Do You Know? The Patronage of Each of the 12 Apostles

As Catholics, we pray for the intercession of the saints and angels in Heaven, so that they may pray for us on our behalf.

We know that saints and angels are able to intercede for us because John sees in the Book of the Revelation that the saints in Heaven offer up to God the prayers of those on Earth.

We pray to saints of a certain patronage to ask for their special intercession. Patron saints can be venerated as the Heavenly advocate and special intercessor for nearly everybody.

Read below and see just how well you know each of the Twelve Apostles: can you name each of the Twelve, and do you know what they are the patron saints of?

“When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.” – Revelation 5:8

Peter

Bakers, bridge builders, butchers, fishermen, harvesters, cordwainers, horologists, locksmiths, cobblers, bet makers, shipwrights, stationers, popes, and the papacy.

James the Greater

Against arthritis, against rheumatism, of apothecaries, arthritis sufferers, blacksmiths, druggists equestrians, furriers, horsemen, knights, laborers, pharmacists, pilgrims, rheumatoid sufferers, riders, soldiers, Spanish conquistadors, tanners, veterinarians.

John

Love, loyalty, friendships, authors, urn-victims, poison-victims, art-dealers, editors, publishers, scribes, examinations, scholars, and theologians.

Andrew

Fishermen, fishmongers and rope-makers, textile workers, singers, miners, pregnant women, butchers, farm workers; for protection against sore throats, convulsions, fever, and whooping cough.

Bartholomew

Armenia, bookbinders, butchers, Florentine cheese, and salt merchants, Gambatesa, leather workers, neurological diseases, skin diseases, dermatology, plasterers, shoemakers, courriers, tanners, trappers, and twitching.

James the Lesser

Hatmakers, pharmacists.

Judas

N/A

Jude

Desperate causes, desperate situations, lost causes, and hospitals.

Matthew

Accountants, bankers; tax collectors, perfumers, and civil servants.

Philip

Hatters, pastry chefs, and Uruguay.

Simon the Zealot

Tanners, courriers, sawyers.

Thomas

Architects, India, Saint Thomas Christians, Sri Lanka, and Pula in Croatia.

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