Happy St. Patrick/Gertrude's Day

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I personally don’t really celebrate this holiday, but I did wear green pants today so as not to get pinched, which is...a weird sentence.

So, out of curiosity, I went out looking for other significant events that fall on this day and boy did I find a gem!

Let me introduce you to the oh-so-fascinating, Gertrude of Nivelles, with a few fun facts:

1. NUN BOSS

   Gertrude was born circa 626-8 AD in Belgium. By the age of 20, she was an abbess (head nun) in a monastery at Nivelles (Belgium) founded by her mother, Itta. She got by the young age of 20 because she was so smart and well-read for her time. We love a book nerd!

   
   

2. CATS

   Somewhere along the way she became known as the patron saint of cats! As a self-proclaimed cat lady, I find this fact DELIGHTFUL.

   
   

3. HAIR SHIRTS

   She was so dedicated to her Catholic faith that she would often practice fasting and mortification of the flesh. To do that, she wore hair shirts. Shirts made of animal hair that were designed to cause extreme discomfort thus forcing the wearer to focus beyond the flesh to a more spiritual plane.

   
   

4. DEATH PREDICTION

   All of her fasting and austerity wore her body down and when she could feel she was close to death (around the ripe age of 33), she asked a visiting Irish monk when she would die and he told her it would be the next day, March 17. And that is exactly what happened.

   
   

   What a life, right!?

   
   

   So as you are celebrating St. Paddy’s today, don’t forget to raise a glass of green beer to our gal, St. Gertrude!