Since it\u2019s the Easter season, it seems like a discussion about saints might be in order. A few blogs a while back, I mentioned that St. Dustan was the patron saint of blacksmiths. Well, that got me to thinking\u2026. no matter who you are, what you do, or don\u2019t do, for a living, whatever your situation, you\u2019ve got a patron saint \u2014 whether you want one or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The term \u201cPatron\u201d is used in Christian religions, including the Roman Catholic religion, to describe holy and virtuous men and women who are considered to be a defender of a specific group of people or of a country. There is a patron for virtually every cause, country, profession or special interest. There are two categories of saints \u2014 martyrs and confessors.
A \u201cmartyr\u201d has been killed for his or her Christian beliefs; a \u201cconfessor\u201d has been tortured or persecuted for his or her faith, but not killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I looked this up, I ran across quite a few \u201cinteresting\u201d saints, like\u2026.
If you work in television, or even just sit in front of the TV a lot, you\u2019ve got a patron saint \u2014 Saint Clare of Assisi. She\u2019s not as famous or well-known as another saint from Assisi \u2014 St. Francis is the real well-known one \u2014 the one who\u2019s always shown with all the cute animals around him or birds on his shoulder. Anyhow, Clare started an order called the Poor Clares, but she wasn\u2019t poor to begin with. She had everything \u2014 she was pretty and nice, and lively and rich. But St. Francis converted her. He did such a good job that she swung totally in the other direction \u2014 she and her poor Clares wore no shoes, slept on the ground and lived in absolute poverty. They had to beg for food. So why is she the patron saint of TV? One Christmas, in the 13th century, when she was old and sick and couldn\u2019t make it to the midnight services, Clare heard singing and saw a vision of the nativity scene on her wall. I\u2019m not sure, but that may have been one of the earliest instances of streaming\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I said, just about everyone has a patron saint \u2014 even henpecked husbands. So if you\u2019re one of them kind of guys, you\u2019ve got somebody to pray to\u2026 but he does have a sort of goofy sounding name \u2014 St. Gomer \u2014 he was an 8th century Germanic knight who is said to have had infinite patience. While Gomer was meek and pious, he was married to a shrew beyond belief. She was mean to his employees when he was away on business, so he had to perform miracles every time he got back to keep them happy. I guess it\u2019s appropriate that St. Gomer is the patron saint of henpecked husbands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It turns out there is a patron saint of hangovers. I\u2019m not sure she\u2019s the real patron saint of hangovers \u2014 but she\u2019s the one you pray to when you\u2019ve got one. St. Bibiana was a Roman female martyr \u2014 to the Romans she was \u201cVibiana.\u201d The best story I\u2019ve heard is that she arrived at her patronage by a silly mistake. To the Romans, she was \u201cViviana,\u201d \u201cfull of life,\u201d but the Spanish pronounce Vs like Bs and it came out as\u201d Bibiana,\u201d \u201cfull of drink.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it seems no matter what your plight, you\u2019ve got a saint to pray to. That\u2019s good \u2014 I\u2019ve heard that prayer is a wine that makes glad the heart of men\u2026.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since it\u2019s the Easter season, it seems like a discussion about saints might be in order. A few blogs a while back, I mentioned that St. Dustan was the patron saint of blacksmiths. Well, that got me to thinking\u2026. no … Continue reading