Saint Gertrude praying as mice (or holy souls) scamper up her crozier. Image via Wikimedia.
Cat-lovers, rejoice! While many of us will be celebrating St Patrick’s Day, today is also St Gertrude’s Day, known to many as the patron saint of cats.
Much of what we know about Saint Gertrude comes from the Vita Sanctae Geretrudis, her official Catholic biography written to justify her veneration as a Saint. Born around 626AD, she led an extraordinary life for a woman of her time.
At just ten years old, she was already under pressure to marry, but she didn’t want any of it. When the son of a duke proposed, there was no swooning from Gertrude. Instead, she lost her temper and declared that she would “have neither him nor any earthly spouse but Christ the Lord”.
From then on, her life took a different course than the one intended for her. She fended off multiple marriage proposals, and her mother Itta backed her all the way.
When Gertrude’s father died just four years later, she shaved Gertrude’s hair into the style worn by monks in a bid to put off any further potential suitors. And to be absolutely sure, they went and founded a double monastery at Nivelles together, where they lived out the rest of their lives as nuns.
At Nivelles, Gertrude soon became known for being gifted with visions, including one of a flaming sphere that was so bright it was described by others as a visitation of the ‘True Light’.
She is also said to have worked some pretty substantial miracles, including banishing a sea storm and a sea monster allowing religious men traveling on monastic business to complete their journey in safety.
But what has any of this got to do with cats?
Saint Gertrude, the cat-cradler. image via pinterest.
Described as intelligent and caring, Gertrude has been attributed with an unusually long list of patronages. She is often invoked as a patron of travelers, not just because she banished that sea monster, but also because she was hospitable to all, regardless of whether or not they were religious.
She’s popular among gardeners too, with many saying that good weather on her feast day is a good sign that it’s time to grab your trowels and your kneelers and start planting for spring. She’s also called upon for the sick, the poor, the elderly, and to ward off fever, mental illness and… mice.
Indeed, early pictures frequently show her with mice running up her crosier, probably as an homage to her fervent prayer for holy souls. This was something which she is said to have taken particularly seriously, and at the time holy souls were often depicted as mice.
But there are many who take the mouse connection much more literally. Gertrude and her sister nuns are said to have kept lots of cats the monastery – both for companionship and to keep a very real mouse problem at bay. Gertrude was apparently renowned for being remarkably kind to them and sure enough, you only need to do a quick Google image search to find tonnes of pictures of Gertrude cradling cats in a lovely garden setting. While her patronage of cats seems to be a more recent addition to her saintly remit, it has exploded her popularity and is probably her most widely invoked attribute today.
Her life came to an end when, exhausted from a life of fervent prayer and intense visions, she asked one of her cherished pilgrims when she would die. Tomorrow, he said. Tomorrow was St Patrick’s day, and sadly, the pilgrim’s prophesy came true.
So if you’re out revelling for Saint Patrick’s Day, take a moment to cherish the cats in your life and remember the remarkable Saint Gertrude, an independent woman who refused to give in to the pressures and expectations of her time, and showed kindness and compassion to people from all walks of life. And who really loved cats.
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Written by Harriet Tatton
Harriet is one of DigVentures' community archaeologists. She loves museums, skeletons, and a good cup of Early Grey. Her first dig was at Bennachie, in Aberdeenshire, and since then she's never gone digging without her signature flowery wellies.
Comments (28)
Great article!
As a historical interpreter, and lover of cats – I’m down to two, but at one time I was feeding 30 tame, half-tame, and ferral cats – some have called me a medieval cat woman. Thanks for the info, I hadn’t heard of her before.
Why is she the Saint of cats?
AWESOME this helped a lot about my saint report on St.Gertrude
“Saint Gertrude, the cat-cradler. image via pinterest.”
The artist is Carolee Clark.
You can find her shop on Etsy, it’s called kingofmicestudios.
I had never heard of her but after reading this article I feel more in common with her than St Patrick. I’ll look for more information about her in the future. Thank you for sparking my interest in something and someone new.
Just to be clear the feast day of Gertrude the Great is Nov 16
Erin that’s Gertrude the great, the one being talked about the now is Gertrude of Neville
I sure appreciate that information about St. Gertrude’s patron St. Day being May 17th, and I miss Frosty, Mr. CAT and Geography Sexton, and Elliot Sexton from the Elliot Bay area, Mary Sexton, who can always use a Trader Joe’s gift card. The military police @ Ft. JACKSON, SC, already took an interest in my A-wall information. I know I’ll persuade Military Police Officer Rodriquez to send her on. I joined the Rosary Cafranerty and pray for poverty. Ft. Jackson saved under favorite’s. I am also following the Marine’s. Take care Boo Boo, your mother is fondly remembered. I still have my Cosco member ship and I would if I could bring your favorite.
this made me laugh…. I have been out clearing my flower garden this morning , with my cats frolicking along side me….. and now I read this….
That was a great, fun read today. I seem to have given up recreational reading, listening and viewing for Lent this year. Really twitches me on the reading/research part. And come to find out, I’m not an Audible history or theology fan. And right here I find St.Gertrude (defs allowable for obvs) and some smiles. And a nifty oh so Lenty research idea. Thank you from the top of my lil Catholic heart down to your flowered wellies..and happy St.Pats. =]
Please allow me to clarify: Saints are revered as role models, but not worshipped. Only God can be worshipped!
Just remember, we don’t ‘worship’ saints, we venerate them. Critical difference!
I knew this about St. Gertrude being Celebrated on March 17 and her love for cats. How very interesting. I would love to know more about her story.
While I appreciate this article, I would like to clarify that Catholics DO NOT WORSHIP the Saints. We honor them as holy men and women who are examples to follow, and we ask their prayers for us because we believe they are in heaven.
Worship is reserved for God alone. 🙂
I will copy & paste & give credit…. withOUT the question mark at the end. 😠
PLEASE change the first sentence to “ her official Catholic biography written to justify her VENERATION as a Saint. “
Saints ARE NOT worshipped. Only God is. We venerate and honor saints…looking to them as guides for our our journey to holiness.
So glad she was around❤️
Please credit King of Mice Studio for the art.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/kingofmicestudios
It is my understanding the this art is an original creation. Please check it out.
Well Patrick took care of the snakes and Gertrude had cats to handle the mice! They both deserve thanks!!!
Super great!! I loved the detail💙
Re Aunt Jane’s comments lol we now need a saint who LOVED the mice.
We did not find this article “funny”. Cleo, Phryne, and I each thought it was lovely.
My son’s family has a cat named Trudy in honor of Saint Gertrude. She is
Special in many ways….but saintly. ..??…..well….maybe a little.
.
I just happy about Gertrude for is my middle name. I always hated that name but something happened today after reading her story I felt grateful that we have something uncommon we both love 🐈 🐱. And I am proud to carry her name.
She was my 41st great aunt! Great article
Thank you for the history lesson. I thought I had read most of the saints stories in Catholic elementary school. I hadn’t read her story.
Great article.