Obscure saint: St. Drogo

Okay, the Roman Catholic Church is pretty weird in a lot of ways; we all knew that. But I stumbled over a saint that I feel I have to share with all of you: St. Drogo. (I am assuming that this is pronounced with long 'o' sounds.)

According to various and sundry web resources, St. Drogo was also known as "Dreux," "Druon," and "Dugo." (If those are the choices, I'd stick with "Drogo.") He was the child of Flemish nobility who was orphaned in his teens. Drogo got rid of his personal property and became a penitential pilgrim--the phrase "penitential pilgrim" is common to the various descriptions of him that I found on the web--who practiced extreme penances. (I'm sure he felt he had a good reason.) Drogo travelled to Rome nine times.

Drogo needed to support himself, so he worked as a shepherd for in Sebourg. The locals revered him for his holiness. His primary sainthood miracle seems to have been that he could "bi-locate," that is, be in two places at the same time: some witnesses attested that he was observed working simultaneously working in the fields and attending Mass. During one of Drogo's pilgrimages to Rome, he developed some kind of unsightly bodily affliction, so he became a hermit (at Sebourg) for the remaining 40 years of his life. He is the patron of orphans, mentally ill people, cattle, shepherds, unattractive people, midwives, and against bodily ills, sickness, broken bones, hernias, and (oy!) gravel in the urine. Possibly as a result of being in two places at once, he is also the patron saint of coffee house keepers. So now you know who protects your latté and the person who makes it.

Obscure saint: St. Drogo