List of Diocesan Patron Saints for Every Diocese in the United States

Who are the patron saints for your Diocese? Do you know if your Diocese has secondary patrons in addition to your primary patron? Did you know that your Diocese's patron saint might not be the same as the Cathedral's titular patron? I was disappointed to find no list online of the various patron saints for each of the Roman Catholic Dioceses in the United States. Since the feastdays of these patrons should be kept as first-class feasts in each diocese, they are important to honor in our prayers at Mass and in the Divine Office in the local churches. In fact, the primary patron saint for each diocese would have been a Holy Day of Obligation up until the time of St. Pius X's changes in 1911. As a result, I sought to create such a list.

The following list details the principal patrons, secondary patrons, and titular patrons for each Diocese. Unfortunately, not all dioceses listed a patron. Some records on sites like GCatholic.org were inaccurate. I have attempted to list patrons in the respective categories only if the Diocese's website or historical records mentioned the patron. Unfortunately, there is certainly the possibility of some error, so if you see anything questionable, please contact me to research. I thank those who offered assistance during this research.

It is my hope that through this project Catholics will better honor their diocesan patron(s) by praying the Divine Office in a festive manner on their feastday(s) and hearing Holy Mass on these days. For those who travel often, this list can be a helpful reference for the feastdays of other American Dioceses.

May Our Lord, Our Lady, and all of these holy patrons bring about a resurgence of Christendom and Tradition which always included the proper honoring of Diocesan patrons as well as the honoring of the anniversary of the Diocesan Cathedral.

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What is the Difference Between a Patronal Feastday and a Titular Feast?

At other times, in order to show special devotion to some mystery, or to some manifestation of God's love, the church receives a name that will keep that mystery or mark of love always before the people of the parish. Thus churches are sometimes called after the Holy Trinity, the Precious Blood, the Assumption, or, as in our own case here, the church of the Sacred Heart. 

The intention in so naming churches is, in the case of a saint, that the people should have special love for that saint; that they should place themselves under his protection, and, by the study and imitation of his life, make themselves worthy of his intercession before God. That saint, in whose honor the church is named, becomes the patron saint of the place, and his feast is called the patronal feast. But when a church is named in honor of some mystery or mark of divine love or divine object, the people are supposed to have great veneration and love for the mystery, mark or object commemorated by the church's name: and the name of the mystery, mark, or object is called the title of the church, and when the anniversary of the feast comes around, it is called the titular feast.

Source: The Sacred Heart Review published on June 29, 1889