Patronage
3 saints are venerated as patrons of Pharmacists, led by Mary Magdalene (feast day July 22).
Approx. 1 AD — Approx. 63 AD · Feast day: July 22
Mary Magdalene — 'Apostle to the Apostles' — was healed by Jesus when He cast out seven demons, and she followed Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. While most male disciples fled the Crucifixion, she stood at the foot of the Cross, and on Easter morning the Risen Christ called her by name and sent her to tell the others He had risen.
1st century AD — ca. 80 AD · Feast day: May 3
Philip the Apostle was the practical man among the Twelve who calculated costs precisely, yet asked Christ the question that gave Christian theology its most consequential pivot: 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.' He brought the Gospel to Hierapolis and died a martyr there.
Approx. 675 AD — December 4, 749 AD · Feast day: December 4
Born the son of a senior Umayyad court official in 7th-century Damascus, John of Damascus left wealth and influence to become a monk at Mar Saba, where he composed the theological synthesis that shaped Catholic and Orthodox Christianity for a millennium. His written defense of sacred images, composed safely inside a Muslim caliphate, proved decisive in the iconoclast controversy.