Saint Savvas (439-532)

Also known as St. Sabbas,  St. Sabas and St. Sabbas the Sanctified. 

Feast Day: 5 December. 

Patron saint of monasticism, monks and hermits. 

Saint Savvas is one of the fathers of Eastern monasticism, credited with founding the Mar Saba Monastery, one of the oldest and most important monasteries in the world. Many miracles took place through the prayers of Saint Savvas: at the Lavra a spring of water welled up, during a time of drought there was abundant rain, and there were also healings of the sick and the demoniacs. Saint Sava composed the first monastic Rule of church services, the so-called “Jerusalem Typikon”, accepted by all the Palestine monasteries. His legacy continues to be celebrated in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church, and his teachings continue to inspire monastic communities today.

Saints Peter and Paul

Feast Day: 29 June

Saint Paul (5-67) is Patron Saint of  missions, theologians, evangelists, gentile Christians, writers, journalists, authors, rope and saddle makers, and tent makers. 

Saint Peter (c.1-64) is Patron Saint of fishermen, net makers,  ship builders, the Universal Church, popes and locksmiths.

The Great Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul share a Feast Day on 29 June in honour of their martyrdom in Rome at different times. There is also the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter on 22 February, and the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on 25 January.

The New Testament includes two epistles of St. Peter: 1 Peter and 2 Peter; and fourteen epistles of St. Paul:  Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon and Hebrews. 

Saint Anne

Feast Day: 26 July 

Patron saint of mothers, grandmothers, pregnant women, women in labour, women who want to have children, housewives, unmarried women, cabinet makers and miners. 

Saint Anne was the wife of Saint Joachim and the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and so the grandmother of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Saint John Damascene (born c. 675) described Saint Anne: "Blessed, thrice blessed art thou, O Saint Anne, who didst receive from God and bring forth the blessed child from whom proceeded Christ, the Flower of life! We congratulate thee, O blessed Anne, on the dignity of being the mother of Mary, for thou hast brought forth our common hope, the germ of Promise! All pious lips bless thee in thy daughter, all languages glorify thy child! Worthy art thou above all praise, worthy of the praise of all who are redeemed, for thou hast given life to her who brought forth our Saviour, Jesus Christ". 

Saint Thomas More (1478-1535) 

Feast Day: 22 June. In England and Wales 9 July.

Patron saint of lawyers. Also of adopted children, civil servants, court clerks, politicians, stepparents, widowers and difficult marriages. 

Saint Thomas More was a great defender of the faith during the Protestant Reformation. He refused to sign King Henry VIII's  Oath of Supremacy which was a clear rejection of the Pope and the Catholic Church, and he was imprisoned for 14 months and beheaded at Tower Hill on 6 July 1535. His last recorded words were, “I am the King’s good servant – but God’s first.” Although St Thomas More is the patron saint of difficult marriages, his marital patronage is due to the difficult marriages of King Henry VIII, not his own. Both of Thomas’ marriages were happy ones. 

Blessed Carlo Acutis (1991-2006) 

Feast Day: 12 October. Beatified 2020, set to be canonised on 27 April 2025.

Referred to as the patron saint of the internet. 

An Italian youth who died of leukaemia at age 15 in 2006. He said "To be always united with Jesus, this is my plan of life". Blessed Carlo Acutis was considered a 'computer geek' due to his passion for and skill with computers and the internet. He had a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and he created a website with a database of Eucharistic miracles around the world and a list of approved Marian apparitions. He said “People who place themselves before the sun get a tan; people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints.”

Saint Veronica (1st Century)

Feast Day: 12 July. 

Patron saint of photographers. 

Saint Veronica is the woman of Jerusalem who wiped the face of Christ with a veil while he was on the way to Calvary. This cloth was imprinted with the true image of Christ's face and is one of the most precious relics, and known as 'Veronica's Veil'. The name Veronica is derived from the Latin 'vera icon' which means 'true icon'. Saint Veronica is not mentioned in the Bible, but is known to us by Catholic tradition and in the Sixth Station of the Cross, "Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus": 'Consider that the holy woman named Veronica, seeing Jesus so afflicted, and His Face bathed in sweat and blood, presented Him with a towel, with which He wiped His adorable face, leaving on it the impression of His holy countenance'.  

Saint Maximilian Kolbe (1984-1941)

Feast Day: 14 August.

Patron saint of journalists, media communications, recovery from drug addiction, political prisoners, prisoners, amateur radio operators, families and the pro-life movement.

Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the German death camp of Auschwitz. He was a profound theologian as well as a heroic martyr, and founder of the Militia Immaculata.

Saint Maximilian’s life was strongly influenced in 1906 by a vision of the Virgin Mary he had as a child. He described this incident: That night I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both.

Saint Mary MacKillop (1842-1909)

Feast Day:  8 August.

Patron saint of Australia and Brisbane (capital city of Queensland). 

Saint Mary of The Cross MacKillop was the first Australian to be canonized. She was born in 1842, and in 1866, founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Her order began their ministry at just one school, but in Mary MacKillop’s lifetime, they eventually expanded to working at over forty schools in Australia and the focus of the sisters became education and welfare for the rural poor throughout Australia and eventually also New Zealand.  She endured many hardships including being unjustly excommunicated for several months. Today, her order continues to work in rural Australia and a number of countries.

During her beatification in 1995, Pope Saint John Paul II (1920-2005) said that Mary MacKillop embodies the best of Australia and its people: "genuine openness to others, hospitality to strangers, generosity to the needy, justice to those unfairly treated, perseverance in the face of adversity, kindness and support to the suffering."