Saints
Whom to turn to, and for what
A hundred and ninety saints and two hundred and fifty-three intentions. You type what you are praying for — illness, an exam, a journey, work — and see who is invoked for it, with a short description and a prayer. It works the other way too: look a saint up by name.
What it gives you
Search by intention
You need not know the saint's name. Type "toothache" and get Saint Apollonia; type "exam" and get the patrons of students.
It understands the language
You type as people speak — "illness", "pregnancy", "work" — and the search finds "the sick", "mothers in labour", "workers".
A prayer with each
When you find a saint there is also a short invocation you can pray in half a minute, not only a list of patronages.
By name as well
The whole list ordered by the name itself rather than by "Saint", so Anthony sits under A.
A sample — search by intention
Common intentions
1 saint
A martyr of Alexandria, patroness against toothache.
Invoked for
A sample only. The whole directory of 190 saints opens inside the app.
Patron saints and their patronages
The question "which saint do I pray to" comes up exactly when it is needed: before an operation, the night before an exam, before a journey, when something is lost. The answer has existed for centuries but lies scattered through books and is hard to reach at the moment it matters. This directory turns the question round — you do not look for a saint, you look for an intention.
Patronages are not decoration. Saint Blaise is invoked for the throat, Saint Apollonia against toothache, Saint Florian against fire, Saint Anthony when something is lost, Saint Anne for mothers, Saint Joseph for workers and for a good death. When you know whom to turn to for what, prayer stops being general.
Each saint carries the feast day, a sentence on who they were, the list of patronages and a short invocation. The same data drives the saint of the day, so what appears on the home screen today can also be looked up in advance — before a name day, say, or the feast of a parish patron.
Frequently asked
Which saint do I pray to in illness?
Type "illness" into the intention search and you get the patrons of the sick — among them Saint Roch and Saint Bernadette.
How many saints are in the directory?
A hundred and ninety saints and two hundred and fifty-three distinct intentions.
Do I need to know the saint's name?
No. That is what the intention search is for — you type what you are praying for and it finds who is invoked.
Does it cost anything?
No. The directory is available to every member, and registration is free.