Last week was St. Patrick's day, but did you there is another Saint's day that falls on March 17th? St. Gertrude of Nivelles is also honored on March 17th, and I bring her up here because she is sometimes called the patron saint of cats!
Acccording to U.S. Catholic, Gertrude of Nivelles was born in 626 and was the youngest of 4 children in the family. During that time, families would often look to increase their prestige by looking for stragetic marriages with noble families. Her father had arranged a match between her sister and the son of a powerful bishop, and he seemed to have the same idea for Gertrude. When Gertrude was 10 years old, her father hosted a banquet for King Dagobert, who asked Gertrude to marry the son a duke. She refused and according to a medieval biography of Gertrude, she declared that she would only take Jesus as a bridegroom.
After her father's death, her mother helped her to fulfill her promise by building a monastery, where Gertrude devoted her days to the study of scripture, caring for the sick, elderly and poor. She built churches, monasteries and hospices and Nivelles became well known for welcoming travelers, which perhaps accounts for her being known as patron saint of travelers.
Gertrude wore down from constant fasting and from keeping vigils and died on March 17, 659 at the age of 33. She was immediately celebrated as a saint and churches were erected in her honor, and miracles attributed to her.
One miracle was told by some Irish monks who were friends of hers. They were on an ocean voyage and threatened by a sea monster, but upon invoking her name, the sea monster disappeared and they continued their trip. This was the origin of a drink called "Gertrudenminte" that sailors often took to ensure a safe journey - and maybe another reason why she is known as patron saint of travelers.
A quick search online will offer several items depicting St. Gertrude holding a cat, but looking at the history, there doesn't seem to much mention of her actually being a cat lover. In fact, it wasn't until around 1982 that she was mentioned as patron of cats in a catalog for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For more than 1300 years, Gertrude of Nivelles was known as the saint of travelers and gardeners, but what about the cats?
How did she come to be known as the cat saint? U.S. Catholic says it is probably because she was often associated with rats and mice and called upon to ward off rodents. And, of course, cats are also often associated with warding off rodents, so it was natural to link Gertrude of Nivelle to cats. As Catster.com points out, it was a small leap from celebrating St. Gertrude as the saint who kept rodents away to being the saint who protected those who keep rodents away.
Today cats are more part of the family than ever, so I think it's fitting that we have adopted St. Gertrude as an unofficial patron saint for cats. Maybe next March 17th, I'll ditch the green and wear my best cat themed outfit instead!
Photo by Hümâ H. Yardım on Unsplash
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