Why St. Patrick’s Day Also Honors Cats

Each year on March 17, thousands of Americans flood cities clad in green for parades, pub crawls and general merriment to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. But he’s not the only holy person honored on this day: March 17 is also the feast day of St. Gertrude.

Although she might not be a household name, St. Gertrude of Nivelles—not to be confused with St. Gertrude the Great—is recognized as the unofficial patron saint of an important member of many households: cats. She is also considered a protector of travelers and gardeners and, according to legend, once saved devotees from a sea monster.

Here’s what to know about St. Gertrude of Nivelles and why she’s considered the feline-friendly saint.

Gertrude was born in 626 in the city of Nivelles—part of Merovingian France located in modern-day Belgium. Not much is known about her childhood, other than she was born into a religious family of some standing and wealth, says Oswin Craton, editor of A Cloistered Light: Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, Patron Saint of Pilgrims & Cats.

She knew she wanted to enter religious life at an early age, but her father had other plans. “As was a common practice of the time, children of notables often would be promised in marriage to the offspring of other people of higher station,” Craton explains. “Having had her hand requested in betrothal to the son of a duke, Gertrude’s father agreed to the arrangement.” But Gertrude, then 10 years old, announced she wouldn’t marry him or any other man and said that Jesus Christ would be her bridegroom.

Three years later, Gertrude’s mother had a double monastery constructed in Nivelles—one for men, one for women—and appointed Gertrude as its first abbess. But the demands of her role, combined with her strict ascetic practices, took a toll. Gertrude frequently fasted and deprived herself of sleep as her health steadily deteriorated. By age 32, she was so weakened she resigned as abbess. She died of unknown causes on March 17, 659, at just 33 years old.

Gertrude was venerated as a saint “immediately” following her death, and a church was built in her honor, states The Catholic Encyclopedia. “A great number of miracles have been attributed to her, including saving her monastery from a fire, restoring sight to the blind, reviving a drowned boy to life [and] saving a young man from slavery,” Craton says. By 1637, there were more than 75 churches and places of worship dedicated to St. Gertrude of Nivelles in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, among other countries.

Today, she is considered a protector of travelers, in part because of her hospitality during her lifetime—especially when it came to hosting pilgrims at the monastery. It’s also the result of a legend. In Catholic lore, St. Gertrude sent some of her devotees on a journey to a distant land, promising them a safe passage. When a giant sea monster emerged to capsize their ship, the beast disappeared after they prayed to her. To commemorate this event, it’s said medieval travelers would raise a glass to toast her before embarking on a trip.

She is also the patron saint of gardeners—who consider her feast day of March 17 the ideal day to begin spring planting, provided there’s good weather—as well as pilgrims, widows, the recently deceased, people with fevers, those living with mental illness, people afraid of rats and mice and, most recently, cats.

St. Gertrude’s association with cats began to take root in the 15th and 16th centuries, when she was depicted in illustrated manuscripts, art and church ornamentation holding a pastoral staff and book, surrounded by mice. 

It is unclear why St. Gertrude of Nivelles is associated with mice. Some scholars suggest it might have to do with her devotion to those in purgatory—a place where Catholics believe souls are purified before they can enter heaven. 

“As for the mouse, St. Gertrude of Nivelles was not more troubled by mice than any other medieval abbess, but she was greatly concerned for the welfare of souls in Purgatory, for whom she constantly interceded, and in the Netherlands mice were a symbol of departed souls,” writes Helen Roeder in Saints and Their Attributes; With a Guide to Localities and Patronage.

According to one legend, St. Gertrude of Nivelles once learned her convent’s grain supply was infested with mice and got rid of them by praying they’d go away. After her death, St. Gertrude of Nivelles was invoked for protection against rats and mice and against the destruction and diseases these rodents could cause. In addition, water from the crypt of a church dedicated to her in Nivelles was said to be effective at ridding your house or fields of mice and rats. 

“It was by extension that she became associated with cats, inasmuch as cats were known as one of the principal means of keeping rodents under control,” Craton says. 

On top of that, nearly all monasteries during her time kept cats in order to control vermin, so it’s not a stretch for her patronage to extend to felines as well as mice, he explains. “Anyone who can get rid of rats and mice must surely be a cat person,” writes Thomas J. Craughwell in Heaven Help Us: 300 Saints to Call Upon for Any Occasion.

Officially, there’s no record the Vatican has recognized St. Gertrude of Nivelles as the patron saint of cats. Today’s association between her and felines mostly stems from the 1981 catalogue Metropolitan Cats, put out by the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “Saint Gertrude of Nivelles was the patroness of cats.”

From there, word got out about her feline connection, and it’s been widely accepted since.