"Are you a dog person or a cat person?" Not to get too philosophical on you, but this is one of the fundamental questions of human existence. A question that, had the Supreme Executive Committee in its infinite wisdom chosen the other Saint Gertrude ("of Nivelles" rather than "the Great"), could have perhaps been decided once and for all. You see today Roch, the patron saint of dogs, takes on Gertrude, the patron saint of...not cats but...the West Indies. Alas.
Of course, there are other criteria on which to base your decision as you seek to choose between a 14th century Frenchman and a 13th century German woman. Like whether you prefer cabernet to beer or croissants to pretzels. But enough of these European stereotypes!
Yesterday, in the most lopsided battle of the year, Joseph trounced Christina Rossetti, sending her into her personal "bleak midwinter," 79% to 21%. He'll face Absalom Jones in the Saintly Sixteen.
This is the last battle of the first full week of Lent Madness 2016. Save your voting energy, folks, and we'll see you bright and early on Monday morning as Columba takes on Kateri Tekakwitha.
Roch
Roch (Rock in English) is known as the patron saint of dogs, falsely accused people, and plagues. Many legends surround the saint, who was born in 1350 in Montpellier, France, to a rich merchant family. According to one legend, God touched Roch at birth, leaving the mark of a red cross on his breast. Rejecting his father’s directive to become a governor of their town following his father’s death, Roch instead sold his possessions and began a pilgrimage to Italy. During his journey, he passed through a town stricken by the plague. Roch miraculously cured the inhabitants with touch and the sign of the cross. Unfortunately, he was unable to prevent himself from contracting the plague, and stories say he fled to the wilderness to die.
As Roch was lying in pain, a dog appeared to him in a clearing. The dog began licking his sores and nurturing him to health. A water source sprang up beside him. Popular iconography of Roch shows him afflicted with sores and a dog by his side.
When Roch healed, he returned home. Unfortunately, his uncle, the governor, did not recognize him and threw Roch in prison as a spy. For five years, Roch lived in the prison without revealing his identity. It was not until he died that people recognized him by the cross-shaped birthmark on his breast. Following his death, the people of the village wept and gnashed their teeth in loss and regret, and a group of followers of Roch sprang up in Montpellier. Seeing the popularity of Roch, the Roman Church built the Church of San Rocco in Venice and entombed his remains.
Collect for Roch
Merciful Jesus, you know our deepest sorrows and aches and offer us comfort through your love and companionship. Thank you for the ministry and miracles of your loyal servant, Roch, who sought to comfort the sick and infirm for the sake of your love. Create in us hearts full of compassion and love that we would be agents of your healing and love in a broken world. Amen.
Gertrude
Gertrude the Great (sometimes called Saint Gertrude of Helfta) was a late thirteenth-century German Benedictine nun, mystic, theologian, and writer.
Little is known of Gertrude’s early life except that she was born in 1256. She entered school at the monastery of St. Mary at Helfta at the young age of four. While some speculate that her parents offered her to the Church as a child oblate (a person dedicated to a life in God’s service), another theory is that she was an orphan. In the monastery school, Gertrude was under the care of Saint Mechtilde, the younger sister of the monastery’s abbess, Gertrude of Hackeborn.
Gertrude joined the monastic community in 1266. Her later writing shows that she was well educated in rhetoric and Latin. Gertrude began to experience visions at the age of twenty-five. She shifted her study from the secular to focus on scripture and theology and devoted herself to a life of prayer and meditation. Wanting to share her experiences and dedication to God, Gertrude began writing spiritual treatises for her monastic sisters and became a spiritual counselor to whom people flocked for advice.
Gertrude produced numerous writings, although only a few survive today. The longest piece still in existence is The Herald of Divine Love. Partly written by Gertrude and partly written by other nuns, The Herald is composed of five books. Book Two, written by Gertrude, forms the core of the work. It includes vivid descriptions of Gertrude’s visions, including details on the veneration of Christ’s heart.
Gertrude died at Helfta, near Eisleben, Saxony (Germany) around 1302. While Gertrude is now regarded as one of the great mystics of the thirteenth century, she was not broadly remembered after her death until the Latin edition of her work was published in 1536.
Collect for Gertrude
Almighty God, your Holy Spirit gives to one the word of knowledge, and to another the insight of wisdom, and to another the steadfastness of faith. We praise you for the gifts of grace imparted to your servant Gertrude, and we pray that by her teaching we may be led to a fuller knowledge of the truth we have seen in your Son Jesus, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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273 comments on “Roch vs. Gertrude”
Gee looks like Oliver is picking all the losers. Roch is winning on this one too.
Dog lovers unite and vote for Roch!
I was at first inclined to vote for the dog lover, Roch, as I do love our furry canine friends. But...my mother's name was Gertrude, a name she didn't really like. I miss my mother every day. Gertrude got my vote today.
For the times growing up, when Mom would get on me, for letting our beagle "Snuffy" lick at a sore. I'd reply that "dog spit kills germs!" Boy, do I wish I had known the St Roche story back then...I would have added that dog spit is holy!
Gertrude belongs with Julian of Norwich, Evelyn Underwood, Blessed Catherine Emmerich and many other great mystic women. We need to celebrate and affirm the feminine principle in Christian spirituality. With all our superficial talk of "affirmation" and "inclusion" with silly emasculated liturgical language, we still defer almost exclusively to male theologians. I never heard of Roch before. His story sounds like a lot of incredible medieval "miracles" which were all made up after his death.
I think that this would have been much more interesting if it *had* been St. Gertrude of Nivelles. Then it would have been dog lovers vs. cat lovers, and our household would have made six votes for St. G of N. (Does it count as multiple voting from the same e-mail if that votes being registered are those of cats?)
Gertrude sounds very worthy, but the patron saint of dogs has my vote - just so he will intercede on behalf of my four-legged family members.
Benedictine. Mystic. Gertrude.
I voted for Roch, partly because I'd never heard of him. I loved the miracle stories, and I like dogs! Hard to choose, as usual.
My family has had multiple dogs- and a few cats, including my calico Quilt- but this story of Roch makes little sense to me. He stopped to help the sick, caught the plague and went off to die, but didn't. What else did he do that was saintly? Remain in prison for 5 years without revealing his birthmark which would prove his identity? Sounds like another, paler version of St. Francis, if all he had was a dog healing him. I vote for St. Gertrude, who may not have been wanted by her family but was certainly wanted and blessed by God, as she proved by receiving (and using) the gift of an education. In her time, that was a rare gift indeed for a woman.
Who knows where Roch was on his walk with God when he was in jail? What facets of God he was exposed to or what faces of Christ were revealed in his fellow captives? What is the difference between being free or in jail, between praying for the sick, oppressed and/or captive every week? Why not stay in jail? Maybe being in jail was a way to minister or be ministered to.
Not writing this too clearly, but it's been on my heart this night.
Those are lovely, original thoughts. After all, now that you mention it, many of the great mystics found peace in cells. Like them, Roch may have held the key to his own.
What an excellent point! Being in prison didn't necessarily mean that Roch was all by himself in a cell for five years. He may well have been helping and ministering to his fellow inmates. It's a sensible explanation for why he didn't reveal his identity. It's consistent with his selfless and noble character as portrayed in the other stories about him.
Why isn't the faithful companion, Roch's dog, the saint? Dogs are loyal to the end, living to please and serve their masters. Now, obedience is another matter...
My vote is with Roch and the many, many people who languish in American prisons, some of them unjustly convicted. At Lent, we should give extra attention to our broken criminal justice system and how we ended up incarcerating millions even as our crime rates improve.
It's too late to vote, but I'll comment anyway. Both saints were exemplary humans, and the dog who licked St. Roch's wounds deserves a shout out as well.
Correction: sores instead of wounds. Dogs don't care; they just love us however they find us.