medal(med-l) n. - A flat piece of metal stamped with a design or an inscription commemorating an event or a person, often given as an award.
Medal, a piece of metal, cast or struck, often coin-shaped. The obverse and reverse bear bas-relief and inscription. Commemorative medals are issued in memory of a notable person or event. Civil and military decorations are those medals (disk, cross, or star) conferred by state, order, or organization for signal bravery or service or for distinction in science or the arts. Religious medals, often worn by Roman Catholics, are believed to be efficacious if blessed by the Church; an indulgence may be attached to a blessed medal. Medals have ranked as works of art since Greek times; Roman medals are notable for their realistic portraiture. Medals returned to fashion during the Renaissance, especially through the fine work of Pisanello. Many sculptors and painters were famous also as medalists, notably Leone Leoni, Benvenuto Cellini, and Albrecht Drer. France in the 19th cent. became the leader in producing medals of artistic merit. Cast medals were predominant in the 15th cent., but by the 16th had been largely superseded by die-struck medals. Dies may be cut direct, or a wax or plaster model about four times the intended size of the medal may be reproduced as a metal electrotype from which a die is made in the desired size by a reducing machine operating on the principle of the pantograph. See also numismatics; ribbon.
patron saint - n. A saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, or person.
A saint from whom a person or group claims special protection or prayers. Saint Christopher, for example, is considered the patron of travelers; Saint Luke, the patron of doctors; and Saint Patrick, the patron of Ireland. People who have the same name as a saint may consider the saint their patron. The honoring of patron saints is especially common in the Roman Catholic Church.
patron saint
In several forms of Christianity, a patron saint has special affinity for a trade or group. St. Florian is the patron saint of firefighters, and St. Christopher is the patron saint of travellers, for example. Eastern Orthodoxy generally doesn't associate saints with occupations and activities, or does so to a much lesser degree.
Patron saints can also be associated with geographical areas: St. Joseph is the patron saint of Belgium, and St. Patrick is patron saint of Ireland, for example.
Association with a particular area or profession can be found with tutelary deities from other religions as well.
Saints associated with occupations and activities
Agatha - nurses, bellmaking
Alexius - nurses
Amand- bartenders, Boy Scouts, brewers, innkeepers, merchants, vine growers, vintners
Ambrose of Milan - bee keepers, wax melters and refiners
Andrew the Apostle - fish dealers, fishermen
Anne - equestrians, stablemen
Anthony the Great - swineherds, motorists
Anthony of Padua - fishermen, swineherds
Apollonia - dentists
Augustine of Hippo - brewers, printers, and theologians
Barbara - architects and builders, artillerymen and arsenals, prisoners
Bartholomew the Apostle - tanners, leatherworkers and curriers
Basil the Great - hospital administrators
Benedict of Nursia - farms, farmers, farmhands, ranches, husbandry
Benno - fishermen
Bernadette of Lourdes - shepherds, shepherdesses
Bernard of Clairvaux - bee keepers, wax melters and refiners
Bernard of Venice - farms, farmers, farmhands, ranches, husbandry
Blaise - veterinarians, wool combers and weavers
Botulph - farms, farmers, farmhands, ranches, husbandry
Brigid of Ireland - dairy farms and workers, healers
Camillus of Lellis - hospitals and hospital workers, nurses
Catherine of Alexandria - tanners, nurses
Catherine of Siena - nursing services, nurses
Cecilia - musicians
Clare of Assisi - television
Cosmas - doctors, pharmacists, surgeons
Germaine Cousin - shepherdesses
Christopher - travellers
Crispian - tanners, leatherworkers and curriers
Crispin - tanners, leatherworkers and curriers
Cuthbert - shepherds
Cuthman - shepherds
Damian - doctors, pharmacists, surgeons
Dominic of Silos - shepherds
Drogo - shepherds
Dymphna - mental health professionals, therapists
Eligius - veterinarians, farriers, farms, farmers, farmhands, ranches, husbandry, harness makers
Elisabeth of Hungary - hospitals, nursing services
Erasmus of Formiae (Saint Elmo) - sailors
Erhard of Regensburg - hospitals
Eustachius - hunters
Fiacre - Taxi-drivers, venereal disease sufferers, horticulturists, hemorrhoid sufferers
Foillan - dentists, surgeons
Francis of Assisi - animal welfare and rights organizations and workers; environment
Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows - s
