Tuesday, March 3, 2015

St. Gertrude of Nivelles, Cats, and Go-cups

St. Gertrude of Nivelles (621-659) was a noblewoman who, when aged ten, rejected a potential arranged marriage between the offspring of a king and her and declared that "she was a bride of Christ." Unfortunately, she was married anyway.  After his death, Gertrude became an abbess instead and is recognized as the Patron of Cats as well as the sick, the mentally ill, and travelers. She is historically invoked against mice and rats. Does that make her first of the crazy cat ladies?

How many cats must a woman possess in order to be a crazy cat lady?  Is there any generally accepted number?  I can accept that the general concept requires that the person must be (1) a lady, (2) be crazy, and (3) have many cats. It can be expressed in set notation as:

 [Lady ∩ Crazy ∩ Many Cats.] 

Does this concept exempt tramps or skanks, mentally sound people, or collectors of Pound Purries (stuffed kitties)?

I might also add that Gertrude is invoked a by travelers for a safe journey. Supposedly, a drink before hitting the road is referred to as 'St. Gertrude's cup.'

I guess that also makes her the patron saint of go-cups. Would that also apply to go-cups of coffee, or is that only for alcohol? At least drive-in daiquiri stands have a patron! (People find it incredible that there are drive-in daiquiri stands on SE Louisiana!)



9 comments:

John A Hill said...

Is there a difference between a crazy lady that has cats and a crazy cat lady?
Are there crazy women with other pets?
Do other pets have patron saints?
: )

Linda Kay said...

John has some good questions, Angel. one of my sisters in law has a sister (odd) who takes in every stray cat imaginable, and her house is a dump! The only place off limits is her bedroom. My brother says the house smells so bad, she won't let them inside. She also is OCD. Interesting that there might be a patron of animals.

Bilbo said...

It seems to me that St Gertrude is spreading herself a little thin between being the patron saint of cats, the sick, the mentally ill, and travelers. I suggest she enter a teaming agreement with St Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, and hand off responsibility for patroning the mentally ill to him. This would avoid any conflict of interest between the two of them when dealing with Congress.

TexWisGirl said...

yeah, she does have her plate full, even well after death!

Mike said...

I think every crazy cat lady is destined to become cat food.

Duckbutt said...

Is the lady crazy, or is she the patron of crazy cats? Or Krazy Kats, to invoke the old cartoon?

Dixie@dcrelief said...

Nivelles and Bits.
A patron of kits.

Cherdo said...

Ha ha ha...I love the thought progress from St. Gertrude >> Cat Ladies >> Go cups. In general, I'm digging the way you think. Keep it coming, EPT.

PS: Perhaps I need a cat.

Elvis Wearing a Bra on His Head said...

A bracing drink for the road is a good idea/