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Saint Niketas in armour with a sword, turning to the Virgin and Child, an icon by Prokopy Chirin of 1593

Saint Niketas the Goth

Goth of the Danube who brought his people to Christ and was thrown into a fire for it

Patron of
the protection of children from birth defects
Western calendar
15 September
Orthodox calendar
15 September (28 September on the old calendar)

Niketas was a Goth who lived on the banks of the Danube, baptised by the Gothic bishop Theophilos, who took part in the First Ecumenical Council, and he brought many of his own people to Christ by his example and his words. When King Athanaric regained power and turned on the Christians, Niketas denounced his cruelty, and Athanaric had him tortured and thrown into a fire in 372. The Orthodox tell that the fire did not burn his body, which a Christian named Marianus carried away by night and buried in Cilicia, and his relics were later taken to Constantinople.

Sources

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What is a saint’s feast day?

It is the day each year when the Church remembers a saint in its prayers, and for most saints it is the day they died and went home to God. Many saints here have two dates, because the Western and Orthodox Churches keep their own calendars, and some Orthodox churches still count by the old Julian calendar, which runs thirteen days behind ours.

What is a patron saint?

A patron saint is one we ask to pray for us in a particular place, work or need, as many ask Anthony of Padua for help when something is lost, and as Ireland looks to Patrick. A few patronages were declared by a pope, and most grew from long custom. A card says “Patron of” only where a source we checked names one.

A saint I’m looking for is missing. Can you add it?

Yes. Try the name another way first, or the saint’s feast day, because some saints are better known by a title. If they are still not here, send us the name through our contact page, and we will add the saint once we have checked their life and feast days in sources we trust.

Why did you choose these saints and not others?

We began with the saints people search for most, by name, by need and by date, along with the apostles and the saints Orthodox Christians look for. Then we made sure every day of the year has at least one saint. That gives 378 so far, and we keep adding the saints readers ask for.

Every saint here, by feast day

Choosing a confirmation saint

Catholics preparing for Confirmation often choose a saint as a patron and take that saint’s name. It is a custom, and a candidate may keep their baptismal name. The norms of the Diocese of Honolulu say that candidates “may use their baptismal name for Confirmation,” and that “by custom” they may take another from the holy men and women of Scripture, the saints or the virtues. Dioceses differ, so ask your parish what it expects.

Ways to find a saint

  • Start with your own name. Type your first name in the finder above. Many names belong to more than one saint, and the finder lists them.
  • Try a date that matters to you. Type your birthday or baptism day to see whose feast it is.
  • Look for what you do or care about. Type a job, a study or a need, or begin with one of the patrons below.
  • Read the life before you choose. Each entry gives a short life and the sources it came from, including where the history is uncertain.
  • Talk it over with your sponsor. Canon law asks the sponsor to help the person confirmed live “as a true witness of Christ.”

Some patrons to begin with

At the ceremony the name is usually said on its own. In the Honolulu norms, the title and the place are left off, so Saint Catherine of Siena becomes “Catherine.”

About this list

What this shows

378 saints of the Western and Orthodox churches: each saint’s feast day in both calendars, what the saint is patron of where a source says so, a short life, and the pages we took it from.

How it was made

We began with 200 saints, chosen mostly by how often people search for them by name, and kept others because readers look for a patron of something (cats, cancer, firefighters), because they are central to the Orthodox churches, or because they are an apostle or a nation’s patron. We then added 138 so that every day of the year has at least one saint, and 40 more that readers were searching for.

Every fact in an entry comes from a page we saved first. For most saints who lived before the twentieth century that is the Catholic Encyclopedia, published from 1907 to 1912, which is free to read and covers more saints than any other single source. It has dated. Its history is sometimes older scholarship and its tone is that of its time, so we use it for names, dates and places and do not copy its judgments. Orthodox feast days come from the Orthodox Church in America. Saints canonised after the Encyclopedia was printed come from Vatican News and the Holy See.

Where the history is uncertain, as with Christopher or Valentine, the entry says so. A patronage is listed only if a source names it. Each entry links its own sources under the life.

Sources

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Saint list (CSV)

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Cite this page

Christian Pure. "Saint Finder: Feast Days, Patronages and Sources." Updated November 8, 2026. https://christianpure.com/saint-finder/.

Made by the Christian Pure editorial team. Last updated . Found a mistake? Tell us, and see the corrections log.