St. Urho
Born: N/A
Died: N/A
Feast: March 16
Patron saint of: Finland
Saint Urho is a fictional entity; he is a product of lore rooted in northern Minnesota in the late 1950s. In response to the Irish American enthusiasm around Saint Patrick’s Day on March 17, Finnish Americans came up with a celebration the preceding day on March 16. Specifically, an employee at a local department store conjured up the story of Saint Urho when a coworker asked him if the Finns had their own version of the Irish devotion to Saint Patrick. He concocted a story wherein Saint Urho drove frogs out of Finland, as Patrick drove snakes out of Ireland. A local psychology professor amended the story to change the animal plague to grasshoppers, making it more accurate to ancient Finland’s crop situation. An ode was even written to this fictional saint. The devotion to Saint Urho spread throughout parts of the Midwest United States and Canada where Finnish communities grew, and it took on both a competitive and complementary air to Saint Patrick’s Day. Although Saint Urho is a fictional saint crafted in the last century for celebratory purposes, his origin story gives us pause to consider the role folklore and storytelling play in Christian cultural communities.
Image: Skvader via Wikimedia Commons
