In Catholic tradition, patron saints are holy men and women whose lives and intercession are considered especially suited to particular needs, groups, or situations. The Church's practice of invoking saints reflects the doctrine of the Communion of Saints — the belief that the faithful departed remain united with the living in the one Body of Christ and can intercede before God on our behalf.
The designation of a patron saint for "Beekeepers" reflects centuries of Catholic popular devotion and, in many cases, formal proclamations by popes or bishops recognizing a saint's particular connection to this intention through the circumstances of their life, death, or documented miracles.
Formally proclaimed patronage — sourced from canonized saints in the Roman Calendar.
Saint Bernard is invoked as patron of beekeepers. Saint Bernard was born at Fontaine-les-Dijon in Burgundy in 1090, third of seven children of Tescelin le Roux, a knight, and Saint Aleth (Aletta) of Montbard. After receiving a careful classical education with the canons of Saint-Vorles at Chatillon-sur-Seine, in 1112 the twenty-two-year-old Bernard, having persuaded thirty companions including four of his brothers and an uncle, presented himself at the new and struggling reform Cistercian abbey of Citeaux under Abbot Saint Stephen Harding. Sources: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20091021.html.
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