Saint Days

The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. Feast Days of Patron Saints are associated with days of the year and referred to as the Patron Saint’s Feast Day. The word “feast” does not refer to a meal, but instead “an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint”.

The feast days began during Christian custom of commemorating martyrs on the dates of their deaths and at the same time celebrating their birth into heaven. Feast days are often marked by those who consider a certain saint as patron. In the case of a national patron, the feast day may be a public holiday.

As the number of recognized saints increased, eventually every day of the year had at least one saint who was commemorated on that date. To deal with this increase, some saints were moved to alternate days in some traditions, or completely removed, with the result that some saints have different feast days in different calendars.

While Saint Days may seem out of place on a pagan calendar, it actually is not. There are a surprising number of rituals and spell workings associated with particular saints and their feast days.  The Saint days that are of interest here, are listed below in alphabetical order and linked to their respective information.

• All Saints Day – Jul 11 and Nov 1
• Festival of the Holy Marys – May 25
• St Agatha’s Day – Feb 5
• St Agathius Day – May 7 (sometimes listed as May 8)
• St Agnes Eve – Jan 21
• Feast of St Agnes – Jan 22
• Feast of St Anne – July 26
• St Andrew’s Day – Nov 30
• St Anne’s Eve – Jul 23
• St Basil Feast Day – Jan 2
• St Benedict Day – Jul 11
• St Bernadette’s Feast Day – Apr 16
• St Blaze Day – Feb 3
• St Brighid’s Day – Feb 2
• St Columba of Iona – Jun 9
• St David’s Day – Mar 1
• St Distaff’s Day – (not actually a saint) – Jan 7
• St Dwynwen’s Day – Jan 25
• St Francis Day – Oct 4
• St George’s Day – Apr 23 or May 6
• Feast of the Holy Innocents – Dec 28
• St James Day – Apr 30
• St John’s Day – Jun 24
• St Joseph’s Day – Mar 19
• St Knut’s Day – Jan 13
• St Lawrence Day – Aug 10
• Festival of the Holy Marys – May 25
• Mary Magdalene Feast Day – Jul 22
• St Nicholas Day – Dec 6
• Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast Day – Dec 12
• St Patrick’s Day – Mar 17
• St Paul’s Day – Jan 25
• St Peter’s Day – Jan  16
• St Peter and St Paul Feast Day – Jun 29
• St Philip’s Day – May 3
• Feast of the Queen of Heaven – May 30
• Feast of Saint Sophia – May 15
• St Stephen’s Day – Dec 26
• St. Swithin’s Day – Jul 15
• Three Chilly Saints – May 11, 12, 13
• St Valentine’s Day – Feb 14
• St Vladamir’s Day – Jun 15

For more in depth information on the individual saints, visit The Powers That Be