Patronage
2 saints are venerated as patrons of physicians, led by Gianna Beretta Molla (feast day April 28).
1922 — 1962 · Feast day: April 28
A pediatrician, wife, and mother who treated her career and family as a unified vocation. When doctors discovered a fibroid tumor on her uterus during her fourth pregnancy in 1961, she chose the option that preserved the baby — surgical removal of the fibroma — explicitly asking that her child's life be saved above her own. She died of septic peritonitis one week after giving birth.
10 — 84 · Feast day: October 18
The 'Beloved Physician' and companion of St. Paul, Luke authored both the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles — together about a quarter of the New Testament. His Gospel stands out for its literary polish and its sustained attention to Christ's mercy toward the poor, the outcast, and women. He is symbolized by the winged ox, representing the priestly and sacrificial character of his Gospel's opening scene.