Why Do Catholics Ask Saints for Help?
Catholics do not believe that saints perform miracles or answer prayers on their own. God is the source of all grace.
When we ask a saint for help, we are asking that saint to pray for us—to intercede with God on our behalf, just as we might ask a friend or family member to pray for us.
So when we say, “St. Anthony, help me find what I’ve lost,” we are asking St. Anthony to join his prayers with ours and bring our need before God.
We pray with the saints, and we ask the saints to pray for us. We worship God alone.
Which saint do Catholics traditionally turn to for…?”
Here are some of the most familiar ones:
Here are some of the most familiar ones:
- St. Anthony of Padua — lost things
- St. Christopher — travelers and safe travel
- St. Joseph — workers, fathers, families, and a happy death
- St. Jude — desperate or seemingly hopeless causes
- St. Francis of Assisi — animals and care for creation
- St. Thérèse of Lisieux — everyday needs; doing small things with great love
- St. Michael the Archangel — protection against evil
- St. Peregrine — people with cancer and serious illness
- St. Padre Pio — healing, suffering, and difficult illnesses
- St. Dymphna — people experiencing mental or emotional suffering
- St. Monica — children and loved ones who have fallen away from the faith
- St. Gerard Majella — expectant mothers, pregnancy, and childbirth
- St. Anne — mothers, grandmothers, and families
- St. Valentine — engaged couples and happy marriages
- St. Cecilia — musicians and singers
- St. Francis de Sales — writers and journalists
- St. Isidore the Farmer — farmers and agricultural workers
- St. Florian — firefighters
- St. Luke — physicians and healthcare workers
- St. Matthew — accountants, bankers, and financial workers
- St. Joseph of Cupertino — students taking exams
- St. Blaise — ailments of the throat
- St. Lucy — eyesight and people with eye problems
- St. Nicholas — children
- St. Rita of Cascia — difficult and seemingly impossible situations
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