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.