A PATRON SAINT FOR CATS?

Posted: 01.03.21 in Articles category

Do you know that there's a patron saint of cats? A 7C nun, St Gertrude of Nivelles, was known for being kind to the cats that lived around her monastery, offering them food and affection. I am not a Catholic and don't know how such patronage is made, but that's beside the point. I simply want to publicize another Christian saint who cared about animals and I have chosen to do so this month as her feast day is 17 March. Curiously enough, St Gertrude lived at a similar time to St Cuthbert - our local 7C saint here in Northumberland. There's no evidence that they knew of each other and it's highly improbable, given that Gertrude lived in what is now Belgium. Nevertheless, it is interesting to me that Cuthbert was a near contemporary. His affection and empathy for animals became renown and I have written about some of the tales told concerning Cuthbert's rapport with animals in previous website articles. His feast day also falls this month on 20 March - the date he is remembered annually at the parish church on Holy Island.

Let's return to cats. You might be surprised to read about them on a website dedicated to birds and God's love for them. After all, the only 'love' cats have for birds is as playthings to kill and sometimes to eat! I don't deny that cats kill vast numbers of birds and may indeed be the biggest single threat to garden bird populations. Yet I think God also loves cats. And they too can be 'signs' pointing to the divine. The British writer DH Lawrence in his poem, PAX, presents an image of a cat asleep on a chair as a lovely metaphor of our intended relationship with God. It reminds me of Psalm 84 and its picture of swallows making a nest by the altar in the temple.

 

PAX

All that matters is to be at one with the living God

To be a creature in the house of the God of Life.

Like a cat asleep on a chair

at peace, in peace

and at one with the master of the house,

with the mistress at home,

at home in the house of the living,

sleeping on the hearth, and yawning before the fire.

Sleeping on the hearth of the living world,

yawning at home before the fire of life

feeling the presence of the living God

like a great reassurance

a deep calm in the heart

a presence

as of a master sitting at the board

in his own and greater being,

in the house of life.

 

by D.H. Lawrence