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St. Verena of Zurzach

Feast 09-01

Patron of

About

Verena of Zurzach, also known simply as Saint Verena, was an early Christian consecrated virgin and hermit venerated in both the Eastern and Western Churches. Her cult is especially strong in Switzerland, where it is attested in Bad Zurzach, the reported place of her burial, from at least the fifth century, making her one of the earliest known Swiss saints.

Tradition holds that Verena ministered to the sick and to lepers, dedicating her life of solitude to works of mercy and the care of the suffering. She is invoked as a patron of nurses, virgins, housekeepers, fishermen, millers, and mariners, and her feast is kept on September 1, a day of pilgrimage at Zurzach. Her example of consecrated life joined to practical charity has made her a beloved figure in Alpine devotion for centuries.

nursing, nurses, nurse, nursing care, nursing profession, healthcare, nursing patients, nursing staff, nursing homes, caregiving, nursing service, lepers, leper, leprosy patients, leper colonies, leper care, leprous, lepers welfare, caring for lepers, leper houses, leprosy sufferers, leper asylums, housekeepers, housekeeper, housekeeping, cleaning, domestic cleaning, maids, cleaning staff, domestic service, household cleaning, cleaners, maid service, fishermen, fishing, fisher, anglers, fishing boats, fishing nets, commercial fishing, fish catch, trawler, fishing industry, fisherfolk, sailors, sailor, seafarers, seamen, navy, mariners, sailing, seamen and sailors, merchant marine, nautical, ship crews, single women, single woman, unmarried women, single ladies, unmarried ladies, women living alone, single catholic women, single life women, spinsters, single girls, hermits, hermit, hermitage, solitary religious, hermitic life, anchorites, anchoresses, desert fathers, solitary life, religious hermits, eremitic life

Suggested prayer

O God, who called Saint Verena to a life of consecrated virginity and service to the sick and the poor, grant through her intercession that all who minister to the suffering may do so with tender compassion. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sources

Other saints to pray to

For nursing

For lepers