St. Gertrude of Nivelles; The Patron Saint of Cats (yes, you read that correctly)

I've had several revelations today, and by revelations I mean those random little thoughts that you get from out of nowhere that combine into one great idea. I've been working so hard to get some great ideas for topics to blog about so I can keep you all interested and coming back for more, and that's really hard to do when I'm super introverted and there's not much going on in my life right now (except for waiting very impatiently for my son to get here-- this poor kid wants out so badly, he can barely move around anymore! And he keeps getting horrible hiccups.)

So my first little thought of the day was, "What can I write about that concerns Catholic women and doesn't blatantly copy the wonderful podcast I've been listening to lately?" (if you haven't already, go check out The Catholic Feminist by Claire Swinarski). I recently bought myself a pretty journal especially for note-taking and reflecting in order to gather my thoughts and inspirations for this blog.

Black and gold are totally my colors right now.

In it, I've been jotting down little notes from The Catholic Feminist podcast, reflecting on "The Theology of the Body for Beginners" by Christopher West, and working on some personal journaling just for the fun of it (most of which consists of making lists of various topics, like my favorite literary characters, or my favorite saints, or things to do when I'm stressed). Anyway, this morning I was trying to come up with other ways I could use this journal to help keep me on top of my blogging hobby while combining my newfound interest in Catholic feminism. I was looking back at some of the notes I had taken in the last few weeks and remembered something that Claire had mentioned on her podcast about Edith Stein and how we as Catholics are so blessed to have all these strong female saints, and then my mind was all like, you know, when it comes to my faith, one of my favorite things to learn about is the lives of the saints. I have so many happy memories of reading these little saint books when I was a kid, reading biographies of saints in the adoration chapel, collecting various medals and prayer cards attributed to my favorite saints, and learning about different saints in my religion classes at school. It all came together; why don't I start writing about some really great women saints for my blog? Now, don't freak out, this isn't going to totally take over the blog, it's just a little addition. I just thought it would be a nice "little something" to add to my thoughts on Catholic womanhood. So, yes, you're still going to see lots of motherhood updates, wife tips, hopefully some recipes and cooking adventures, and more.

My second thought of the day, which you're going to find completely random, was this: I love my furry little Ivy.

I mean, seriously though, is she not the cutest, prettiest kitty ever?

It hit me recently that there's going to be not one, but two boys in our little family soon, and Ivy's my only girl-- you know? Yeah, she's a cat, I know, but she's still my girl. I was sitting there, thinking about what a good kitty she is-- she caught us a mouse a few weeks ago, and we were so proud of her! She's the most affectionate cat I've ever had, always wanting to sit or lay on us (especially Sean), snuggle up to us when we're sleeping, sit with us on the couch, and she loves to be held. She even brings us toys when she wants to play. In essence, she's all the good parts of a dog mixed with the attitude/personality of a cat.

So, as I'm sitting on the couch, listing out a bunch of female saints I'd like to know more about and thinking about how grateful I am for Ivy, I come across the name Gertrude of Nivelles, who just so happens to be the patron saint of cats. I did a double take; patron saint of cats? Don't get me wrong, I love animals so so so soooooo much, but they're just that-- animals. Then I remember, hey, God loves animals too, otherwise He wouldn't have made them. Even better, He made animals for us. Then I decided, you know what? I'm going to research this Gertrude lady right now and tell my readers all about the patron saint of cats. Also, I was a little bummed that there was already a patron saint of cats, so now I can't be the patron saint of cats. =(

(https://thisbugslife.com/2017/07/02/patron-saint-of-cats-st-gertrude-of-nivelles/)

So, once upon a time, around the year 626 A.D. this little girl named Gertrude was born to a nobleman named Pepin of Landen and his wife, Itta. They lived in the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia, which is basically just France, Belgium, and parts of Germany all combined into one mega-country. Gertrude had a sister and some brothers as well-- her parents are actually beatified and her sister is also a saint. Anyways, Gertrude's dad was responsible for getting this guy with the very epic name Dagobert (it does not get much more medieval than that) to become the king of Austrasia. When that happened, Pepin became the mayor of Dagobert's palace and moved his whole family to court. Thus, Gertrude grew up at court and was surrounded by medieval politics and nobility. One day, when she was about ten years old, Dagobert was having this fancy medieval dinner party (one can just picture the turkey legs and goblets of wine) with Pepin and his family when he turns to pre-teen Gertrude and asks, "Hey, so you know that marriage is a really important aspect of medieval life in terms of political alliances and familial security, so how would you like to marry some duke's son?"

Gertrude immediately protested, according to her biographer, rather angrily for a little girl. She said no not because she was only ten (that's still a little young, even for those times-- she would not have hit menarche yet), but because she swore that she would have "no earthly spouse but the Lord". This probably made her family a little uneasy, and probably angered the king-- but no one forced her to get married. Presumably this was more of a betrothal promise rather than a marriage proposal. Skip forward a few years, to 640, and King Dagobert dies. When his successor takes the throne, Pepin and his family moved out east. It was here that Gertrude's sister was married off to some noble lord (not getting into the details of her life right now). Not long afterwards, Pepin died, leaving Gertrude and her mother basically alone (because her brothers were men and they could do whatever they wanted and her sister was with her husband and his family). This also left Gertrude free to join the religious life because she no longer had a father who could force her to marry. However, Gertrude still had scores and scores of suitors. One day Gertrude's mom, Itta, was like, "Hey, Gertrude, I'm going to shave your hair off because that will keep men from abducting you and it will also be a sign of your intent to become a sister." Gertrude's reply was two thumbs up. Itta also ordered the construction of the abbey at Nivelles in hopes that she and her daughter could safely and comfortably retire there-- remember, they had lots of money due to their social status. Also, this was a pretty common practice for noble women at the time.

Gertrude and Itta took their vows and lived at Nivelles very happily. Nivelles was a two-part abbey, one half for religious men and one half for religious women. It is thought that Itta, as the abbess, ran the abbey jointly with the abbot (the men's superior). Gertrude was already earning herself a reputation as a highly intelligent, charitable, mature, and temperate young woman. She was well-known for caring for the poor, fasting, and caring for strangers and travelers who came to the abbey. She was also a fan of cats; she regularly took in stray cats who came to Nivelles, feeding them and caring for them. I like to imagine that she was pretty much a crazy cat lady, however there is some practicality in this-- cats chase mice, and mice carry disease, so cats would have been helpful little critters to have around a building full of people. Either way, this is how she came to be known as the patron saint of cats, which is pretty much the greatest patronage ever. Gertrude was also friends with some Irish monks, who were fleeing Ireland due to some pagan uprisings. Two of these monks were Saints Follian and Ultan.

Itta died in 652, leaving Gertrude in charge of the abbey. She died 7 years later on March 17 (St. Patrick's Day), 659, "weakened from fasting". I hope she was surrounded by her kitties while on her deathbed. In terms of miracles attributed to her, there are two well-known stories. The first is that she had a vision while at the altar of Pope Sixtus II; she saw a bright light that lasted for about thirty minutes. She later told her sisters at Nivelles about the vision. The second miracle was witnessed by her biographer, thought to be an Irish monk, who was caught in a violent storm while at sea. The sailors began to panic and invoke pagan gods and idols, while the monk called out for Gertrude to keep them safe. According to legend, the storm ceased immediately and the crew was able to reach their destination safely.

That's all I have for St. Gertrude of Nivelles-- seeing as how she is a saint from early medieval times, there's really not a whole bunch known about her, but feel free to look her up. I mean, who doesn't want to know more about the patron saint of cats? I hope you all have a nice, relaxing week and enjoy this FINALLY cool weather! Take a little catnap and pet a cat sometime, keeping good old St. Gertrude in mind. Also, how sweet is this picture???

(http://ceirdwenfc.tumblr.com/post/95646978032/coolchicksfromhistory-gertrude-de)

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_of_Nivelles

http://www.catholictradition.org/Saints/nivelles.htm

http://www.womenofgrace.com/blog/?p=38469