SAINTS

St. Medard

Posted

We have experienced such bitter cold this winter so far, as well as a great fluctuation in temperatures. Since the weather is on people’s minds, what more appropriate time is there than now to look at saints associated with weather? This week, we begin with St. Medard, patron saint of good weather.

Medard was born of Gallo-Roman nobility, an excellent student and was ordained a priest at age 33. He was bishop of Vermond, and then a year later the See was moved to Noyon, France. Legend says that when he was a child, Medard was once sheltered from the rain by a hovering eagle. This is his most common depiction in art, and led to his patronage of good weather for people who work in fields. Legend also has it that if it rains on his feast day (June 8) the next 40 days will be wet; if the weather is good, the next 40 days will bring fair weather as well.