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Life is tough. Nuns are tougher.

Monday, December 05, 2011

Gluten Free Saint

Can you believe we're already into the second week of Advent?  I can't.

That being said, since Advent is all about good news, I have some for you.  I have found the perfect patron saint for Catholics who are gluten intolerant or otherwise digestively challenged to the point where they can no longer partake in the Eucharist!

I was just posting a brand new saint for the shop and was doing some research on her when I had my light bulb moment.  

Bear with me here. You won't see the connection right away, but it's a big one when we get to it.

St. Alice was a Cistercian nun.  She actually entered the convent at age seven.  Everyone noticed what a lovely humble girl she was. Unfortunately, poor Alice contracted leprosy.  She suffered terribly.  Eventually she lost her sight and became paralyzed.

St. Alice is, in fact, the patron saint for the blind and paralyzed, or the just blind, or the just paralyzed.

Now, let me just take a moment to say that we've had quite a number of discussions here on the blog about the plight of the wheat, yeast, gluten intolerant and I've always felt rather badly about not having the perfect patron saint for them.  St. Charles Borromeo is as close as I could come, as he is the patron saint of stomach and intestinal problems.

But St. Charles holds that title because his brothers didn't much take to his disciplinary activities and tried to shoot him, which could give anyone a stomach ache.

But Alice!  To the moon!

You see, St. Alice had one great comfort in life, which was, of course, the Holy Eucharist.  She was devastated not to be able to receive under both species (ringing a bell, stomachers?) because she was not allowed to drink from the Cup for fear of contagion, what with her leprosy and all.   Here's where it all comes together: Jesus appeared to her and told her it was perfectly fine for her to go with just one species.

Right?  It's a good one!  St. Alice knows exactly how you feel about your situation.

Welcome to the shop, St. Alice!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thank you for this!