A Surprise Adventure for Periwinkle

As usual, Periwinkle comes tumbling out of her teleportation tunnel right into Stinky’s outstretched paws. He immediately grabs her paw, and leads her into his teleportation tunnel before she can even meow a greeting to him. 

Stinky sets some coordinates and with a whoosh they are off. This being a teleportation tunnel, it takes them very little time to arrive at their destination; though, it is quite far away. Both tabbies are breathless as they disembark from the tunnel.

When Periwinkle catches her breath, she asks Stinky, “Where are we?”

Instead of answering her, Stinky asks Periwinkle a question: ”Do you what is special about tomorrow, March 17th?”

“Of course,” Periwinkle replies. “It is St. Patrick’s Day.” Without even taking a breath, she squeals, “Oh boy, are we in Ireland? Raz was just there on the weekend with Cat Scouts.”

When Stinky tells her, “no,” Periwinkle gets a sad look on her face. Stinky asks her if she knows what other Saint celebrates a Feast Day on March 17?

St. Gertrude’s Day

Periwinkle thinks for a second and replies, “Oh, yes, it is the Saint of Cats, Saint Gertrude of Nivelles.” Again, without taking a breath, Periwinkle squeals, “Does that mean we are in Belgium?”

Stinky tells her, “yes,” and continues to explain the St. Gertrude is also the Patron Saint of travelers, so it is nice to have her on their side as they travel so much.

“So what are we going to do today?” Periwinkle asks Stinky.

“We are going to explore the Collegiate Church of Saint Gertrude and learn a little bit more about her. How does that sound to you?”

 

 

“That sounds great to me,” replies Periwinkle, and then adds, “Can we find a chocolate shop before we go home and get something for our moms?”

“Of course, Periwinkle, we cannot go home without something special for them.”

 

 

Stinky tells Periwinkle how St. Gertrude was not associated with cats until 1980 or 1981; though, she died way back in 659. He also tells her how she died really young at 33 years old, as she was in poor health from fasting and going without sleep for long periods of time.    

“That will never happen to us. We get plenty of noms and naps,” says Periwinkle.

Stinky giggles at Periwinkle and asks, “Did you know that St. Gertrude and St. Patrick actually have a connection?”

“No, how did that happen?” asks Periwinkle.

“It is said that St. Patrick looked over St. Gertrude on her deathbed. I do not know if that is true or not, but it sounds nice.”

St. Gertrude & Cats

“Stinky, do you know how St. Gertrude became associated with cats?”

Stinky tells her that it probably came out of her association with rodents and a reputation for praying for the souls in purgatory, often portrayed as mice in art. Later she became the Saint asked to intercede in the case of a rodent infestation. It was thought that the water from her abbey’s well would chase away rats and mice.

“She is often depicted with rodents climbing on her robes like in this statue,” Stinky tells Periwinkle.

 

 

 

“Now she is often depicted with a cat or cats like in this picture,” Stinky tells Periwinkle.

 

 

“Hey, Stinky, look at that cat. It could be you or me or even your sisfur, Kizmet.”

Stinky smiles and nods at Periwinkle and continues, “Saint Gertrude was canonized by Pope Clement XII in 1677; and though, she is often referred to as the Patron Saint of Cats, St. Gertrude does not have a designated patronage for cats, as she does for travelers and gardeners.” 

“Wow, Stinky, isn’t it amazing how things come about,” says Periwinkle.

“Yes, it certainly is. Let’s show our readers a photo of the replica of St. Gertrude’s Shrine. The original was destroyed by bombs during World War II. This one is in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.”

 

 

 

“Stinky, that is gorgeous. I wish we could see it for ourselves. The replica here is not nearly as nice.”

Chocolate & Homeward Bound

Stinky agrees and then says, “Now let’s go find a chocolate shop. I found 20 near here listed on my phone.”

After a short walk, the tabbies find a shop, buy some treats for their moms, have a snack and then return to their teleportation tunnel. 

Very quickly Periwinkle and Stinky find themselves back at Stinky’s house. After a chat with Stinky’s parents and fursibs, Periwinkle and Stinky say their good-byes with lots of snuggles and whisker kisses. As Periwinkle enters her tunnel, Stinky says a prayer to St. Gertrude for Periwinkle’s safe travel home. 

Finally he heads to his Dad’s chair to nap and dream about his beautiful girlfriend Periwinkle.

The End 

 

 

Periwinkle and Stinky asked me to wish everyone on their behalf:

 

Happy St. Gertrude’s Day &

 

🐭 🐈

 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

 

🍀

 

Periwinkle & Stinky also are participating in the Happy Tuesday blog hop at Comedy Plus.