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 "Archivists" 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 Lawrence of Rome is invoked as patron of archivists. Saint Lawrence was one of the seven deacons of the Roman Church under Pope Saint Sixtus II and was martyred at Rome on August 10, 258, four days after his bishop. He is traditionally said to have come from the Roman province of Hispania Citerior, from a family of the modern Huesca in Aragon, but the earliest evidence (Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine, the Roman Calendar) attests only his deaconate at Rome and his martyrdom there.Saint Ambrose of Milan, in his De officiis ministrorum (1.41) written about 391, gives the earliest extended narrative. Sources: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/angelus/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20100808.html.
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