How to Pick a Patron Saint Who Actually Fits Your Life
When it came time to pick my patron saint at confirmation, I picked the saint whose name I liked most. Maybe you did something similar. I think a lot of us picked a patron saint because we liked the name, loved the artwork on a holy card, or grabbed whoever was still available.
But there’s good news - you can have more than one patron saint. And there is a fundamentally better way to choose one, and you can do it this weekend. Stop picking by name. Start picking by circumstance.
Watch the Video
A saint chosen by name is probably someone you admire. A saint chosen by circumstance is someone who has been where you are.
The first gives you an inspiring story to read. The second gives you someone to talk to at eleven o'clock at night when everything feels overwhelming, and they become a companion who knows the exact terrain you are walking through.
Step 1: Name Your Actual Circumstance
Before looking up lists of saints, articulate your actual circumstance. Not just your broad vocation, but your situation right now, this year.
Be as specific as possible:
"I am in a marriage that is hard."
"I am in a job I did not choose."
"I am caring for an aging parent and nobody else is helping."
"I am tired and I cannot explain why."
"I keep feeling like I am not doing enough."
This is the step that almost everyone skips, but it is the exact key that unlocks everything else.
Step 2: Look for Who Was Holy in That Exact Situation
Once you name your situation, go looking for women and men who walked through that precise struggle:
In a difficult marriage: Daphrose Rugamba prayed for seventeen years through a painful marriage before her husband's conversion.
In a role you did not choose (or had to leave): Blessed Bolesława Lament left religious life before taking permanent vows after nine years in the convent, ran a tailor shop, and eventually founded her own religious order twenty-one years later.
Under intense pressure or scrutiny: Margit Slachta, the first female parliamentarian in Hungary, removed her recognizable habit so she could quietly walk into the Budapest ghetto unnoticed to protect people.
Exhausted and physically spent: Saint Dulce Lopes Pontes ran massive healthcare institutions for thirty years operating with only thirty percent lung capacity.
Haunted by the feeling of not doing enough: Margarete Sommer saved around 120 families during WWII yet spent the rest of her life haunted by the feeling that she should have done more.
Step 3: How to Find Your Saint
Search by situation, not name: You can do research online, ask at your parish or look up specialized patron saint indexes focused on life circumstances.
Expand your view: Your patron does not have to be fully canonized yet. Servants of God, Venerables, and Blessed individuals count, as do holy men and women known only to God.
Check your roots: Look at who your parish, your school, or your grandparents were named for. Patronage frequently runs through families and places.
Step 4: The 8-Second Daily Practice
A patron saint you never speak to is just a holy bookmark.
Once you identify your patron saint, incorporate this simple 8-second daily practice into your life: say their name out loud once a day and say:"You were here. Pray for me."
That's the entire practice. Direct, authentic, and rooted in shared experience.
Find Yours
Do not pick the one with the best name. Pick the one who has been where you are right now.
Have you found a patron saint through your current season of life? Watch the video above, drop a comment, and let us know who he or she is.