I fell down on the job with the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1, which all you vodouisants probably already knew. He is considered a patron of fathers, of carpenters, of workers, and of social justice.
May 15 was the feast of St. Dymphna. St. Dymphna is very popular with Roman Catholics as a saint to invoke for cases of madness and epilepsy. She was said to have lived in the 7th century in Ireland and fled to Gheel with her confessor from a very troubled home life. She was caught and beheaded by her father, a pagan chieftan who thought incest was just fine. Epileptics, the insane, and the possessed have been cured at her tomb. Some folks call on her for protection and healing for those threatened by or who have survived incest.
May 25 is the feast of the Venerable Bede. The Venerable Bede is not wildly popular in folk Catholic tradition. I mention him because my day job has a lot to do with English literature and I’m particularly interested in Anglo-Saxon literature, so the Venerable Bede is an important figure to me. I recommend that writers, teachers, translators, and historians call on him for patronage.
The 27th is the feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury. He was the first Archbishop of Canterbury and the so-called “Apostle of the English.” Pope Gregory sent him to evangelize to the English in 596. Again, historically important but not frequently called on in the folk tradition, but I can’t let the 27th slide without mentioning him!
Big Lucky Hoodoo 