The saints traditionally listed as patrons of mathematicians are St. Barbara, the early virgin-martyr whose legend connects her with towers, architects and the Holy Trinity, and St. Hubert, the eighth-century bishop of Liège. Neither patronage comes from a papal decree, and the reasons behind St. Hubert’s are lost, but both have long appeared in lists of patron saints. Students and teachers of math also turn to a real mathematician who became a priest, Blessed Francesco Faà di Bruno, and to St. Albert the Great, patron of the sciences. Below are these saints, a verse of Scripture that has inspired mathematicians for centuries, and prayers before a math test, for understanding and for math teachers.
A short prayer before a math test, written for this page:
Lord, you ordered all things in measure, number and weight.
Clear my mind, calm my nerves and help me remember what I have learned.
St. Barbara and Blessed Francesco, pray for me. Amen.
Patron saints of mathematicians
St. Barbara (December 4)
According to her legend, Barbara was the daughter of a wealthy pagan who shut her in a tower. While her father was away, she became a Christian and had a third window built into his bathhouse to honor the Holy Trinity, and she was martyred for her faith. Because of her tower and her three windows she became the patroness of architects, builders and mathematicians, as well as of miners and artillerymen, who face sudden danger. See the St. Barbara prayer.
St. Hubert (November 3)
St. Hubert (about 656–727), the nobleman converted by the vision of a stag bearing a crucifix, became bishop of Maastricht and Liège. He is best known as the patron of hunters, and older lists also name him patron of mathematicians, opticians and metalworkers, although no one knows exactly how the patronage began. See the St. Hubert prayer.
Blessed Francesco Faà di Bruno (March 27)
Francesco Faà di Bruno (1825–1888) was an Italian army officer and a mathematician who studied in Paris under the great Augustin-Louis Cauchy and taught at the University of Turin; a formula of calculus still bears his name. He became a priest at fifty-one, founded a religious congregation and a home for poor women and domestic servants in Turin, and built a church whose bell tower he designed himself. St. John Paul II beatified him in 1988.
St. Albert the Great (November 15)
The Dominican scholar who taught St. Thomas Aquinas, named patron of those who study the natural sciences by Pope Pius XII in 1941. See St. Albert the Great.
“Measure, and number, and weight”
The Book of Wisdom says of God (Wisdom 11:21, Douay-Rheims):
Yea and without these, they might have been slain with one blast, persecuted by their own deeds, and scattered by the breath of thy power: but thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight.
St. Augustine and many medieval scholars loved this verse: it taught them that the order and beauty of numbers reflect the mind of the Creator, and that studying mathematics can be a way of praising God.
Prayers for math
Written for this page.
Before a math test
Lord, I have studied as well as I could.
Help me to read each problem carefully, to think clearly,
and to check my work. Whatever my grade, I trust you. Amen.
For understanding
Holy Spirit, giver of understanding,
open my mind to what I am learning.
Give me patience when a problem is hard, and joy when it finally makes sense. Amen.
For math teachers
Lord, bless the teachers who explain numbers, shapes and equations.
Give them patience and clarity, and let them see the good they do. Amen.
For a student who struggles with math
St. Barbara, pray for me.
When math feels impossible, help me not to give up,
to ask for help, and to remember that my worth does not depend on a test. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the patron saint of math?
St. Barbara and St. Hubert are traditionally listed as patrons of mathematicians. Blessed Francesco Faà di Bruno, himself a mathematician, is also invoked.
Who is the patron saint of students and exams?
St. Thomas Aquinas is patron of students, and St. Joseph of Cupertino is invoked before exams. See the St. Joseph of Cupertino prayer.
Is there a Bible verse about math?
Wisdom 11:21: “Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight.”
More patron saints
- St. Joseph of Cupertino prayer for exams
- St. Thomas Aquinas prayer
- Patron saint of teachers
- Patron saint of engineers
- St. Albert the Great
- Patron saints of professions
Texts and sources
- Wisdom 11:21 (Douay-Rheims).