Today is the feast day of Gertrude the Great. No, she's not one I'd ever heard of until this moment (she's patron of the West Indies, so not someone I've needed to call upon by name just yet.)
Gertrude was born in Saxony in the 1350s, and placed in a convent at the age of five. She never again left the convent. (The world is a very different place than it was 700 years ago...)
At the age of twenty-six, Christ appeared to her in a vision and told her to stop studying so hard. On the one hand, this admonition could be taken as "you are a woman so you don't need to study" but I prefer to take it as "slow down and be still!" Pretty good advice in the 1370s or 2004.
Words Written: zero
Lessons Graded: twelve
P.S. Thanks for all of the kind replies to my Saturday post.
2 comments:
I was going to post a comment yesterday about how it's effectively winter here in the Lower Upper Eastern Midwest, and cold and dark and crummy, and I couldn't imagine why we all weren't praying to the patron saint of the West Indies more frequently.
Then I decided not too, because it wasn't that funny.
Then this morning I heard it's going to be 65 fun-lovin' degrees in a day or two.
It's a sign! Can you High Church types hum along while I riff on "Immaculate Mary"?
(sings)
Oh Gertrude of Saxony
Your praises I sing
To frozen Knox County
Warm weather you bring!
Sweater weather, that's what I'm see-ee-in'!
Patron Saint of the Carribean!
Alleluia! Alleluia! AAAAA-MEN!
(to be sung on a high G)
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