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| Faith a Hero |
So its Sunday Blog time again…on a cold and snowy morning in
Eaton. I have been working on a Facebook
page in my efforts to find homes for some strays that have been dropped at my
door.
So this morning when I settled into my usual
position on the sofa trying to think of something “blog-able” to write about…one
of the cats that I have not named showed up.
So I took that as an inspirational sign and decided to search for the
perfect name for her.
I humorously thought of “Old Possum’s Books of Cats” and the
theory that cats have the name we give them… and they have their own “cat”
name, and I wondered what hers would be.
The cat I was naming was a stoic as well as a great mother
cat. She was also interested in what was going on all of the time. She would often come forward and listen
intently to what I told her. She was attentive and even watched another
mother’s kittens. So...I googled… cat names. One search brought up a story on a cat named
Faith! She was called "the famous cat of London"…hmmmm… So I was once again off
on another “history quest”.
Seems Faith was a stray that was found and taken in by the
rector of St. Augustine & St. Faith’s Episcopal Church in London about
1936. The cat loved the Rector, Father
Henry Ross, and would attend every service sitting at his feet when he preached
or sit next to him when he sat in a pew. It was said that she attended every service at the church. Named Faith, she became like the mascot of the church throughout the
horrible times in London...times of fire and bombing brought on by the War with
Germany.
In September of 1940, she gave birth to just one kitten that
was named “Panda” because of its black and white colorings. All the church members celebrated Panda's arrival.... in his honor the churches choir sang “All Things Bright and Beautiful” at
the Sunday service.
The “Battle of London” was on and for some reason Faith
insisted on taking herself and her kitten Panda to the basement of the
church. Father Ross tried to dissuade her... but she continually removed the kitten from her basket and would take it to the
basement area. So after a number of
attempts back and forth, he finally gave up and moved her basket to the cold
dark basement area she chose.
A few days later on the night of September 9th,
the German bombing of London struck St. Augustine’s rendering it a mass of
rubble. The following morning the air
raid and civil workers asked the Rector if any people were in the church at the
time…no…but he remembered Faith and went into the burning rubble, down to the
basement where Faith was found meowing for help, laying over the top of
her baby…Panda. It is said that just a short time later, just after her rescue, the entire building
collapsed into the basement where the cat had hidden.
Faith’s story spread everywhere, even to the United States... to become part of the inspirational testament to the steadfastness of the Londoners and all
who heroically survived the fire and bombing. Faith became a star and symbol of Londoners heroics!
For her act of sheltering her kitten and her savvy she was awarded the Dickens Medal in
Silver in London, and a medal from the Greenwich Village Humane Society of New York…and
so in her honor I named the stray cat “Faith”.
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| My cat named Faith! |
Great
Sunday story don’t you think? Here is a link to my new cat Facebook page...https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rascals-Help-the-Stray-Cats/362984687233739
The Battle of Britain and bombing of London
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