June 13/30, Feast of St. Botolph (Old Style)
Abbot and Confessor, of Ikanhoe, England (+680)
Patron saint of all Travelers,
Boston, England (founded 654)
Boston, Massachusetts (founded 1630) and Patron of Boston Pilgrim Tours (formerly Boltolph’s Town Tours, founded 2013, one year ago TODAY)

Happy First Birthday to this blog and Boston Pilgrim Tours! On this one year anniversary of Boston’s only (as far as I know) faith-based tour company, I would like to post a few words about the Puritan’s attitude towards sanctity in general and saints in particular. This is based on the curious fact which I am sure to mention in our founding tour that Boston is the only city in New England that contains the name of a saint, making that saint, Botolph, her default patron (Boston is an elided form of “Botolph’s Town”). I say default and not conscious patron because of the Puritan’s attitude toward sanctity and saints. Continue reading →