Philip
Saint Philip the Apostle is the patron of pastry chefs and bakers by way of a verse: when the great crowd was hungry before the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus turned to Philip and asked, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” (John 6:5). Because the apostle’s name is forever tied to that question about bread for the multitude, the bakers’ and confectioners’ guilds took him as their patron. Hatters honor him by a more obscure association of trade and feast-day custom rather than any recorded episode. He is patron of Luxembourg and Uruguay, the latter because its capital, Montevideo, was placed under his protection together with Saint James, whose feast he shares.
Saint Philip was one of the twelve apostles, from Bethsaida in Galilee. He was among the first called by Jesus and brought Nathanael (Bartholomew) to meet the Lord. At the Last Supper, Philip asked Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father,” to which Jesus replied, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
