Saint Phocas the Gardener

Also known as

• Phocas of Hovenier
• Phocas of Sinope
• Focas….
• Fokas….

Memorial

• 23 July
• 14 July (translation of relics
• 5 March on some calendars when listed as Phocas of Antioch
• 22 September on some calendars

Profile

Innkeeper. Gardener. Martyr. Used surplus crops to feed the poor. Even cared for the soldiers sent to execute him for being a Christian; he fed and sheltered them, and dug his own grave.

Died

• beheaded c.303 in Sinope, Pontus (in modern Turkey)

Canonized

• Pre-Congregation

Patronage

• against insect bites
• against poisoning
• against snake bites
• agricultural workers
• boatmen
• farm workers
• farmers
• field hands
• gardeners
• husbandmen
• mariners
• market-gardeners
• sailors
• watermen

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Heiligen 3s
• Kirken i Norge
• Medieval Religion Listserv, by John Dillon
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints

MLA Citation

• “Saint Phocas the Gardener“. Saints.SQPN.com. 5 March 2013. Web. 23 May 2013. <>