How do Catholics decide which saints to pray to? I am somewhat familiar with the concept of patron saints; my understanding is that Catholics are encouraged to pray to particular saints based on their location, occupation, or activities. The categories seem to be quite broad, however, so one person would have several patron saints.
For example, Maximilian Kolbe is the patron saint of, among other groups, amateur radio operators. I am an amateur radio operator; if I were Catholic, would I pray to Kolbe only for prayers related to amateur radio, or could I pray to him for anything, because I am an amateur radio operator? If the former, what would the qualifications be for a prayer to be related to amateur radio? If I'm falling from a ham radio antenna tower and praying for protection, would that qualify?
