300/365 All Saints Day

It's not a holy day of obligation, because it falls on a Monday. But it's All Saints Day. Here are the saints in my household:

Brigid: The Irish one, not the St. Bridget of Sweden. Naomh Brigid of Kildare. Patron of dairy maids, newborns, midwives, travelers, children whose parents are not married, blacksmiths, sailors, and poets. This is her cross, too, which is in several places in our house.

Michael: the Archangel. Patron of, well, what isn't he the patron of? Fencing, hatmakers, Toronto, barrelmakers, all of Germany, radiologists, police officers, etc.

Sarah: the wife of Abraham, patron of gypsies. Matriarch to the Jewish faith.

Edward: there are several to choose from and I don't know which. I like Edward Oldcorne, who isn't a saint yet, but simply beatified ("simply"). He was a Jesuit who was martyred after the Gunpowder Plot in England.

Sophia: Allegorical saint, name meaning Wisdom. Martyr Sophia in the orthodox church. Mother of Faith, Hope, and Charity (hence, allegory).

Beatrix da Silva: courtier in the 15th century Portuguese court who retired to a Cisterian monastery and later founded her own order.

Leo: I haven't picked a Leo yet. Leo the Great was a pope...but there's a Franciscan called Brother Leo I like better.

Benedict: Duh. He also has his own cross, on the back of his medieval medal that I wear all the time.

Other saints that we're fond of: Peter the Apostle, Hildegard of Bingen, Patrick, Venerable Bede, Bernadette, Teresa of Avila, Mechtilde of Magdeburg, Anthony, Nicholas, Alphonsus Liguori, Joseph, Kateri Tekakwitha, and a variety of folks that aren't considered beatified or canonized by the church. But maybe I'll save them for tomorrow, the Feast of All Souls.