It is believed that Mary was born in Magdale, northern Galilee. She met Jesus at the house of Simon where she wept as a repentant sinner and with her long hair, wiped His feet dry and anointed them with perfume. Mary Magdalene became a follower of Jesus and was present at his crucifixion and was one of the first witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus. It is believed she moved to France after the crucifixion where she died in 68AD. Image from 1515, St Mary Magdalane by German, Gregor Erhar.

Saint Margaret
Patron saint of: Women in childbirth
Died: 304AD
Cause of death: Beheaded
Symbol: a dragon at her feet, with the end of a cross between his teeth. The garland of pearls generally worn round her neck is in allusion to her name.
Feast day: 20th July

St. Margaret was instructed by a Christian nurse, and is said to have been persecuted by her own father (a pagan priest), converted to the Christian faith and took vows of chastity. The Governor of Antioch had Margaret arrested and she was thrown into a dungeon. According to legend, whilst she was in the dungeon, the devil came and tempted her in the form of a dragon, but as she made the sign of the Cross the dragon fled. He returned and swallowed her up but she was able to burst out. After many torments, she was killed with a sword. Her body is kept at Monte-Fiascone in Tuscany. Saint Margaret is the patron saint of expectant mothers because she prayed at her death that women in childbirth would, upon calling on her, be safely delivered of the child as she had been d elivered from the belly of the dragon. The images is from a 15th century Book of Hours for Sarum Use.

Saint Ursula
The patron of: Young girls
Died: Saint Ursula died in A.D. 453
Cause of death: Shot with and arrow
Feast day: 21st October
Symbol: a crown, an arrow, a pilgrim's staff, surmounted by a white banner with a red cross.

The legend of St. Ursula and her 11,000 virgins has been greatly modified in modern times. It is suggested that instead of ten companions, each with a retinue of a thousand virgins, she had but one companion, named Undecimilla, and that this name was originally mistaken for undecim millia, or 11,000. The Legend of Saint Ursula is considered to be fiction and in 1969 Pope Paul VI removed her name from in 1969 revision of the the universal calendar of the Catholic canon of saints. The image is from a 15th century Book of Hours for Sarum Use.

Saint Dorothy
aka St. Dorothea of Cappadocia
The patron of: Florists
Died: 303AD Caesarea, Cappodocia, Turkey
Cause of death: Beheaded
Feast day: 6th February
Symbols: roses in her lap or in her hand or with an angel standing by offering her three roses and three apples.

Dorothy was born in Turkey under the rule of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Her family converted to Christianity and her parents were sentenced to death. Dorothy was offered leniency if she would renounce Christianity, worship Roman gods and take a husband. She refused and was tortured. She still would not renounce her faith and was sentenced to death by beheading. According to the legend, her profession of faith to the Romans was: "I serve the Son of God, Christ, mine espoused! His dwelling is Paradise; by His side are joys eternal; and in His garden grow celestial fruits and roses that never fade!" While on her way to execution she was asked by a young lawyer to send him some of the roses she had spoken of on joining her "bridegroom". Whereupon she answered, "Thy request, O Theophilus, is granted!" Immediately after her death, an angel appeared with a basket of fruit and flowers, saying, "Dorothy sends thee these!" and then vanished. Image is from a 15th century Book of Hours for Sarum Use.

Saint Osyth
The patron of:
Born: Buckinghamshire
Died: 653 AD
Cause of death: beheaded
Feast day: October 7
Symbols: Carrying her own head

Also called Osith and Sytha. She was supposedly the daughter of a chieftain of the Mercians in England and Wilburga, daughter of the pagan king Penda of Mercia. Raised in a convent, Osyth desired to become a nun but was married against her will to King Sighere of Essex, by whom she had a son. She won his permission to enter a convent, and she established a monastery on land at Chich, Essex, donated by Sighere, where she served as an abbess. She was reputedly slain by Danish raiders and is usually depicted carrying her own head. There are historical difficulties associated with her existence, especially as no mention is made of her by Bede in his Ecclesiastical History. Images from a 15th century Book of Hours for Sarum Use.

Saint Clair
Born: 16 July, 1194 Assisi, Italy
Died: 1253AD
Cause of death: Natural causes
Feast day: 12th August
Symbol: pyx (the pyx is a small box used to contain the Blessed Sacrament when taking communion to the sick),

Clare was born into a noble family in Italy, the eldest daughter of Favorino Scifi, Count of Sasso-Rosso. She heard St Francis of Assisi preach and was inspired to emulate his lifestyle. She left her home and established an order of nuns called the Order of Poor Ladies (Poor Clares) at San Damiano which she led for 40 years, until her death. Legend tells that when the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa was ravaging the shores of the Adriatic against the Pope Innocent III, she declared that God would not permit him to invade their convent. She placed the pyx of ivory and silver on the threshold, and kneeling down with the sisterhood, sang, "Thou hast rebuked the heathen, Thou hast destroyed the wicked, Thou hast put out their name for ever and ever." The knights of Frederick I left them in peace. Image 1317 by Martini

Saint Apollonia
(with Saint Margaret on left)
The Patron Saint of and protector against: toothache
Died: Saint Apollonia died in 250
Cause of death: burning
Feast day: 9th February
Symbol: a pair of pincers

Saint Apollonia was the pious Deaconess of a Christian group in Alexandria in Egypt. During an anti-Christian uprising the Egyptian mob seized Apollonia because of her position with the Christians. She was tortured and had her teeth pulled out one by one with pincers. Given the choice of renouncing Christ or being burned alive, she reputedly leapt into the fire and was burnt to death. Image 1445-50 by van der Weyden Saints Margaret And Apollonia.

Saint Lucy

Saint Lucy was born in Syracuse under the rule of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Lucy was a devout Christian and had taken vows of chastity. Rather than marriage of a lover who desired her for the sake of her beautiful eyes, she plucked them out, and sent them to him with this message: "Here hast thou what thou so much desirest; and for the rest, I beseech thee, leave me now in peace!" Nevertheless, legend tells us, her sight was restored to her the next day. She died at the hand of her rejected lover. Image 1473 by Cossa from the Griffoni Polyptych

Sister of Lazarus and Mary of Bethany. She lived with her family in a place called Bethany. Jesus is said to have stayed with the family at Bethany after his entry into Jerusalem. Martha served Jesus and showed him great hospitality whist he was visiting her house. Her brother, Lazarus, fell ill and Martha sent word to Jesus. When Jesus arrived, Lazarus was already dead and been in the tomb for four days. Jesus replied to Martha "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die". Jesus then instructed that the stone was rolled away from the tomb and he called Lazarus to him. Lazarus walked out of the tomb. Martha followed Jesus until his crucifixion. It was then believed that Martha, Mary and Lazarus left Judea and went to France where she died in 84AD. According to legend, she also delivered the neighbourhood of Aix in Provence, of a dragon that lay concealed on the banks of the Rhone.