Now Taking Nominations for the "Greatest" Catholics in History

The Communion of Saints

This list is by no means definitive. It is impossible to give an exact number of saints. The majority are known only to God. The Virgin Mary has been omitted out of respect. The Mother of the Savior has a significant place in the divine economy of salvation. Contrary to popular imagination, the saints lived lives remarkably similar to our own. Living ordinary lives in extraordinary ways they were able to achieve heroic virtue. Such a life is possible for us today, with grace, unrelenting prayer, the sacraments and the saints as our guides. The number next to some saints is not intended as a rank. We have tried to include individuals who reflect the depth and scope of a universal Church that spans two millennia.

1. St. Peter - first pope, apostle, martyr
2. St. Paul of Tarsusmissionary, author of scripture, martyr
3. St. John - apostle, evangelist, bishop
4. St. Thomas - apostle, missionary, martyr
5. St. Andrew - apostle, missionary, martyr
6. St. James the Greater - apostle, martyr
7. St. Luke - evangelist, missionary martyr
8. St. Matthew - evangelist, apostle, martyr
10. St. James the Lesser - apostle, martyr
11. St. Mark - evangelist, martyr
12. St. Bartholomew - apostle, missionary, martyr
13. St. Simon the Zealot - apostle, preacher, martyr
14. St. Thaddeaus or Jude - apostle, missionary, martyr, wrote epistle
15. St. Matthias - apostle, martyr
16. St. Philip - apostle, martyr, missionary
17. St. Ambrose - bishop, theologian, Doctor of the Church
18. St. Gregory the Greatpontiff, theologian, Doctor of the Church
19. St. Augustine of Hippo - bishop, theologian, Doctor of the Church
20. St. Jerome - biblical scholar, priest, Doctor of the Church
21. St. John Chrysostom archbishop, preacher, Doctor of the Church
22. St. Basil the Great - bishop, theologian, Doctor of the Church
23. St. Gregory of Nazianzus - archbishop, theologian, Doctor of the Church
24. St. Athanasius - archbishop, theologian, Doctor of the Church
25. St. Peter Chrysologus - bishop, preacher, Doctor of the Church
26. St. Hilary of Poitiers - bishop, apologist, Doctor of the Church
27. St. Cyril of Jerusalem - bishop, theologian, Doctor of the Church
28. St. Cyril of Alexandria - archbishop, theologian, Doctor of the Church
29. St. Ephremdeacon, prolific author, Doctor of the Church
30. St. Bede the Venerable - priest, monk, Doctor of the Church
31. St John of Damascus - priest, monk, Doctor of the Church
32. St. Gregory VIIpontiff, great reforming pope
33. St. Albert the Great - bishop, theologian, Doctor of the Church
34. St. Anthony of Padua - priest, monk, Doctor of the Church
35. St. Francis of Assisi - monk, mystic, stigmatist, founder
36. St. Bonaventure cardinal-priest, Doctor of the Church, friar
37. St. Dominic - priest, founder, spread devotion to the Rosary
38. St. Thomas Aquinas - priest, theologian, Doctor of the Church
39. St. Catherine of Siena - mystic, author, advisor to pope, Doctor of the Church
40. Bartolomé de las Casas friar, bishop, missionary
41. St. Ignatius of Loyola - priest, missionary, theologian, founder
42. St. Anselm - theologian, archbishop, monk, Doctor of the Church
43. St Isidore of Seville - bishop, Doctor of the Church
44. St. Leo the Greatpontiff, Doctor of the Church
45. St. Peter Damian - cardinal-bishop, monk, Doctor of the Church
46. St. Bernard of Clairvaux - priest, founder, Doctor of the Church
47. St. Peter Canisius - priest, Doctor of the Church
48. St. John of the Cross - mystic, writer, founder, Doctor of the Church
49. St. Teresa of Ávila - mystic, writer, foundress, Doctor of the Church
50. St. John of Ávila - mystic, priest, Doctor of the Church
51. St. Charles Borromeo - cardinal-archbishop, reformer
52. St. Philip Neri - priest, founder, reformer
53. St. Robert Bellarmine - cardinal, reformer, Doctor of the Church
54. St. Vincent de Paul - priest, founder
55. St. Patrick - missionary, bishop, preacher
56. St. Francis de Sales - priest, writer
57. St. Irenaeus - bishop, apologist, theologian
58. St. Polycarp - priest, theologian, martyr
59. St. Ignatius of Antioch - bishop, theologian, martyr
60. St. Alphonsus de Liguori - bishop, founder, Doctor of the Church
61. St. Clare of Assisi - foundress, abbess 
62. St. Joan of Arc - martyr
63. St. Thomas More - lawyer, statesman, martyr
64. St. Lawrence of Brindisi - priest, diplomat, Doctor of the Church
65. St. Hildegard of Bingen - visionary, composer, abbess, Doctor of the Church
66. St. Francis Xavier - priest, founder, missionary
67. St. John Vianney - priest, confessor
68. Innocent III - pontiff, called first crusade
69. St. Pius Vpontiff, instrumental in the Council of Trent 
70. St. Martin de Porres - Dominican third order
71. St. John Paul IIpontiff, philosopher

The following are all over the place chronologically and fall in the last but not least category:

St. Joseph - spouse of the Blessed Virgin, foster father of Jesus
St. Mary Magdalene- apostle to the apostles
St. Monica - mother of Augustine
Bl. John Henry Newman - cardinal, convert, theologian
St. Thérèse of Lisieux nun, author, Doctor of the Church
St. Teresa of Calcutta - nun, foundress
St. Stephen - first martyr, deacon
St. Faustina - nun, apostle of Divine Mercy
St. Macrina the Younger - sister of Sts. Gregory of Nyssa and Basil the Great.
St. Anthony - hermit,  father of monasticism
St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort - priest, theologian
St. John the Baptist - preacher, forerunner of Christ
St. Valentine - priest, martyr
St. Lucy - martyr, virgin
St. Bernadette Soubirous - nun, visionary
St. Nicholas - bishop
St. Padre Pio - priest, stigmatist, visionary
St. Katharine Drexel - nun, foundress
St. Elizabeth of Hungary - countess, served the poor
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton - nun, foundress, educator
St. Benedict of Nursia - monastic, founder
St. Brigid of Ireland - nun, abbess, founder
St. Catherine of Alexandria - virgin, martyr
St. Columbanus - missionary, monk, founder
St. John Bosco - priest, educator, founder
St. Joseph of Cupertino - friar, mystic, confessor
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini - virgin, nun, foundress
St. Martin of Toursbishop, monk
Constantine the Great - emperor, convert
St. Alexander of Jerusalem - bishop, martyr
St. Catherine Labouré - nun, visionary

Comments

Anonymous said…
St Paul the author of many biblical letters.
Carlos X. said…
John the Baptist an "also ran?" Providence selected him to be in utero with the Lord, legend has him as a childhood playmate, Scripture shows him to have foretold his reign and baptized Christ. Gee, what does it take! (Otherwise, great list, though.)