The Ice Saints 2023: This is where the myth comes from and so it will be again this year

The Ice Saints will return in 2023 from Thursday 11 May to Monday 15 May, in Switzerland. They take place on the same date every year. This year they come on the weekend.

Good news for all plant lovers who are already worried about their garden: “The ice saints are hardly an issue this year”, writes MeteoNews Monday. Because frost only forms when the air is very cool and on windless and above all cloudless nights.

This year we are actually a bit cooler compared to the norm, but: “Due to the cloudy nights and the wind that occasionally picks up, no ground frost is to be expected according to the current status,” the weather service continues. . The ice saints will not take place in 2023 either.

The Ice Saints are several Catholic memorial days in May. Every year there are some from May 11 to May 15 Bishops and martyrs from the 4th and 5th centuries thought. Among them are the Ice Saints sanctify again. So to those Christian figures who are invoked to bring good weather to agriculture.

Here opinions differ. There are basically five ice saints in northern Germanyin southern Germany, the Switzerland and Austria only four. The reason for this distinction is that the cold weather comes from the north and the situation in the more southern countries changes with a day’s delay. For this reason, only four ice saints were handed down for Switzerland, but five for large parts of Germany.

The Ice Saints are all bishops and martyrs of early Christian times. Most stories about them are myths and legends, little is historically recorded. These are the Ice Saints and their origins in the Christian faith:

Mamertus lived in the 5th century in southern France. In 461 he was made bishop of Vienne. After an earthquake, a great fire broke out in the city, whereupon Mamertus led three petitions for God’s help. The city was eventually able to contain the fire.

Pancratius is an early Christian martyr from the 4th century, who was beheaded under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. His corpse would be thrown to the dogs, but fellow believers were able to take it and bury Pancratius in the catacombs of Rome.

The second bishop among the Ice Saints was called Servatius. He was from about the middle of the 4th century Bishop of Tongeren in what is now Belgium.

Boniface is said to have traveled from Rome to Tarsus (city in present-day Turkey) in the 4th century and witnessed the persecution of Christians under Emperor Galerius. Faced with terror, Boniface converted to Christianity and was also executed.

Sophia of Rome, known in Switzerland as Cold Sophie, was also a martyr. She suffered martyrdom under Emperor Diocletian in the 4th century. In the 9th century, her bones were deposited as relics in the Romanesque church of Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti.

The period of the ice saints took place in the Middle Ages – then according to the Julian calendar. They are said to mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring, when farmers can sow. The pawn rule is: “You’re not safe from frost until Sophie’s gone.”

This refers to it Ground frost still occurs on some nights in May, ending freshly sown plants. After the ice saints, such short periods of frost should no longer occur and temperatures will stabilize. From that moment on, sowing is in any case frost-free.

However, in the 16th century, the Gregorian calendar reform took place, without postponing the date of the Ice Saints. In the Middle Ages, for example, the farmer’s rule applied until the end of May and not the middle of May as it is now.

Meteorological research has shown that there is no increased risk of frost on the date of the Ice Saints. This applies to both the Gregorian and Julian variants of the dates. Data from MeteoSwiss, based on the measuring station in Payerne, shows that ground frost does not occur regularly in Switzerland until the end of April. This refutes the pawn rule in its strict interpretation.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that in May in Switzerland there is always ground frost. This has been observed in most years since 1960. So it is actually true that frost in May can cause problems for the plants.

In addition, it should be noted that climate changes have led to temperatures in Switzerland being higher than they were 500 or even 1,000 years ago, when the myth was debunked.