Continental Patrons
I learned the other day that Benedict is the patron saint of Europe. I’ve known that Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of the Americas. So I began to wonder, who’s in charge of the other continents? It would be nice to have just a handful of saints to pray to, on behalf of the entire world.
My search, at least so far, has been frustrating. I’ve been able to find a patron for Asia Minor, but not for all of Asia. Australia falls under the patronage of Mary, whom you would think would be busy enough dealing with the Americas. Meanwhile, I couldn’t find a patron for Antarctica at all. Don’t you think penguins and explorers need saintly patronage, too?
So, the following list only works if A) you clump all of Asia in with Asia Minor, and B) you clump Antarctica in with Oceania. With those caveats in mind, here’s my decidedly unofficial list of continental patron saints:
- Africa: Charles Lwanga
- Asia: John the Evangelist
- Australia: Mary
- The Americas: Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Europe: Benedict
- Oceania (and Antarctica): Peter Chanel
The obvious next question would be: who is the patron saint of the oceans? I would vote for Our Lady, Star of the Sea. But that would mean that Mary is really overworked in this department, don’t you think?
