Patron Saint of Dying

Saint Joseph is invoked as patron of the dying. Joseph of Nazareth, descendant of David through Solomon according to Saint Matthew and through Nathan according to Saint Luke, was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster father of Jesus Christ. The Gospels record him as a just man (Matthew 1:19) and identify his trade as that of a tekton, generally translated as carpenter or builder (Matthew 13:55).Saint Matthew records that on learning of Mary's pregnancy he resolved to put her away quietly, but was instructed in a dream by an angel to take her as his wife and name the child Jesus. Sources: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15081889_quamquam-pluries.html.

Saints Philip and James is invoked as patron of the dying. Saint Philip the Apostle, a native of Bethsaida in Galilee, was among the first disciples called by Jesus (John 1:43-45). The Gospel of John records his role at the multiplication of the loaves (John 6:5-7), his bringing of the Greeks who wished to see Jesus (John 12:21-22), and his request at the Last Supper, Show us the Father (John 14:8-9). Sources: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20060906.html.

Saint Stephen is invoked as patron of the dying. Stephen, called the Protomartyr (the first martyr) of the Church, is the chief subject of Acts 6 and 7. He was one of the seven men full of the Spirit and of wisdom whom the apostles, in response to a complaint from the Hellenist (Greek-speaking Jewish) Christians of Jerusalem that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution, set apart by prayer and the laying on of hands - the action universally identified by Catholic tradition as the institution of the diaconate. Sources: https://www.usccb.org/resources/2026cal.pdf.