Everybody and everything needs a patron saint. Since this is November and it’s the month of Thanksgiving, we thought we’d feature St. Gall, Patron Saint of turkeys.
 
Okay, he’s also the Patron Saint of chickens and all manner of birds.  We’ll explain that in a minute.
 
First, a little about St. Gall, who lived from the year 550 until 646 in the areas that are now Ireland, France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany.
 
He was born in Ireland and when he was young he became a monk, and traveled to France, and went all over that area to preach.  All that traveling took its toll and he got sick, and decided to rest and restore himself.
 
Eventually he moved to Switzerland and here’s where things get interesting.  Gall joined some other monks living as hermits.  He liked to spend time outdoors and birds kept him company.
 
His most famous miracle involves the exorcism of a woman named Fridiburga, the daughter of a duke. She was engaged to marry Sigebert II, King of the Franks.  Right there, you want to know more, right? Well, Fridiburga was possessed by demons. Sigebert had already sent for two bishops to help her, but they couldn’t do anything.  Here comes St. Gall.  He said a few prayers, laid on some hands, did whatever he needed to do, and then suddenly the demons flew out of Fridiburga's mouth in the form a big black bird.
 
So now you know why he’s the Patron Saint of birds, including turkeys.
 
Oh, and what happened to Fridiburga?  Well, after Sigebert saw what happened, he decided to pull out of that marriage.  She became a nun.  Not too bad for both of them.
 
Another animal miracle is the story of St. Gall’s encounter with a bear in the forest near his monastery.  The bear charged him, but St. Gall stopped it.  So the bear took off, but then it came back with some firewood it gathered.  The bear dropped the wood at the foot of St. Gall, so he and those monks could set a fire.  After that, the two stayed fast friends.  In fact, the image of St. Gall has him with that bear.  We think his name was Hamms, but we're not sure.