St. Bernadette Soubirous & the Patron Saints of France

St. Bernadette Soubirous and the Patron Saints of France

Patron Saints

Catholic tradition assigns a patron saint as a name at baptism and also at confirmation. This practice still prevails and is highly recommended by the Church and many religious educators.


Besides patron saints as names for individuals, saints are also adopted and appointed by popes as patrons of four groups: (1) parishes and other Church institutions; (2) for dioceses; (3) countries; and (4) a wide variety of trades and professions. It was Pope Pius XII who particularly fostered this practice.


For France as a nation, many patron saints have been assigned: Our Lady of the Assumption, St. Denis, St. Bernadette Soubirous, St. Joan of Arc, St. Martin of Tours, St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Remigius.

St. Bernadette Soubirous

Her feast day is celebrated every February 11. Born in Lourdes, France, St. Bernadette lived in abject poverty with her parents. Uneducated, she suffered from asthma. On February 11, 1858 A.D., while collecting firewood with two other girls on the banks of the Gave River near Lourdes, she heard the sound of a strong wind. This led her to see a cave filled with light. That light was an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After seeing the vision, she reported it to others, but her report provoked skepticism. Still, St. Bernadette continued and persisted in her visits to the Blessed Mother in the cave from February 18 up to March 4. In one of her visits, Mary asked St. Bernadette to pray for the conversion of sinners, and to tell the priests to build a chapel at the site. Because of St. Bernadette's witness, the Church authorities eventually believed and soon Lourdes became one of the great pilgrimage centers of modern Christendom. The shrine at Lourdes attract millions of visitors every year. And miracles of healing are being reported at the shrine, for the waters of the spring are miraculous - causing healing of both body and soul. St. Bernadette died on April 16, 1879 A.D. at the age of thirty-five. Her body remains incorrupt to this day attesting to the great power of God's grace.

St. Denis

October 9 is the feast day of St. Denis, bishop and martyr. What is known of St. Denis is his birth in Italy and his commission by Pope Fabian to be a missionary to Gaul in 250 A.D. As St. Denis performed his mission in Gaul, he converted many people to the Christian faith. He was made the first bishop of Paris. With the help of his companion priest, St. Rusticus, and the deacon, St. Eleutherius, St. Denis converted many inhabitants around Paris. Since not all within the environs of Paris were Christian, St. Denis and his two companions were arrested. All three were imprisoned and beheaded on October 9 near Paris during the persecution of Christians by Decius. The bodies of these three martyrs were thrown into the Seine River, but soon recovered by their converts. All three were given a Christian burial. A chapel was built over their tomb and later became the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Denis. This also became the burial place of the Kings of France.

St. Joan of Arc

A third patron saint of France is St. Joan of Arc. Her feast day is celebrated every May 30. As a young girl, Joan received heavenly messages from voices she heard. These voices from God called her to lead the army of France against the British, and help the King of France reconquer the kingdom. St. Joan was victorious in her battles, but was captured by the British and burned to the stake as a "witch". They believed that the voices Bernadette heard were from the Evil One. After Bernadette's martyrdom at the stake, her mother worked to reverse the charge against Joan. Eventually, Joan was considered innocent of all the accusations and charges that caused her martyrdom. She was canonized in 1920 A.D.

Other patron saints of France

The other patron saints of France are: Our Lady of the Assumption; St. Martin of Tours, an outstanding pioneer of Western monasticism before St. Benedict; St. Therese of Lisieux, "the saint of the little way"; and St. Remigius, a bishop held in great veneration for his holiness, learning, and miracles.