St. Swithin & the Broken Eggs Lesson Card

The idiom “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” was first published in 1661, well after St. Swithin’s time (d. 2 July 863). Nevertheless, St. Swithin seems the ideal religious poster child for the phrase, owing to the story of the sole recorded miracle he performed during his lifetime. The story bears repeating. An old woman carrying a basketful of eggs was accosted by a roughneck who maliciously broke them. Seeing her distress, the kindly bishop said a prayer and then began helping her gather up any surviving eggs. Lo and behold! Each egg he handed her proved whole and sound, refilling her basket! A 13th-century painted cycle of scenes from the life of the Saint, much restored, in the parish church of Corhampton, Hamptonshire, England, illustrates the tale which is also available from several literary sources. In art, St. Swithin is often depicted with broken eggs at his feet. After rain, eggs have become St. Swithin’s most telling attribute. + A word to the wise: Lest St. Swithin not be available to restore them, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!” Diversify! + . Image Credits (the Saint): Adaptation of an antique image of St. Swithin of Winchester from a late 19th-century devotional print in chromoxylography, originally published by Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, New York, and Cincinnati. From the designer’s private collection of religious ephemera. The extracted figure of St. Swithin was turned fully frontal and equipped with the egg basket using AI. + Image Credits (Architecture): door by dimitrisvetsikas1969 via Pixabay; (Broken Egg): Openclipart. + St. Swithin’s Feast: July 2; Translation of His Relics: July 15