St. Honoratus Baker's Guild of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin

St. Honoratus (or St. Honore) was a the fifth century French archbishop held in high esteem as the patron saint of bakers and pastry cooks. He was of a consular Roman family which had settled in Gaul, and was well versed in the liberal arts. In his youth, over the objections of his father, he renounced the worship of idols and even won his elder brother, Venantius, to Christ. The two brother stravelled to Syria, Egypt, and Greece with their director, St. Caprais. After the death of Venatius, Honoratus returned to Gaul and became a hermit in the mountains near Frejus. Encouraged by Bishop Leontius of Frejus, Honoratus established a monastery on the island of Lerins c. 410. The rule of the monastery was derived from that of St. Pachomius. Later Honoratus was chosen as Archbishop of Arles, a position he accepted with some reluctance. He died three years later in 429 C.E. Two of the main thoroughfares in Paris, a very rich pastry, and the cream which fills it (sometimes known as Chantilly cream) are all named after him. Processions and fairs are still held by bakers and pastry cooks in his honor on his feast day, May 16. His symbol is a baker's peel (a long-handed board for moving bread and other pastries in and out of an oven).