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St Guinefort

St Guinefort is a French saint, whose shrine was a popular site for blessing children. The reason he was so awesome, was that he was actually a dog.

The greyhound Guinefort was entrusted by his master to watch over a baby. When the master returned, the baby's room was full of blood, and Guinefort had a bloody mouth. The master killed Guinefort on the spot, believing the worst. As the dog let out a yelp, he awoke the baby, who was safe and sound - the blood was from a snake, as the master discovered. In his remorse, the master buried Guinefort in a well, a Celtic custom for dogs, and planted a grove of trees around to make a shrine.

Guinefort was revered as a saint, and local people brought their babies to his grave to be healed.

In the mid 13th Century, a Catholic Inquisitor, Stephen de Bourbon, visited the area, and after hearing of the many healing miracles of St Guinefort, decided to find out more about this holy 'man'. Upon discovering the Saint was in fact a dog, he had Guinefort officialy declared a heretic (dogs can't be saints, but can be heretics OF COURSE), and destroyed the grove, the shrine and the remains of the dog.

Despite the Catholic Church's complaints and efforts (including spreading rumours that babies were thrown down the well at Guinefort's shrine, and enlisting local henchmen to confiscate property of people going near the site), the cult of St Guinefort continued until the 1940s. There is a ruined chapel for him in Brittany, and there have been several films made based on the story.

The other reasons I particularly like St Guinefort were that he was on the Wikipedia lists of 'Famous Dogs', 'Folk Saints', and '13th Century Animal Deaths' - and also that his day of veneration is my brother's birthday, August 22nd.