St. Martha of Bethany

St. Martha is best known for her appearance in the gospels of Luke and John, where she and her sister Mary were entertaining Jesus for a meal. Additionally, Martha and Mary are the sisters of St. Lazarus, the recipient of Christ's first resurrection miracle, and with whom they share a feast day.

But Martha is also known for something that doesn't occur in Scripture, that occurred in a small town in modern France known as Tarascon. According to legend, after Pentecost when the apostles spread around to share the gospel message, Martha ended up in Tarascon, where the locals were being terrorized by a fearsome beast--part dragon, part fish, built like an ox but with swordlike teeth. The called this monster the Tarasque.

The Tarasque lived in the river, sinking their boats and eating people who tried to cross it. They begged Martha to help, and she agreed. She caught the beast in the midst of devouring a man. Martha lifted her crucifix and sprinkled it with holy water, and the Tarasque immediately become docile, so Martha tied it up and led it to town, where they rescued the man from its gullet and then killed the creature.

The taming of the Tarasque is still celebrated today in Tarascon by a parade wherein a woman dressed as Martha leads a Tarasque effigy around town. It also lives on in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game as one of the most fearsome monsters, the Tarrasque.


Lifetime: First century
Region: Roman Empire
Patronages: Homemakers; Travelers; Servants
Iconograpy: Tarasque beast; Broom; Keys
Feast Day: July 29 (Western); June 4 (Eastern)

Popular posts from this blog

St. Muirgen the Mermaid

Image
Wait, an actual mermaid? That can't be real. Mermaids aren't real, so they can't be saints! Well, yes and no. Lifetime: 90 to 558 Region: Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland Patronages: People who like mermaids; Storytellers; Converts from pagan faiths (I made these up.) Iconograpy: Water; Otter; She's an actual mermaid Feast Day: January 27 Muirgen was born Li Ban and lived as a princess in her father's palace. But one day, a spring opened up under the palace, swallowing the entire building into a lake. Li Ban's whole family drowned, but Li Ban's room remained intact and continued holding air. She lived trapped in this underwater room for a year with only her dog to keep her company. After a year, Li Ban turned into a mermaid. Her faithful dog was also changed, becoming an otter to keep his master company. As a mermaid, Li Ban's lifespan was lengthened and she swam through the lake, playing with her otter for hundreds of years. Li Ban learn...
Read more

St. Agatha Kim A-gi

Image
St. Agatha Kim A-gi was born to Confucian family. She married young and began to convert to Catholicism because of her sister's testimony, before Christianity was persecuted in Korea. She loved learning about her faith, but couldn't memorize the prayers and liturgy. Instead, she always repeated a simple prayer to Jesus and Mary, no matter what. Though she was only studying to be a Christian and hadn't even been baptized, she was arrested when persecution began. While in prison, Agatha was finally baptized, which redoubled her strength to resist her captors. She refused to turn on her friends, refused to give in to torture, and refused to deny God, instead repeating only her simple prayer to Jesus and Mary. She was executed a martyr for her faith. Lifetime:  1787 to 1839 Region:  Seoul, Korea Patronages:  Korean Christians; Converts; Issues with memory (informal) Iconograpy:  Downturned sword; Lilies; Hanbok dress Feast Day:  May 24
Read more

St. Felix of Nola

Image
When I was converting to the Catholic faith, St. Felix was one of the first saints I learned about. Mostly because, as a horror writer and bug lover, I was Googling things like "spookiest Catholic saints".  Nonetheless, the scant details of St. Felix's life are an inspiration today, and a lesson about facing our fears and trusting in God. And it's just cool that there's a patron saint of spiders. Lifetime: ~200 to ~250 Region:  Nola, Campania, Italy Patronages:  Spiders; Against eye disease; Nola, Italy Iconograpy:  Spider or spider web; Prison chains; Grapes  Feast Day: January 14  Felix, in a refrain that is very common among early church saints, grew up wealthy, but sold off his estate and gave his money and possessions to the poor. He soon became the assistant to the local bishop Maximus (who himself would go on to be canonized as well). I don't want to gloss over that, though, just because it was common among the canon. Could you imagine growing up in...
Read more