The Tale of Saint Natalis and the Ossory Werewolves

Saint Natalis of Ulster (also called Naile) died in 564 A.D. He was a monk, abbot of monasteries in northern Ireland and disciple of Saint Columba. According to legend, Saint Natalis placed a curse on a clan which transformed their members into werewolves. Here is the tale:

The Tale

An unnamed priest was traveling from Ulster to Meath on an important mission with his assistant, a young boy. The two stopped for the night near woods at the edge of the See of Ossory. As they lay down to sleep, the priest hears a human voice calling from the nearby forest. He gets up and looking out into the darkness he sees a giant wolf draw near. The priest and boy draw back in horror, but the wolf speaks in a human voice and tells them not to be afraid.

Five Christian Saints Associated with Werewolves

St. Christopher with the head of a dog

The first mention of a werewolf is in Greek mythology, when Lykaon was turned into a wolf after dishing up a plate of human flesh to Jove, hence the Greek word Lycanthropy (wolf-man) for this phenomena. Before the age of exploration, the belief in werewolves or wolf-people was a common belief, even by the most educated. It was believed that those who lived at the edge of the world, beyond the boundaries of the Roman Empire, had particular traits not normally human, and among these peoples were what is called "dog-headed" people, known in Greek as Cynocephali, whose bodies were human but whose heads were like that of a dog or wolf, and they are often described as cannibals. Thus Saints who came from these unexplored and feared regions, or who were missionaries in these regions, became associated with werewolves.

The Feast of Saint Andrew in Romania - Night of the Vampires

Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Romania, is seen by Romanians as the Apostle who Christianized the lands north of the Danube, and according to tradition it is said he spent twenty years evangelizing the pagans of this area. There are many traditions without religious meaning connected to the feast day of Saint Andrew on November 30th, some of them having their origin in the Roman celebrations of Saturn. The Dacian New Year took place from the 14th of November until the 7th of December and this was the interval when time began its course.