Who is St. Wilgefortis?
I first tried to use the Internet when I was about 17 years old. At that time, I decided to sign up for an email address on one of the free email websites. I really wanted to use something with Cookie in it since that is my nickname. Unfortunately, anything I came up with was already taken. After some time, I was getting frustrated with what name to use. That's when my sister suggested I check out the book of women saints we had in the house. Without checking their lifestory, I just tried to find the most unique name in the book. I chose Wilgefortis. After trying that out, it was finally accepted by the free email website. No one had ever tried to sign up before using that name.
So now when people ask me for my personal email address, I always refer them to wilgefortis. After that, the standard reaction would be a look of disbelief on their faces and a request for me to spell it. So I decided to write a post answering your question on "Who in the world is St. Wilgefortis?"
St. Wilgefortis was the 12 year old daughter of a Visigoth King in Portugal. She had secretly converted to Chritianity and taken a vow of chastity. Her father, unaware of his daughter's vow, arranged for her marriage to a neighboring pagan prince. She then prayed to God to be delivered from this promise. So God answered her prayers and gave her a full beard! Of course the prince backed out from the marriage because he didn't want to marry a disfigured woman. This so angered her father that he had her crucified.
Wilgefortis was never recognized as an official saint by the Catholic church. No one could ever prove the historical basis for her story. Nonetheless, a following was developed around her mainly in Central Europe and England. She is the patron saint against men you hate. You're supposed to offer oats to her in the hope that a horse will come along to take away your horrible husband or pesky suitor. Thus, women had the hope of gaining their freedom from these deadweights. That's why her other name in English is St. Uncumber.
Special Note: My reference for this information was this website: http://outcyclopedia.0catch.com/uncumber.html
So now when people ask me for my personal email address, I always refer them to wilgefortis. After that, the standard reaction would be a look of disbelief on their faces and a request for me to spell it. So I decided to write a post answering your question on "Who in the world is St. Wilgefortis?"
St. Wilgefortis was the 12 year old daughter of a Visigoth King in Portugal. She had secretly converted to Chritianity and taken a vow of chastity. Her father, unaware of his daughter's vow, arranged for her marriage to a neighboring pagan prince. She then prayed to God to be delivered from this promise. So God answered her prayers and gave her a full beard! Of course the prince backed out from the marriage because he didn't want to marry a disfigured woman. This so angered her father that he had her crucified.
Wilgefortis was never recognized as an official saint by the Catholic church. No one could ever prove the historical basis for her story. Nonetheless, a following was developed around her mainly in Central Europe and England. She is the patron saint against men you hate. You're supposed to offer oats to her in the hope that a horse will come along to take away your horrible husband or pesky suitor. Thus, women had the hope of gaining their freedom from these deadweights. That's why her other name in English is St. Uncumber.
Special Note: My reference for this information was this website: http://outcyclopedia.0catch.com/uncumber.html
posted by wilgefortis @ 2:42 PM
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