Faith, doubt, and returning

Any of these can be asked. There is no order of precedence and no wrong choice, so pick whoever the story fits.

• St. Benedict of NursiaWrote the rule that shaped western monasticism, and is invoked against evil.
• St. Faustina KowalskaA Polish nun with a fourth-grade education whose diary became the Divine Mercy devotion.
• St. Ignatius of LoyolaA vain soldier rebuilt by a cannonball, who wrote the manual for finding what God wants from you.
• St. John VianneyThe failing seminary student who became the confessor all of France travelled to see.
• St. Mary MagdaleneThe first witness of the resurrection, and the patron of second chances.
• St. MonicaPrayed seventeen years for a son who had left the faith.
• St. PatrickTaken as a slave, went back freely, and is invoked against fear.
• St. Pio of PietrelcinaA confessor who heard confessions for fifty years, and bore the stigmata.
• St. Teresa of ÁvilaA Carmelite reformer who prayed dry for twenty years, asked for by headache sufferers and anyone whose prayer feels like nothing.
• St. Thérèse of LisieuxWrote that small ordinary things done with love are the whole of it.
• St. BonaventureThe Franciscans' theologian; patron of balancing head and heart.Page coming
• St. Catherine LabouréSaw the Miraculous Medal design and kept the secret forty years; patron of the quietly faithful.Page coming
• St. DismasThe good thief; patron of prisoners and deathbed conversions.Page coming
• St. John Henry NewmanThe convert who wrote "heart speaks to heart"; patron of seekers who take the long way.Page coming
• St. John the BaptistThe forerunner; patron of baptism and of beginnings.Page coming
• St. John XXIIIThe pope who opened the windows; patron of stepping into the unknown late in life.Page coming
• St. Margaret ClitherowPressed to death for hiding priests; patron of businesswomen and converts.Page coming
• St. Mary of EgyptDecades of desert penance after a public past; patron of penitents and of radical second halves.Page coming
• St. MatthiasChosen to replace Judas; patron of second chances at a role.Page coming
• St. PaulPersecutor turned apostle; patron of writers, converts, and hard reversals.Page coming
• St. Paul Miki and CompanionsCrucified at Nagasaki; patrons of Japan and of forgiveness of executioners.Page coming
• St. Polycarp"Eighty-six years I have served him"; patron of fidelity in old age.Page coming
• St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)Jewish philosopher, Carmelite, killed at Auschwitz; patron of Europe and of converts who pay for it.Page coming
• St. Teresa of CalcuttaServed the dying of Calcutta through decades of interior darkness; patron of doubters who keep working and of the poorest.Page coming
• St. Thomas the ApostleAsked to see the wounds and was shown them; patron of doubters.Page coming