Christ-Mass: Day 6 (Die Infra Octavam/St Egwin of Evesham)

“On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, six geese a-laying ...”

Geese were among the first birds to be domesticated. As our ancestors made the transformation from hunting and gathering to settling and farming, they found they could keep a supply of them penned up, and with sufficient breeding, to supply eggs and meat for a period of time. Thus did geese emerge as a common barnyard fowl in England.

Closer to the present, Katy Sirls is an English professor at Dixie College in St George, Utah, where she teaches English classes at Dixie College. After completing her Master of Fine Arts degree in writing, with an emphasis on fiction, she published one of her academic essays.

After several months overseas, Stacia is ecstatic to return home for Christmas. It’s been too long since she’s seen her boyfriend, Luke and she longs to be in his arms again. She even has a seductive and sexy “present” planned for their first night together.

With arrangements to celebrate the holidays with Luke’s family, Stacia soon discovers her plans are going to be quite difficult to carry out. Her first night back is spent getting to know his beloved pet geese. It seems as though their night of passion will have to wait—until, that is, she discovers Luke has plans of his own.

Stacia soon finds herself following the mysterious trail of presents Luke has left her: Christmas-wrapped goose eggs, each one with a clue that will lead her to the next ... and, ultimately, to a night she’ll never forget!

Today in the universal Roman calendar, neither the traditional nor reformed commemorate a saint, and it appears only as a weekday of the Christmas season; in the case of the traditional, "The Sixth Day Within Octave of the Nativity of Our Lord" ("De Sexta Die Infra Octavam Nativitatis Domini"). However, the oldest of religious orders -- the Benedictine, Carmelite, Dominican, Franciscan, to name a few -- have their own calendars of saints particular to themselves. In addition, many countries have local celebrations on their calendars, lesser-known saints with a popular local cult of devotion.

Today, the Benedictines remember Saint Egwin of Evesham, the late 7th and early 8th century bishop of Worchester. Born of noble blood to a royal family of the English midlands, he joined the Order of Saint Benedict, and was eventually made bishop. He was known for his protection of the widowed and orphaned, which made him very popular. He was also known for his strict enforcement of the Church's justice, and of her discipline, especially (wait for it!) priestly celibacy, which made him, well, not so popular. A canonical case was made against him, for which he traveled all the way to Rome to appeal, and win.

After seeing a vision of the Blessed Mother, and at her request, he founded Evesham Abbey, one of the great Benedictine houses of the British Isles. He died in 717, and was buried at the Abbey, after which many miracles were attributed to him. (The church in England and Wales commemorates him on January 11, the date of the transfer of his relics.)

Depicted here is the bell tower of the abbey, which is all that remains following the suppression of monasteries during the Reformation.

And so it goes.

(UPDATE: Meanwhile, over at Patheos, Kathy Schiffer says she's never heard of him.)