Now that the warm weather has arrived, some annoying little animals like moths and mice come to us. What can we do with them? Well, of course, worship them. Or at least that is what Martin of Braga says that the rustics in the Suebi kingdom of Gallaecia in the 6th century did.
Martin of Braga was born in the 6th century in the region of Pannonia. He travelled to the Suebi kingdom of Gallaecia, where he founded a monastery at Dumio. He excelled in his monastic work and was appointed bishop of Bracara Augusta around 569. He was instrumental in the abandonment of Arianism in the Suebi kingdom and its transition to Catholicism, hence the nickname “apostle of the Suebi”.
One of his best known works was “De corrrectione rusticorum” dated around 572-574. This work was intended to educate the “rustics” about the origins of their superstitions and to teach them about their relation to the devil. These rustics were those people living in the pagus, the pagi or pagans, in a derogatory way, who maintained religious forms, superstitions, rites and some pre-Christian divinities.
The worship of moths and mice mentioned by Martin of Braga in his “De correctione rusticorum” have little to do with idolatry, since, framed within the calendas of January, at the beginning of the year, these animals would act as a harbinger of some of the negative events they could attract, such as plagues, famine and poverty. These animals took on special relevance with the arrival of a new year, when sacrifices and offerings had to be made to annul their power by means of spells and incantations (Sanz Serrano, 1989).
So, no matter how much the moths and mice bother you, listen to Martin of Braga and don’t gamble by leaving offerings this January. It could be dangerous…
Alfonso García Sánchez
