ALL HOLY HELPS
Some image sales champions did not enter the ranking. São Jorge is used in Umbanda, as it represents Ogun, and São Judas and Santo Expedito help in impossible causes.
The ranking was based on numerical criteria, but very celebrated saints, such as Pedro and Nossa Senhora Aparecida, gained bonuses!
10- SANT’ANA
FUNCTION Protective of grandparents
July 26th
Jesus’ grandmother was barren. She only conceived Mary after her husband, Joaquim, went to the desert to do penance and ask God to give them a baby. An image of her depicts her standing next to Maria as a child with a book in her hand. In addition to helping other barren women, she is a protector of families, housewives, teachers and seamstresses.
CHURCHES: 200
SOLD IMAGES: 207
SPONSORED CITIES: 42
9- N. SRª. THANKSGIVING
FUNCTION Holy of Blessings
November 27th
Also known as Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, the saint would have been seen by a novice in France in 1830. The nun then received the mission to mint medals, which would bring thanks to those who wore them. In the first 50 years, more than 1 billion of the jewels were distributed
CHURCHES: 200
IMAGES SOLD: 800
SPONSORED CITIES: 8
8- N. SRª. OF FATIMA
May 13th
It is one of the most famous apparitions of Mary. In 1917, she appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, to whom she made three revelations. The first was the image of hell; the second predicted the beginning of the 2nd World War; and the third (revealed in May 2000) referred to the attack suffered by Pope John Paul II (on May 13, 1981) and the communist persecution of Catholicism
CHURCHES: 300
IMAGES SOLD: 850
SPONSORED CITIES: 19
7- SAN PEDRO
FUNCTION Protector of widows and fishermen
June 29th
He was the apostle responsible for continuing the Roman Church, being the first pope – so the Vatican basilica bears his name. Saint Peter would be the guardian of the keys to paradise and, in popular belief, he is the one who makes it rain, when he is washing the sky. His day ends the celebrations of the Festa Junina
CHURCHES: 260
SOLD IMAGES: 227
SPONSORED CITIES: 24
6- SAINT JOHN
FUNCTION Patron Saint of Friendship
June 24th
John was the son of Elizabeth, cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus. As Isabel was already elderly when she became pregnant, Maria wanted to help with the birth and asked her cousin to light a fire when the time came, giving rise to bonfires in the June festivities. John would be the forerunner of Christ, announcing the arrival of the messiah. It was he who baptized Jesus in the Jordan River
CHURCHES: 370
IMAGES SOLD: 150
SPONSORED CITIES: 45
5- SAINT JOSÉ
FUNCTION Patron saint of workers
March 19th
Descendant of King David, Joseph was a humble carpenter who, even though he was not Jesus’ biological father, would have raised him as his own. Devotion to the saint arrived in Brazil with the Jesuits and intensified with Italian immigrants, who have the custom of producing a sweet, called zeppole, in his honor.
CHURCHES: 500
IMAGES SOLD: 300
SPONSORED CITIES: 52
4- SAINT SEBASTIAN
FUNCTION Patron saint of tailors
January 20th
Sebastian was a Roman soldier and benefactor of Christians. For this, he was sentenced to death by arrows, but he survived. Recovered, he faces the emperor, is captured and whipped to death. In addition to gaining the sympathy of the gay community, he sells many images for representing, in umbanda, the orixá Oxóss
CHURCHES: 450
IMAGES SOLD: 680
SPONSORED CITIES: 62
3- N. SRª. CONCEPTION
FUNCTION Patroness of Portugal
December 8th
Because she was conceived without sin (macula), Mary earned the title of Immaculate Conception. The feast in honor of her was defined by the Church in 1854, by Pope Pius IX. The saint was one of the first images to arrive in Brazil and was considered, for some time, the patron saint of the country.
CHURCHES: 600
IMAGES SOLD: 600
SPONSORED CITIES: 61
2- SAINT ANTÔNIO OF PÁDUA
FUNCTION Patron saint of the poor
June 13th
From a wealthy family, he entered a convent in Lisbon and then a Franciscan order. He was sent to Morocco, where he became very ill. On his way back to Europe, his ship sinks and Antonio is taken to Sicily, Italy. There he gained fame as a matchmaker for helping poor girls pay the dowries required for marriage.
CHURCHES: 550
SOLD IMAGES: 2000
SPONSORED CITIES: 84
1- OUR LADY OF APARECIDA
October 12th
Maria is represented and named in different ways in the places where she would have appeared. There are more than 2,000 denominations accepted by the Church. Nossa Senhora Aparecida is the most popular in Brazil – where she has been the patron saint since 1929. Her image was found in the Paraíba River in 1717. The place became a focus of pilgrimage and today houses a basilica, which receives more than 10 million people a year. Nossa Senhora de Nazaré, famous in Belém do Pará, gathers around 1 million faithful in the pilgrimage of Círio de Nazaré
CHURCHES: 460
SOLD IMAGES: 2500
SPONSORED CITIES: 15
* Annual number provided by the manufacturer Imagens Bahia
** Approximate number
SOURCES Center for Religious Statistics and Social Investigations (Ceris); O Livro dos Santos – The History and Prayers of the 100 Most Popular Saints in Brazil, by Carolina Chagas (Publifolha); Canon Antônio Aparecido Pereira, spokesman for the Archdiocese of São Paulo]
Read too:
– Why do some names of saints start with “are”?
– Who are the most sinful saints in history?
– What is the legend of the Holy Grail?