[Sca-cooks] Patron Saints of Cooks, Food and Beverage Workers

[King's Taste Productions]

Here's my list, pick your favorite!


Patron Saints of Cooks, Food and Beverage Workers

JAN 2ND
Feast of St. Macarius of Alexandria(the Younger) (395?AD) - Patron Saint
of Pastry Cooks and Confectioners. Macaroons are named for him, as well
as sugarplums. A confectioner by trade, he spent 60 years in the desert
in penitential basket making.  

JAN 22
St. Vincent of Saragossa's Feast Day (304) Patron Saint of Roofers,
Schoolgirls, Vinegar Makers, and Vintners. Spanish Deacon, martyr
(Patron of Vinegar & Vintners because his name begins with VIN)

JAN 26TH
St. Timothy's Feast Day (1st Cent) Patron invoked against Stomachache.
Longtime companion of St. Paul, who personally circumcised him. Paul
advised his disciple to "use a little wine for thy stomach's sake".

Feb 1st
St. Bridgid's Feast Day (525) Patron Saint of Ireland, New Zealand,
Milkmaids, Cattle and Dairy Work, Fugitives, Nuns, Newborns, and Poultry
Raisers. Called "Mary of the Gael". 

FEB 6TH 
St. Amand's Feast Day (679) Patron Saint of Beer and Wine Sellers, and
of Hotel Workers. A wandering Bishop, he preached to the Danubian Slavs,
the Franks, and the people of Flanders. Founded a religious house at
Ghent. His Patronage of Bartenders and Innkeepers reflects his
reputation for hospitality.

FEB 8
St. Meingold's Feast Day (9th Cent) Patron Saint of Bakers, Bankers,
Millers and Miners. Belgian noble, renounced his wealth and wife to
become a beggar and aesthetic. He was murdered by his enemies. No
relation to the flour industry, his name is probably the reason for
Bankers and Miners. 

FEB 12TH 
St. Julian the Hospitaller's Feast Day (?) Patron Saint of Boatmen,
Circus Performers, Innkeepers, and Travelers. He built a hospice on the
banks of a raging river, and ferry across poor pilgrims for free.
Because of his legendary hospitality to strangers, he is prayed to by
traveling entertainers.

FEB 19
St. Conrad's Feast Day (1351) Patron Invoked against Famine and Hernias.
Franciscan monk, he produced fresh baked loaves during a famine. Hernias
have been cured in penitents at his tomb.

FEB 25
St. Walburga's Feast Day (779) Patron Saint of Crops. Abbess, daughter
of St. Richard, she was an herbalist. She once cured a girl with
ravenous appetite with three ears of grain (with which she is pictured).
She established a mission in Germany with her uncle and brothers. She
has probably been merged with the Teutonic goddess Walburg, who also has
three ears of grain as her symbol, and was celebrated as an agrarian
fertility symbol in the spring.

APRIL 8TH 
St. Walter of Pontnoise's Feast Day (1099) Patron Saint of Prisoners and
Vintners. 

APR 12
St. Urban of Langres' Feast Day (4th Cent) Patron Saint of Barrel Makers
and Vintners, Invoked against Blight or Drought. A popular Bishop in
Burgundy, his protection is invoked by everyone in the wine-making
profession in the Cote-d'Or, Champagne, and Haute-Marne districts. 

APR 16
St. Drogo's Feast Day (1186) Patron Saint of Coffeehouse Owners and
Shepherds. For unknown reasons, coffeehouse owners in Flanders adopted
him as their patron saint.  
APR 16
St. Magnus of Orkney's Feast Day (12th Cent) Patron Saint of Norway and
Fishmongers

MAY 16TH 
St. Honoratus' Feast Day (7th Cent) Patron Saint of Bakers and Millers.
Bishop of Arles circa 600, the Rue Saint-Honore in Paris is named for
him.  His patronage may stem from the story that he once received the
Eurcharist "the Bread of Angels" from the hand of God himself.   

JUNE 3RD 
St. Morand's Feast Day (?) Patron Saint of Vintners. A German
Benedictine, counselor to Count Frederick Pferz of Alsace.  Morand
fasted through lent eating only a bunch of grapes, and so that fruit
became his emblem, and his Patronage was adopted by vintners of France
and Germany.  

JUNE 5TH 
St. Boniface of Mainz's Feast Day (755) Patron Saint of Germany,
Prussia, and Brewers.  

JUNE 16TH 
St. Tychon's Feast Day (5th Cent) Patron Saint of Vintners; Invoked
against Insects.  Bishop of Cyprus in 450, he was called "Tychon the
Wonderworker" for suppressing the local cult of Aphrodite.  A poor man,
he once planted a discarded dead grape vine in his barren yard, prayed
over it, and achieved an early harvest.  In Cyprus, his feast day is
still celebrated by drinking a beverage made of unripe grapes.    

JULY 29
St. Martha's Feast Day (80) Patron Saint of Cooks, Dieticians,
Housewives, and Waitresses. Sister of St.s Lazarus and Mary Magdalen,
she sailed on a boat with them and landed in France.  

AUG 10
St. Laurence's Feast Day (258) Patron Saint of Ceylon, Cooks,
Librarians, and the Poor; Invoked against Fire and Lumbago. Archdeacon
to Pope St. Sixtus II, he was martyred because he would not tell where
the Pope's treasures were. He was scourged, branded, clubbed, stretched
on the rack, and torn with hooks before being placed on a gridiron and
roasted.  After some time, he said "Turn me over, I'm done on this
side", hence his patronage of cooks.  (Lawrence, Lorenzo)

AUG 14
St. Wenefrid's Feast Day (760) Patron Saint of Vegetable Gardens;
Invoked against Gout.  An Anglo-Saxon missionary to the Netherlands.

AUG 15TH 
St. Arnulf of Soissons' Feast Day (1087) Patron Saint of Bakers.  A
French soldier turned clergyman, eventually became bishop of Soissons.
He is depicted in art holding a long-handled baker's shovel.  

AUG 21ST
St. Bernard of Tolomei's Feast Day (13th Cent) Patron Saint of Olive
Growers.  A wealthy politician from Sienna, he retired to found a
monastery on the slopes of Mount Oliveto. 

AUG 24TH 
St. Bartholomew's Feast Day (72) Patron Saint of Cheese Merchants. A
Cananite, one of the 12 original Apostles.  

AUG 28TH 
St. Augustine of Hippo's Feast Day (430) Patron Saint of Brewers and
Printers.  Bishop of Hippo, he wrote "The City of God" and
"Confessions".  

SEPT 1ST
St. Verana's Feast Day (?) Patron Saint of Millers.  A hermit-maiden who
cared for local peasants.  Millers of the Alpine-Swiss region of
Saint-Moritz venerate her.  

SEPT 22ND
St. Phocas' Feast Day (?) Patron Saint of Gardeners and Sailors. A
gardener who ran a hospice for travelers, he greeted soldiers who came
to execute him.  When they asked for him, he told them he would show
them the man in the morning.  He spent the night digging his own grave
in his garden, which the soldiers thoughtfully used. 

SEPT 28TH
St. Wenceslas' Feast Day (935) Patron Saint of Brewers

SEPT 29
St. Michael's Feast Day (Michaelmas) Patron Saint of (among many others)
Grocers

OCT 18
St. Luke's Feast Day (84) Patron Saint of Butchers. One of the 12
Apostles.

NOV 3
St. Rumbald's Feast Day (?) Patron Saint of Fishermen.

NOV 4TH 
St. Charles Borromeo's Feast Day (1584) Patron Saint of Apple Orchards;
Invoked against Stomachaches and Ulcers. 

NOV 13TH
St. Diego Alcala's Feast Day (1463) Patron Saint of Cooks. As a young
man, Diego was apprenticed to a hermit, and together they grew
vegetables and fashioned kitchen utensils. He joined the Franciscans as
a lay brother, and was a cook and doorkeeper until he was made Superior
of his house. 

NOV 19
St. Elizabeth of Hungary's Feast Day (1235) Patron Saint of Bakers

DEC 6
St. Nicholas of Bari's Feast Day (350) Patron Saint of (among many
others) Bakers, Brewers, & Fishermen

DEC 24
St. Adam and St. Eve's Feast Days (1st Age of the World) [Adam] Patron
Saint of Gardeners.