Guide 06 Writing on faith independent information
Patron saint of writers: Francis de Sales and others
The usual answer is Saint Francis de Sales. He was a bishop of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries who wrote a spiritual classic and used print to reach ordinary readers.
Francis de Sales
Francis de Sales lived from 1567 to 1622 and served as bishop of Geneva, though he lived mainly in Annecy because of the religious situation in Geneva. His book Introduction to the Devout Life, first published in 1609, was written for lay people in everyday life, and his Treatise on the Love of God followed in 1616. He worked closely with Jane Frances de Chantal, and together they founded the Visitation order in 1610.
He was canonised in 1665 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1877. In January each year his feast day, January 24 in the current calendar, is a natural moment for writers' blessings and workshops.
Why a bishop became the writers' patron
In 1923 Pope Pius XI named Francis de Sales patron of writers and journalists in the letter Rerum omnium perturbationem. The reasons given point to his use of the written word. He is known for handwritten letters of spiritual advice and for printed leaflets he is said to have slipped under doors in a region where preaching was hard.
His style is also a model for writers. He argued for gentleness and plain speech, and he wrote about faith for readers who were busy, distracted and anything but monks.
Jerome and translators
Saint Jerome, who lived around 347 to 420, is the patron of translators and librarians. He is best known for the Latin translation of the Bible called the Vulgate. His feast day is September 30, and translators and editors often keep it.
If your work is more about words in other languages than about original writing, Jerome may be the saint you are looking for.
Other saints writers invoke
Different traditions point to other saints. Thérèse of Lisieux, whose Story of a Soul was published in 1898, a year after her death, is a favourite of spiritual memoirists, although she is not officially a patron of writers. Augustine, whose Confessions dates from around the year 400, is a common model for anyone writing honestly about their own life. Check any list you find online, because popular lists mix official patronages with devotion and local custom.
A patron is a person to ask for help, not a guarantee of success, and the Church does not assign saints to every genre. Choose the one whose writing or life makes sense to you.
A short note on use
You do not need to pray to a patron saint to benefit from learning about one. Many writers simply read the saint's work. Reading Francis de Sales on patience will teach you more than a stack of productivity tips.
If you plan to write about a saint, the practical advice is in how to write a saint biography.