November in the Catholic tradition is a month of remembrance of the dead. To begin this, All Saints’ Day is celebrated on the 1st, and All Souls’ Day on the 2nd. These are not nationally recognised holidays and are no longer holy days of obligation in Australia, but the Church continues to encourage prayers of the faithful for the departed during this time.
Saints are those who are recognised as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness to God. It comes from the Greek work ‘hagious’ which means “consecrated to God”. October is a great month to reflect on the Saints of the Catholic Church as we celebrate many of the Churches greatest.
See below for some information about 7 Saints who celebrate their feast days in October.
Corpus Christi, also known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, is celebrated on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday. This year, it is celebrated on the 8th of June. This feast day, translated as “The Body and Blood of Christ”, is a day to honour the sacred body of Jesus Christ.
This Sunday, we celebrate Pentecost. The Solemnity of Pentecost commemorates the Holy Spirit appearing to the Apostles fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus.
On the 13th of May, we celebrate the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima. This day marks the day that the Blessed Mother appeared to the children of Fatima in Portugal, in 1917. These children were Lucia, and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta.
The 25th of April is the Feast Day of Mark the Evangelist, the author of Mark’s Gospel in the New Testament. Mark’s gospel influenced Matthew and Luke to write their gospels. It is the shortest account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He is known as the Patron Saint of lawyers, lions, notaries, and prisoners.
St Agnes (Saint Agnes of Rome) is known as the patron saint for young girls. She was martyred at the age of 12 or 13, for her strong belief in God, and denied all requests for marriage. She is often pictured with a lamb, symbolising her purity. We celebrate her feast day on the 21st of January.
December the 8th, we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Many people assume the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Jesus, but it is in fact the conception of Mary herself.
There are more than 10,000 Saints recognised in the Catholic Church. To celebrate each one of them, on the 1st of November, we celebrate All Saints Day. This day is to venerate all the holy men and woman that were canonized by the Church. The first Saint, St Ulrich of Augsburg was canonised in 993, and more recently, St Carlos Acutis canonised in 2020.
On the 4th of October we celebrate the St Francis of Assisi Memorial – only 1 day after his date of birth. This feast commemorates the life of St Francis, the Patron Saint of animals and the environment.