Saint of the Week

I should explain this posting. The Editor of the Telegraph e-mailed me saying "Dear Eccles, Custard is the New Olympics. Write me 250 words about custard by Friday, or I'll have to ask Damian Thompson." Since this is a religious blog, I have interpreted his request as best I can, in the hope that readers will obtain spiritual nourishment from the life of St Custard.

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The Temptation of St Custard, by Searle

This Week's Saint is St Custard (c.1390-c.1450), a celebrated Englishman (in France he is known as "La Crème Anglaise" or "La Crème de la Crème"), about whom little is known. It is believed that Custard was a hermit, who lived on a simple diet of eggs and milk. The story goes that he was once tempted by a demon in the guise of a loose woman ("the legend of Custard and the tart"), but he drove her away by throwing a bowl full of eggs and milk at her. This event is commemorated annually, by members of the Order of Custard (OC).

A pious worshipper bows his head in a St Custard's Day ceremony

Custard's saintliness and holiness could have only one consequence in the Middle Ages - he was burnt to death (the origin of the expression "Crème Brûlée").

Puddington: believed to be the site of the martyrdom of St Custard

Prayer to St Custard: O glorious St Custard, who in thy day wast said to have a nature full of the milk of human kindness; may we be granted thy virtues of sweetness and lightness, so that if in the end we obtain our just deserts they will at least be palatable unto us. Amen.