Don't Forget Jodocus!

Once wildly popular, but now forgotten . . .

Saint Jodocus: Patron Saint against Fire & Shipwrecks

(Feast Dates: January 9 in Winchester, England; July 26 in Amiens, France; December 13 other areas) 

Extract from Saint Jodocus: 

“Seventh century king in Brittany, the son of King Juthael of Amorica. 

Following a pilgrimage to Rome, Italy c.636, he abdicated. 

Ordained at Ponthieu. Hermit at Runiacum, which was later renamed Saint-Josse-sur-Mer. 

Felt a special call to pray for sailors. 

In the early 10th century, refugees from Brittany to England brought some of his relics with them, mainly clippings from his hair and nails which were reported to continue to grow after his death; they were enshrined in Winchester Cathedral.

Joducus, often under the name Josse, was very popular in Middle Ages England, even used in oaths by the Wife of Bath in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales:”  “I swear by God and Saint Jodocus!”