G.R. Balleine on July and Jersey
(From "The Pilot, 1947)
July gets its name from Julius Caesar, a fact which reminds us of the power of martyrdom. Julius was a genius, but many citizens disliked him. Had he died in his bed, we should still be calling this month Quintil, which was its old name. But he was savagely murdered. At once the sympathy of the city swung over to his side. No honour was too great for him, and among other things the Senate decreed that the month in which he was born should henceforth be called July. This is a minor illustration of a truth that Christians know well. Death often succeeds, when everything else fails. “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.”
If July speaks of Julius Caesar, it brings another thought, the need of internationalism. When Julius in his little boat approached the cliffs of Dover, Britain for the first time became part of Europe. It was drawn out of its isolation, and made to mix with foreigners, and became entangled in world-wide politics. July‘s name proclaims that, whether we like it or no, we have got to be good Europeans.
The Dog Days, the hottest season of the year, begin on July 3rd, and last till August 11th. Their name comes from the fact that Sirius, the Dog Star, is then in the ascendant.
Two major Saints’ Days occur this month, St. Mary Magdalene, restored to her old dignity as a Red Letter Saint by the Revised Calendar, and St. James the Greater. St. Mary of Magdala was one of the women who ministered to our Lord of their substance, i.e., provided funds for His mission. She stood at the foot of the cross and was the first witness of the Resurrection. She is also the most maligned woman in History. She had been a demoniac, i.e., she had suffered from some form of mental disease, and our Lord had healed her; but tradition has identified her with the “woman who was a sinner,” who bathed His feet with her tears; so that any mawkishly tearful person is described as “maudlin," and Refuges for reformed prostitutes are called Magdalene Homes. There is not, however, the smallest ground for believing that the two women were the same. The Chapelle de la Madelaine stood till the 18th century in the north-west corner of the Town Churchyard.
St. James, son of Zebedee and brother of St. John, the fisherman who heard Christ's call, while he was mending his net, became one of the leading Apostles. He was the first of the Twelve to suffer martyrdom, being “slain by the sword “by order of Herod Agrippa, (July 25th, however, cannot be the date of his death, for Acts tells us that it took place just before Passover). He became the Patron Saint of Spain in its long struggle with the Moors, and so was regarded as the Champion of Christendom against the Infidel.
Most Festivals had a special dish, and Gorey fishermen were busy on their oyster-bed at this season ; for everyone tried to get oysters for dinner on St. James's Day, perhaps because the scallop-shell was the badge worn by pilgrims who visited the Shrine at Santiago in Spain, where St. James was said to be buried. In the Middle Ages a special ship left Jersey every year to carry pilgrims there.
In addition to Christmas the Virgin Mary is honoured with four Festivals, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Purification, and in the Revised Calendar her Falling Asleep. The second of these occurs this month. It commemorates the visit that she paid to her cousin Elizabeth before the birth of the Baptist, and the singing of the Magnificat.
We told the story of St. Martin of Tours in last December's number. He has two Festivals in our Calendar. We have already met him on November 11th, the day of his death. July 4th commemorates the Translation (i.e., the removal) of his body seventy years later to a magnificent tomb in the Basilica at Tours. This was once a great day in St. Saviour's parish, when the Fraternity of St. Martin-in-Summer held its Mass, its Procession, and its Supper. In addition to the three Churches that bear his name there is the Fontaine de St. Martin in St. Lawrence.
July 15th commemorates yet another Translation, that of the bones of St. Swithun, the humble-minded Bishop of Winchester, who, the old chronicler says, "as he lay a-dying begged that none would bury him in the church, but in a lowly place, where the feet of wayfarers might walk on his grave and the rain of heaven fall on him; for he loved no pomp in his life, and none would he have after death."
Nevertheless a century later his remains were brought into the Minster; and, after another century had passed, when Winchester Cathedral was rebuilt, they were transferred again with great solemnity to a shrine behind the high altar. This was on July 15th, and a contemporary record says that the weather was fine. But later a story arose that, when the monks tried to move the coffin, such a deluge of rain began and continued for forty days, that the ceremony had to be postponed. This gave rise to the belief:--
St. Swithun's Day, if thou dost rain,
For forty days it will remain.
St. Swithun's Day, if thou he fair
For forty clays 'twill rain no mair
This tradition in other lands is attached to other Saints; in part of France to St. Medard (June 8th),
Quand it pleut a St. Medard,
Il pleut quarante jours plus tard;
elsewhere in France to St. Gervais (July 4th):
S'il pleut le jour de St. Gervais,
Il pleut quarante jours après,
In Flanders the critical day is St. Godelieve's (July 6th) ; in Germany the Day of the Seven Sleepers • (June 27th), in Scotland the Translation of St. Martin, “Martin a bhuilg.”
The official rainfall figures taken at the St. Louis Observatory, which Father Rey has been kind enough to give me, show that the St. Swithun’s omen does not work in Jersey. The last rainless St. Swithun's Day was in 1935, and that was followed by 17 days of rain and 23 fine days. For the following years, on each of which it rained on St. Swithun's Day, the figures are :-1936, 25 wet, 15 fine ; 1937, 13 wet, 27 fine ; 1938, 15 wet, 25 fine ; 1939, 22 wet, 18 fine ; 1940, 15 wet, 25 fine ; 1941, 30 wet, 10 fine ; 1942, 17 wet, 23 fine ; 1943, 21 wet, 19 fine ; 1944, 13 wet, 27 fine ; 1945, 19 wet, 21 fine ; 1947, 30 wet, 10 fine.
If someone should suggest that our weather is more French than English, and therefore that we lie within the sphere of St. Medard, I can only add that St. Medard's figures confute the legend even more conclusively than St. Swithun's.
Three Saint's Days remain. We told what is known of St. Helier the Hermit in last July's number. His Day began to be kept on July 16th by certain Augustinian Priories in the 15th century, and it was added to the Coutances Breviary late in the 17th century. It is not recognized by the Roman Martyrology.
St. Margaret, the Virgin Martyr of Antioch, was the heroine of one of those sensational legends the Middle Ages loved. One version says that she vanquished a dragon by signing the cross on its breast, another that the dragon swallowed her alive, but split in two, when she made the sacred sign inside its tummy.
Poppies their sanguine mantle spread
From the blood of the Dragon St. Margaret shed.
She was an immensely popular Saint. Thousands of babies have been christened Margaret after her; 260 English churches bear her name; and there used to be at Grouville a Chapelle de Ste Marguerite.
St. Anne was reputed to be the Virgin Mary's mother. She is not mentioned in Scripture; but her name is found in three Apocryphal Gospels and on paintings in the Catacombs. The Chapel at St. Ouen's Manor was dedicated in her honour; and there was also a Chapelle de Ste. Anne at Rozel.
If July speaks of Julius Caesar, it brings another thought, the need of internationalism. When Julius in his little boat approached the cliffs of Dover, Britain for the first time became part of Europe. It was drawn out of its isolation, and made to mix with foreigners, and became entangled in world-wide politics. July‘s name proclaims that, whether we like it or no, we have got to be good Europeans.
The Dog Days, the hottest season of the year, begin on July 3rd, and last till August 11th. Their name comes from the fact that Sirius, the Dog Star, is then in the ascendant.
Two major Saints’ Days occur this month, St. Mary Magdalene, restored to her old dignity as a Red Letter Saint by the Revised Calendar, and St. James the Greater. St. Mary of Magdala was one of the women who ministered to our Lord of their substance, i.e., provided funds for His mission. She stood at the foot of the cross and was the first witness of the Resurrection. She is also the most maligned woman in History. She had been a demoniac, i.e., she had suffered from some form of mental disease, and our Lord had healed her; but tradition has identified her with the “woman who was a sinner,” who bathed His feet with her tears; so that any mawkishly tearful person is described as “maudlin," and Refuges for reformed prostitutes are called Magdalene Homes. There is not, however, the smallest ground for believing that the two women were the same. The Chapelle de la Madelaine stood till the 18th century in the north-west corner of the Town Churchyard.
St. James, son of Zebedee and brother of St. John, the fisherman who heard Christ's call, while he was mending his net, became one of the leading Apostles. He was the first of the Twelve to suffer martyrdom, being “slain by the sword “by order of Herod Agrippa, (July 25th, however, cannot be the date of his death, for Acts tells us that it took place just before Passover). He became the Patron Saint of Spain in its long struggle with the Moors, and so was regarded as the Champion of Christendom against the Infidel.
Most Festivals had a special dish, and Gorey fishermen were busy on their oyster-bed at this season ; for everyone tried to get oysters for dinner on St. James's Day, perhaps because the scallop-shell was the badge worn by pilgrims who visited the Shrine at Santiago in Spain, where St. James was said to be buried. In the Middle Ages a special ship left Jersey every year to carry pilgrims there.
In addition to Christmas the Virgin Mary is honoured with four Festivals, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Purification, and in the Revised Calendar her Falling Asleep. The second of these occurs this month. It commemorates the visit that she paid to her cousin Elizabeth before the birth of the Baptist, and the singing of the Magnificat.
We told the story of St. Martin of Tours in last December's number. He has two Festivals in our Calendar. We have already met him on November 11th, the day of his death. July 4th commemorates the Translation (i.e., the removal) of his body seventy years later to a magnificent tomb in the Basilica at Tours. This was once a great day in St. Saviour's parish, when the Fraternity of St. Martin-in-Summer held its Mass, its Procession, and its Supper. In addition to the three Churches that bear his name there is the Fontaine de St. Martin in St. Lawrence.
July 15th commemorates yet another Translation, that of the bones of St. Swithun, the humble-minded Bishop of Winchester, who, the old chronicler says, "as he lay a-dying begged that none would bury him in the church, but in a lowly place, where the feet of wayfarers might walk on his grave and the rain of heaven fall on him; for he loved no pomp in his life, and none would he have after death."
Nevertheless a century later his remains were brought into the Minster; and, after another century had passed, when Winchester Cathedral was rebuilt, they were transferred again with great solemnity to a shrine behind the high altar. This was on July 15th, and a contemporary record says that the weather was fine. But later a story arose that, when the monks tried to move the coffin, such a deluge of rain began and continued for forty days, that the ceremony had to be postponed. This gave rise to the belief:--
St. Swithun's Day, if thou dost rain,
For forty days it will remain.
St. Swithun's Day, if thou he fair
For forty clays 'twill rain no mair
This tradition in other lands is attached to other Saints; in part of France to St. Medard (June 8th),
Quand it pleut a St. Medard,
Il pleut quarante jours plus tard;
elsewhere in France to St. Gervais (July 4th):
S'il pleut le jour de St. Gervais,
Il pleut quarante jours après,
In Flanders the critical day is St. Godelieve's (July 6th) ; in Germany the Day of the Seven Sleepers • (June 27th), in Scotland the Translation of St. Martin, “Martin a bhuilg.”
The official rainfall figures taken at the St. Louis Observatory, which Father Rey has been kind enough to give me, show that the St. Swithun’s omen does not work in Jersey. The last rainless St. Swithun's Day was in 1935, and that was followed by 17 days of rain and 23 fine days. For the following years, on each of which it rained on St. Swithun's Day, the figures are :-1936, 25 wet, 15 fine ; 1937, 13 wet, 27 fine ; 1938, 15 wet, 25 fine ; 1939, 22 wet, 18 fine ; 1940, 15 wet, 25 fine ; 1941, 30 wet, 10 fine ; 1942, 17 wet, 23 fine ; 1943, 21 wet, 19 fine ; 1944, 13 wet, 27 fine ; 1945, 19 wet, 21 fine ; 1947, 30 wet, 10 fine.
If someone should suggest that our weather is more French than English, and therefore that we lie within the sphere of St. Medard, I can only add that St. Medard's figures confute the legend even more conclusively than St. Swithun's.
Three Saint's Days remain. We told what is known of St. Helier the Hermit in last July's number. His Day began to be kept on July 16th by certain Augustinian Priories in the 15th century, and it was added to the Coutances Breviary late in the 17th century. It is not recognized by the Roman Martyrology.
St. Margaret, the Virgin Martyr of Antioch, was the heroine of one of those sensational legends the Middle Ages loved. One version says that she vanquished a dragon by signing the cross on its breast, another that the dragon swallowed her alive, but split in two, when she made the sacred sign inside its tummy.
Poppies their sanguine mantle spread
From the blood of the Dragon St. Margaret shed.
She was an immensely popular Saint. Thousands of babies have been christened Margaret after her; 260 English churches bear her name; and there used to be at Grouville a Chapelle de Ste Marguerite.
St. Anne was reputed to be the Virgin Mary's mother. She is not mentioned in Scripture; but her name is found in three Apocryphal Gospels and on paintings in the Catacombs. The Chapel at St. Ouen's Manor was dedicated in her honour; and there was also a Chapelle de Ste. Anne at Rozel.
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