A small number of saints account for most devotional medals sold. Their associations developed over centuries and are worth knowing accurately, particularly if you are choosing one as a gift.

St Michael the Archangel

Michael appears in scripture rather than as a historical human saint, described as a leader of the heavenly host. He is one of the archangels named in the Bible.

His traditional association is with protection and with spiritual struggle, which is why he became the patron of soldiers, police officers, paramedics and others whose work involves danger.

Medals typically show him with a sword or spear standing over a defeated figure, an image drawn from Revelation. The Prayer to St Michael, composed in the nineteenth century, is frequently associated with the same devotion.

Choosing Between Them

• Michael: for someone in the emergency services, military or police
• Christopher: for someone travelling, moving away or driving a great deal
• Thérèse: for someone drawn to quiet, ordinary faithfulness
• A plain cross: where you are unsure of the recipient’s devotions
• A mixed set: for making several pieces or for confirmation favours

Mixed sets covering these figures along with classic and Pardon crosses, of the kind at wentiya.com, suit exactly that last case, where twelve identical medals would be less useful than a range.

St Christopher

The traditional account describes a man who carried travellers across a river and one day carried a child who proved unexpectedly heavy. The name Christopher means bearer of Christ.

He became the patron of travellers, and medals are conventionally carried in vehicles or worn on journeys.

It is worth knowing that his historical record is thin, and in the 1969 revision of the calendar his feast was removed from the universal calendar for that reason. He was not removed from the list of saints, and devotion continues widely, which is a distinction frequently reported inaccurately.

St Thérèse of Lisieux

A French Carmelite nun who died in 1897 at twenty-four, known as the Little Flower. Her autobiography, written under obedience, became one of the most widely read spiritual books of the twentieth century.

Her teaching, generally called the Little Way, concerns finding holiness in small ordinary acts rather than dramatic ones. She was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997, one of only a handful of women to hold that title.

She is a patron of missions, of florists, and is widely associated with roses.

When You Do Not Know

A plain cross or crucifix is never wrong and requires no assumption about which devotion suits the recipient.

Asking is also perfectly acceptable, and most people are pleased to be asked rather than guessed at.