In the past, hemp was a must for “humility”. According to legend, Buddha was dressed in hemp and fed on its seeds on the banks of the Ganges. Catholic saints were no exception to the rule, as the vast majority of them wrapped their future canonized pulpits in cannabis cloths and used the plant for a multitude of daily purposes.
Hemp, traditionally used by followers of many Asian religions (Taoism, Hinduism, Shintoism, etc.), also offered a degree of monastic self-sufficiency by providing the most versatile raw material available.), hemp also offered a degree of monastic autarky to Christianity, providing the most versatile of raw materials: making ropes for ringing bells, fine paper for bibles, liturgical linens, vestments, sandals (alpargates), the Franciscans’ corded belt (worn by Saint Francis of Assisi and the Cordeliers brotherhood), lighting oil, grass soup or farm animal feed (seeds), canvas for painting or canvas, medicinal use (documented by the Benedictine Hildegarde de BingenThe Book of the Subtleties of Divine Creaturesp. 41, 1158), etc.
Thus, in the historical journey of many Christian saints, we find evidence of the perfect integration of this immemorial culture, so necessary and so common in the past:
Saint Jean, patron saint of apprentices, publishers and conjurers (1815-1888). From his youth, in the Italian Piedmont, his mother, a hemp grower, employed him by entrusting him with the first three or four macerated stalks of hemp to unravel: ” Little John, from the age of four, took part in the common work and unraveled the stalks of hemp.”(Pontifical Documents of His Holiness Pius XII, Vol. 2, p. 51, 1961). Founder of the Salesian congregation on five continents, he published over 220 works in 38 volumes between 1844 and 1888. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1934.
Santa Clélia Barbieri, patron saint of catechists and people persecuted for their faith
(1847-1870). Daughter of a family of hemp weavers, she learned in her youth to weave hemp, one of the main activities of the Bologna region at the time. ” In the hard work on the hemp fibers, she is a model for other workers, for she performs it with joy and in a spirit of prayer.”(Archives of the Abbaye Saint-Benoît de Port-Valais, Switzerland). Santa Clélia Barbieri was the youngest foundress of a congregation in the history of the Church (at the age of 21): Les Religieuses de la Vierge des Douleurs, which helps children and the underprivileged around the world.
Beatified in 1969, Clélia Barbieri was canonized on April 9, 1989 by John Paul II.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), founder of the Jesuit order.
His humble garb of coarse hemp earned him the nickname “the man in the sack” . This former knight, crippled by the army of François 1er, had rebuilt his life as a hermit, eventually becoming a saint.
He traded his horse for a donkey, his gentleman’s clothes for a hemp tunic, his knight’s boots for hemp espadrilles, girded by a hemp rope like the monks of the time, with the 3 knots representing the vows. Father André Ravier (1905-1999), founder of the Journées missionnaires, described him as follows: ” Clad in a sack of rough hemp canvas, he set off on the long pilgrimage that would only end with his life. ”
Saint Yves, patron saint of Bretons, lawyers and lawmen. During the process of his canonization in 1330, 27 years after his death, Darien de Trégoin described him as wearing a ” shirt of hemp thread “, while Yves de Trégordel referred to a shirt called “reparon ” (fabric made from hemp waste). The Archdeacon of Rennes took advantage of his absence to show visitors around his room:
“Look,” he points to his bed, “this is where Yves de Kermartin, the most learned man in Rennes, sleeps. It was,” says the lord of La Roche-Huon, “a poor grabat made of a few pieces of wood and shavings, with a handful of straw; the whole covered with a nasty shred of
hemp canvas.” (Abbé France, curé de Lanion, Saint Yves, p. 76, 1893).
In the 16th century, St. Teresa of Avila recommended that nuns wear open sandals (alpargates) with soles made of braided hemp rope: “La cinta ancha epoloja a los pies, alpargatas abiertas de canamo.” (Saint Teresa of Avila, Reforma de los Descalços de Nuestra Señora del Carmen de la primitiva p. 532 533, 1575). (1647-1690), who inspired the Sacred Heart cult in France. She herself recounts the triggering event: ” We were working in the convent on the common work of hemp, and I retired to a small courtyard near the Blessed Sacrament. There, doing my work on my knees, I suddenly felt all recollected inside and out, and at the same time I saw the lovable Heart of my Adorable Jesus, which was shown to me brighter than the sun.” (Marguerite-Marie Alacoque, Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Day 12 Les Séraphins. Autobiographie n°101, 1680).
This Burgundian nun from the convent of Paray-le-Monial was beatified in 1864 and canonized in 1920. Her statue stands at the right entrance inside the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre in Paris.
Here’s how this plant was able to subjugate and inspire the destiny of the Catholic or Christian religion!
