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Life is tough. Nuns are tougher.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Your Number is Up


I have been under the weather. That is really a perfect explanation of my health. The weather here is pretty good these days, although another big storm is due tomorrow night. I am less than pretty good.

Lucky me. Sister St. Aloysius makes a mean chicken soup.

I am being facetious. Not about the soup. About the luck. We Catholics don't believe in luck. Luck is off the table. Which brings me to today's question:


Dear Sister Mary Martha,
I have a question for you, if I may. I am asking it here be because you don't seem to have a questions here icon. So my question is who is the patron saint of Winning the Lottery? Is there a Saint associated with the correct numbers coming up? I value your sound advice.

Huge thanks, I love your Blog and read it religiously each day.

Sister you Rock.
Anne

The comments section is the place to leave questions. Maybe I can change the setting somehow so it actually says, "questions and comments".

We have a patron saint for everything. So of course we have a patron saint for people who want to win the lottery. In this case I will send you to St. Lawrence. Because he was roasted to death on a grill, he is the patron saint of cooks. But I believe that he should be the patron saint of comics, because he had quite an ironic, if not side-splitting, sense of humor.

The reason he was roasted to death on the grill was because he flummoxed the local conquering prefect with his quiet wit. The Roman prefect had ordered Lawrence, a deacon, to round up all the treasures of the Church.

We still hear a lot about the treasures of the Church, the gold Chalices, the jeweled crowns. This is precisely what Lawrence was charged with gathering. Lawrence asked for three days to get the job done. His request was granted.

Lawrence spent the three days liquidating all the gold and jewels and candlesticks and anything else he could find and dispersing it among the poor. Then he rounded up all the beggars and lepers and blind and infirm and brought them to the prefect.

"Here are the treasures of the Church, " he announced.

This went over like a lead balloon, but Lawrence's sense of humor lasted to his dying breath. His last words were, "Turn me over, I'm done on this side."

I think St. Lawrence might be able to handle your need for a boatload of cash, one way or another.


Hello Sr Mary Martha

Do you know of any saints who felt that they were constantly under a cloud? Jinxed. Or that God's blessings were being blocked.

Also do you know any prayers to remedy the situation?

Jane

Get this straight. God's blessings aren't being blocked by some kind of neutron cloud. And being "jinxed" is just another word for "bad luck". There is no such thing as bad luck. Or a jinx.

If you're having trouble with God's blessings, it's because you are having trouble with God's blessings.

And yes, there's a saint for that.

St. John of God. One of my favorites. He did everything but accept God's blessings. He did absolutely everything he felt like doing, good or bad, for most of his life until one day, God, like Dr. Phil, came and asked John, "How's that working for ya?" At that point, John was enjoying life in a 16th century mental institution, so you can imagine how it had been working for him.

From that point on, he put his impulsive actions to work for God, hence his saintly name, "John of God. I like this little prayer for the one reminder it holds, a reminder that has the power to turn your life around. Act out of love.

Saint John of God, help us to act out of love as soon as we feel the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Help us learn to fight the little voices in our heads and hearts that give us all sorts of practical reasons to wait or delay in our service of God. Amen

13 comments:

Diane said...

According to 'The Incorruptibles', St. John of God was confined to an asylum because he was excessively remorseful for his sins after hearing a sermon by St. John of Avila. (The mentally ill were beaten daily as part of their treatment, which John of God viewed as penance for himself.) Eventually, St. John of Avila went to the asylum and set him straight. While John of God was in the asylum he tirelessly cared for the real patients.

I don't understand the pop quiz. Today's saint is Blaise but how do you give the answer in feet???

Claudia said...

If there were a patron saint for winning the lottery he or she would be exhausted by all the requests for help. Make winning the lottery plan Z.

I do play occasionally when the total gets high....and I realize the odds of winning are somewhere in the range of 1:150,000,000 or there abouts. It is my plan Z

Lola said...

St. Blaise! But I don't know how to convert that into feet, maybe a little sketchy on centimeteres.

I hope you are feeling better and over the weather soon.

Thank you for the reminder of St. John of God and the nice little prayer.

Would he be one saint for the easily distracted? I think I've got ADD, at least a touch, and I keep getting sidetracked on the housework, so I could use a little help. I can't paint the whole house dust colored. Any suggestions? Housework or Focusing?

God Bless you Sister!

Ray Ward said...

Winning the lottery is the last thing a Catholic or other Christian should want. "Eye of the needle" and all that.

Anonymous said...

Anne-Don't play the lottery. It's a tax on people who are bad at math;D

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

Sister, I love your blog! God bless you and feel better soon.
PS Enjoy the soup!

Anonymous said...

Is this the comment place where you ask questions? I desperatly need to know if there is a patron saint for a lost cat. Her name is Magda and she has had quite a life with us but she is missing... Help--Help-- and many thanks Your blog is something else. Cant wait to read it everyday.......

Unknown said...

Thanks for the response Sr.Mary Martha. I think this article identifies how i feel.'Outside'
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/columnarchive/search_detail.php?rec_id=12

Jane

Martha said...

I have a thought for 'Jane' of feeling jinxed. I know this is out there, but I just read Fr. Gabriele Amorth's book on Exorcisms, "An Exorcist Tells His Story," and what you describe is definitely in there. Maybe you want to give the book a try and see what you think?

Anonymous said...

I wanted to know if there was a Patron Saint for holding grudges my father-in-law ask my husband for a large sum of money to help prevent forclosure on property so my husband wanting to help out his family give him the money but it completly depleated our savings now we have hit a speedbump(crashing and burning) in our finances and bareley scraping by. We have two babies and I know I shouldnt be mad or hold a grudge he needed help and hes family and our bills our paid as of now but I cant help it I'm so mad I could scream! Pray for me please

Anonymous said...

This. Was very interesting. I echo. Some the things that were said. I Don't. Want to be rich but it would be nice to be debt free.

Anonymous said...

Sister. Mary Margaret. I have tried and tried I'm at my wits end. How can I reach God? How can I get a word a sign. From him. I have prayed Novenas. To no avail. What can I do?

Anonymous said...

I lost my cat once. I looked all over for him for hours in the middle of the night. I finally started to pray to St. Anthony (St. Anthony, St. Anthony, Please come around, for Bon-bon is lost and cannot be found). After deciding to check the neighborhood for the inth time at 3am, a woman who was talking to someone in a car in the middle of the street stopped her conversation, looked at me, and asked if I was looking for a white cat. When I told her that I was, she told me she just saw one run across the street to the train station. I ran over to the station, called his name, and there was Bon-bon crying for me. St. Anthony, through God's Grace, has never failed me!