Paul Burns, Butler's Lives of the Saints (Liturgical Press, 1995), 10.
L Leprosy, HIV and AIDS – Damien of Molokai, Evmenios Saridakis Against lightning; fear of insects – Gratus of Aosta Invoked against lightning – Victor of Marseilles 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, Godelieve 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 AngliaBall, Encyclopaedia of Catholic Devotions and Practices, p. 276. 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 – ReginaArchdiocese of Regina – Ask a Sister Pregnancy – Gerard Majella Invoked against procrastination – Expeditus The souls in purgatory – John Macias
R Rabies – Domninus of Fidenza Rabies – Hubert of Liège Against rabies – Quiteria – Invoked against rabies – Sithney 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 Respiratory diseases – Dositheus of Gaza 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 PersiaSean Kelly, Rosemary Rogers, Saints preserve us!: Everything you need to know about every saint you'll ever need (Random House, Inc., 1993), 78. 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 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 Stress relief and New year blues – Saint Pio of Pietrelcina Invoked against stress – Walter of Pontoise Students, youth – John Berchmans Sudden death – Andrew Avellino Syphilis, eye troubles – Symphorian
T Ailments of the throat – Blaise Throat trouble – Godelina Against thunderstorm, evil spirits, and plague – Deodatus of Nevers Toothache – Apollonia Invoked against toothache – Engelmund of Velsen Toothache – Medard Stenographers, printers, lawyers, epileptics, thieves, torture victims – Genesius of Rome Travelers facing hardships -- Saint Raphael People seeking relief from tribulations, in particular by women who wished to be liberated from abusive husbands – Wilgefortis
V Venereal disease sufferers, hemorrhoids – Fiacre
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 Curing of wounds – Marciana of Toledo To cure open wounds, against eye diseases – Reinildis
See also
Patron saints of occupations and activities Patron saints of places Patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary
References