The Saints

 

   I feel sorry for my fellow Christians in the Protestant camp. Part of their Reformation was to quit asking the saints to intercede for them. Luther himself revered the Blessed Virgin but was very strict about going straight to Jesus when he prayed. But Jesus was perfect so it's hard for me to relate to him. And God is way too big a concept for me to approach him beyond saying the Our Father.

   The saints to me are approachable. Many of them screwed up badly before they got it right. Look at Saint Paul. He was having Christians killed, but he repented and spread the good word. There are over 10,000 saints venerated in the Catholic Church. No one knows the actual number. The official canonization process didn't begin till 993 A.D. People like Peter and Paul were grandfathered in. The good people of the Old Testament, all the way from Adam up to Malachi are considered saints. We call them patriarchs, matriarchs and prophets rather than saints. A priest told me we need to ask Abraham, Moses, et al to intercede for us more often.

   I've learned a lot more about the saints from a devotional booklet called Magnificat. I used to admire this book when I visited my brother Steve in Massachusetts. It's small enough to fit in a pocket yet packs over 400 pages into its 3/8" thickness thanks to the super-thin bible paper it's printed on. On the cover there is always a painting by a Renaissance master. Nice but too rich for my blood.

   But a couple of years ago Steve got my cousin Liz and me a subscription to Magnificat. Magnifico! The book has the mass readings for the day, good medicine there, plus a daily meditation written by some doctor of the church or enlightened layperson. For about half the days of the month there will be a short bio of a saint. There's a different theme every month: saints who were doctors, saints who were writers, this month it's saints who took detours in life. Who can't relate to that? There are some big guns in there: St Matthew the tax collector who was ripping off his fellow Jews at the behest of the Romans.

   Another saint who took detours was St Anthony of Padua. He's the saint who helps us find missing items. I'd be lost without him. He was born in Lisbon and heard the call to become a priest. He immediately traveled to Morocco hoping to become a martyr at the hands of the Muslims. Fortunately he got very sick on his arrival and was sent home. He wanted to become a hermit but he was such a good speaker he was ordered to travel around the country preaching, eventually settling in Italy.

   One saint who intrigued me was Peter González, a Spaniard who lived in the 13th century. His uncle was a bishop who found Peter a good job in the church. Peter was enjoying the good life when one day as he rode his beautiful horse through town his horse stumbled and Peter was thrown to the ground. The townspeople laughed to see his fine clothes covered in mud. He realized the pointlessness of his desire for worldly approval and  immediately joined the priesthood. He was an excellent speaker and, like St Anthony above, he was sent to preach around the countryside. He especially liked preaching to sailors. He is now considered the patron saint of sailors. They called him Saint Telmo.

   A couple of things stand out in this little bio. First, how did Peter Gonzalez get the nickname Telmo? Also, I know for a fact that St Brendan the Navigator is the patron saint of sailors. When I checked this out, AI confirmed that Brendan (6th c.) is the top patron of sailors. But St Nicholas (4th c.) is also a patron. His prayers once calmed a violent storm. He is also the patron of children in his role as Santa Claus. There's also Saint Erasmus (3rd c.). His nickname is Elmo. During electrical storms a blueish glow sometimes appears on mast tops. Sailors called this buzzing or hissing glow St Elmo's fire. The crew believes the glow means St Elmo will get them through the storm. Perhaps the sailors Gonzalez preached to linked him with Elmo and added the T to tell them apart. Digging a bit deeper I discovered Saint Telmo is especially revered by the sailors of northwestern Spain, an area known as the Costa da Morte or Coast of Death.

A fine day on the Costa da Morte