What is your patron saint and why did you chose him/her?

St. Shenouda the Archimandrite (nephew of St. Pigol, founder of the White monastery in Sohag in 442) is my baptismal saint, but I don't think I have a patron saint, really. I do feel a special connection to Abba John the Short (b. circa 339; also known as John Kolobos, from the Greek), both from his sayings in the collections of the Desert Fathers and from his Vita recorded by Abba Zacharias of Sakha. He was a friend of St. Bishoy (b. 320), one of the greatest saints of the Coptic Orthodox Church which I belong to. So I guess Abba John would fit, but I don't have any icons of him or anything like I do of St. Bishoy and others. I wish I did, but I just haven't found any yet.

When I was in the RCC I took Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Apostles to the Slavs, as my patron saints, on the advice of my then-priest. Looking back on it, that's kinda funny coming from a Western/Latin Catholic, but I didn't know any better, and besides I don't think there was any rule that you have to pick a saint from your own heritage (just like people have been saying in this thread about their own saints). It's still not a bad choice, all things considered, and I could even keep the theme of "Saints who invented/codified an alphabet" now if I wanted to, thanks to the veneration due to St. Mesrop Mashtots (c. 362-440), who is credited with inventing the Armenian alphabet c. 405, and is also apparently a saint for the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholics (at least according to Wiki).

Religiot said:

I've never seen that in the bible: where is that teaching found in the bible?

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It's all over the bible. It's been a common practise for millenia in the entire near east. When you come into a new covenant it's customary to change your name. The Jews name their baby boys at the bris ceremony and as has been done for the past 2000+ years (see: Luke 1:59-63, and Luke 2:21) . In christian tradition you are officially named at baptism, no name is required for a birth certificate that's why baptismal certificates are also legal identification. . When you enter into.a new divine path you change your name to reflect that, it can be at baptism or again at ordination to the episcopacy, etc.

Abrams name changed to Abraham Jacob's name was changed to Israel, Saul to Paul, Simon to Kephas etc

buzuxi02 said:

Abrams name changed to Abraham Jacob's name was changed to Israel, Saul to Paul, Simon to Kephas etc

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and Sarai to Sarah. this wasn't only done for men

I think St. Moses ( our lawgiver, 10 commandments etc.) fasting & praying to God for mercy & to remember Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob ( Deuteronomy 9, in particular: Deuteronomy 9:25-29) is a good example of the pattern of direct prayer & intercession prayer to God. The circumstances are dire but prayer is prayer in good times or bad like the Lord’s Prayer.

Where in the Bible does it say everything has to be in the Bible, furthermore whose idea even was it that everything must be in the Bible?

St Roch....

For obvious reasons.

The prayers of the saints are in Revelation 8:1-4. We have guardian angels as the Lord testifies in Matthew 18:10 and despite a case of mistaken identity, Peter’s angel was mistaken for him ( Acts of the Apostles 12:15)

Re the prayers of the saints in Revelation, the study notes of a Methodist minister in an RSV Bible I was given when I was 8 in the early 70s says that alongside the relationship to Daniel, Ezekiel etc. Revelation also has elements of the book of Enoch in it. The prayers of the saints are testified to in Enoch 39:4


CHAP. XXXIX.
1. In those days shall the elect and holy race descend from the upper heavens, and their seed shall then be with the sons of men. Enoch received books of indignation and wrath, and books of hurry and agitation.

2. Never shall they obtain mercy, saith the Lord of spirits.

3. A cloud then snatched me up, and the wind raised me above the surface of the earth, placing me at the extremity of the heavens.

4. There I saw another vision; I saw the habitations and couches of the saints. There my eyes beheld their habitations with the angels, and their couches with the holy ones. They were entreating, supplicating, and praying for the sons of men; while righteousness like water flowed before them, and mercy like dew was scattered over the earth. And thus shall it be with them for ever and for ever.

The Book of Enoch the Prophet: Chapters XXI-XL

We pray to God (Father, Son, & Holy Spirit), know Jesus Christ as our Savior, the saints pray for us, we ask for their intercession. This includes our patron saint.

Fr. Stephen de Young had a pretty good explanation of patron saints in his book. Patronage was a common practice in those days, and the Church took up the practice of adopting a heavenly patronage of "the dead" as St. Paul would call them. The Church is continuing the practice.

These are the subtle nuances you can't find in the Bible unless you have the phronema of the Church.

Religiot said:

Where in the scriptures is it found that we have patron saints? and that they pray for us?

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All cultures practise it. Names such as Michael, John, and Mary are not really European but as Europeans became christian they adopted these names and began naming their kids after them. During the age of martyrs many christians were named after them as a remembrance to their sacrifice.
Just like in the NT, Jews were still being named (and still are) with names like Jacob, and Rachel and Elijah and Noah etc ultimately leading back to the heroes of their faith.

"There is no such thing as patron saints!"

*makes contributions through Patreon to their favorite podcasters*

Patronage is alive and well in the modern age.

good point

Dorothea said:

I'll never understand why people from other Christian traditions continue to argue with us in our own forum. I wouldn't dream of disrupting another Christian group's subforum and arguing with them.

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Some individuals are simply rude and disrespectful.

Kinda makes me wish Saint Nicholas would stop by and set him straight.

Dorothea said:

I'll never understand why people from other Christian traditions continue to argue with us in our own forum. I wouldn't dream of disrupting another Christian group's subforum and arguing with them.

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It's pretty baffling...especially when you guys have a debate subforum!

Dorothea said:

I'll never understand why people from other Christian traditions continue to argue with us in our own forum. I wouldn't dream of disrupting another Christian group's subforum and arguing with them.

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well, when you don't bother to read a site's forum rules in the first place....

dzheremi said:

It's pretty baffling...especially when you guys have a debate subforum!

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Yes!

Joseph the Betrothed. My mom gave me the middle name "Joseph" as a baby and I was baptized Scott Joseph. I go by Reader Joseph now at church. I kept Joseph as my patron saint as I hope to be as good a caretaker and faithful/thoughtful man as he was/is.

I have been praying to St. Paisios of Mt. Athos to help me get into the Orthodox church. When this happens, I will take him as my patron saint. The stories about his intervention in response to people's prayers are inspiring.