The saint most often named patron of broken bones is St. Stanislaus Kostka (1550–1568), the young Polish nobleman who walked hundreds of miles to become a Jesuit and died in Rome at seventeen. St. Roch, the pilgrim who nursed plague victims and is pictured showing a sore on his leg, is invoked for knee problems, and St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose leg was shattered by a cannonball, is a model for anyone recovering from a serious injury. Below are their stories, Scripture, and prayers for healing a broken bone or injury.
A short prayer for a broken bone, written for this page:
Lord Jesus, divine physician, look with mercy on my injury.
Heal my bones, ease my pain, and guide those who care for me.
St. Stanislaus Kostka, pray for me. Amen.
St. Stanislaus Kostka, patron of broken bones
Stanislaus was born in 1550 at Rostków, in Poland, into a noble family, and was sent with his older brother to the Jesuit school in Vienna. His brother mocked and even beat him for his piety. When Stanislaus fell gravely ill, he received Holy Communion, according to his biographers, from the hands of angels, and he was healed after a vision of the Virgin Mary. His father refused to let him become a Jesuit, so at seventeen he set out on foot and walked to Germany, where St. Peter Canisius received him, and then on to Rome, where St. Francis Borgia admitted him to the novitiate in 1567. He died there on August 15, 1568, at only seventeen. He is a patron of Poland, of novices and young students, and he is traditionally invoked for broken bones. His feast day is November 13 in the Jesuit calendar (in Poland it is kept on September 18). See St. Peter Canisius.
St. Roch, for knee problems
Roch (Rocco) was a fourteenth-century pilgrim from Montpellier who cared for plague victims in Italy until he caught the disease himself. He withdrew into a forest, where, according to the legend, a dog brought him bread every day until he recovered. He is pictured lifting his robe to show the sore on his leg, and so he is invoked against plague, for dogs and for knee and leg problems. His feast day is August 16. See the St. Roch prayer.
St. Ignatius of Loyola: an injury that changed a life
In 1521 the Basque soldier Ignatius of Loyola was defending the fortress of Pamplona when a cannonball shattered his leg. During a long and painful recovery, in which he even had his leg reset and a protruding bone sawed off, he asked for romances to read; there were only a life of Christ and lives of the saints. Reading them, he was converted, and he went on to found the Jesuits. His story reminds us that God can bring great good out of an injury. See the St. Ignatius of Loyola prayer.
Other saints for injuries
- St. Sebastian, patron of athletes, for sports injuries. See the St. Sebastian prayer.
- Sts. Cosmas and Damian, twin doctors and martyrs, patrons of physicians and surgeons. See the patron saint of surgery.
- St. Raphael the Archangel, whose name means “God heals.” See the St. Raphael prayer.
What Scripture says
Psalm 33:21 (Douay-Rheims):
The Lord keepeth all their bones, not one of them shall be broken.
The prayer of the feast of Sts. Cosmas and Damian, patrons of doctors, from the 1916 daily missal:
May the blessed and solemn remembrance of the holy Martyrs, Cosmas and Damian, magnify thy name, O Lord, who hast rewarded them with glory everlasting, and, in thine ineffable providence, hast bestowed on us thy gracious help. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen.
Prayers for a broken bone or injury
Written for this page.
For a broken bone
St. Stanislaus Kostka, pray for me (or for name), who has broken a bone.
Lord, let the bone heal straight and strong,
give patience during the recovery, and bless the doctors and therapists. Amen.
For knee problems
St. Roch, you knew the pain of a wounded leg.
Pray for me as I suffer with my knee.
Lord, give me relief, healing and patience. Amen.
Before surgery for an injury
Lord, I place this surgery in your hands.
Guide the surgeon, protect me from complications,
and give me a good recovery. Sts. Cosmas and Damian, pray for me. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the patron saint of broken bones?
St. Stanislaus Kostka, the young Jesuit novice who died in 1568.
Who is the patron saint of knees?
St. Roch, who is invoked for knee and leg problems.
Who is the patron saint of injuries?
St. Sebastian is invoked for sports injuries, and Sts. Cosmas and Damian are patrons of doctors and surgeons.
More prayers
- Patron saints of healing
- Catholic prayer for healing
- Patron saint of surgery
- Prayer for the sick
- Patron saint of weightlifting
- Patron saints
Texts and sources
- Psalm 33:21 (Douay-Rheims).
- The Mass Every Day of the Year (1916), Sts. Cosmas and Damian (September 27), Collect, public domain (archive.org).