Patronage
2 saints are venerated as patrons of Hermits, led by Kevin of Glendalough (feast day June 3).
Approx. 498 AD — June 3, 618 AD · Feast day: June 3
Kevin of Glendalough founded one of Ireland's greatest monasteries, then walked away from it to live alone in a cave above a mountain lake. A bishop who slept on stone and wore animal skins, he held his arms outstretched in prayer so long that a blackbird laid an egg in his hand — and he did not move until the chick had fledged.
Early 5th century AD — Mid-5th century AD · Feast day: July 13
Sarah of the Desert spent sixty years in a hermit's cell near the Nile in fifth-century Egypt, mastering temptation through radical stillness and the daily rehearsal of death. When monks came to test her pride, she answered without flinching: 'According to nature I am a woman, but not according to my thoughts.'