In Catholic tradition, patron saints are holy men and women whose lives and intercession are considered especially suited to particular needs, groups, or situations. The Church's practice of invoking saints reflects the doctrine of the Communion of Saints — the belief that the faithful departed remain united with the living in the one Body of Christ and can intercede before God on our behalf.
The designation of a patron saint for "Against Epilepsy and Gout" reflects centuries of Catholic popular devotion and, in many cases, formal proclamations by popes or bishops recognizing a saint's particular connection to this intention through the circumstances of their life, death, or documented miracles.
Formally proclaimed patronage — sourced from canonized saints in the Roman Calendar.
Saint Apollinaris is invoked as patron of against epilepsy and gout. Saint Apollinaris is venerated as the first Bishop of Ravenna and the patron saint of the city. According to the seventh-century Passio sancti Apollinaris and the testimony of Saint Peter Chrysologus, who as Archbishop of Ravenna in the fifth century preached on his predecessor (Sermon 128), Apollinaris was a disciple of Saint Peter who came with him from Antioch to Rome and was sent by Peter to Ravenna as the city's first bishop in the apostolic age.The historical kernel attested by the early Ravennate liturgy and by Saint Peter Chrysologus is that Apollinaris was the first bishop of the church of Ravenna, suffered repeatedly in his episcopate, and ended his life as a martyr. Sources: https://www.usccb.org/resources/2026cal.pdf.
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