This Tuesday (July 20) is one of my favorite minor holidays: the feast day of Saint Wilgefortis.
See, once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who wanted to dedicate her life to God, but she was engaged to be married to a pagan king. She prayed to God for a miracle and lo and behold, she was given a miracle: she found herself with a full beard. The king no longer wanted to marry her, so her prayer was answered, but her father had her crucified. Nobody lived particularly happily ever after; the end.
In our current–and admittedly loosely themed–Bible study series, we’ve been looking at creative and artistic interpretations of the Bible and how they can reflect or shape our beliefs. In the first video, we looked at uses of Hebrew words that can be translated as dragon, unicorn, or phoenix. What’s the difference between Moses turning Aaron’s staff into a snake as opposed to a dragon? Which attributes God with more power: saying that God is strong like the horns of a wild ox, or saying that God is strong like the horn of a unicorn? In the second video, much to Gingersnap’s keen interest, we talked about birds and how they have been used in Christian art as a code for different characteristics or to represent different themes. A goldfinch foreshadows the crown of thorns; a dove represents the Holy Spirit; a pelican reminds of the sacrificial love of Jesus.
This week, we’ll be talking about my favorite saint, Wilgefortis, and how a fictional character can be meaningful to people’s spiritual lives. Tune in on Tuesday at 8pm as I reflect on our relationships with icons, and the need for diverse and empowering representation in the stories that we tell.
If you missed either of the first two parts of the series, you might check out the playlist that I created on our youtube page.