Daily Excerpt: Saints I Know (Sula)
It seems appropriate that today's daily excerpt, on Caturday, would from a cat book -- Saints I Know by Sula, Parish Cat at Old Mission -- and be about St. Gertrude, the patron saint of cats.
St. Gertrude of Nivelles
626-659
St. Gertrude of Nivelles is the patron saint of cats, which
is why sometimes I am tempted to say that she is my favorite saint. But I
really don't have a favorite, they are all very special. Well, I talk to St.
Francis each morning to find out what jobs I have that day so I suppose that
does make him sort of extra special—especially since he is the patron saint of
animals.
If you think of my jobs as a mission, you might say I am a Mission
cat with a different mission every day, thanks to St. Francis.
Like St. Basil, St. Gertrude came from a family with many
saints. Her mother was St. Itta of Nivelles, her father was St. Pepin of
Landen, her sister was St. Begga of Ardenne. Unlike many other saints, St.
Gertrude didn't come from a poor or humble family. Both her father and mother
came from wealthy families and were important people in a king's court.
When Gertrude was ten years old, the king was at a banquet
with her family because her father had invited him. That shows just how
important her family was. Sometime during the dinner, the king asked the young
girl if she would marry the son of a duke because that would be good for his
kingdom. Gertrude was not afraid of the king and told him she absolutely would
not marry the duke's son or any other man because her only spouse would be
Jesus Christ.
Her father died when she was about 15. Because her family
was so important, many other families wanted young Gertrude and her widowed
mother to marry into their family so they could gain wealth and power. As
protection against forced marriages, St. Amand, the local bishop, advised her
mother to build a pair of monasteries for men and women religious where she and
her daughter would be safe.
After the monastery was completed, St. Gertrude's mother
appointed Gertrude Abbess of the women's monastery at the young age of 20 and
became a nun herself. St. Gertrude devoted the next ten years of her life to
prayer and serving orphans, widows, and pilgrims. She so often fasted and went
without sleep that her health suffered greatly. She resigned as Abbess when she
was 30 and appointed her niece, St. Gertrude of Nivelles, to succeed her.
She stayed at the monastery and spent the next three years studying holy
scripture and writing. St. Gertrude died when she was 33.
Because of her devotion to and care of others, St. Gertrude
was very well thought of both by other figures in the Church and by the people
who lived in the nearby countryside. This popularity often led to people asking
for her protection against animals such as mice and rats and all sorts of
mental illness and distress. She was also named the patron saint of not only
cats, but also gardeners, hospitals, innkeepers, the mentally ill, those who
recently died, pilgrims and other travelers, and widows.
Widespread devotion to St. Gertrude led indirectly to her association with another sort of animal: cattle. In the middle of the 19th century, when my Mission was just over 50 years old, a new breed of cattle was developed on the King Ranch in south Texas. This new breed was based on Brahmans and Beef shorthorns and was named after the Spanish land grant where the King Ranch was originally formed: it was named Santa Gertrudis to honor St. Gertrude. So St. Gertrude is important to animals from cats to cattle.
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