One of my kind readers brought it to my attention that today is the feast day of Our Lady of Copacabana. Not only did I not know about that, I did not know there was a Lady of Copacabana. I didn't even know there was actually a Copacabana that wasn't a night club or a song by Barry Manilow. And I was good at geography.
A true story: way back when Elvis died, I had a little nine year old boy in class who was perplexed by what a fuss everyone raised about Elvis' passing. I set out to explain to him who Elvis was, the impact he had had on the world of popular music and culture, his musical roots of rockabilly, gospel and blues. I think I spoke about Elvis for a good five minutes straight.
When I was done, this kid, Ronny, said, "Wow."
I was pleased that I had done a good job of explaining the Elvis phenomenon, when Ronny continued, "I wonder what will happen when Barry Manilow dies."
Somebody else will have to write jingles for Coca Cola. I didn't say that out loud.
I am currently starting the process of applying to colleges. There are several fabulous ones I have my eye on. I was wondering, is there a patron saint for getting into your top choice colleges? How about one for winning scholarships (which I sorely need)?
This is an easy one! Follow my train of thought here. To get into that fabulous top college, you're going to have to be a fabulous top student. You're going to need a patron saint for that.
A double whammy: St. Albert the Great and his best and brightest student, St. Thomas Aquinas.
St. Albert the Great was the most learned man of his time. He was dubbed "the Great" while he was still alive (like Elvis), that's how great he was. He knew a lot about everything. (The exact opposite of the likes of me, I know a little about a lot of things.) He was the leading authority on botany, physics, chemistry, astronomy, astrology (considered a legitimate science back then), physiology...the list goes on and on....phrenology.....
And of course, he was quite the theologian and philosopher. He was appointed as advisor to the Pope, but he quit after a few months because, well, he had plants to catalog and test tubes to tend, stars to chart.On top of all that, St. Albert was the person who showed everyone, in no uncertain terms, that science and religion are harmonious. Everything comes from God, to understand our world is to better understand and appreciate God.
Thank you, Albert! And thank you again, St. Albert, for lighting the way for your student, known in school as "the dumb ox", St. Thomas Aquinas, who grew up to be one the greatest, if not the greatest, theologians who ever lived. He is the official patron saint of students (and pencil makers). Both saints rank among the 33 "Doctors of the Church".
Then, for financial aid we're going to send you to the bursar's office to get in touch with The Infant of Prague.
You should be all set. Make us proud!
My central air conditioning is on the blink. Is there a patron saint of air conditioning? I could use some help.
I'd go with St. Nicholas. He was originally from a hot climate, but moved to the North Pole to beat the heat.
12 comments:
Thank you, Sister! Any chance of seeing a Thomas Aquinas medal in the store sometime?
For way too much patron saint information, come by the web site http://saints.sqpn.com
I'll put one in tomorrow!
The only copacabana I am familiar with is the mea culpacabana. Love this post! As a four-legged holy man I love my saints, particularly St. Gertrude who is the patron saint of cats.
Sister, I want to thank you for posting this in your blog. I was so fascinated in this post. This is a must read post. I will be visiting this post more often.
Dear Sister
I wanted to let you know that I tagged you as a meme to name your five favorite devotions. For more information go here
http://www.bigccatholics.com/2010/08/devotion-meme.html
You in turn can tag five Catholic bloggers to answer the same question.
God bless,
Matt
I remember when Elvis died, my sister came out on the front porch and said "Guess who died?"
"Elvis Presley" I said, "How did you know?" asked my sister.
"You told me to guess" said I. He just popped into my head.
I am in need of a patron saint. My daughter graduated for Nursing School, near the top of her class, I must add. (Just a little mother pride there)
She can not find a job, all the hospitals want "experience". So we need help here please....
Who would have thought a nurse could not find a job? But most of her class do not have jobs and this is repeated across the county.
How does one make a good confession? Any tips would be appreciated.
thanks for the college/scholarship saint info! my 2nd daughter is in this mode now too so I'll have her read your post. <3
Hi Sister, thank you for your blog. I'm a cradle Catholic and thoroughly enjoy reading your take on the various topics that come up here. I'm in need of a patron saint (or two). I will be starting nursing school in two weeks and have become at times paralyzed with anxiety about it. Who do you think could help?
Thanks so much!
Sister, is there a saint for children with autism spectrum disorders?
It's imply amazing the impact that Elvis had on all of us.
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