Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1904-03-12
FRANCE
Has HORored Memory of Ire
lands Patron Saint For
Centuries.
FlOwering of the BlackthOrn In
Midwinter Near st.
Martins.
Phenomenon Which Scientists
Have Been Unable to
Explain.
BEAUTIFUL LEGEND OF ST. PATRICK


has traditions about St. Patrick. France
also bears a remarkable testimony to st.
Patrick in the mysterious "Fleurs de st.
Patrice," and the venerable "Eglice de
st. Patrice," situated in the diocese of
Tours, on the banks of the Loire, few
leagues distant from the city of St. Mar
tin. 1t is we'll known that St. Patrick
was a disciple of St. Martin of Tours,
with whom he spent four years after his
escape from Ireland, and from whom he
received the tonsure and was made a
cleric.
The learned Jesuit, S. H. Frisbie, in a
recent article entitled "The Flowers Of
st. Patrick" writes entertainingly of the
legends and monuments which are bound
up with St. Patrick In France. The
article of the learned Jesuit is too long
for publication in the Kentucky Irish
American, and our readers will have to
be content with extracts from the paper.
What are the flowers of St. Patrick
and their blossoming every year in mid
winter for the past 1900 yearsl The
answers is given by the President of the
Archaeological Society of Tours, Mon
signor Chevallier, writing in 1850. He
says: :.
"On the banks of the Loire, a few
leagues from Tours, very remarkable
phenomenon is repeated year by year
and from time immemorial-one con-
corning which science as yet has given
no satisfactory explanation. This phe-
nomenon, too little known, consists in
the poisoning in the midst of the rigors
of winter of the black thorn, commonly
called the sloe." Continuing, he says
that thousands during the month of De-
cember in each year are eye-witnesses to
its repetition, and he himself gathers
these extraordinary flowers. The shrub
is found on the slope of hill at St.
Patrice. The circulation of the sap, which
should be suspended in winter, is plainly
revealed by the moist state of the bark,
which easily separates from the wood
WHICH, IL SONCho. LUG DuNS DWELL Ahe
flowers expand as in the month of April
and cover the boughs with odorous and
snow-like flowers.
The inhabitants of St. Patrice record
an ancient tradition, which is full OF
freshness and poetry. st. Patrick, 1t is
said, being on the way from Ireland to
join St. Martin in Gaul-attracted by the
fame of that saints sanctity and miracles
and having arrived at the banks of the
Loire near the spot where the church
now bearing his name has been built,
rested under a shrub. 1t was Christmas
time, when the cold was intense. In
honor of the saint the shrub expanded
its branches and. shaking off the snow
which rested on them, by an unheard-of
prodigy arrayed itself in flowers white as
the snow itself. St. Patrick crossed the
Loire on his cloak, and on reaching the
opposite bank another blackthorn under
which he rested at once burst out into
flowers. Since that time, says the chron-
icler, the two shrubs have never ceased
to blossom at Christmas in honor of St.
Patrick.
This singular growth of flowers is al
most unknown, although it has been
repeated every year from time imme-
mortal. The oldest inhabitant of St.
Patrice has always seen 4 take place at
fixed period of the year, no matter how
severe the season may be, and such has
also been the ancient tradition of their
forefathers. However, this phenomenon
is limited to the locality and to the shrub
in question. Cuttings transplanted else
where have only blossomed in the spring,
and the hawthorns which grow amidst
the sloes do not manifest any circulation
of sap.
The village of St. Patrice has about
700 inhabitants. The whole neighbor-
hood is redolent of st. Patrick. The
railway station Is call the Station Of ST..
Patrice, the Commune Is also named after
the saint. while near the wonderful flow
ering blackthorn stands the ancient
parish church dedicated to the apostle Of
ireland. From the style OF architecture
it Is clear that the church dates from the
tenth or eleventh century, and in fact
the chusch is referred to In the annals Of
1885.