December 6 St. Nicholas: Moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia)

Gardening with God: Extract III

St. Nicholas, Bishop (fourth century)

"Moneywort: (folk names - roving sailor; meadow runagates; herb twopence; creeping Jenny; l'herbe aux ecus) Runagates is a corruption of 'renegade' and has also come to mean vagabond or fugitive. An ecu was an old silver coin roughly equal in value to the pre-decimal English half-crown. Gold ecus were much heavier. Occasionally one still hears the now defunct five-franc piece referred to as an ecu.)"

(I chose the plant for St Nicholas because several of its names remind me of the various legends about him.)

"History and Lore:

Little is known about the life of St Nicholas except that he was Bishop of Myra, in south-west Turkey, now named Mugla. His cult was strong in the East from the sixth century and by the tenth was also known in the West. After the shrine at Myra was taken by the Muslims in 1087, the relics were removed to Bari, and a new church built there to accommodate them. From then on Nicholas became universally revered in the West. Legends of him abound throughout Europe and he is supposed to have saved three unjustly condemned men from the death penalty; to have rescued three drowning sailors on a voyage to the Holy Land; and to have secretly thrown three bags of gold for marriage dowries into the house of a destitute family, thus saving its three daughters from the degradation of prostitution. (This is thought to be the origin of the traditional three golden balls ourside pawnbrokers' shops.) From his shrine at Bari, there exuded a sweet-smelling manna-like substance, making the place a great centre of pilgrimage. These stories explain St. Nicholas' patronage of sailors, unmarried girls, pawnbrokers, and perfumers, but he is of course best known as Santa Claus, the protector of children, and this patronage probably has its basis in the story that he raised from the dead three boys who had been murdered in a vat of brine by a butcher........

"Towards Meditation:
Yesterday (in the 'new' calendar) we were thanking God that John Damascene did not hide his light under a bushel. Today we consider a saint whose life is shrouded in mystery. If Nicholas did throw the gold through the sisters' window, he did it unostentatiously. But even if the legend is complete fabrication, when it is set against the achievement of St John Damascene, it draws our attention, not to a contradiction within the teaching of Jesus Christ, but to its perfect balance. As far as the Word is concerned, we must proclaim it from the housetops and let the world see our good deeds, but to God's glory, not ours. These two saints together demonstrate that scholarship and charity in the service of the Kingdom must be characterised by humility and discretion.............

"A bishop is a shepherd, and in the legends of St. Nicholas we see the misty outline of a very good one. Moneywort suits him, not only becuase of its association with gold ecus, but because of its humility and secretiveness in hiding, yet spreading strongly, under the shadow of other plants. Today will be a day of prayer for bishops, and for reflection on my stewardship of the talents God has given me."

JM copyright

Update comment:
Earlier this week, I learned from Damian Thompson's 'Holy Smoke' that Pope Benedict will meet Cardinal Murphy O'Connor. not long after December 7th, in order to discuss the latter's successor at Westminster. These are the two Bishops on whom my prayers will concentrate!
J