Saint Aelfgifu (Elgiva) of Shaftsbury
My 34th Great Grandmother
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Prayer to Saint Elgiva of Shaftesbury
Saint Elgiva, who loved God and served Him with unwavering faith, we humbly ask for thy intercession.
Take under thy protection the Holy Catholic Church; defend it, and be always its consolation, its asylum, and its invincible fortress against every assault of its enemies.
Be our way to come to Jesus and the channel through which we receive all graces necessary for our salvation.
We ask thee, in thy closeness to God, to intercede for us and guide us on our path.
May thy example of faith inspire us to live a life pleasing to God.
Through thy prayers and intercession, may we grow in holiness and become worthy of eternal life.
Amen.
~
FEAST DAY: May 18, 2025
BIRTH: About 924 in Wessex, England
DEATH: About 944 in Shaftesbury, Dorset, England
SHAFTESBURY ABBEY, DORSET, ENGLAND
As with many queens of her era who outlived her royal husband, Aelfgifu retired to Shaftesbury Abbey, where she had some connection with the place, probably through relationship to members of that community and/or benefactors. There is a theory that her mother was a resident, but this is only an educated guess on the part of experts.
My great grandmother was attributed with quite a number of miracles, specifically after her death, including a cure of blindness, which I could most certainly avail myself, so I plan to add her to my regular round of relatives to whom I appeal for intercession regarding my failing vision.
But she was also well known for great Christian behavior while alive, including considerable kindness. It is frequently mentioned that she gave donations of "costly clothing" to the poor, and this is an area of life in which I have some interest and which has impinged on my spiritual perspective.
First of all, during the the time in question, all clothing was technically "costly" since every garment was hand-made, and therefore labor intensive - including the fabric itself! But the sense that I get from it is that she didn't thrust upon the poor the rough and care-worn clothing that the poor were usually forced to wear. This expensive clothing that she gave to the poor was, no doubt, clothing worn by what was thought of as the "upper classes" or the nobility.
CLOTHING AS A MARK OF SOCIO-ECONOMONIC STANDING
If you think about it, clothing is usually imbued with a certain amount of relative status. In the early middle ages, in particular, it was easy to see to which class one belonged, simply by looking at the clothing one wore. One's profession could usually be guessed at as well. I am assuming that in that age, as it is in THIS one, clothing that was given to the poor was serviceable but not particularly fine in quality or appearance because there is this idea that the poor do not deserve to possess anything really nice.
DONATIONS OF CLOTHING TO THE POOR:
On this topic, I am going to hop back to present time and tell a story illustrative of the idea that clothing is only one of many methods by which we oppress poor people.
Throughout my early childhood, my mother would not allow me to have more than two dresses that were hand-me-downs from HER wardrobe because she claimed I did not "deserve" to have clothes because I was too fat. She told me I could not have new clothes of my own until I lost weight but, for the life of me, I had no idea, as a child, how I could possibly do that. Anyway, she managed not to buy me anything for myself until I was a teenager and we were finally allowed to wear jeans to school and she bought me some jeans.
This aberration of my mother's had a profound effect on me, and for my entire adult life I have had a peculiarity when it comes to clothing. My wardrobe continues to grow bigger and bigger until I find myself with an unreasonable amount of clothes and I must divest myself. So I give most of them away. Sometimes, I have not even worn some of the items. I do this every few years.
Because I went my entire early childhood without clothes that weren't hand-me-downs from my mother, I take extremely good care of my clothes so that, even if not new, they appear to be fresh and new. When I give them away, I like the idea that, even if the person who ends up with them is homeless, no one will automatically know their socio-economic strata. The clothes will present a different image.
But I have had a very hard time finding a supposedly "charitable" organization that doesn't have volunteers that take those clothes for themselves, throwing a dollar or two into the till in exchange, so that the homeless and the truly needy never even get to SEE these nice things that I have donated.
I remember once taking an entire automobile FULL of clothes and household things to one of these thrift stores, only to go back two weeks later to find that not a single thing I had donated was in the store, on the floor. Everything was EXACTLY as I had seen it when I visited to give my donation. The place smelled of unwashed clothing and everything was very poor quality. You could see the dust on the shoulders of the blouses and jackets that hung on the carousels. I made an effort to find out what happened to all those things I donated but was unable.
My experience was the same as another person I know who told me the same story about a different thrift store whose purpose was supposedly to clad, shoe and furnish the poor with necessaries. The volunteers, all of whom had far more resources than the poor, would dismissively throw a buck or two into the kitty and then THEY would wear the beautiful clothes that I had intended to give to the poor.
In this way, these people are showing the utter disdain they have for the poor. They justify their selfishness and greed, of course, by saying to themselves that they are "helping" the poor with the dollar that they throw into the cash register. But the poor never get to make a happy purchase and proudly wear a beautiful Land's End jacket or sweater, or a Nordstrom's dress or pair of sandals. For THEM, only the dusty, old and worn-out Walmart shirt or pants made of sticky-hot plastic polyester is left for them.
I highly suspect that the car full of very nice belongings that I gave to the first organization I mentioned actually may have ended up in someone's garage sale. There was SO MUCH of it, and I can't imagine that every kitchen appliance and every shirt and dress was kept by one person.
Since those early years in this town when I had these terrible disappointments, I have worked hard to make sure that my donations of pretty clothes actually make it into the hands of the poor women for whom they are intended. I always keep my eyes peeled. Because I know what it is like to go without clothing and to be stuck with hand-me-downs that are inappropriate and unflattering.
I remember what it was like to have to go to school as an 11 year-old girl wearing a moss green polyester cowl-necked cocktail-length sheath dress of which my mother had tired! I know what it feels like to have other people insist that I do not deserve anything "nice." It is humiliating.
If I love my neighbor as much as I love myself, as much as I love God, I CERTAINLY want them to have the same joy as I have had just owning a decent wardrobe.
So, when I read that my 34th great grandmother gave "costly" clothing to the poor, it really thrilled me. I could relate to her in more ways that one!
WE LIVE LIKE KINGS AND QUEENS
Compared to the time of my 34th great grandmother, what they call "the early middle ages," having more than a few complete outfits would be very rare. Many of the lower classes made their own clothes, typically produced from either wool they took from sheep they raised, or linen they made from the flax plants they grew. Hemp was also used, though it produced a rougher material. (The wealthy had access to silk, but this would be a fabric the commoners would rarely have even seen with their own eyes, much less used or worn! It was reserved for the very wealthy.)
Even in those early, rough years, there were merchants who sold fabric and garments. There were also weavers who had the larger "commercial" size looms. Serfs with some funds may have had their raw materials made into fabric at this local weaver if they did not possess the proper loom in their home.
Transformation of the raw materials was extremely labor intensive and specialized.
After processing the raw materials, thin strands of fabric were created from the raw materials, using a spinning wheel or even by hand with a large "drop spindle," then they would take those strands and weave fabric. They would then hand sew the fabric into basic rudimentary garments, with an eye toward function of each piece.
Clothing was one of the major investments of a family at that time. During those days, each outfit of clothing would be highly prized and meticulously cared for. When a piece was created, function was the first consideration, and even pretty embroidery was mostly used to reinforce hems or to hide worn spots. Every aspect of the garment had a purpose, even the decorative elements.
The purchase of used clothing was common, since the items were made to be highly sturdy and long-lasting, sometimes outliving their original owners! A fine suit of clothes was like gold, but more useful.
In modern America, most of us live in a manner of the kings and queens of yesteryear, while we remain oblivious. Even those of us who are on the poor side manage to accumulate many possessions throughout our lives and we live in apartments that have heating and cooling. We even own things that are not strict necessities, and most people have at least one "treasure" such as a necklace handed down to us by a beloved relative. I often think it is too much, and I end up giving things away to someone whose income is less than mine. No matter how poor you are, there will always be someone more poor!
I would just like to say, in closing, that, in the interest of solidarity with the poor, many religious folk dedicate themselves to an extreme style of "simple" living. There is barely a picture on the wall, and all the surfaces are empty of decorations. I lived in a similar manner at various times of my life, with a mattress on the floor for a bed, and cushions in the living room instead of couches. I was physically fit at the time, and could get up and down off the floor, but more important was that I was living like a gypsy and had to keep my burdens very light because I never found a place in which I could foresee being able to afford the rent for more than just the immediate future.
In my current apartment, I have many religious paintings on my wall, and there will be more in future because I am a painter. My apartment is a happy mess and I love it. I have lived in the same place for the last 20 years and the rent is not easy to afford, but I am disabled and my options are limited, so I remain here and I have built a life that includes many art projects that contribute to, rather than detract from, my spiritual life. Instead of seeing how plain, drab and undecorated I can live, I would rather elevate the esthetic to a spiritually beautiful appearance.
Rather than demonstrate my solidarity with those poorer than myself (of which there are not a terribly large number) I would rather help the poor surround themselves in beauty, if they so choose. I would like to show my love, not by living with empty walls but by helping the poor to bring loveliness to their lives so they can experience what it is like to live like little kings and queens, just as the rest of Americans tend to do.
So, if anyone in Albuquerque knows of a good charity to which I can donate some beautiful things that I can be sure will end up in the hands of those poorer than myself, instead of the "volunteers" tasked with helping them, please let me know.
In the meantime, God bless you all.
Please pray for me, as I pray for you.
Silver Rose
