It is a beautiful sunny, snappy cold day. I've been up for quite some time. I let out the chickens, yes they do still venture out of their coop even winter as long as it isn't too windy or snowy, the snow is packed, and especially if I put a little food out for them. This morning they got some leftover mashed potatoes and ate it like I haven't fed them in a month.
Then I got myself settled with a cup of coffee and blog reading. I absolutely love starting my weekend mornings with reading blogs and perhaps commenting if I connect with something that somebody has written. I was reading Rachel's blog. She lives in England and has a lot of interests and knowledge about things of which I have very little (politics, soccer, travel to wonderful exotic countries...) but I love reading about them anyway. Today, she mentioned it was the feast day of St. Mungo, and that Saint Anthony was her favourite saint as a child, and I questioned what he was about. Apparently, he takes care of helping you find lost things. That's usually not a problem I have. In fact, I pride myself on being a finder. I once found the popped-out lense of my husband's glasses in a hay mow. Top that!!
So, that got me wondering who my favourite saint might be. I know a little about the more "popular" saints, but not being Catholic, or anything really, I did what we all do, I went on the 'interweb' and looked up a list of Patron Saints and had a good old time finding out who represents what. Here's what I found that might relate to me, should I become interested in appealing to saints:
St. Cassian of Imola, St. Gregory the Great (I like that name!), St. Thomas Aquinas (that one didn't surprise me, as there is a school named that in a city I used to live in), St. John Baptist de la Salle, St. Marcellin Champagnat, and St. Francis de Sales are all saints of teachers.
Not to be beholden to my profession, I also found out that I might appeal to St. Dorothea of Caesarea, St. Fiacre, and St. Phocas if I need some extra help with gardening. If they could help with tomato blight and squash beetles, it might be worth a shot.
The chicken girl in me noted that St. Isadore the Farmer, St. Norburga, and St. Walstan are patron saints of farmers. I don't know if owning five chickens counts as being a farmer.
Today, however, I feel more like needing the assistance of St. Hunna (laundresses, laundry workers, washerwomen) or St. Martha (housewives, domestic workers, servants)! I do so enjoy noticing mucky pawprints across my kitchen table!! I've cleaned the tub, toilet, swept and spot cleaned the kitchen floor, and put in a load of towels so far.
I took a course in university, so long ago, where I read a fascinating book on the saints. I can't even remember what course it was, or what the book was called. I'd forgotten most of what I learned (seem to be noticing that a whole lot lately) (oh hey, is there a patron saint for memory loss?), but this was an interesting bit of time spent scratching the surface.
This is interesting to me because I've recently become interested in patron saints, and like you I'm not Catholic or anything else, really. I should probably write a blog post about my favorite saints since it's something I've been thinking about lately! What a great idea for a post--thank you!
ReplyDeleteSome favorites right off the top of my head: St. Therese of Lesieux, St. Joseph, St. Anne, St. Hildegard, and St. Francis.
Now I have to find out more about those! Although, I think I remember reading about St. Anne (horses?? saddle making?) I could be quite wrong about that.
DeleteI love the way blogging takes us on journeys of finding out about all sorts of things that we wouldn't have thought of otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI'm like that when I read about your posts about various holy days and feast days and traditional uses of plants, etc.
DeleteGood gracious, now you've put something else in my head to think about and possibly remember to look into . . . some day. ;o} (Is there a saint in charge of creating more time for interesting things to pursue?)
ReplyDeleteHa ha, I almost wrote about the saint for vintners and alcoholics, but then thought people may think I have a problem!
DeleteMy favourite saint story is about St Clare of Assisi, who was a medieval nun and BFF of St Francis of Assisi. Despite not being a modern-day saint, the Catholic Church named her the Patron Saint of Television. WTF? Why? Because once, when she was too ill to attend mass, she nevertheless was able to watch the ceremony via a moving image which miraculously appeared on the wall opposite her bed.
ReplyDeleteFor years I have a little plastic statuette of St Clare by my TV. She glows in the dark too.
Ha ha, BFF saint. I always find something interesting in your posts - learning about new things, traditions, etc. My brother had a glow in the dark miniature skeleton that I used to freak myself out with as a child. Don't suppose that really counts, does it?
DeleteSounds like you're having a pretty darn good day though, even with the chores. I like chores though. The one that takes me the longest is sometimes dish though. So I'd like to call upon St. Dishwasher and have her zap me up a dishwasher that will fit in our kitchen.
ReplyDeleteHappy Weekend. Sunny and snowy here but ever so pretty out. Cheers and boogie boogie.
St. Dishwasher, BFF of St. Refrigerator with water in the door feature.
Deletelololololololol Sounds good!
DeleteIn high school one of my teachers taught us this short prayer to St. Anthony: Tony, Tony, look around. Something's lost and must be found." A friend who was married to someone from India complained to me once that her daughters watched TV far too much. I pointed out that her oldest daughter Claire was named after the patron Saint of television and her younger daughter Vidya had a name which meant something about light. Your post today was a lot of fun, Jenn.
ReplyDeleteThere must be a ton of Patron Saints of video games and iPads, then too!! Thanks for sharing that! :)
DeleteThank you for the mention Jenn. I don't actually lose things but I put this down to help from St Anthony watching over me. When I was at school
ReplyDeleteand aged about 12 I lost my coloured pencils and was heartbroken, knowing that if they were lost I would never get another set, you just had one for your entire school life then. I remember praying to St Anthony please find them and the next day they turned up in a very unexpected place. I never asked any questions, just took them back, and quietly thanked St Anthony. I have never forgotten that moment. I still have the crayons.
That is sweet that you still have them. Trust me when I tell you that some (not all) children don't take care of their things at all and wouldn't be bothered at all if they lost some of their school supplies. Pencil crayons (coloured pencils), pencils, and markers get swept up at the end of every day at school. I gather them up when I have a chance and put them in with our class supplies. (I didn't actually think you were someone who lost a lot of things - you seem to be very disciplined).
DeleteHaving read Rachel's comment above about S Antony finding her crayons I shall make him my favourite saint - I lose thing every day and they turn up a week later.
ReplyDeleteHi Weaver! I think Rachel would like that!
DeleteOh- I love that. There is a Patron Saint Diana so I think I will pick that one---even though she ran away after she was removed from the convent. lol She sounds like me....except that she was REALLY REALLY GOOD! lol
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful Sunday- xo Diana
So I just looked her up and yes, she was a DETERMINED woman! Kept running back to convents. You have a good day, too!
Deletehahahahha....and here I was, being from Louisiana, was wondering how cool it was that you, being from way up north, are a Saints fan on this day of the big game!!!! hahahahah....dontcha know that that's all that matters here in the deep south on this day!!!
ReplyDeleteBut I'm also catholic so I enjoyed reading about your saint lessons for today!
Oh, haha, I didn't even think of that! Sorry to disappoint.
DeleteThat's why I love blogland … you never know what you may read and learn.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
That's what I love, too. I love learning about people's lives in other parts of the world, and learning new things.
DeleteI always liked St. Anthony, the returner of lost items, but after I buried St. Joseph in my yard and sold my house, he came in a close second. I dug him up and he now hold a place of honor in my house, on the kitchen window sill.
ReplyDeleteHad to look that one up. I typed in "burying St. Joseph" and I found out all about it. Glad it helped!
DeleteSuch an interesting subject. The Catholic church seems to have even more saints than the orthodox. St Anthony has a very small church dedicated to him near us and his fiesta is the 17th January. Everyone troops out to this out of way church for the service and then the rest of the day is spent bbqing and drinking at the house next door...for the men.
ReplyDeleteWe have another saint for lost things, St. Fanourios. He will always open your eyes and find whatevers lost. Them you make a special cake to say thanks and hand it around
You always seem to have reasons to celebrate!
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ReplyDelete? sorry, don't know what that means.
DeleteI do summon St Fiacre on occasions, but so far he's failed me; or maybe he's just telling me that some things are beyond help.
ReplyDeleteTried to look up what he represents. Gardening? Living in a hermitage?
DeleteThat's interesting! I don't know much about the saints but this might motivate me to check out a few. Patron saint of art? Of theatre? Of cats? Of wine? I'm sure there must be one for me out there somewhere!
ReplyDeleteYes, there is a vintner saint. I don't know much either. I was just inspired by another blogger.
DeleteNot being catholic either, I know nothing about saints. I did want to tell you that I saw an article or something on-line (can't recall where) that said if you put an antacid tablet, like a tums, in the ground before planting your tomatoes it prevents some tomato diseases so you might want to google that.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it's about magnesium? I've heard the same thing about using Epsom salts for tomatoes. A lot depends on how wet things are and planting things where they weren't already planted the year before.
DeleteIt seems like they came up with a saint to cover just about everything!
ReplyDeleteYes, just like Roman or Greek gods or goddesses.
DeleteSt. Francis of Assisi for my love of animals...
ReplyDeleteOh, that's a good choice for you!
DeleteI was born on St Joseph's Day, and to this day my mom always manages to find a St Joseph's Day card to send along with my birthday card!
ReplyDeleteI wonder what your name might have been if you were a boy!
DeleteSt. Francis of Assisi for me because of the animals thing. But if there's a saint that will come and do all my housework, that's good, too :)
ReplyDeleteSaints are the wise, the sage. Most people just wander on earth while the saints know how to live, they don't lose their time, they just take every opportunity in life to grow nearer their Creator.
ReplyDeleteI have some favourite saints and I can't post here all the names because the list is too long but here you have some: St. Joseph, St. Anthony, St. Michael, St. Raphael and, off course, the Mother of the Redeemer: Our Lady. Those are my most important Saints but I can't resist to post more. Here they go: St.Joseph Cupertino (the flying Saint), St. Thomas Aquinas (the wise), St. Dominic, St. Therese (both the French(Lisieux) and the Spanish one (Avila)). And more modern ones: St. Padre Pio and St. Maximilian Kolbe.
I must say a word on St. Anthony. He is, most probably, the most amazing saint you will ever find. Most people know him for finding things, and they are right, but he was known already in his days as a very, very bright man and a miracle maker of all kinds. He is truly an amazing person. Try to know more about him, you will not be disapointed.
Now a little note on what Local Alien said: that St. Anthony you mentioned whose feast day is on the 17 January, he is not the same one that some people were talking about here. The one you mentioned is St. Anthony the Abbot. The other St. Anthony, the great Miracle worker and good at finding things has his feast on the 13 of June.
Oh, it was so good to have this opportunity to talk about Saints. Thank you.
Here's a good explanation about the belief in saints in the Catholic Church.
ReplyDeletehttp://lonelypilgrim.com/2012/11/01/what-is-a-saint-an-introduction-for-protestants/
It makes me happy to know of your interest and that of your readers - nobody made any offensive irreligious comments!! How nice it is when people are curious and willing to learn about the things that are sometimes so devisive when they're misunderstood!
You have a lovely blog - stay safe and warm - spring is coming!!!