Category: Family & States of Life
St. Paula of Rome, a 4th-century Roman widow who became a close associate of St. Jerome and helped him in his biblical translation work at Bethlehem, is one patron of widows. St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, who was widowed before her most intense period of prayer for her son's conversion, is also invoked.
St. Frances of Rome, a 15th-century Italian noblewoman who was married for forty years before her husband died and she then joined the Oblates of Tor de' Specchi, is patron of widows and of Roman housewives. Her feast day is March 9.
Formally proclaimed patronage — sourced from canonized saints in the Roman Calendar.
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton is invoked as patron of widows. Elizabeth Ann Bayley was born August 28, 1774, in New York City to Dr. Richard Bayley, a prominent Anglican physician, and Catherine Charlton. Sources: https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/homilies/1975/documents/hf_p-vi_hom_19750914.html.
Saint Frances of Rome is invoked as patron of widows. Francesca Bussa de' Leoni was born in 1384 in the Trastevere district of Rome to a noble family. Though she desired to enter religious life, she was given in marriage at age twelve to Lorenzo Ponziani, a wealthy Roman commander. Sources: https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/it/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-xi_motu-proprio_19251606_cum-iam-anno.html.
Saint Rita of Cascia is invoked as patron of widows. Saint Rita was born Margherita Lotti at Roccaporena, near Cascia in Umbria, in 1381. Married while still young to Paolo Mancini, she bore him two sons. Sources: https://www.usccb.org/resources/2026cal.pdf.
Saint Bridget of Sweden is invoked as patron of widows. Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden was born in 1303 at Finsta in Uppland, Sweden, of a noble family related to the royal house. Married at thirteen to Ulf Gudmarsson, a Swedish lawman, she bore him eight children, including Saint Catherine of Sweden. Sources: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_01101999_co-patronesses-europe.html.
Saint Jane Frances de Chantal is invoked as patron of widows. Saint Jane Frances Fremiot was born at Dijon on January 28, 1572, second daughter of Benigne Fremiot, the President of the Burgundian Parlement. After a careful Catholic upbringing, in 1592 she married Baron Christophe de Rabutin-Chantal, a young nobleman, and from this marriage of profound mutual affection she bore six children, of whom four survived infancy. Sources: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20101013.html.
Saint Monica is invoked as patron of widows. Saint Monica was born about 332 at Thagaste in Roman Numidia (modern Souk Ahras, Algeria), of a Christian Berber family. The principal source for her life is her son's Confessions, especially Book IX, where Augustine has given us perhaps the most extended and personal portrait of any woman in Christian antiquity. Sources: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20090422.html.
Saint Hedwig is invoked as patron of widows. Hedwig (Polish: Jadwiga, German: Hedwig) was born about 1174 at Andechs in Bavaria, daughter of Berthold IV, count of Andechs, and aunt of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. At twelve she was given in marriage to Henry I (the Bearded), duke of Silesia, with whom she had seven children and lived devoutly for nearly forty years. Sources: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1983/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19830621_clemente-rzym.html.
Saint Margaret of Scotland is invoked as patron of widows. Margaret was born around 1045 in Hungary, where her father Edward the Exile, of the Anglo-Saxon royal house of Wessex, was living in refuge from the Danish conquest of England. The family returned to England in 1057, but her father died on arrival; following the Norman Conquest of 1066, Margaret, her mother, and her siblings fled north and were received at the court of King Malcolm III of Scotland, whom she married around 1070.As Queen of Scots she set herself to the reform of both the Scottish court and the Scottish Church. Sources: https://www.usccb.org/resources/2026cal.pdf.
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary is invoked as patron of widows. Elizabeth was born in 1207, the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and Queen Gertrude of Merania. At age four she was betrothed to Ludwig, son and heir of the Landgrave of Thuringia, and sent to be raised at the Wartburg castle. Sources: https://www.usccb.org/resources/2026cal.pdf.
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton is the primary patron saint of widows. Their feast day is January 4.
A patron saint is a holy man or woman canonized by the Church whose life and heavenly intercession are considered especially powerful for particular needs, groups, or situations. Catholics ask patron saints to intercede — to pray to God on their behalf — drawing on the doctrine of the Communion of Saints.
To ask for a patron saint's intercession, Catholics typically pray directly to the saint, saying something like: "Elizabeth Ann Seton, pray for us." You may also light a candle, attend Mass on their feast day, or make a novena — nine days of consecutive prayer — asking for their help before a particular need.