Saint for the Cat Ladies

Everyone knows this guy...and his feast is celebrated each year by many, even non-Catholics.  I am sure I will one day tell his story on my blog.  Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!

painted by another mother in our saint exchange 2015

However, today I wanted to focus on a not so familiar saint.

St. Gertrude of Nivelles

Feast day: March 17
Birth: 626
Death: 659
Patron Against mice; cats; mental illness; travelers (a funny combination!)
Nobility
France

There seems to be little information about Gertrude's early life.  I found this quote and found it to be very mysterious and obscure...

"...it would be tedious to insert in this account in what line of earthly origin she was descended.  For who living in Europe does not know the loftiness, the names, and the localities of her lineage?"  (anonymous author of her Vita soon after her death)

It seems Gertrude lived among the nobility of early France.  Her family actually moved and traveled with the royal court at times.  Gertrude became introduced to politics during her childhood in the atmosphere of the royal court.

On one occasion, her father held a banquet in honor of the king.  At this feast, the King asked Gertrude if she would like to marry the "son of a duke of the Austrasians.... for the sake of his worldly ambition and mutual alliance." Gertrude declined and "lost her temper and flatly rejected him with an oath, saying that she would have neither him nor any earthly spouse but Christ the Lord." (from Vita)

Her father would like have encouraged this union.  After the king's death in 640, he returned to the east, taking Gertrude with him. Gertrude would not be forced into this strategic marriage as her father died soon after.  Her mother, worried for her daughter's virtue, had Gertrude's head shaved and tonsured.  This ensured her choice to live a consecrated life.  Even after this action, suitors came to their noble home wishing to marry Gertrude and ensure an alliance to this prestigious family.  Her mother than created the Monastery of Nivelles, which finally stopped the constant flow of suitors interested in marrying Gertrude.  Gertrude and her mother both resided in the convent.  However, after they entered the religious life, they suffered, "no small opposition" from the royal family.

In 650, her mother died and Gertrude took over the monastery as abbess.  She was "an intelligent young woman, scholarly and charitable, devoting herself to the sick, elderly, and poor," and as knowing much of the scripture by memory. Gertrude also memorized passages and books on divine law, and she "openly disclosed the hidden mysteries of allegory to her listeners." (from Vita)

Gertrude welcomed foreigners, lay or religious. She especially welcomed Irish monks who, since the sixth century, traveled to evangelize. Among the numerous pilgrims that visited the monastery of Nivelles were the two brothers, Foillan (feast day October 31) and Ultan (feast day May 1), both Irish monks on their way from Rome.  In an addition to Gertrude's story we learn about the life of these saints.

Some time while the abbess, Gertrude began receiving visions while in prayer at the chapel.  The visions were bright beams of light that many believed to represent a "visitation of the True Light."  Miracles were attributed to the intercession of Gertrude while she lived and after her death.

Gertrude is portrayed as leading a devout life until her death. It is possible that after taking the veil in she never left the monastery at Nivelles, thus escaping politics and local affairs. Gertrude is described as "exhausted by a life of charity, fasting and prayer" at the end of her short life.

Gertrude's Vita describes her after relinquishing her role as abbess, spending her time praying intensely and secretly wearing a hair shirt. According to her biographer, Gertrude felt the time of her death approaching, and asked a pilgrim from the Fosses monastery when she would die.  Ultan prophesied that Gertrude would die on March 17, the very next day, and also the feast day of Saint Patrick. Furthermore, Ultan prophesied that "she may pass joyously because blessed Bishop Patrick with the chosen angels of God... are prepared to receive her." True to the prophecy, Gertrude died the next day after praying all night and taking communion.

Many tales that came much later, after her death, associate her with cats and hunter of mice.  It seems that the folklore would go with a young lady who spent her life in a convent, but one never knows how these stories truly begin.