Why St. Patrick’s Day also honours cats
17 March every year.
Each year on March 17, thousands of Americans flood cities clad in green for parades, pub crawls and general merriment to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. But he’s not the only holy person honored on this day: March 17 is also the feast day of St. Gertrude.
Although she might not be a household name, St. Gertrude of Nivelles, not to be confused with St. Gertrude the Great, is recognized as the unofficial patron saint of an important member of many households: cats. She is also considered a protector of travelers and gardeners and, according to legend, once saved devotees from a sea monster.
Here’s what to know about St. Gertrude of Nivelles and why she’s considered the feline-friendly saint.
Life and Lore: Saint and Sea Monsters
Gertrude was born in 626 in the city of Nivelles—part of Merovingian France located in modern-day Belgium. Not much is known about her childhood, other than she was born into a religious family of some standing and wealth, says Oswin Craton, editor of A Cloistered Light: Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, Patron Saint of Pilgrims & Cats.
She knew she wanted to enter religious life at an early age, but her father had other plans. “As was a common practice of the time, children of notables often would be promised in marriage to the offspring of other people of higher station,” Craton explains. “Having had her hand requested in betrothal to the son of a duke, Gertrude’s father agreed to the arrangement.” But Gertrude, then 10 years old, announced she wouldn’t marry him or any other man and said that Jesus Christ would be her bridegroom.
Three years later, Gertrude’s mother had a double monastery constructed in Nivelles—one for men, one for women—and served as its first abbess. Gertrude became abbess upon her mother's death. But the demands of her role, combined with her strict ascetic practices, took a toll. Gertrude frequently fasted and deprived herself of sleep as her health steadily deteriorated. By age 32, she was so weakened she resigned as abbess. She died of unknown causes on March 17, 659, at just 33 years old.
Gertrude was venerated as a saint “immediately” following her death, and a church was built in her honor, states The Catholic Encyclopedia. “A great number of miracles have been attributed to her, including saving her monastery from a fire, restoring sight to the blind, reviving a drowned boy to life [and] saving a young man from slavery,” Craton says. By 1637, there were more than 75 churches and places of worship dedicated to St. Gertrude of Nivelles in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, among other countries.
Today, she is considered a protector of travelers, in part because of her hospitality during her lifetime, especially when it came to hosting pilgrims at the monastery. It’s also the result of a legend. In Catholic lore, St. Gertrude sent some of her devotees on a journey to a distant land, promising them a safe passage. When a giant sea monster emerged to capsize their ship, the beast disappeared after they prayed to her. To commemorate this event, it’s said medieval travelers would raise a glass to toast her before embarking on a trip.
She is also the patron saint of gardeners—who consider her feast day of March 17 the ideal day to begin spring planting, provided there’s good weather—as well as pilgrims, widows, the recently deceased, people with fevers, those living with mental illness, people afraid of rats and mice and, most recently, cats.
[Source: History.com]
