Saint Drogo

Drogo of Sebourg (March 14, 1105 – April 16, 1186), also known as Druon, Dreux, Dron, Droon, and Drogon, is a Flemish saint. He was born in Epinoy, County of Artois in the French part of the County of Flanders, and died in Sebourg, France. He is known as the patron saint of shepherds and coffee, and his feast day is on April 16.

Life Saint Drogo was born into a noble family in Epinoy-Sebourg, France. His father died before he was born, and his mother died in childbirth, leaving the newborn an orphan. He was raised by his relatives and at the age of ten was grieved to learn the circumstances of his birth. At twenty years of age, he gave his money and goods to the poor, renouncing his estates in favor of the next heirs to live a life of poverty and penance.

He then set out, and after having visited several holy places was hired as a shepherd by a wealthy woman named Elizabeth de la Haire at Sebourg, two leagues from Valenciennes. The retirement and solitude were most agreeable to him, on account of the opportunities they made for prayer. For six years Drogo kept sheep, busying himself with practices of prayer and penance. He was a skilled shepherd who could read the weather and knew how to cure the animals of their ills. He shared these skills with others. Despite his relative obscurity, his charity and spirit of devotion and prayer gained him the esteem and affection of all, particularly Elizabeth de la Haire. Many made him presents: but these he bestowed on the poor. This gave rise to a common adage among the rural folk of that region, "I'm not Saint Drogo; I can't ring the church bell for Mass and be in the procession!"

To avoid the danger of praise and admiration, at length he left his place, and went on pilgrimages. He is said to have journeyed to Rome nine times, From time to time he returned to Sebourg. In 1609, Bishop Richardot formally recognized the cult of Saint Drogo by "raising the relics" to the altar, thus approving veneration. There is an annual procession of Drogo's relics in Sebourg each Trinity Sunday.

Although Drogo is now regarded by some as the patron saint of coffee, this patronage is anachronistic. There is no evidence that a pilgrim from Flanders in the 12th century had any connection to a drink associated with Ethiopia and the Middle East in the 15th century. Author Mark Pendergrast stated in the book Uncommon Grounds: "Though Rhazes and Avicenna may have been writing about some form of coffee, they were not describing our brew. It probably wasn't until sometime in the fifteenth century that someone roasted the beans, ground them and made an infusion."