APPENDIX VI

SEVERAL POPULAR SAINTS INVOKED IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM FOR ILLNESSES AND PROTECTION

It is noticeable how the comparisons work, often based on the homophony that justified the relationship between the saint’s name and the affliction he or she cures.

Acaire: to mellow cantankerous [acariâtre] individuals.

Agapet: against the windy colics [pet is French for “fart” —Trans.]

Agrafâ: for stomach aches.

Amant: for rheumatisms.

Aignan (Sain Taignan): against ringworm [teigne].

Aiguebaut: against those who knot the laces of the breeches.

Atourni: for dizzy spells [étourdissements]

Bernard: for cramps

Blaise: for neck problems (cf. the verbs bléser, zézayer, “to lisp”).

Boniface: for achieving embonpoint.

Clair: for eye ailments.

Cloud: against pimples, zits.

Corneille: falling sickness (epilepsy).

Étanche: for hemorrhoids.

Fiacre: for eye ailments, colic.

Flaminie de Clermont: for eye problems.

Fort: against weaknesses [fort in French means “strong” —Trans.]

François de Sales: for cankers and ulcers.

Fulcrand: for blindness and sterility.

Genès: for stomach aches.

Genou [knee]: against gout.

Gertrude: against rats and mice.

Guignolet: against sterility.

Guiral: for the protection of flocks.

Hadelin: aginst rheumatic pains.

Jean: falling sickness.

Job: against scabies and shameful diseases.

Ladre: against leprosy (the adjective “ladre” means “leprous”).

Léger [light]: against embonpoint.

Liénard: against the languishing diseases because “Saint Liénard lie et délie” [Saint Liénard ties and unties].

Loup: for leg problems.

Luce: for eye problems.

Mammard: for breast problems [“breasts” are mamelles in French].

Mein: for scabies of the hands.

Marcoul: against scrofulous sores.

Ouen: to recover hearing.

Paterne: against sterility.

Pierre: for shivering.

Raphael: against ringworm.

Reine: against bad moods.

Roch de Soiron: for contagious diseases.