Gardeners may find some assistance in patron saints, according to Catholic tradition.
Vegetable gardens have several patron saints, according to ''Butler's Lives of the Saints'' and Catholic Online's database of saints. They include St. Werenfrid, patron saint of vegetable gardens; St. Isidore, patron saint of farmers and large gardens; St. Fiacre, patron saint of herb and vegetable gardens; and St. Patrick, who is not only the patron saint of the Irish, but also of organic gardening. Does this Spark an idea?
St. Werenfrid
St. Werenfrid was an English Benedictine missionary who is the patron saint of vegetable gardens and is invoked for gout and stiff joints. His feast day is Aug. 14. According to Catholic Online's database, Werenfrid accompanied Saint Willibrord on a pilgrimage to Frisia on the North Sea and died in Arnheim, The Netherlands, circa A.D. 780. Little is known about St. Werenfrid, but he is depicted in art standing on a ship or holding a ship with a coffin inside it.
St. Patrick
St. Patrick is the patron saint of organic gardening and is invoked for snakes. According to ''Butler's Lives of the Saints,'' Patrick was born circa A.D. 389 in Scotland, captured at age 14 by pagans, taken to Ireland and forced to herd sheep until his escape from enslavement at 20. After returning to his family, St. Patrick spent the rest of his life preaching Christianity throughout Ireland. He died in 461. His feast day is March 17.
St. Isidore
St. Isidore, often associated with agriculture, is the patron saint of farmers, large gardens and Madrid, Spain. His feast day is May 15. Isidore led a devout life, attending church daily in his native Madrid. He worked as a farm laborer for a wealthy landowner, and he communed with God as he plowed the fields, according to ''Butler's Lives of the Saints.'' Isidore is also the patron saint of workers, shepherds and rural communities. He died on May 15, 1130, and was declared a saint in 1622.
St. Fiacre
St. Fiacre is the patron saint of herb and vegetable gardens, men who like to garden and taxi cab drivers, according to Catholic Online. His feast day is Sept. 1. St. Fiacre lived during the 17th century. Fiacre was born in Ireland and sailed to France to live in solitude and religious devotion in a forest in Breuil. When Bishop Faro offered him as much land as he could plow in a day, St. Fiacre is said to have turned the soil with the point of his staff. He converted the site, now known as the village of Saint-Fiacre, into a hospice for travelers and the sick. He is known for performing miracles and healing the sick.
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