2018 Patron Saint of the Year Devotion

(Jan 14 - The devotion is now closed for the year.  Thank you for all who participated.  This devotion takes a lot of time to administer so I thank you in advance for your prayers, participation, and donations.  Please remember to invoke your patron saint often this year.  And remember to make truly Catholic resolutions)

(Jan 8 - 1:20 PM: Next Round of Results are in.  Table at the bottom of this post is updated)

(Jan 1st - 12:12 PM: RESULTS ARE IN. SCROLL DOWN).  You may still enter but upcoming drawings will only be occurring on Sundays for the next few weeks.

I am very pleased to again be a facilitator for the Patron Saint of the Year Devotion.  I have been part of this annual tradition since 2006 and have helped coordinate devotions for hundreds of families.  It is my pleasure to now be part of the 2018 Patron Saint of the Year Devotion.

SPONSOR: This Devotion is being sponsored this year by CatechismClass.com.  Whether you are looking for godparent preparation courses, Sacramental preparation for your children, or just to better learn the Faith as an adult, CatechismClass.com has courses for all ages and walks of life.  Check out CatechismClass.com's affordable programs and make it a resolution in 2018 to learn and live the Faith better than ever before.

You can read about the past devotions at the following posts:

• 2006 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2007 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2008 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2010 Saint for the Year Devotion 
• 2011 Saint for the Year Devotion 
• 2012 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2013 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2014 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2015 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2016 Saint for the Year Devotion
• 2017 Saint for the Year Devotion

Again, I would like to take a few minutes to explain the devotion.

When will the saints be drawn?  This year I will start the drawing of saints on the Octave Day of Christmas after the morning's Solemn High Mass and after the recitation of both the Veni Creator Spiritus and the Litany of Saints.  Drawings will occur as the Litany of Saints are again recited.  That means results will likely be posted in the early afternoon (US Central Time) on January 1st.

How do I enter?  Just add the names of everyone (you and your family) that you want included in the drawing in the comment box below.  DO NOT also email them to me.  Please leave all entries here in the comment box.

This year, saints will be posted here after the drawing is complete.

What is the Saint for the Year Devotion? Here is my post on this from years past to clarify the matter. This is from the person that draws all of the saints. I don't draw the saints. I will merely pass on your name or screenname to her so that she will draw a saint for you. Also, I will pass on the name of any of your family or friends that would like to participate. This isn't superstition. St. Faustina did the same thing!

Last year hundreds of people received saints to be their special patron, and there were miraculous connections. It was truly amazing. We pray that this year the Holy Ghost will again work so that all participants receive a saint that they will be able to pray to for aid throughout the entire year:

Saint for the Year

I want to tell you about the practice of picking a saint at random to be your “holy protector” for the year. Actually, the saint is the one who chooses us though. The tradition of letting a saint “pick you,” is not a new one. St. Faustina wrote about it in her diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul. The excerpt is below.

“There is a custom among us of drawing by lot, on New Year's Day, special Patrons for ourselves for the whole year. In the morning during meditation, there arose within me a secret desire that the Eucharistic Jesus be my special Patron for this year also, as in the past. But, hiding this desire from my Beloved, I spoke to Him about everything else but that. When we came to refectory for breakfast, we blessed ourselves and began drawing our patrons. When I approached the holy cards on which the names of the patrons were written, without hesitation I took one, but I didn't read the name immediately as I wanted to mortify myself for a few minutes. Suddenly, I heard a voice in my soul: ‘I am your patron. Read.’ I looked at once at the inscription and read, ‘Patron for the Year 1935 - the Most Blessed Eucharist.’ My heart leapt with joy, and I slipped quietly away from the sisters and went for a short visit before the Blessed Sacrament, where I poured out my heart. But Jesus sweetly admonished me that I should be at that moment together with the sisters. I went immediately in obedience to the rule.”Excerpt from Divine Mercy in My Soul, the Diary of St. Faustina"

I have a container full of names ... I will be glad to pick out the name for you and send you the name if you prefer. I am so excited by my saint(s) ... I already picked mine. Well, I should say that they picked me ... I have Saints Marcus and Marcellianus ... they are twin brothers who were sent to prison before their death. St. Sebastian visited them continually in prison and helped keep their faith alive. They are buried near St. Felix and are specifically honored in Spain.

OK now ... here are a couple of immediate ironies in regard to these saints ... I have a SPECIAL place in my heart for twins! As a child, I LOVED reading the story about St. Sebastian. I had a children's book of saints and I think I wore out the pages on St. Sebastian! Felix is my grandfather's name! Silvia, our exchange student, is from Spain! I am so excited to have these two saints to walk through 2006 with me! I'm looking forward as to where and how they will intercede for me.

Please pass this message on through your blogs and/or email distribution lists, letting all of the Catholic Blogsphere have the chance to participate.

So, please leave it below in the comment box when you ask to participate. If you wish to remain anonymous, please leave your initials instead of your name.  Anonymous requests without names or initials will NOT be part of the drawing.  Do not add the same request more than once.  If your comment is posted below, it will count.

Note: DO NOT email me your entries.  Leave all submissions here in the comments box.

So, comment below and pass this message on throughout the entire Catholic Blogsphere!

Support

I handle the planning, marketing, and drawing for this devotion each year without any cost. Please take a minute and if you are a supporter of this devotion, please consider leaving us a free will donation. Your support is greatly appreciated and helps me continue working on this devotion and spreading it further and it helps keep A Catholic Life online.

Results

I am pleased to announce the results of this year's drawing which took place after Mass, the chanting of the Veni Sanctae Spiritus, and during the Litany of the Saints.  It is my hope that you will pray to your special patron this year, remember them on their feastday, and invoke their intercession.   

As mentioned in my post on the devotion, this takes up considerable time for me each year so thank you for those who have (or will) donate a small donation (even $10.00) for all of the time involved.  It is appreciated!

I have previously posted the Prayer to Venerate Any Saint, which you may use for your saint listed below.

Please join me in praying the Litany of Saints and asking for a holy 2018 for all of us.  For my own listing of the saints, please click here to learn more about the saints.

Name	Saint
Christine MacLeod	St. Jean-Charles Cornay
Josemaria Lazaro Errazuriz-Forgione	St. John Nepomucene Neumann
Paddy318	St. Frumentius
Tim W	St. Torpes of Pisa
Peter D	St. Patroclus of Troyes
Andrew D	St. Anthony of Egypt
Max D	St. Barnabas
James D	St. Goneri of Brittany
Francis D	St. Athanasius
Michael D	Blessed Chiara Badano
Nicholas D	St. Slyvester
Dominic D	St. Orontius of Lecce
Nathan B	St. Theodosius of Antioch
Mason C	St. Magnus of Fossombrone
Griffin C	St. Faustinus
Elijah C	St. Maurice of Carnoet
Lisa B	Blessed John of Vercelli
Alma R	St. Basil the Great
John R	St. Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi
Valerie V	St. Paul the First Hermit
Olindo V	St. Isaac the Presbyter
Katherine V	St. Gertrude the Great
Marje J	St. Alexis Falconieri
Ian J	St. Baldwin of Rieti
Michelle C	Blessed Simon
Michelle C's Husband	St. Isabelle of France
Stephen L	St. Dogmael of Wales
Theresa (Terry)	St. Emilien of Nantes
John	Blessed Maria Assunta Pallotta
Joseph	St. Adelelmus of Flanders
Katie	Blessed Innocent V
Katharine O'Brien	Blessed Josefa Naval Girbes
Laura P	St. Philip the Apostle
Maverick C	St. Bede the Venerable
Laura L	St. Noel Chabanel
Julie T	St. Joseph, the Foster Father of Jesus
William T	St. William of Ebelholt
Scott T	Pope St. Sixtus II
Blake T	Pope St. Pius X
Ruth S	St. Salvius of Amiens
Fran T	St. Odo of Cluny
Cathleen	St. Dominic of Silos
Cindy	Blessed Guillaume-Nicolas-Louis Leclerq
Dustin	Blessed Sebastian Maggi
Lila	Blessed Peter of Castello
Hailey	St. Andeolus of Smyrna
Jenna S	St. Ambrose
Heidi M	Blessed Gonsalvo
Harry Tucci Jr	St. Rosius of Campania
Isabella Tucci	St. Sebastian of Aparicio
Janine D	St. Catherine of Genoa
K.	St. Rose of Lima
Flikie	St. Estelle
Ben (38)	St. Frances Cabrini
Jannie (36)	St. Isabelle of France
Felicity (7)	Blessed Jane of Orvieto
Sarah (4)	St. Titus
Veronica (7 mo)	St. Dogmael of Wales
Anna B	St. Ansgar
Lynn K	St. Catherine of Genoa
Linda S	St. Maurice
Edward	Blessed Jane of Orvieto
Trinity Lynn	St. Ezekiel Moreno y Dias
Trinity James	St. Dominic Savio
Deisre	St. Quintus the Thaumaturge
Nathan	St. Jeanne de Lestonnac
Autumn	Blessed Augustine Novello
Dacotah	Blessed Maria Assunta Pallotta
Jill	St. Honoratus of Arles
Dana	St. Augustin Schoeffler
Michael	St. Julio Alvarez Mendoza
Madeline	Pope St. Anicetus
Mary	St. Maurice of Carnoet
Barry M Family	St. Colette of Corbie
Samuel M	St. Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi
Aleksandra G	Blessed Gonsalvo
Julie R	St. Cecilia
Carolyn Clark	Blessed Aimo
Joseph Clark	St. Lawrence
Kathryn Hoey	Blessed Gonsalvo
Paige S	Blessed Augustine Kazotic
Shirley S	St. Cacius (2nd Century Martyr)
Joseph V	St. Simon the Apostle
Joanne L	St. Andrew the Catechist
Mary SPI	St. Stanislaus Kostka
Samuel	Our Lady of Fatima
Kelly	St. Ambrose
Rileigh	St. Polycarp
Diane L	St. Albert of Montecorvino
Jennifer	St. Anthony Zaccaria
Kilian	Blessed Anthony Neyrot
Dominik	St. Rose Philippine Duchesne
Justus	St. Julian the Hospitaller
Talitha	St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland
Silas	Blessed Anthony of Pavonio
Sioban Milne	St. Conon, Bishop of the Isle of Man
Emily Milne	St. Nonno of Porto Romano
Katie Milne	St. John Vianney
Ian Milne	St. Guirec
Lili V.	Blessed Peter Higgins
Allen V.	St. Severinus
Lucia V.	St. Jeanne de Lestonnac
Colleen C.	St. Stephen the First Martyr
Mary C	St. Bernard of Thiron
Cathy Boyle	St. Crispina
William	St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
Matthew	St. William of Pontoise
Richard	St. Jeanne de Lestonnac
Olindo	St. Venant de Viviers
M.H	St. Ioannes Pak Hu-jae
H.B	Blessed James of Varazze
Madalena	Blessed Marguerite Robin
Tracy I	St. Conon, Bishop of the Isle of Man
Teshia I	Blessed Margaret of Savoy
Christian I	St. Adelaide of Italy
Jagear I	St. Catherine Laboure
Kathy Wilcox	St. Martin of Tours
DS	St. Apollonius the Apologetic
KM	St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
SL	St. Ignatius of Loyola
CL	St. Ezekiel Moreno y Dias
Jim	St. Martin of Tours
Rebecca	St. Leo the Great
John	Blessed Benedict XI
Kathy	Blessed Julia Rodzinska
Mary	Blessed Josefa Naval Girbes
Adam	Blessed Ann of the Angels
David	Blessed Peter Ruffia
Mary Anne	Our Lady of Prompt Succor
Jane	Blessed Aaron of Cracow
Thomas	St. Paternus of Auch
Daniel	St. Hitto of Saint-Gall
Lucy	St. Helladius
Peter	St. Wenceslaus
Claire	St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Lily	Blessed Peter of Castello
Suzie	St. Nazarius of Rome
Luke	Blessed Margaret of Castello
Linda Hildreth	St. John Vianney
Dorothy C	St. John Eudes
Lucy Espinoza	St. John Baptist de la Salle
Magdiel	St. Jean-Charles Cornay
James B	St. Martha
Michelle B	St. Cecilia
Craig J	Blessed William Andleby
Andrew J	St. Adelin of Seez
Christopher J	St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle
Frank B	St. Guaugericus
Mark L	St. Eusebius of Laodicea
Helen B	St. Bridget of Sweden
jmr1979	St. Rose of Lima
Terry L	Blessed John of Fiesole
Lisa L	St. Vitus
Laura Vill	St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle
Angelo Velas	St. Martina
Maryann​ Sym. Jeffrey D	St. Jeanne-Marie de Maille St. Frederick of Liege