Martyrs are people who believe in their faith so strongly that they’re willing to die for it. The original Greek word means “witness,” and these people are witness to their love of Jesus Christ and the Church in that they’d rather die than betray their God.
Martyrs don’t murder anyone — suicide bombers aren’t martyrs, they’re homicide bombers. Martyrs don’t cause the death of innocent victims — martyrs are victims themselves. The Catholic martyrs listed here were in love with the Lord and heaven more than with this world.
St. Agatha
Sicily (birthdate unknown–ad 251)
Patron: Sicily and Malta, women at risk of sexual assault, bell makers, and against breast cancer
Feast day: February 5
St. Agnes
Rome, Italy (ad 291–ad 304)
Patron: chastity, gardeners, girls, engaged couples, rape victims, and virgins
Feast day: January 21
St. Blasé (Blaise)
Armenia (third century ad–ad 316)
Patron: the city of Dubrovnik, the wool industry, wild animals; and against ailments, diseases, and throat cancer
Feast day: February 3
St. Boniface
Crediton (Devon, England) (ad 673–ad 754)
Patron: Germany, brewers, file cutters, and tailors
Feast day: June 5
St. Cecilia
Rome, Italy (second century ad)
Patron: musicians
Feast day: November 22
St. Denis
Italy (third century ad–ad 258)
Patron: Paris, and against diabolical possession and headaches
Feast day: October 9
SS. Felicity and Perpetua
Birthplace unknown (ad 181–ad 203)
Patron: Carthage, mothers, expectant mothers, ranchers, and butchers
Feast day: March 7
St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen
Sigmaringen, Prussia (1577–1622)
Beatified: 1729
Canonized: 1746
Feast day: April 24
St. George
Nicomedia, Mesopotamia (ad 275–ad 303)
Patron: England, Catalonia, The Netherlands, Georgia (the former Soviet country), Bavaria, Aragon, agricultural workers, equestrians, soldiers, and knights
Feast day: April 23
St. Hippolytus of Rome
Rome, Italy (ad 170–ad 235)
Patron: Bibbiena (town in Italy), prison guards, and horses
Feast day: August 13
St. Ignatius of Antioch
Antioch (ad 50–ad 107)
Patron: the Church in the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa; throat disease
Feast day: October 17
St. Irenaeus
Smyrna, Asia Minor (ad 125–ad 202)
Patron: archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama
Feast day: June 28
St. Januarius
Benevento, Italy (ad 275–ad 304)
Patron: Naples, blood banks, and against volcanic eruptions
Feast day: September 19
St. John the Baptist
Palestine (5 bc–ad 30)
Patron: Baptism, converts, the Knights of Malta, lambs, and tailors; the dioceses of Charleston (South Carolina), Dodge City (Kansas), Paterson (New Jersey), Portland (Maine), and Savannah (Georgia); invoked against convulsions, epilepsy, spasms, and hail
Feast days: birth, June 24; beheading, August 29
St. John Fisher
Beverley (Yorkshire, England) (1469–1535)
Beatified: 1886
Canonized: 1935
Patron: diocese of Rochester, New York
Feast day: June 22
St. Lucy
Siracusa, Sicily (ad 283–ad 304)
Patron: Sicily and Syracuse (Siracusa), ailments, injuries, and eye cancer
Feast day: December 13
St. Maximilian Kolbe
Poland (1894–1941)
Beatified: 1971
Canonized: 1982
Patron: prisoners, drug addicts, journalists
Feast day: August 14
St. Polycarp
Birthplace unknown (ad 69–ad 155)
Patron: people who suffer from earaches or dysentery
Feast day: February 23
St. Sebastian
Milan, Italy (ad 257–ad 288)
Patron: archers, athletes, bookbinders, gunsmiths, lace makers, police officers, soldiers, stonecutters, victims of arrow wounds, and victims of the plague
Feast day: January 20
St. Thomas Becket
London, England (1118–1170)
Beatified: 1173
Canonized: 1174
Patron: secular (diocesan) clergy, Exeter College, and Portsmouth, England
Feast day: December 29
St. Thomas More
London, England (1478–1535)
Beatified: 1886
Canonized: 1935
Patron: lawyers and attorneys
Feast day: June 22