Saints for Bakers

Saints for Bakers

The following Saints and Beati have connections to bakers or
the trade, either as patrons or having worked in the field.

The articles in this book were taken from the web site
Saints.SQPN.com. Expanded versions of these and
thousands of similar profiles of Christian saints with images,
support documents, links to other sites, liturgical calendar,
ebooks and more. And it's just a small part of the SQPN - the
Star Quest Production Network.

SQPN is leading the way in Catholic new media with audio

and video, books and blogs, podcasts and television, and the
most welcoming community of clergy and laity you'll find
online. Come by and see us.

SQPN

Blessed Albert of Bergamo

Memorial
• 11 May
• 7 May (Dominicans)
Profile
Born to a modest but pious farm family. Married layman.
Farmer in Villa d’Ogna, Italy. Dominican tertiary. Known for
his ministry and devotion to the poor. Pilgrim to Rome, Italy,
to Jerusalem and to Compostela, Spain. Settled finally in
Cremona, Italy. Known as a miracle worker.

Born
• Villa d'Ogna, Italy
Died
• 7 May 1279 in Cremona, Italy of natural causes

2
 Saints.SQPN.com
Beatified
• 9 May 1748 by Pope Benedict XIV (cultus confirmed)
Patronage
• bakers
• day labourers
Representation
• farm worker cutting through a stone with a scythe
• farm worker being brought the Eucharist in the field by a dove
Prayers
Almighty and ever-loving God, you led Blessed Albert to
shine forth in humility of life, in zeal for the truth and in
apostolic charity. May we follow in his footsteps and so obtain
the same reward. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. - General Calendar of the Order
of Preachers

Saint Andre Bessette

Also known as
• Alfred Bessette
• Andreas Bessette
Memorial
• 6 January
Profile
Son of a woodcutter, and eighth of twelve
children. His father died in a work-related
accident, his mother of tuberculosis, and he
was adopted at age twelve by a farmer uncle
who insisted he work for his keep. Over the years Andre
worked as a farmhand, shoemaker, baker, blacksmith, and
factory worker. At 25 he applied to join the Congregation of the
Holy Cross; Andre was initially refused due to poor health, but

3
Saints for Bakers
he gained the backing of Bishop Bourget, and was accepted.

Doorkeeper at Notre Dame College, Montreal, Quebec,

Canada. Sacristan, laundry worker and messenger. He spent
much of each night in prayer, and on his window sill, facing
Mount Royal, was a small statue of Saint Joseph, to whom
Andre was especially devoted. “Some day,” Andre believed,
“Saint Joseph will be honored on Mount Royal.”

Andre had a special ministry to the sick. He would rub the

sick person with oil from a lamp in the college chapel, and
many were healed. Word of his power spread, and when an
epidemic broke out at a nearby college, Andre volunteered to
help; no one died. The trickle of sick people to his door
became a flood. His superiors were uneasy; diocesan
authorities were suspicious; doctors called him a quack. “I do
not cure,” he always said; “Saint Joseph cures.” By his death,
he was receiving 80,000 letters each year from the sick who
sought his prayers and healing.

For many years the Holy Cross authorities had tried to buy
land on Mount Royal. Brother Andre and others climbed the
steep hill and planted medals of Saint Joseph on it, and soon
after, the owners yielded, which incident helped the current
devotion to Saint Joseph by those looking to buy or sell a
home. Andre collected money to build a small chapel and
received visitors there, listening to their problems, praying,
rubbing them with Saint Joseph’s oil, and curing many. The
chapel is still in use.

Born
• 9 August 1845 near Montreal, Quebec, Canada as Alfred Bessette
Died
• 6 January 1937 of 'gastric catarrh' in the infirmary of Our Lady of
Hope convent, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• more than a million people paid their respects at his funeral
• his tombstone reads: Pauper, servis a humilis (a poor and humble
servant)

4
 Saints.SQPN.com
Venerated
• 12 June 1978 by Pope Paul VI
Beatified
• 23 May 1982 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized
• 17 October 2010 Pope Benedict XVI

Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer

Also known as
• Apostle of Vienna
• Clemens Mary Hofbauer
• Johannes Hofbauer
• John Dvorák
• Klemens Maria
• Second Founder of the
Redemptorists
Memorial
• 15 March
Profile
Ninth child of a butcher who changed the family name from
the Moravian Dvorák to the Germanic Hofbauer. His father
died when Clement was six years old. The young man felt a
call to the priesthood, but his family was too poor to afford
his education. Apprentice and journeyman baker at
Premonstratensian monastery at Bruck, Germany. Hermit.

When hermitages were abolished by Emperor Joseph II,

Clement worked as a baker in Vienna, Austria. Hermit in Italy
with Peter Kunzmann, taking the name Clement. Made three
pilgrimages to Rome. During the third, he joined the
Redemptorists at San Giuliano, adding the name Marie. He
met some sponsors following a Mass, and they agreed to pay
for his education. Studied at the University of Vienna, and at

5
Saints for Bakers
Rome. Ordained in 1785, and assigned to Vienna.

Missionary to Warsaw, Poland with several companions from

1786 to 1808, working with the poor, building schools and
orphanages; the brothers preached five sermons a day.
Spiritual teacher of Venerable Joseph Passerat. With Father
Thaddeus Hubl, he introduced the Congregation of the Most
Holy Redeemer to Poland. From there he sent Redemptorist
missionaries to Germany and Switzerland. Clement and his
companions were imprisoned in 1808 when Napoleon
suppressed religious orders, then expelled to Austria.

Noted preacher and spiritual director in Vienna. Chaplain and

spiritual director of an Ursuline convent. Founded a Catholic
college in Vienna. Worked with young men, and helped
revitalize German religious life. Worked against the
establishment of a German national Church. Worked against
Josephinism which sought secular control of the Church and
clergy.

Born
• 26 December 1751 at Tasswitz, Moravia (in the modern Czech
Republic) as John Dvorák
Died
• 15 March 1820 at Vienna, Austria of natural causes
Venerated
• 14 May 1876 by Pope Blessed Pius IX (decree of heroic virtues)
Beatified
• 29 January 1888 by Pope Leo XIII
Canonized
• 20 May 1909 by Pope Pius X
Patronage
• Vienna, Austria (named by Pope Saint Pius X in 1914)

6
 Saints.SQPN.com
Readings
Religion in Austria has lost its chief support. - Pope Pius VII on
hearing of Saint Clement’s death

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Also known as
• Elizabeth of Thuringia
• Elisabeth of Thuringia
• Elisabeth of Hungary
Memorial
• 17 November
Profile
Princess, the daughter of King Andrew of
Hungary. Great-aunt of Saint Elizabeth of
Portugal. She married Prince Louis of
Thuringa at age 13. Built a hospital at the foot of the
mountain on which her castle stood; tended to the sick
herself. Her family and courtiers opposed this, but she insisted
she could only follow Christ’s teachings, not theirs. Once
when she was taking food to the poor and sick, Prince Louis
stopped her and looked under her mantle to see what she was
carrying; the food had been miraculously changed to roses.
Upon the death of Louis, Elizabeth sold all that she had, and
worked to support her four children. Her gifts of bread to the
poor, and of a large gift of grain to a famine stricken
Germany, led to her patronage of bakers and related fields.

Born
• 1207 at Presburg, Hungary
Died
• 1231 at Marburg of natural causes

7
Saints for Bakers
• her relics, including her skull wearing a gold crown she had worn in
life, are preserved at the convent of Saint Elizabeth in Vienna,
Austria
Name Meaning
• worshipper of God
Canonized
• 27 May 1235 by Pope Gregory IX at Perugia, Italy
Patronage
• against in-law problems
• against the death of children
• against toothache
• bakers
• beggars
• brides
• charitable societies
• charitable workers
• charities
• countesses
• Erfurt, Germany, diocese of
• exiles
• falsely accused people
• hoboes
• homeless people
• hospitals
• Jaro, Philippines, archdiocese of
• lacemakers
• lace workers
• nursing homes
• nursing services
• people in exile
• people ridiculed for their piety
• Sisters of Mercy
• tertiaries
• Teutonic Knights
• tramps

8
 Saints.SQPN.com
• widows
Representation
• woman wearing a crown and tending to beggars
• woman wearing a crown, carrying a load of roses in her apron or
mantle
Readings
Elizabeth was a lifelong friend of the poor and gave herself
entirely to relieving the hungry. She ordered that one of her
castle should be converted into a hospital in which she
gathered many of the weak and feeble. She generously gave
alms to all who were in need, not only in that place but in all
the territories of her husband’s empire. She spent all her own
revenue from her husband’s four principalities, and finally she
sold her luxurious possessions and rich clothes for the sake of
the poor.

Twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, Elizabeth

went to visit the sick. She personally cared for those who were
particularly repulsive; to some she gave good, to others
clothing; some she carried on her own shoulders, and
performed many other kindly services. Her husband, of happy
memory, gladly approved of these charitable works. Finally,
when her husband died, she sought the highest perfection;
filled with tears, she implored me to let her beg for alms from
door to door.

On Good Friday of that year, when the altars had been

stripped, she laid her hands on the altar in a chapel in her own
town, where she had established the Friars Minor, and before
witnesses she voluntarily renounced all worldly display and
everything that our Savior in the gospel advises us to abandon.
Even then she saw that she could still be distracted by the
cares and worldly glory which had surrounded her while her
husband was alive. Against my will she followed me to
Marburg. Here in the town she built a hospice where she
gathered together the weak and the feeble. There she attended
the most wretched and contemptible at her own table.

Apart from those active good works, I declare before God

that I have seldom seen a more contemplative woman.

9
Saints for Bakers

Before her death I heard her confession. When I asked what

should be done about her goods and possessions, she replied
that anything which seemed to be hers belonged to the poor.
She asked me to distribute everything except one worn-out
dress in which she wished to be buried. When all this had
been decided, she received the body of our Lord. Afterward,
until vespers, she spoke often of the holiest things she had
heard in sermons. Then, she devoutly commended to God all
who were sitting near her, and as if falling into a gentle sleep,
she died. - from a letter by Conrad of Marburg, spiritual director of
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Saint Erhard of Regensburg

Also known as
• Albert of Regensburg
• Erhart of Regensburg
• Erhard von Regensburg
• Erhard of Ratisbon
Memorial
• 8 January
Profile
Missionary bishop. Evangelized in Bavaria, Germany working
mainly around modern Regensburg. Assisted the archbishop
of Trier, Germany. Bishop of Regensburg. Miracle worker.
Baptized Saint Odilia of Alsace, which cured her congenital
blindness. After his death a group of women formed a
religious group called Erardinonnen (Nuns of Erhard) to pray
perpetually at Erhard’s tomb; Pope Leo IX gave them his
approval, and they continued until the Reformation.

Born
• 7th century Irish

10
 Saints.SQPN.com
Died
• c.686 of natural causes
• interred at Regensburg, Germany
• his crozier is preserved as a relic in the parish church in
Neidemunster
Patronage
• against cattle diseases
• against eye diseases
• against eye problems
• against plague
• bakers
• cobblers
• hospitals
• shoemakers
Representation
• bishop baptizing Saint Odilia of Alsace
• bishop with a book on which sit two eyes

Saint Honorius of Amiens

Also known as
• Honoratus of Amiens
• Honortus of Amiens
• Honoré of Amiens
Memorial
• 16 May
Profile
Born to the nobility. Known as a pious child, he was
educated by Saint Beatus of Amiens. Reluctant bishop
of Amiens, France, believing himself unworthy. Legend
says that a ray of divine light and holy oil appeared upon his
head at the time of his selection as bishop. Re-discovered the
relics of Saint Victoricus of Amiens, Saint Fuscian of Amiens,

11
Saints for Bakers
and Saint Gentian of Amiens, which had been lost for 300
years.

Legend says that when word reached the family home in

Porthieu that Honorius had been chosen bishop, his old
nursemaid, who was baking bread at the time, announced that
the boy was no more going to be a bishop that then baker's
peel she was leaning on would turn back into a tree. The
wooden peel promptly grew roots and branches and turned
into a blackberry tree what was still be shown to pilgrims 900
years later. This naturally led to a baker's peel being one of his
emblems, and his patronage of trades associated with baking.

Born
• Porthieu, Amiens, France
Died
• 30 September 653 at Porthieu, Amiens, France
• miracles reported at his tomb, especially in 1060 when his body was
exhumed
Patronage
• against drought
• bakers
• bakers of holy wafers
• cake makers
• candlemakers
• chandlers
• confectioners
• corn chandlers
• florists
• flour merchants
• oil refiners
• pastry chefs
Representation
• baker's peel or shovel
• bishop with a large Host
• bishop with three Hosts on a baker's shovel

12
 Saints.SQPN.com
• loaves of bread
• prelate with a hand reaching from heaven to give him bread for the
Mass

Saint John Bosco

Also known as
• Don Bosco
• Giovanni Bosco
• Giovanni Melchior Bosco
• John Melchoir Bosco
Memorial
• 31 January
Profile
Son of Venerable Margaret Bosco. John’s
father died when the boy was two years old;
and as soon as he was old enough to do odd jobs, John did so
to helps support his family. Bosco would go to circuses, fairs
and carnivals, practice the tricks that he saw magicians
perform, and then put on one-boy shows. After his
performance, while he still had an audience of boys, he would
repeat the homily he had heard earlier that day in church.

He worked as a tailor, baker, shoemaker, and carpenter while

attending college and seminary. Ordained in 1841. A teacher,
he worked constantly with young people, finding places where
they could meet, play and pray, teaching catechism to orphans
and apprentices. Chaplain in a hospice for girls. Wrote short
treatises aimed at explaining the faith to children, and then
taught children how to print them. Friend of Saint Joseph
Cafasso, whose biography he wrote, and confessor to Blessed
Joseph Allamano. Founded the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) in
1859, priests who work with and educate boys, under the
protection of Our Lady, Help of Chistians, and Saint Francis
de Sales. Founded the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians in
1872, and Union of Cooperator Salesians in 1875.

13
Saints for Bakers
Born
• 16 August 1815 at Becchi, Castelnuovo d’Asti, Piedmont, Italy as
Giovanni Melchior Bosco
Died
• 31 January 1888 at Turin, Italy of natural causes
Venerated
• 24 July 1907 by Pope Pius X
Beatified
• 2 June 1929 by Pope Pius XI
Canonized
• 1 April 1934 by Pope Pius XI
Patronage
• apprentices
• boys
• editors
• Mexican young people
• laborers
• schoolchildren
• students
• young people
Readings
Fly from bad companions as from the bite of a poisonous
snake. If you keep good companions, I can assure you that
you will one day rejoice with the blessed in Heaven; whereas if
you keep with those who are bad, you will become bad
yourself, and you will be in danger of losing your soul. - Saint
John Bosco

Enjoy yourself as much as you like - if only you keep from sin.
- Saint John Bosco

Do you want our Lord to give you many graces? Visit him
often. Do you want him to give you few graces? Visit him
seldom. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are powerful and
indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil.

14
 Saints.SQPN.com
Make frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the
devil will be powerless against you. - Saint John Bosco

Saint Macarius the Younger

Also known as
• Macarius of Alexandria
Memorial
• 2 January
Profile
Successful merchant in fruits, candies, and pastries in
Alexandria, Egypt. Converting to Christianity,
Macarius gave up his business in 335 to become a
monk and hermit in the Thebaid, Upper Egypt. For a
while he lived near and was a friend of Saint Anthony
the Abbot. Macarius was a poet, healer, and friend to wild
animals. He was exiled by heretic Arians with Saint Macarius
the Elder and other monks to an island in the Nile because of
his orthodoxy, but he was later allowed to return. In later life
he travelled to Lower Egypt, and was ordained, and lived in a
desert cell with other monks. He wrote a constitution for the
monastery at Nitria named after him, and some of its rules
were adopted by Saint Jerome for his monastery.

Amazing stories grew up his practice of severe austerities,

some of which reached the proportion of legend.

For seven years he lived on raw vegetables

dipped in water with a few crumbs of bread,
moistened with drops of oil on feast days.

He once spent 20 days and 20 nights without

sleep, burnt by the sun in the day, frozen by
bitter desert cold cold at night. “My mind dried
up because of lack of sleep, and I had a kind of
delirium,” the hermit admitted. “So I gave in to
nature and returned to my cell.”

15
Saints for Bakers

Trying to get further from the world, and closer

to God, Macarius moved to the desert of Nitria
in Lower Egypt in 373. The journey was through
a harsh land, at when Macarius was at the end of
his strength, the devil appeared and asked, “Why
not ask God for the food and strength to
continue your journey?” Macarius answered,
“The Lord is my strength and glory. Do not
tempt a servant of God.” The devil then gave
him a vision of a camel laden with food.
Macarius was about to eat, but suspected a trap,
and so prayed over the camel; it vanished.

He spent six months naked in the marshes, beset

constantly by viscious blood-sucking flies and
mosquitoes, in the hope of destroying his last bit
of sexual desire. The terrible conditions and
attacking insects left him so deformed that when
he returned to the monks, they could recognize
him only by his voice.

A young brother once offered Macarius some

very fine grapes. The old fruit dealer was about
to eat when he decided to sent them to a brother
who was ill. This brother passed them to one he
considered more in need; that one did the same,
and on and on until the grapes made the rounds
of all the cells and returned to Macarius.

Macarius returned to Skete and began to work

on his worst vice - his love of travel. The devil
appeared and suggested Macarius go to Rome
and chase out the demons there. Torn between
travelling for such a good cause, but wishing to
fight his vice, Macarius filled a large basket with
sand, put it on his back, and set out. When
someone offered to help him, he said, “Leave me
alone! I am punishing my tormenter. He wishes
to lead me, old and weak as I am, on a distant
and vain voyage.” He then returned to his cell,
body broken with fatigue, but cured of his

16
 Saints.SQPN.com
temptation.

In old age Macarius journeyed to a monastery

where 1,400 hermits lived under the rigid rule of
Saint Pachomius. Macarius was refused
admittance. “You are too old to survive the great
rigor we have here,” Pachomius told him. “One
should be trained in it from childhood, or else
one cannot stand it. Your health would fail and
you would curse us for harming you.” Macarius
then stood at the abbey gate for seven days and
nights - without sleep, without food, without
saying a word. Finally, the monks relented and he
let him in. Macarius stood in a corner of the
monastery in complete silence for all of Lent,
living on a few cabbage leaves each Sunday
“more to avoid ostentation, than from any real
need.” The monks became so jealous of this new
brother that they took their complaint to
Pachomius, who asked God for illumination.
When he learned that the old man was Macarius,
he went to him and said, “My brother, I thank
you for the lesson you have given my sons. It will
prevent their boasting about their modest
mortifications. You have edified us sufficiently.
Return to your own monastery, and pray for us
each day.”

Born
• early 4th century at Alexandria, Egypt
Died
• c.401 of natural causes
Patronage
• confectioners
• cooks
• pastry chefs
Representation
• flies

17
Saints for Bakers
• flies stinging a desert hermit
• hermit with lamp
• hermit with lantern
• hermit leaning on a crutch in the form of a tau staff while
conversing with a skull

Saint Meingold
Memorial
• 8 February
Profile
Member of a noble family of Liege, Belgium. Lived in Huy,
Belgium, and was known for his personal holiness.
Assassinated while returning from a pilgrimage; the killers
cared nothing about his faith, and killed him for purely
political reasons.

Died
• murdered in 892
Patronage
• bakers

Michael the Archangel

Memorial
• 29 September
• 8 May - Apparition of Saint Michael and
Protector of Cornwall
Profile
Archangel. Leader of the army of God during
the Lucifer uprising. Devotion is common to
Muslims, Christians and Jews, and there are
writings about him in all three cultures.

18
 Saints.SQPN.com
Considered the guardian angel of Israel, and the guardian and
protector of the Church. In the Book of Daniel (12:1),
Michael is described as rising up to defend the Church against
the Anti-Christ.

The feast of the Apparition of Saint Michael commemorates

appearance of the archangel to a man named Gargan in 492
on Mount Gargano near Manfredonia in southern Italy.
Gargan and others were pasturing cattle on the mountain; a
bull wandered off and hid in a cave. An arrow was shot into
the cave, but it came flying back out and wounded the archer.
The cowherds went to their bishop who ordered three days of
fasting and prayer to seek an explanation for the mystery. At
the end of the three days Michael appeared to the bishop and
requested a church built in the honour of the Holy Angels in
the cave. If you find medals or holy cards with 'relics' of
Michael, they are probably rock chips from the cave, or pieces
of cloth that have touched it.

Born
• wasn't
Died
• hasn't
Patronage
• against danger at sea
• against temptations
• Albenga, Italy
• ambulance drivers
• Argao, Cebu, Philippines
• artists
• bakers
• bankers
• banking
• barrel makers
• Basey, Samar, Philippines
• battle
• boatmen

19
Saints for Bakers
• Brecht, Belgium
• Brussels, Belgium
• Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
• Caltanissett, Sicily, Italy
• Castel Madama, Italy
• Cerveteri, Italy
• Coimbatore, India, diocese of
• Congregation of Saint Michael the Archangel
• coopers
• Cornwall, England
• Cuneo, Italy
• Dormagen, Germany
• Dunakeszi, Hungary
• dying people
• emergency medical technicians
• EMTs
• England
• fencing
• Gaby, Italy
• Germany
• Gravina, Italy
• Greek Air Force
• greengrocers
• grocers
• haberdashers
• hatmakers
• hatters
• holy death
• Iklin, Malta
• Iligan, Philippines, diocese of
• knights
• London, England
• Marcianise, Italy
• mariners
• milleners
• Mobile, Alabama, archdiocese of

20
 Saints.SQPN.com
• Naranjito, Puerto Rico
• Papua, New Guinea
• paramedics
• paratroopers
• Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, diocese of
• police officers
• Puebla, Mexico
• radiologists
• radiotherapists
• sailors
• Salgareda, Italy
• San Angelo, Texas, diocese of
• San Miguel, Iloilo, Philippines
• San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
• Sant'Angelo Romano, Italy
• Saracinesco, Italy
• Seattle, Washington, archdiocese of
• security guards
• Sibenik, Croatia
• sick people
• Siegburg Abbey
• soldiers
• Spanish police officers
• Springfield, Massachusetts, diocese of
• storms at sea
• swordsmiths
• Toronto, Ontario, archdiocese of
• Toronto, Ontario, city of
• Umbria, Italy
• Vallinfreda, Italy
• watermen
• Zeitz, Germany
Representation
• balance (helping to judge at the Last Judgment)
• banner (as the leader of the army of God)
• dragon (representing the defeated devil)

21
Saints for Bakers
• scales (helping to judge at the Last Judgment)
• sword (as a soldier of God)
Readings
You should be aware that the word "angel" denotes a function
rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed
always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they
deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages
of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim
messages of supreme importance are called archangels.

Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed,

Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it
clear that no one can do what God does by his superior
power. - from a homily by Pope Saint Gregory the Great

Saint Nicholas of Myra

Also known as
• Klaus
• Mikulas
• Nicholas of Bari
• Nicolaas
• Nicolas
• Niklas
• Santa Claus
Memorial
• 6 December
Profile
Priest. Abbot. Bishop of Myra, Lycia (modern Turkey).
Generous to the poor, and special protector of the innocent
and wronged. Many stories grew up around him prior to his
becoming associated with Santa Claus. Some examples

22
 Saints.SQPN.com
• Upon hearing that a local man had fallen on such hard
times that he was planning to sell his daughters into
prostitution, Nicholas went by night to the house and
threw three bags of gold in through the window,
saving the girls from an evil life. These three bags,
gold generously given in time of trouble, became the
three golden balls that indicate a pawn broker’s shop.
• He raised to life three young boys who had been
murdered and pickled in a barrel of brine to hide the
crime. These stories led to his patronage of children in
general, and of barrel-makers besides.
• Induced some thieves to return their plunder. This
explains his protection against theft and robbery, and
his patronage of them - he’s not helping them steal,
but to repent and change. In the past, thieves have
been known as Saint Nicholas’ clerks or Knights of
Saint Nicholas.
• During a voyage to the Holy Lands, a fierce storm
blew up, threatening the ship. He prayed about it, and
the storm calmed - hence the patronage of sailors and
those like dockworkers who work on the sea.

Died
• c.346 at Myra, Lycia (in modern Turkey) of natural causes
• relics believed to be at Bari, Italy
Patronage
• against imprisonment
• against robberies
• against robbers
• Amsterdam, Netherlands
• apothecaries
• Apulia, Italy
• archers
• Avolasca, Italy
• bakers
• Bardolino, Italy
• Bari, Italy
• Barranquilla, Colombia

23
Saints for Bakers
• barrel makers
• Beit Jala, Palestinian Territory
• boatmen
• boot blacks
• boys
• brewers
• brides
• Cammarata, Sicily, Italy
• captives
• Cardinale, Italy
• Cas Concos, Spain
• children
• coopers
• Creazzo, Italy
• dock workers
• druggists
• Duronia, Italy
• fishermen
• Fossalto, Italy
• Gagliato, Italy
• Genazzano, Italy
• Greece
• Greek Catholic Church in America
• Greek Catholic Union
• grooms
• judges
• La Thuile, Italy
• lawsuits lost unjustly
• Lecco, Italy
• Limerick, Ireland
• Liptovský Mikulás, Slovakia
• Liverpool, England
• longshoremen
• Lorraine, France
• maidens
• mariners

24
 Saints.SQPN.com
• Mazzano Romano, Italy
• Mentana, Italy
• Meran, Italy
• merchants
• Miklavž na Dravskem polju, Slovenia
• penitent murderers
• Naples, Italy
• newlyweds
• old maids
• parish clerks
• paupers
• pawnbrokers
• perfumeries
• perfumers
• pharmacists
• pilgrims
• poor people
• Portsmouth, England
• prisoners
• Russia
• sailors
• Sassari, Italy
• scholars
• schoolchildren
• shoe shiners
• Sicily
• Is-Siggiewi, Malta
• spinsters
• students
• penitent thieves
• travellers
• University of Paris
• unmarried girls
• Varangian Guard
• watermen
Representation

25
Saints for Bakers
• anchor
• bishop calming a storm
• bishop holding three bags of gold
• bishop holding three balls
• bishop with three children
• bishop with three children in a tub at his feet
• purse
• ship
• three bags of gold
• three balls
• three golden balls on a book

Saint Peter the Apostle

Also known as
• Cephas
• First Pope
• Keipha
• Kepha
• Pre-eminent Apostle
• Prince of the Apostles
• Shimon Bar-Yonah
• Shimon Ben-Yonah
• Simeon
• Simon
• Simon bar Jonah
• Simon ben Jonah
• Simon Peter
Memorial
• 29 June (feast of Peter and Paul)
• 22 February (feast of the Chair of Peter, emblematic of the world
unity of the Church)
• 1 August (Saint Peter in Chains)

26
 Saints.SQPN.com
• 18 November (feast of the dedication of the Basilicas of Peter and
Paul)
Profile
Professional fisherman. Brother of Saint Andrew the Apostle,
the man who led him to Christ. Apostle. Renamed “Peter”
(rock) by Jesus to indicate that Peter would be the rock-like
foundation on which the Church would be built. Bishop. First
Pope. Miracle worker.

Born
• c.1 in Bethsaida as Simon
Died
• martyred c.64 in Rome, Italy
• crucified head downward because he claimed he was not worthy to
die in the same manner as Christ
Name Meaning
• rock
Patronage
• Affi, Italy
• against feet problems
• against fever
• against foot problems
• against frenzy
• bakers
• Bath Abbey
• Belvedere Ostrense, Italy
• Berchtesgaden Abbey
• Berlin, Germany, archdiocse of
• Birzebbuga, Malta
• Bremen, Germany
• bridge builders
• butchers
• Calbayog, Philippines, diocese of
• Capolona, Italy
• Capriata d’Orba, Italy

27
Saints for Bakers
• Castelletto d’Orba, Piedmont, Italy
• Chartres, France
• Chatillon, Aosta, Italy
• clock makers
• Cluny, France
• cobblers
• Cologne, Germany
• Corbie Abbey
• Davao, Philippines, archdiocese of
• Exeter College, Oxford, England
• Dunajská Streda, Slovakia
• fishermen
• Gabiano, Italy
• harvesters
• Imér, Italy
• Jackson, Mississippi, diocese of
• Köpenick, Germany
• Lanuvio, Italy
• Las Vegas, Nevada, diocese of
• Lessines, Belgium
• Leuven, Belgium
• locksmiths
• London, England
• longevity
• Maralal, Kenya, diocese of
• Marquette, Michigan, diocese of
• masons
• Mdina, Malta
• Moissac, France
• Montpellier, France
• Morbegno, Italy
• Nadur, Gozo, Malta
• Naumburg, Germany
• net makers
• Obersmarsberg, Germany
• papacy

28
 Saints.SQPN.com
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, archdiocese of
• popes
• Poznan, Poland
• Providence, Rhode Island, diocese of
• Regensburg, Germany
• Rome, Italy
• Saint Petersburg, Russia
• Scranton, Pennsylvania, diocese of
• ship builders
• shipwrights
• shoemakers
• Sint Pieters Rode, Belgium
• stone masons
• Tagliacozzo, Italy
• Toa Baja, Puerto Rico
• Umbria, Italy
• Universal Church
• watch makers
• Worms, Germany
Representation
• Apostle holding a book
• Apostle holding a scroll
• bald man, often with a fringe of hair on the sides and a tuft on top
• book
• cock or rooster
• keys of Heaven
• keys
• man crucified head downwards
• man holding a key or keys
• man robed as a pope and bearing keys and a double-barred cross
• pallium
• papal vestments
• reversed cross

29
Saints for Bakers
Readings
Out of the whole world one man, Peter, is chosen to preside
at the of all nations and to be set over all the apostles and all
the fathers of the church. Though there are in God’s people
many bishops and many shepherds, Peter is thus appointed to
rule in his own person those whom Christ also rules as the
original ruler. Beloved, how great and wonderful is this
sharing in his power that God in his goodness has given to
this man. Whatever Christ has willed to be shared in common
by Peter and the other leaders of the Church, it is only
through Peter that he has given to others what he has not
refused to bestow on them. Jesus said: "Upon this rock I will
build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it." On this strong foundation, he says, I will build an
everlasting temple. The great height of my Church, which is to
penetrate the heavens, shall rise on the firm foundation of this
faith. Blessed Peter is therefore told: “To you I will give the
keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth
shall be bound also in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth
shall be loosed also in heaven.” - from a sermon by Pope Saint Leo
the Great

Saint Philip the Apostle

Memorial
• 3 May (Roman calendar)
• 14 November (Greek calendar)
Profile
Disciple of Saint John the Baptist.
Convert. One of the Twelve Apostle.
Brought Saint Nathanael to Christ.
Confidant of Jesus. Little is known
about him, but scriptural episodes give
the impression of a shy, naive, but
practical individual. Preached in Greece
and Asia Minor. Martyr.

30
 Saints.SQPN.com
Born
• at Bethsaida, Palestine
Died
• martyred c.80 at Hierapolis, Phrygia
Patronage
• Frascati, Italy
• hat makers
• hatters
• Luxembourg
• milliners
• Monterotondo, Italy
• Nemi, Italy
• pastry chefs
• San Felipe Indian Pueblo
• Uruguay
• Venegono Inferiore, Italy
Representation
• elderly bearded man holding a basket of loaves and a cross which is
often t-shaped
• elderly man casting a devil from the idol of Mars
• elderly man crucified on a tall cross
• elderly man holding loaves and fishes
• elderly man with a dragon nearby
• elderly man with a loaf and book
• elderly man with a snake nearby
• loaves of bread
• man baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch
• man holding a book or scroll reading descendit ad inferna
• tall cross
• with Saint Andrew the Apostle

31
Saints for Bakers
Saint William of Rochester
Also known as
• William of Perth
Memorial
• 23 May
Profile
William led a wild and misspent youth, but as an adult he had
a complete conversion, devoting himself to God, caring
especially for poor and neglected children. He worked as a
baker, and gave every tenth loaf to the poor. He attended
Mass daily, and one morning on his way to church he found
an infant abandoned on the threshold. He named the baby
David, and adopted him, and taught him his trade.

Years later he and David set out on a pilgrimage to the Holy

Lands. During a stopover in Rochester, England the boy
David turned on William, clubbed him, cut his throat, robbed
the body, and fled. Because he was on a holy journey, and
because of the miraculous cures later reported at his tomb, he
is considered a martyr.

A local insane woman found William's body, and plaited a

garland of honeysuckle flowers for it; she placed the garland
on William, and then on herself whereupon her madness was
cured. Local monks, seeing this as a sign from God, interred
William in the local cathedral and began work on his shrine.
His tomb and a chapel at his murder scene, called
Palmersdene, soon became sites of pilgimage and donation,
even by the crown. Remains of the chapel can be seen near
the present Saint William's Hospital.

Born
• 12th century at Perth, Scotland
Died
• throat cut in 1201 at Rochester, England
• interred in the cathedral at Rochester
• relics destroyed along with the cathedral in 1538

32
 Saints.SQPN.com
Canonized
• 1256 by Pope Innocent IV
• his cause had been pursued by Lawrence de San Martino, bishop of
Rochester
Patronage
• adopted children

Patrons of Baking Topics

• patrons of bakers
• Albert of Bergamo
• Elizabeth of Hungary
• Erhard of Regensburg
• Honorius of Amiens
• Meingold
• Michael the Archangel
• Nicholas of Myra
• Peter the Apostle
• patrons of bakers of Communion hosts
• Honorius of Amiens
• patrons of cake makers
• Honorius of Amiens
• patrons of flour merchants
• Honorius of Amiens
• patrons of pastry chefs
• Honorius of Amiens
• Macarius the Younger
• Philip the Apostle

Saints who Worked as Bakers

• Andre Bessette
• Clement Mary Hofbauer

33
Saints for Bakers
• John Bosco
• William of Rochester

Patron Saints in General

A patron saint is one who has been chosen by long tradition,
or by competent authority, as a special intercessor with God,
and is honoured by clergy and people with a special form of
religious observance. The term patron may be applied to many
types of subjects, places or topics; the word titular is applied
only to the patron of a church or institution.

The underlying doctrine of patrons is that of the communion

of saints, or the bond of spiritual union existing between
God's servants on earth, in heaven, or in purgatory. The saints
are regarded as advocates and intercessors for those still
making their earthly pilgrimage. Most Christians understand
the concept of having a friend, a family member, or a fellow
parishioner pray for them; intercession by patrons is simply
prayer by a member of your spiritual family who is already
closer to God.

Patrons of Trades and Professions

The beliefs of a Christian in an age of Faith prompted him to
place not only his churches under the protection of some
illustrious servant of God, but the ordinary interests of life, his
health, and family, trade, maladies, and perils, his death, his
city and country. The whole social life of the Catholic world
before the Reformation was animated with the idea of
protection from the citizens of heaven. In England there were
40,000 religious corporations, including ecclesiastical bodies,
monasteries, convents, military orders, industrial and
professional guilds, and charitable institutions, each of which
had its patron, its rites, funds, and methods of assistance.

Patrons were chosen on account of some real correspondence

34
 Saints.SQPN.com
between the patron and the object of patronage, their work in
a particular place or field, by reason of some play on words, or
as a matter of individual piety. Thus, while the great special
patrons had their clients all over Christendom, other patrons
might vary with different times and places.

Honouring the saints has sometimes been an occasion of

abuse. Spells and incantations have been intruded in the place
of trust and prayer, prayerful vigils have become drunken
parties. Reverence has sometimes run to extravagance; and
patrons chosen before there was sufficient proof of their
heroic Christian virtues. But considering there's 2,000 years of
history and an entire world of the faithful, the Christian
honour paid to angels and saints has been singularly free from
human excess and error.

Notes
Cover image is a detail of a 16th century breviary illumination,
Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Den Haag, Netherlands.

SQPN

35