Monday, March 17 is the annual celebration of St. Patrick, usually accompanied by leprechaun illustrations and green beer. In recent years, a meme depicting St. Gertrude of Neville stroking a cat she holds in her arms appears about the same time. Caption: “It happens every year: Patrick this and Patrick that. No one remembers me and my cats.”

Who Was St Gertrude of Nivelles?

Similar to many early female saints, Gertrude (628-659) grew up in a palace. Her father was Pepin of Landen, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia in Merovingian France. He served two kings: Dagobert I who died in 629 and Sigebert III.

An early story about Gertrude describes a royal banquet where Sigebert III asked a ten-year-old Gertrude if she would like to marry the son of an unnamed Duke of the Austrasians. Gertrude apparently didn’t think much of the idea. According to the story, she lost her temper and flatly rejected the proposal saying she would have no earthly spouse, only Christ. No wonder she became a nun.

After Pepin died in 640, his widow Itta of Metz considered what might happen to her and Gertrude, and decided the best option for them both was to build a double monastery of monks and nuns at Nivelles where she and her daughter could retire. This would also secure family lands from being seized via a forced marriage involving Gertrude. Indeed, to prevent Gertrude’s abduction, Itta shaved Gertrude’s head, leaving only a tonsure.

When Itta died in 652, Gertrude became the abbess and began collecting saints’ relics and holy books. She also welcomed teachers, particularly Irish monks. Gertrude appointed others to administer the monastery so she could focus on studying scripture, and caring for the sick, the elderly, and the poor by building churches, monasteries and hospices.

In her personal practice, Gertrude fasted and kept vigils to such a degree that by the age of 32, she was in poor health. She resigned as abbess, and appointed her niece Wulfetrud to the position so she could devote herself to prayer. In March 659, sensing the end of her life was near, Gertrude contacted Ultan, an Irish monk, to ask if he knew the hour of her death. He predicted she would die the next day during Mass. Ultan also advised Gertrude she would pass joyously, because Bishop Patrick and the angels were prepared to receive her. And so it came to be.

Gertrude’s Miracles

The path to sainthood requires authenticated miracles. Gertrude’s first miracle occurred as she stood at the altar of Pope Sixtus II. While praying, she saw a flaming sphere that illuminated the entire basilica. The vision lasted about half an hour.

Gertrude’s second miracle occurred when men, possibly Irish monks, were sailing across the sea. A violent storm blew up, and a sea monster appeared. The sailors, of course, were terrified. In desperation, the believers called to Gertrude to save them. Immediately, the storm died and the monster dove back into the sea.

And the Cats?

There is no hagiography about Gertrude and cats. However, she is associated with driving out rodents who were so plentiful they ran up Gertrude’s crozier and onto her hood. Cringe! Since cats are known predators of rodents, it is probable the monastery had numerous working cats. The public association of St. Gertrude and cats began about 1982.

A Few Patrick Factoids

St. Patrick is celebrated as the saint who drove the snakes out of Ireland. A marvelous feat, to be sure, but apparently there were no snakes in Ireland to drive out. The term ‘snakes’ was an allegory for non-Christian practices.

St. Patrick has never been canonized by the Catholic Church, which means he is not, technically, a saint. However, in 1631, the church did establish a feast day for Patrick.

March 17 is the day of Patrick’s death. Prior to becoming a popular saint’s day, March 17 honored Ostara, the goddess who brought nature’s rebirth and balance.

And, about that green beer. It wasn’t until 1961 that Irish citizens could celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the local pub, because St. Patrick’s Day falls during Lent. Sláinte!

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Sandra’s Books: Sea Tigers & Merchants. Ambition, Arrogance & Pride. Saxon Heroines. Two Coins. Rama’s Labyrinth.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

St. Gertrude of Nivelles, 1520; St. Gertrude of Nivelles from the Hours of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg; St. Gertrude with Augustinian Canoness, 16th century; St. Gertrude with Mice, St Patrick Catholic Church, Junction City, Ohio. Photo by Nyehob; Consumed mug of green beer by Mconderan. Rene Ostberg.” Meet Gertrude, Cat Lady of the Catholic Church.” U.S. Catholic. March 16, 2020.

The post St. Gertrude’s Cats first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day. A day to drink green beer, catch a leprechaun, and cheer the Emerald Isle and it’s legends. So, of course, this blog has something to do with St. Patrick, but it has more to do with snakes. In the Christian tradition, it’s fair to say snakes have a bad rap. They symbolize trickery, evil, and chaos. In other traditions, the same creature associates with fertility, life, and healing.

So before I tell the story of Patrick driving snakes out of Ireland, I need to tell you about Eve, the Serpent, and Adam. Once upon a time, they all lived in the garden of Eden, created by God and given to the happy couple. They could live an idyllic life forever provided they didn’t eat from a tree inside the garden. They couldn’t even touch it.

Enter the snake, a trickster among tricksters, who asked Eve: “Did God say ‘you shall not eat any tree of the garden?” Eve responded there was only one forbidden tree, and if they touched it, they would die. “You will not die,” the snake said. “When you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.”

So Eve took a second look, tried the fruit, and gave some to Adam. The snake didn’t lie. After they ate the fruit, Eve and Adam discovered they were naked. Before long, God caught them. Adam blamed Eve who blamed the snake. The snake, at this point, lost his legs. He also became associated with the devil and very unpopular among human beings.

Patrick Drives Snakes out of Ireland

Fast forward to 6^th century Ireland. Patrick arrives to convert the Irish to Christianity from the indigenous Druid religion. Druids held the snake in high esteem, particularly for healing.

According to legend, Patrick went up a hill to enter into a 40-day fast. And snakes attacked him. He was furious, and drove all the snakes of Ireland into the sea. And that, legend says, is why there are no snakes in Ireland.

Except there never were any snakes in Ireland.

The ‘snakes’ were probably Druids whom Patrick persecuted with enthusiasm and violence.

Hild Expels Snakes from Whitby

In 7^th century Whitby on the east coast of England, there’s another legend about snakes. Abbess Hild, the subject of my current research, established a monastery on the Whitby headland. The area has numerous ammonite fossils, a fact that influenced a legend about St. Hild and snakes.

Local people asked Hild to pray to God for the removal of a plague of snakes. She agreed. First she asked God to remove the snakes’ heads. Then she requested God to turn their bodies into stone. Finally, she quoted Jesus and ordered the creatures to “Be removed and cast into the sea.” [Sidebar: Jesus was speaking about the power of prayer to move mountains, not snakes.]

It is true that the ammonite fossils have no heads, but the Victorians and craftsmen today carve snakes’ heads out of jet and attach them to the fossil, and so the legend lives on.

The town symbol for Whitby is three ammonites with heads on a shield. 

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Photo of ammonite fossil with head carved from jet by author.

15th century manuscript illumination of Adam, Eve, & the snake.

Adam, Eve & the Snake from Raphael’s Stanza, Vatican.

St Patrick Catholic Church window, Junction City, Iowa by Nheyob.

The Whitby Snake-Ammonite Myth. Folklore. Vol 16, Number 3.

James Owen. “Did St Patrick Really Drive Snakes Out of Ireland?” National Geographic. Ma.r 15, 2014.

The post Saints & Snakes first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

In the year 387 in Dumbarton, Scotland . . . Or Cumberland, England . . . Or Northern Wales a child named Maewyn Succat was born into a family as stable as any kin group could be in the fourth century. Which is to say, to a family subject to the whims of weather, cattle raiders, and eventually slave raiders. Maewyn Succat’s grandfather was a Christian priest; his father a community leader. When Maewyn Succat was about sixteen years old, Irish slave raiders captured him, along with a large number of his father’s vassals and slaves.

In Ireland Maewyn Succat’s master Milchu was a clan chief who sent the youth to watch the sheep. It was hard times for Maewyn Succat, but he made the best of it, learned the Irish language and social customs, and decided that he preferred his family’s Christian faith to that of the druids around him. In later years, Maewyn Succat remembered that he prayed daily “in the woods, and on the mountain, even before dawn.” And then he had a dream that if he could make it to the coast, he could escape Ireland. The dream came true; sailors smuggled Maewyn Succat onto their ship, and they sailed away to . . . France.

In Auxerre, France Maewyn Succat became a bishop and took a new name: Patricius, or Patrick, meaning father figure. Patrick had another dream. This time, “all the children of Ireland from their mothers’ wombs were stretching out their hands” to him. Patrick knew he must return to Ireland and convert the island to Christianity.

Patrick arrived back in Ireland, at Slane, on March 24, 433. He was 43 years old — which was a venerable age at the time. For the next forty years, Patrick converted people, built churches, and established monasteries.

Legend says Patrick had a walking stick made from ash wood, and that he planted it in the ground while he preached in an area. In one place it took Patrick so long to persuade the people to be baptized that when he was ready to leave, Patrick discovered his stick had taken root. I suspect he pulled it up just the same.

There are other stories. Patrick used the lowly shamrock to explain the Christian concept of Trinity to his listeners. Just as the shamrock has three leaves but is one, so God was Father, Son, and Spirit and yet one. I’m not sure what people concluded from that story, or even if it was important to them. But the shamrock was important to pre-Christian Irish and the number three was significant.

There is also the story that while Patrick was undergoing a 40-day fast, snakes attacked him. He was so angry he drove them into the sea, which is why there are no snakes in Ireland . . . Except there’s no evidence there ever were any snakes in Ireland. No doubt the term snake was a metaphor for the devil who tempted Adam and Eve to sin, implying Patrick drove the devil out of Ireland, and who can say he didn’t?

It turns out, that though Patrick’s day became a church feast day in the seventeenth century, Patrick was never actually canonized as a saint, but he became someone more important.

Patrick became a symbol for Ireland and the Irish Diaspora.

In 1737 the Charitable Irish Society of Boston held the first St. Patrick’s day parade. New York followed suit in 1762. And in 1798 St. Patrick became associated with the color green, because during the Irish Rebellion that year, Irish fighters wore green to contrast with British red, and popularized the song The Wearin’ o’ the Green.

O Paddy dear, and did ye hear the news that’s goin’ round?
The shamrock is by law forbid to grow on Irish ground!
No more Saint Patrick’s Day we’ll keep, his color can’t be seen
For there’s a cruel law ag’in the Wearin’ o’ the Green.”
I met with Napper Tandy, and he took me by the hand
And he said, “How’s poor old Ireland, and how does she stand?”
“She’s the most distressful country that ever yet was seen
For they’re hanging men and women there for the Wearin’ o’ the Green.”

“So if the color we must wear be England’s cruel red
Let it remind us of the blood that Irishmen have shed
And pull the shamrock from your hat, and throw it on the sod
But never fear, ’twill take root there, though underfoot ’tis trod.

When laws can stop the blades of grass from growin’ as they grow
And when the leaves in summer-time their color dare not show
Then I will change the color too I wear in my caubeen
But till that day, please God, I’ll stick to the Wearin’ o’ the Green.

Take a Listen

https://youtu.be/WsoeoEFwnUI

As Irish immigrants poured into America, Irish populations grew, and the St Patrick’s day customs took root.

• A feast of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and other inexpensive foods
• Parades
• Drinking beer and whiskey

Today Americans rejoice with green beer, whiskey, Guinness, shamrocks, leprechaun hats and all manner of silliness. In 1962 Chicago began dying the Chicago River green.

Question: How does a sheep dog round up pub patrons for a glass of Guinness?

Answer Below

St. Patrick Window. St. Patrick Catholic Church, Junction City, OH. By Nheyob.

Adam and Eve with the Snake in the Roman catacombs. Public Domain.

St. Patrick Greeting. Public Domain.

Green Chicago River, 2009. By Mike Boehmer.

St. Patrick. Catholic Online.

Saint Patrick. Franciscan Media.

The Wearing of the Green. Ireland-information.

Ashley Ross. “The True History Behind St Patrick’s Day.” Time. March 8, 2019.

The post St Patrick’s Day and the ‘Wearin’ o’ the Green’ first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Every four years the calendar has a hic-cup, otherwise known as February 29th, the Leap Day in a Leap Year. It appears that no one knows quite what to do with that extra day. For most of us, it will be a day filled with our usual activities. But for some people, February 29th has an unusual personal meaning. (If you’re wondering about the calendric notation on the left, keep reading.)

One of the most obvious issues affects those individuals born on February 29, generally referred to as “leaplings” or “leapers.” Presently about 5 million people world wide share this distinction. At one time astrologers thought leapers had unusual talents, or even special powers. Much of the plot of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance is built around Frederic, who was born on February 29. Thus “though you’ve lived twenty-one years, yet, if we go by birthdays, you’re only five and a little bit over!”

Leap Year is inauspicious for Scottish shepherds who coined the phrase: “Leap year was ne’er a good sheep year.”

In Greece it’s considered unlucky to marry in a Leap Year.

“Be careful, Clara. That’s a fine specimen!”

The most famous association with Leap Year is the custom of allowing women to propose marriage to men. There’s some variation as to whether they have the entire year to propose, or whether the event must take place on the day itself. But there’s nothing to prevent the earlier acquisition of a potential groom, as the 1908 postcard above illustrates.

According the legend this custom resulted from a conversation between the Irish saints St. Brigid and St. Patrick. Brigid complained that men took too long to propose marriage. Patrick declared that women could take fate into their own hands and make a marriage proposal on February 29. Some say that Brigid then proposed to Patrick, but it must not have been the right day, because no marriage took place.

Irish monks took the custom to Scotland. In 1188 Queen Margaret allegedly passed a law declaring that women could make marriage proposals during leap years. And any man refusing the proposal would have to pay a fine. The queen did leave a loophole. The law required any woman planning to propose marriage must wear either a red petticoat (an outward garment like a skirt), or breeches. Either choice of apparel would give potential grooms fair warning of what was in the lady’s mind. Hence the day calendric note to “wear red petticoat.”

Care for a Leap Year Cocktail?

Proposing marriage can be a nerve-wracking experience. It could be helpful to indulge in a Leap Year Cocktail before doing the deed. This recipe is taken from the Boulder Locavore.

For one cocktail, combine the following ingredients with ice,

shake and pour into a chilled cocktail glass.

2 ounces of gin
1/2 an ounce of Grand Marnier
1/2 an ounce of Sweet Vermouth
1/4 ounce of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Once fortified, proceed with the calendric instruction:

Propose to the Love of my Life.

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Featured Image: Calendar Day: February 29. Photo by Author.

Pictures:

“Cute Hat eigh??” by Yarin Jeremy Kirchen. Creative Commons Attribution. Wikimedia Commons.

“Confrontational Sheep on Whin Loan.” By Chris Upson. Creative Commons Attribution. Wikimedia Commons.

“Be Careful, Clara, That’s a Fine Specimen!” 1908 Postcard. U. S. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

“St. Brigid of Kildare.” U. S. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

“Leap Year: 10 Things About 29 February. BBC Magazine. Mar. 1 2012.

Toni Dash. “Leap Year Cocktail, History, Traditions and Superstitions!” Boulder Locavore. Feb. 29, 2012.

Julie McCaffrey. “16 Leap Year Facts for 2016.” Mirror.com. Jan. 1, 2016.

James O’Shea “2006 is a Leap Year – That Means Women Can Ask Men to Marry Them.” IrishCentral.com. 19, 2016.

The post PLAN NOW FOR LEAP DAY TRADITIONS first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.