How the saint of the day is chosen
Every date on the Catholic calendar remembers at least one saint, and most remember several. The “saint of the day” on this page follows the General Roman Calendar, the list of celebrations the Church uses for Mass around the world, together with the proper calendar of the United States. On days with no celebration on those calendars, we pick a well-known saint from the Roman Martyrology, the Church’s complete register of saints and blesseds, which lists several for every date.
Each day page gives the main saint, a short life story written for this site, the other saints of the day, and the given names that traditionally celebrate that saint.
Feast days and their rank
Not every celebration has the same weight. The calendar revised in 1969 after the Second Vatican Council sorts them into four ranks:
| Rank | Example | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Solemnity | Dec 25 | The highest rank: Christmas, Easter, the Assumption, Sts. Peter and Paul. |
| Feast | Jan 25 | Apostles, evangelists and key events, like the Conversion of St. Paul. |
| Memorial | Nov 11 | A saint the whole Church remembers, like St. Martin of Tours. |
| Optional memorial | Nov 16 | A saint each parish may choose to celebrate, or not, like St. Margaret of Scotland. |
Most saints are remembered on the day they died, their “birthday into heaven.” That is why St. Francis of Assisi falls on October 4 and St. Thérèse of Lisieux on October 1. A few dates were moved in 1969 to clear space or to match the date of death, so an older missal may disagree with a newer one.
Saints on the U.S. calendar
Each country adds its own saints to the general calendar. In the United States that includes St. Elizabeth Ann Seton on January 4, St. Katharine Drexel on March 3, St. Damien of Molokai on May 10, St. Junípero Serra on July 1, St. Kateri Tekakwitha on July 14 and St. Frances Xavier Cabrini on November 13. Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, is kept as a feast on December 12. When a U.S. saint shares a date with a saint on the general calendar, both appear on the day page.
Feast day, name day and patron saint
A feast day is the date the Church celebrates a saint. A name day is the custom of celebrating your own given name on the feast of the saint you are named after. It is a big deal in many countries: in Italy (onomastico), Poland (imieniny), Greece, Spain, France and much of Central and Eastern Europe, people send greetings and sometimes throw a small party. Catholics in the U.S. often learn about it at Confirmation, when they pick a saint’s name and a patron for life.
Names that grew out of a saint’s name usually share the feast. Michelle and Mitchell celebrate with St. Michael on September 29, Jack with St. John the Apostle on December 27, Molly and Maria with the Virgin Mary. Use the name search above to find the date for a name, or browse the full name day calendar from A to Z.
Popular saints and their feast days
Some feast days are known well beyond church walls. Here are the dates people search for most often:
| Saint | Feast day | Patron of |
|---|---|---|
| St. Valentine | Feb 14 | Couples and engaged people |
| St. Patrick | Mar 17 | Ireland |
| St. Joseph | Mar 19 | Fathers, workers, the universal Church |
| St. Anthony of Padua | Jun 13 | Lost things |
| St. Michael the Archangel | Sep 29 | Police officers, soldiers |
| St. Francis of Assisi | Oct 4 | Animals and ecology |
| St. Jude | Oct 28 | Hopeless causes |
| St. Nicholas | Dec 6 | Children, sailors |
Moveable feasts
Some of the biggest celebrations move every year because they depend on the date of Easter: Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Ascension, Pentecost, the Most Holy Trinity, Corpus Christi and the Sacred Heart. They take precedence over the saint of the day when they fall on the same date, but the saint keeps the same date on the fixed calendar. See when Easter falls this year and the holiday calendar for the moveable dates.
How to use the tool
When the page opens, it shows today’s saint based on your device’s date. The arrows on either side of the date step to yesterday and tomorrow, and tapping the date opens two wheels for the month and the day. The saint’s name links to the day page, with the life story, the other saints, the names of the day and the day of the week for the next five years. To find a feast day, switch to “Feast day of a name” and type a few letters: accents are optional.
Planning ahead for a name day card or a parish event? Pair this tool with the yearly calendar or check the day of the week for any date. For example, St. Martin of Tours, on November 11, shares his day with Veterans Day.