ST BERTRAND OF COMMINGES (+1123 AD) IMPOSING CELIBACY ON THE FRENCH FEAST DAY 16th OCTOBER;

ST BERTRAND OF COMMINGES (+1123 AD)

IMPOSING CELIBACY ON THE FRENCH
FEAST DAY 16th OCTOBER
OK – St Bertrand is the B Team for this Feast Day but I am at a loss to determine why he is not more popular. His story is taken completely from my favourite liturgical history book, “The Bad Catholic’s Guide to Good Living”*
This son of a military family entered the priesthood and rose to become the bishop of Comminges. But he was no less militant in a mitre than his father had been in a helmet; somehow, wherever Bertrand went, trouble seemed to follow. Perhaps it had something to do with his zeal for reform. (Zealous reformers – don’t you just love them? Name three of your favourites right now).
Bertrand helped impose monastic poverty and clerical celibacy on the local priests: you can imagine how popular that made him in France. He went on the work on a synod which excommunicated the king, and was stoned by a mob on his way out of the meeting. He opened and consecrated an extremely controversial cemetery (Hey people had different priorities back then ….), and was attacked by a band of angry monks who tried to burn down his church. On another occasion Bertrand delivered a sermon that was so harsh that a riot erupted in his church. To soothe the townsfolk, the mayor distributed free butter to the public- and promised that the town would do so every year during the week after Pentecost. This custom continued for some seven hundred years, until the Revolution.
CELEBRATE: Did you know that butter is much healthier than margarine, which is full of trans-fats - a substance designed by alien species who wish to depopulate the planet? It’s true! We found it on the internet! So celebrate the feast of St Bertrand by tossing out those vile substitutes of ‘I Totally Cannot Believe this Isn’t Butter, Omigod!’ and get some fresh, real butter-preferably from a family farmer at a market. In Bertrand’s honour, deliver a few pounds to your local parish rectory. Explain to the puzzled secretary the story of St Bertrand and promise that you’ll be back every Pentecost unless you are attacked by French Revolutionaries.”
I have included a link here for a recipe from BBC, Cranberry and Chili Brioche Wreath, Nadiya Hussain, From Nadia Bakes, which is full of butter and looks amazing.
*John Zmirak and Denise Matychowiak, (Crossroad, 2005), at pp. 162-163.



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