Autumn Landscape with Four Trees (1885) by Vincent van Gogh |
Message for the Parish Magazine of St Giles-in-the-Fields, September 2023:
On the day the church remembers St Giles, the patron saint of leprosy sufferers, summer turns to autumn in the UK meteorological calendar. Seasonal change was a pet topic of the pioneering ecologist, ornithologist and priest Gilbert White. While many of his conclusions have since been disproved by modern science - such as his belief that swallows hibernate underground (rather than migrate) in winter - his observations about leprosy appear to be borne out, in part.
Writing in 1788 he remarks
that an apparent reduction in cases is linked to improved diet as a result of
changing farming techniques - which meant that the majority no longer ate
salted meat or fish through the winter. He recalls a pauper in his parish who
suffered from the debilitating condition, whose symptoms would be more
noticeable in the spring.
Recent research from
Brazil (which accounts for 12% of worldwide cases of what is now known as
Hansen’s Disease), revealed a significant increase in diagnoses in the autumn
(March to May there). This is not due to seasonal change affecting the
pathology of the disease, but the way the society responds to the seasons.
Time off for holidays and
religious festivals during the summer months means a reduction in clinical
staff and fewer people choosing to present themselves at medical facilities.
The autumn start of the fiscal year means more resources are available at that
time to promote awareness and assist treatment. Infrastructure unable to cope
with the winter rains makes it hard for patients to travel from rural areas to
medical facilities in towns and cities.
Given the proven links
between early detection of Hanson’s Disease and a reduction in permanent
disability arising from it, the way society responds to the seasons has
life-changing consequences for sufferers in Brazil.
It’s not just an issue
that affects the global south. Seasonal poverty arising from casual employment,
food poverty due to changing patterns of childcare over the summer months and
winter fuel poverty just some examples of the way our society chooses to
respond to the changing seasons has life-altering consequences for some here.
Remembered on September
1st, St Giles was feted for his symbiotic relationship with the natural world,
five hundred years before Francis of Assisi became the pin-up saint for
ecologists. Said to have encouraged vegetation to grow in the desert and
suckling from a willing hind for nourishment in the royal hunting ground near
Arles where he - rebelliously - made his home, Giles eschewed the feudal
economy, refusing invitations to lavish and wasteful banquets once his renown
for healing became known. When he became abbot of a monastery, Giles - like
Gilbert White after him - saw the benefit in more sustainable agricultural
practices; recognising that changing the way the systems and structures of
society respond to the seasons can have benefits for all.
As we remember St Giles
this month, let us pray for the relief from suffering for all living with
Hanson’s Disease and for those working to aid early diagnosis of the condition.
As we notice how the changing season impacts our lives in this time of new - or
fresh starts, may we be more mindful of how it affects all in society. By God’s
mercy and grace may we learn to become as “well seasoned” as Saint Giles.
Image: Autumn Landscape with Four Trees (1885) by Vincent van Gogh
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