Re Cycled Saints

Who would be the patron saint of recycling or "up-cycling?" Also who is the patron saint of thrift stores (other than the saint my thrift store is named after?) For the record, St. Louise Thrift Store is my work place, and St. Louise is really great at interceding for us, our volunteers and customers. Sometimes too much. But thank-you, St. Louise! (I don't need any more tupperware right now.)

St. Louise, the one who went off to the crusades? There are several St. Louises.

The person who springs to mind is St. Francis of Assisi. He and his brothers just begged for everything they had and had to repair and reuse whatever they had. St. Francis began his career as a begging brother by trading clothes--the fancy clothes he was wearing at the moment--with a beggar on the road. Francis' father, who was a wealthy cloth merchant, was super aggravated with this wacky move. When Frances came home in his beggar get up, his father ordered him to remove it at once. 

Which the ever obedient Francis did. He walked off naked into the sunset. Which means he had to go beg up some other clothes.  And blankets and pots and pans and whatever else he needed at any given moment.

He probably couldn't have used some tupperware.

I would also consider St. John of God, who begged up a whole hospital, from the building itself to every mattress and bedpan.

What is the best way to choose a name/patron saint for your unborn child? I suppose there is a better way than just choosing the name you like best! Do you have any thoughts, Sister?

If the name you like best is Blotsnefad, yes, there would be a better way. Of course I have thoughts!

1. If it's a girl, Mary.  You can't do better than that.

2. If it's a boy, we like Joseph and John, but go for a great patron saint name.

3. If there's no saint with the name you like, find a new one.

4. Consider what happens to the name when it's shortened.  You might love the name Nathaniel, but everyone is going to call that kid "Nat".  That's great for Nat King Cole. But for the rest of us, it sounds like a pesky bug.  You don't want your kid to go through life with the name of a pesky bug.

I've always felt like you should have a few names in mind and then take a look at that kid before you pick one.  You don't think, "I' m going to get a dog and name it Rex!"  You get the dog and take a look at it and choose a name. Why would you do less for your kid? But that's just me.

I also advise against telling anyone any names you are considering because there will always be someone who doesn't like that name for reasons only they can fathom, but the distaste shows ever so briefly in their eyes and you will feel weird and second guess yourself and flounder into calling the kid "Blotsnefad". Keep your names to yourself. Everyone will coo over the baby no matter what horrible name you've chosen.

Of course, you won't choose a horrible name. It's a girl and you'll call her Mary.

A Couple of Tough Cookies

My sister is looking for a patron saint for a girl who is outdoorsy and athletic. I can't think of any - can you help? Thanks!

You can't think of any? 

I can't say I blame you. The list of girls who became saints is as long as everyone's arms sewn together. It would take you days to check out what every single person did. Weeks, maybe.

That's why I'm here! And I'm happy to help.

But I can't think of anyone more outdoorsy and athletic than St. Joan of Arc. To begin with, she was peasant girl.  They didn't have grocery stores and washing machines. They didn't have sewing machines or refrigerators. From dawn til duck, a peasant would be growing and making food, repair broken things, feeding animals and building fires.

So right out of the gate, St. Joan is no couch potato.

But then, she receives visions and hears the voices of saints and Michael the Archangel telling her to mount up and lead the French Army. She did that. And she fought in battles and was shot with an arrow. When she miraculously survived, she impressed the helmets off her soldiers.

I would call that athletic and outdoorsy, wouldn't you?  I'll bet she spent an enormous amount of time camping.

I read with great interest your article on Venerable Matt Talbot. At least I think he is a Venerable. I see you have him as a "Blessed" which means he did one miracle after his death. What was that miracle? He needs two to become a Saint. Nevertheless, I am looking for the official website for the Cause of the Cannonization of Ven. Matt Talbot. I have had no luck in finding such. Can anyone help?

Oops. My bad. He is indeed Venerable. No miracles for him just yet.  But yes, I think I can head you in the right direction.  Got there and type "Matt Talbot" in the search bar. From there the links will take you in circles.

But don't despair! There is an address. So you can write. You can also follow all the links. You haven't mentioned why you're trying to track it down. Do you have a Matt Talbot miracle to report?

I hope so! The last attempt was rejected by the Vatican as a miracle. I don't know what it was, so obviously, I don't know why it wasn't a miracle. 

Meanwhile here is a great rundown of everything you need to know about saint making:

http://www.usccb.org/upload/making-saints.pdf

Oh, My Aching Back

Back pain? Who is the patron saint for back pain?

St. Gemma!

We know that patron saints are people who have suffered from or dealt with the same problems we have (or thereabouts, or in a round about way).  And some saints pull double duty from not only suffering from what ails us, but from having been miraculously cured from said suffering as well.
St. Peregrine springs to mind (cancer). And the Opus Dei fellow. St. Jose Marie Escriva (diabetes).

And St. Gemma.  I'll let you head over and read her story.

Don't you think she might be a bit of a package deal? What with St. Margaret Mary and St. Gabriel being sort of pals of hers?

By the way, separated brethren who don't believe people in Heaven pay us any mind, we have lots of incidences where people from Heaven visit people on earth and pray with them or otherwise guide them. Surely you've heard of St. Joan of Arc?  She didn't just wake up one day and think, "Hey! I know! I'll head an army and save France! Right after I milk the cow!" No.  She heard the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret. Not to be confused with Margaret Mary. Joan's St. Margaret was St. Margaret of Antioch, who is the patron saint of peasants.

Poor St. Margaret was yet another beautiful girl who, after pledging herself to Our Lord, was tortured and beheaded. Legend has it she was swallowed by a dragon. That's the dragon there in her picture, munching on part of her dress, as far as I can tell. What actually happened was that Satan tempted her and showed up in the form of a dragon.

And then snacked on her dress.

And of course, should you be swallowed by a dragon, you'll know which patron saint to call upon.

The Saints Come Marching In

Helloooo out there! I'm a little surprised we have had no comments on your stellar work praying. Perhaps you are all busy forming prayer circles. One can only hope.

Meanwhile, my minister friend invited me to visit her congregation. She was doing her own prayer circle about "Christian Oneness" and asked me to speak. Before I gave my little tour of Catholicism she asked me, in front of the congregation, what we could all do to achieve Christian oneness. "Convert to Catholicism. That would take care of it, " I said.

They may have bristled.

My little speech went well, though, and I introduced them to the concept of patron saints. Anyone who has read the blog for two seconds knows that I have a steady argument with the separated brethren about intercessory prayer. I started with the idea that asking someone in Heaven to pray for you is no different than asking someone on earth to pray for you and surely, your loved ones in Heaven still care for you.

I also told them that their dear loved ones are not angels in Heaven, although if they are in Heaven they are saints. But I digress.

It's seemed to get their attention, because I don't think anyone really wants to believe that someone who they loved dearly and who loved them has gone on their merry way in Heaven, never to give us on this mortal coil a second thought. What, are they busy playing canasta?

I also used our wonderful reader's suggestion  of asking them to pray with us.

Talk about oneness!

In any case, it opened a dialogue about patron saints and the next thing I knew we were on a patron saint matching extravaganza. But that wasn't the best part.

The best part was that I had brought a big pile of the holy cards we send out with our medals from the shop (sans medals). Each card has the story of the saint (written by me) on the back. My minister friend explained that I had a holy card for everyone as a "parting gift".

I don't think anyone ever had such a long wait to get out of church in their lives. Each and every person leaving the chapel that day stopped and poured through my pile of cards (each in a lovely cellophane sleeve) to find the perfect saint for them. I had brought with me the patron saints for dog and cat lovers, bad boys, bad marriages, happy marriages, insanity, procrastination, back pain, couch potatoes...the one thing stupidly hadn't thought of, finances and jobs. Doh!

They were very excited to find just the right saint for them.  I had enough that some people took two or three or four, some to give away. I know they left happy.

I certainly did.

When I was a little girl going to Catholic school, the old nuns always told us that it was okay for us to go to a non Catholic Church, should we be invited, but we were not to pray in there because, "God isn't there."  I always found that especially confusing as they vehemently told us that "God is everywhere".  I guess what they were trying to get across was the idea that either God doesn't want us in other churches or that He turns a deaf ear to non-Catholic prayer.

Or something.  Whatever they were getting at didn't seem very well thought out, even to a child. At least, to this child.

I pleased to have brought the saints to bear. Perhaps it's the first step of many.

Although, at one point I had to explain Transubstantiation to them. They really weren't buying it.

Congratulations to Everyone!

Since it's Mother's Day and all, I thought we should have some cheery news!  

On top of that, it's news in which you all had a personal hand. Doesn't that make it even better. Although, I'm not sure how it could get better.

Hi SMM, I don't know if you remember, but awhile back (months), I had posted a cry of help on here. My husband and I were out of jobs, illness, depression, the whole drama was happening, and I had nowhere to go anymore. I posted, and the very next day, you re-posted, and gave me that hope I needed. You even created a prayer circle, and all the kind comments from everyone, it was just more than anything I could have hoped for. I would not be exaggerating if I said that we were in a very bad place, and I felt so crushed suicide flitted in and out of my thoughts. Well here we are months later, thankfully alive, we both have employment, were both doing so much better health wise, and were working hard to erase the debt we accumulated. Thanks to you, your readers, you gave me a ray of sunshine which gave me the hope and strength to carry on just a little bit further, and the devil did not get my soul that night. Every night since, I've prayed for you, and thanked God Almighty for showing me your blog, and for the kindness in other people. Thank you, Sister Mary Martha, for the good you bring to us.

I'm just the mailbox. I'm so very glad for you. I knew everything would turn out fine as soon as our readers rallied to the battlements. I never had a moments doubt.

I remember the original post. I remember where I was when the hour came. I was in a train station in Chicago! I was watching the clock for my train when I realized what else the clock was telling me.

And just to refresh everyone's memory and so you can see all the comments, HERE YOU GO

So our "experiment" worked. As if we ever had any doubt. And thank you! I can always use your prayers, too.

Empty Nest Syndrome

A kind reader pointed out that the Killer Baby Jesus stories are in the Book of Thomas, not the book of whatever I yammered it was the other day. Thank you for the much needed correction.

I love this idea of just laying out the problem. So simple, and new to me.  I would like to request help finding a saint to pray with  (in the new vernacular) for my baby sister, who starts  college in the fall. Our mother died when she was 13, and  I had the great blessing of being more involved in her  "growing up" than we had anticipated. I'm not looking forward  to her leaving, and would like to be able to direct that energy  in prayer.  Any suggestions? Thanks. I enjoy this blog. :) The actual patron saint for young people leaving home for the first time is an angel, St. Raphael. He accompanied  young Tobias all over the place and even helped him find  the love of his life. As a result, St. Raphael is also the  patron saint of young lovers. But it sounds to me like you're looking for a saint for  your own "empty nest syndrome". St. Rita springs to mind, because she went off and became  a nun after her husband was killed by the mob and her  sons died.  But then...she had always wanted to be a nun.  Not that she didn't grieve the loss of her husband and sons.  It's just that she finally got to fulfill her lifelong dream of  life in the convent, complete with stigmata. So I'm going with St. Elizabeth, who is actually the patron saint for blissfully  happy marriages. St. Elizabeth was betrothed, fairy tale style, to the infant  King of Thuringia and they pair was wed when she was only 14 years old.  You'd think this was a recipe for disaster, but she loved her husband intensely. Elizabeth always tried to live simply and give everything to the poor, even  though she was the queen. And her husband Louis agreed!  He tried too, and  encouraged his wife in her endeavors. They had three children.  And then poor Louis went off to the crusades and  never returned. I think he died of illness, never making it to the Holy Land at all.  Or he was killed fighting. I can't recall. Ever wonder why so many hospitals bear the name "Elizabeth"?  It's because  the inconsolably sad Elizabeth made arrangements for her three children to be  cared for and immersed herself completely in the care of the poor and ill. You  might say she invented the hospital, gathering up the sick the way she did and  seeing to their needs. This is St. Elizabeth of Hungary, by the way, not to be confused with  St. Elizabeth the mother of St. John the Baptist, although if she was still  alive after John left home, she might have felt pretty bad and wished he  had stayed home with her.

The Wedding Feast at Rosebud

The other day when we were discussing the rosary, one of our lovely readers left this response:

To your original correspondent: Take a lesson from the Blessed Mother at Cana (the changing of the water to wine). She didn't come to Jesus and tell Him what to do, or how to fix the problem. She merely presented the problem. "They have no wine." And even when her Son seemed to brush her off, she instructed those in charge of serving at the event, "Do whatever He tells you to do." She didn't tell Jesus HOW to solve the problem. She merely laid the problem at His feet, with quiet and steady faith that He would do SOMETHING.

The wedding feast at Cana has been my  little "Rosebud" for this week.  When I was in college, I happened upon some friends talking about "Citizen Kane", in particularly "Rosebud".  Then a couple of days later, some commercial or something that referenced "Rosebud" (I can't  tell you how without ruining the film) and a couple of more times that week "Rosebud" came up randomly in references and conversations. My friend, who was witness to this phenomena, and I really laughed when  Saturday night of that week we flicked on the TV and "Citizen Kane" was on.

And this week, I keep discussing the wedding feast at Cana.

I've always felt that the moral of the story was that Jesus listens to His mother.  I especially like to point this out to people who think that asking Mary to pray with us is a futile waste of time. "Oh, really?" I reply, coyly.  "And yet you, who insist you only talk directly with Jesus, have no problem asking me to pray for you. When Mary asked Jesus to do something about the lack of wine at the wedding, He does something. Immediately. On a day when He was just there to party."

Our reader is thinking along the same lines. Mary asked. Jesus answered.

But also this week, I had a conversation with a young lady who is a Methodist minister. When I say young lady, I mean she is younger than me, me, being as old as rope.  We were discussing Mother's Day and I was the one who brought up my wedding feast at Cana observations.

"Oh!" she giggled. "I had a class with a Bible theologian who had a completely different take on that one!"

It seems this fellow thought that the joke was on everyone. You may recall that a key component to the story is that Jesus was pretty cranky about being asked to do something. He wasn't ready to reveal Himself as someone who might change water into wine just yet and He says this in no uncertain terms. This theologian thought that Jesus didn't change anything into anything and merely instructed the sewards to pour the icky water where everyone had been washing their feet and all into the wine jugs. Done and done.

The theologian pointed out that weddings were days long celebrations back then and that everyone would have been pretty much in the tank by this time.  Their happy taste of the "new wine" was a hilarious joke Jesus pulled, along the lines of "the Emperor has no clothes".

I can't think what point this fellow thought including this story in the New Testament would serve, if this was the idea.  For one thing, it's so mean! ugh.  It harkens back to the "killer baby Jesus" stories in the Book of James, where Jesus is a scary kid who can wish you into the cornfield.  Jesus is called upon for help and His response is to trick everyone into drinking bathwater? 

I don't think so.

I'm going with "Jesus listens to His mom".

Also this week I visited a man who was putting all his things in storage and I laughed and told him his garage looked like the last scene in "Citizen Kane" where Charles Foster Kane's Xanadu is being packed up and things are being thrown into a giant furnace.  I revealed the end of the film, never imaging that a man of his age had not seen that.

He had not.

Oops.

Problem Child

Hello Sister, I need a Patron to pray with on behalf of a little girl (3 years old) who is showing some serious behavior problems, (mostly directed at her siblings.) I know that I should be praying rosaries, but do you have any other suggestions that, in addition, I might work on? Thank you, Ann

I am so pleased at your clever wording! Everyone always wants a saint to pray "to".  We don't pray "to" saints. We ask for their intercession. We ask them to pray for us.  That leaves us with the cumbersome phrase "pray for the intercession of".  You have solved a centuries long problem! We're going to use that from now on!

Who should you pray with?  Before we get to that, I have a bright idea. What if you got her a little child sized chaplet bracelet and when she misbehaves have her say a Hail Mary using her bracelet. She's three, so she might not manage the whole prayer. "Hail Mary full of grace" is enough.  It might be a more useful way of counting to ten.

Also, seek help. Early intervention with a behavioralist  is extremely helpful.

When I first heard about ODD (oppositional defiance disorder), I thought, "Well, that's just a fancy anagram for 'brat'."  But I was wrong.  And the normal ways of dealing with brats have the opposite effect on kids with ODD.  Since I have no actual training, I'll leave it at that.  Go to the pros.

Meanwhile, you both could use a patron saint.

For her, St. Peter, the patron saint for anger management. Peter was famously angrily impetuous, but he turned out alright, wouldn't you say?  

For you, St. Monica, the patron saint for mothers with difficult children. Poor St. Monica had a difficult husband AND a difficult son. She followed her son all over the world trying to stop him from doing whatever he was about to do and wasn't particularly successful.She had to have the patience of a saint (hence, her title). But ultimately, she did prevail and her son, St. Augustine is still the #1 person the Church turns to for philosophy and doctrine.  So he turned out alright, too.

Any Rosary Will Do

Sister, how do you pray for somebody else, especially when it's a case as big as this? I'm serious. I never know what to pray once I get past, "Lord, help So-and-so," or, "Lord, help the victims of the tsunami in the Pacific," or whatever the event is. Because it seems so presumptuous of me to tell God what to do--HOW to help--and because their needs are so overwhelming, whatever I ask for won't be enough and I'll miss something important, or get something wrong. Besides, won't a loving God help those people without me asking? I'm Protestant, but this is where I've found a Rosary has come in handy in the past, even though I'm sure I'm using it "wrong." I'd work through a section of beads while saying Hail, Mary's or Lords Prayers with my mind on one aspect of whoever I was praying for's suffering or need, then move on to another aspect with the next section. That way I didn't have to worry with getting the words right and could vary and waver with my intention, and God got my point(s).

Mary giving you the "Jesus doesn't like it
when you're not nice to me" look.

The Apostles asked Jesus the same thing.  In less detail. They just said, "Lord, teach us to pray." And Jesus came up with what we call the "Our Father".  Of course the Protestant version is slightly different than the Catholic one. You'd think it would be one thing on which we could agree.  

Dream on.

We're delighted you're saying the rosary!  Really. I can't tell you how that tickles us! For one thing, the biggest and most endless argument I've had with the Separated Brethren is the dismissal of Mary as a person of any importance, let alone someone to whom we turn for intercession. You saying all those "Hail Mary's"?  Stellar. 

Excellent.

Four gold stars.

It is possible to pray "wrong", but you are not praying "wrong".  Technically, you're saying the rosary "wrong", but don't let that stop you.  Asking you to stop saying the rosary in the fashion that you are is like asking an sober drug addict to stop drinking coffee because caffeine is also a drug.

But because we're Catholic and we love nothing more than to split theological hairs, I will tell you that the rosary is a meditative prayer.  That's why it has those mysteries attached.  There are four types of those and to say a complete rosary you would go around the beads four times and meditate on one of the four sets per lap.  But we know most people don't have time for that, so the Church has broken it down to which set of mysteries to say on each day of the week, but sometimes that changes, based on what time of year it is.

Don't cry.

It's much easier than it sounds and it's just a guide line.  You can meditate on any set you'd like, any time you'd like.

So, for example, if you're on the Sorrowful Mysteries (a good pick if you're praying for people in turmoil), you meditate on one mystery per decade of the rosary.  You think about these events, and see Jesus through His mother's eyes.  Isn't that lovely?

It's especially lovely to us if you're doing it. Any way that you do it.

A Candle in the Wind

I hope no one minds that we took the week off from the blog here last week to just do a lot of praying. Besides all the sadness in Boston, a whole town blew up in Texas.

Many other people also died violently in our violent country, our violent world.

These things cause me to have my own "dark night of the soul" as Mother Teresa did, pretty much for her whole working life. She had had a personal message from Jesus whilst on a train ride one day, to do what she did with her life, but after that, she felt, she never heard from Jesus again.

And that's the way I feel during these crises. Not that I have not personally heard from Jesus, but that all the people in the world who claim to be believers haven't. Or that they've twisted His words in their heads into "I can think anything I want because I was baptized."

Or something.

Because the world at large has not changed much since Jesus returned to Heaven. Huns and Vikings laid villages to waste. Crusaders on holy missions did the same. Inquisitions, revenge.

I have heard good Christian people tell me why torture is okay is some circumstances. I reply that I can't think that Jesus would agree.  He knows all about torture, does He not, being a victim of it and all?

Jesus does ask the impossible. Love, God's love, only, no matter what anyone is doing to you. Compassion, God's compassion for everyone, no matter what they've done.

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

The candle in my dark night, is that it is possible to try harder.  And we are slightly more civilized then we used to be.

Slightly.

So try harder.                                                                                                              

There's a APP For That

Long long ago, here on our little cyber convent, I posted a series of patron saint poems. Most of us are familiar with "Holy Tony, come on down, something's lost and must be found", used to invoke the intercession of St. Anthony when your glasses are right there on your head. That happened to me just this morning. My hand found them before St. Anthony did.

When we posted the prayer to St. Anthony, we got quite a few more poems in, including St. Boniface, who has nothing to do with cars, but who's name does rhyme with "parking space", and St. Ann, the husband finder. It prompted us to write a couple of our own.

And of course we do patron saint matching, some cases updating the patronages of saints, since the whole point of finding a patron saint for anything is that the saint would be sympathetic to the cause, because said saint had to suffer in a similar way as you. We dubbed St. Thomas More, for example, the patron saint of what we now call "blended families".  You know, like the Brady Bunch, when someone with children remarries someone who also has children from a prior marriage. That happened to St. Thomas More, and he was a great blended dad to his new family.

So it is with surprise and delight that some enterprising person named Craig took the ball and ran with it. He has made a patron saint PHONE APP. He claims to have been inspired by our endeavors here on the blog and over at the shop.

I can't have it. It's only available for IPhones.

As you can guess, I do not have an IPhone.

Craig offered me a free app and he has five more free apps for you! First come first serve.

I gave mine to a person with an IPhone, who was nice enough to show me what Craig has been up to, which includes original saint artwork, the story of the saint, and a saint poem prayer for each saint.

His take on St. Thomas More, because St. Thomas is the patron saint of 'civil servants" and the person who invented the word "Utopia", depicts St. Thomas as a postal worker and the prayer is a prayer for patience while waiting in line at the post office.  So you don't go postal, so to speak.

Here are the five free downloads:
phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/freeProductCodeWizard?code=...

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/freeProductCodeWizard?code=...

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/freeProductCodeWizard?code=...

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/freeProductCodeWizard?code=...

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/freeProductCodeWizard?code=...

And here is a link to the APP shop:
appstore.com/saintify

Craig would like you to know that he'd love your feedback and suggestions for saints.  Craig, St. Francis!  My IPhone friend tells me you missed a big one!

One Less Thing to Worry About

 I have a question. In one of your earlier posts (march 5) you mention purgatory exists outside time and space; yet indulgences are for periods of time (or at least they were in the past ,from what I've read) how does that work? How can time be taken off of something that doesn't exist in time?

Right.  Exactly.  You've got it.

That's the answer.

When I was a child in Catholic school, I was always frustrated when I asked this type of question. The nuns always had an answer. The answers were in three categories:

1.  An actual answer to the question. For example, "What is an indulgence?" The simple answer: Time taken off your Purgatory 'sentence'.

2. "Go look it up."  I have come to understand that his is nun "code" for "I don't know the answer to that question.  But, in the nuns' defense, it's a great educational tool to let young people know that they kind find some answers for themselves.

3. "It's a Sacred Mystery."  

Your question falls into category THREE.  "Sacred Mystery" is Catholic code for "just let it go".     

How did Jesus fly bodily into Heaven?  Heaven is also outside time and space. Did He fly somewhere like the space shuttle or an ground to air missile?  It's a Sacred Mystery.

See how that works?

There is so much going on in God's universe that we can never understand. Just let it go. Because God made us.  He knew that there were things that the brains he gave us would never understand. He's okay with it.  He made it that way.

I do believe that sometimes when saints have 'ecstasies' they sometimes are being given the understanding of some of these mysteries.  Not that it does the rest of us any good, since they can't really explain it to our pea brains.  

We have enough on our plates just trying to do as Jesus commanded and turn the other cheek and forgive those who wronged us.  There is a LOT to forgive out there.  The compassion needed is colossally heavy lifting.  I need all my pea brain power for that.

Paper Tigers

Since it's our happiest time of year what with spring springing and Jesus rising, I thought we should take a day off from solving problems and patron saint matching to look at some nuns made of paper.

A reader was kind enough to send us a link to these origami nuns.  I often feel like I am made of paper. I'm sure Stephen Hawkings feels that way as well.

These two appear to be from two different origami orders, rushing off to their respective convents. Or they are both late for something.
Or it's windy at the origami nun convention. I'm sure a good wind would knock them both right over. Or blow them into the next county. Watch for one of them to shoot through your window and land on your desk.

This group all appears to be from the same order, exiting their little paper chapel.  Good thing they all fold flat, since that's the only way they'd fit in there.  They need to turn around and go evangelize the Vikings lurking in the background.  I'm glad the little placard mentions the chapel, because I would never have figured that out.  It looks  more like their row boat is sinking.

This one looks a little more like a praying mantis to me.  Or a bird disguised as a nun.












I think we really have to use our imaginations for this one.  Nun?
Okay, if you say so. Of course, I suppose we really look just like this to some people.

Origami nuns? Or what was left after the kids ate the sno cones?

Consider the Manger Straw

Dear SMM- Any thoughts on the "tradition" of taking a piece of straw from the manger of the nativity scene at a church and putting it in your wallet. It's supposed to ensure your wallet is never empty.

I haven't heard of that one. 

Some of these traditions make people very nervous.  I think we can all be honest and admit that the idea of putting manger straw in your wallet to ensure your wallet is never empty really sounds like rabbit's foot territory.  

And really, the Holy Family was famously poor, making the whole situation sound like it should be followed up with a hardy, "Good Luck!"

We don't believe in luck.

I am much more on board with the tradition of using manger straw to remind children to behave during the Christmas season. You set up the empty manger with straw to await the Baby Jesus and every time the child misbehaves you remove a straw to show them they are making the Baby Jesus less comfortable. 

Catholic guilt, instilled from the cradle.  It's a good thing, as Martha Stewart would say.

But I won't tell you not to put manger straw in your wallet any more than I would tell you not to bury St. Joseph upside down in the front yard when you're trying to sell your house.

As long as you don't think of the manger straw as a rabbit's foot, a lucky piece.  You have to let the manger straw be a reminder of what you really need and what you don't need.  

Let me remind you of what you do need: Faith.  

This is the perfect time to answer another question that has come into the queue.

 What is you favourite book or passage from the bible?

My favorite Bible verse  is the one that commonly is thought of as the "consider the lilies" speech, although no lilies are actually involved. I believe the correct translation is "flowers".   But this gist of it is this, from Matthew:

25. 'That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and what you are to wear. Surely life is more than food, and the body more than clothing!

26. Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are?

You get the drift. The manger straw isn't to remind God what you need. It's to remind you that you only need God.

Sadie Hawkins Day

Now that we're all full of ham and deviled eggs we're finally able to come up for air and answer some questions. Before we begin, let me point out one important truth: You'll sweep up remnants of Easter grass until Christmas, and you'll sweep up remnants of pine needles until Easter.

Dear Sister My brother has an unusual problem. 20 years ago, he gave up on finding love and a wife and is now perfectly happy as a single man. He is 63 years old and there is a 41 year old woman, divorced with kids who has decided he is the love of her life and she will give him no rest. She is being aided and abetted by another woman, happily married who just can't stand to see someone happily single. When he was in high school, my brother wanted to be a monk, or a hermit but joined the Marines instead. He has had 2 very painful "love relationships" and has seen so many marriages fail or people who are miserable in their marriage, including our parents that he wants to remain single forever. Is there a saint for that?

A saint for what, exactly?  Getting rid of the pushy divorcee? Telling the abetter to mind her own garden? Having your brother find love in his twilight years?  Not so twilight, really. 60 is the new 40.  So they tell me.

There are some people who are not cut out for marriage.  And there are no end of saints that agreed. The one who springs to mind this minute is St. Celestine V, the first Pope (and the only other Pope) to abdicate. (He was also the Pope who made the decree that a Pope could abdicate.)  Peter Morrone was a monk extraordinaire. Lived in a cave. Ate bread and water. That kind of monk.

He was very involved in the world around him, however, starting up other monasteries, founding an order, and writing a scathing letter to the cardinals of the day who had let two years lapse without coming together to elect a Pope.

His letter alarmed everyone so much that they decided to make Peter the Pope, which is how he became Pope Celestine V for a couple of months. 

They actually had to form a posse and climb up the mountain to his cave to haul him out to come and be Pope.  

Pope Celestine and Pope Benedict, Comrades in Abdication

While he was Pope, he built a chamber in the basement of the castle in which he stayed (he refused to go to Rome) and pretty much just sat there. Then he wrote a decree saying that the Pope could quit.  Then he quit.  Two months and 8 days later.

Another good saint for your brother is St. Rita.  She always had wanted to become a nun, but she had to wait until her family died to give that a try. Even then, the convent didn't want her because she was older and had been married.  She persevered and angels flew her over the convent wall. This is back when being a nun meant being behind a wall.

Even the saints who are the patron saints for finding love, like St. Agnes, were actually people who wanted to remain celibate. I've always found that slightly ironic.

Perhaps what your brother should do is pray for the intercession of St. Agnes for the divorcee to find love...somewhere else. And take her nosy friend with her.  

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Infant Shopping

We have a lot of pew polishing to do this week, so today we have a short question to answer.

Hi ... I am in search of a statue of the baby infant of prague...my grandmother had one that was under a glass dome screwed to a brown wooden plate it was porcelain and the robe had a velvety touch.

My goodness! Ebay!  It depends on how much you want to spend on the statue. You can go to any religious goods store online. Does he have to be under a glass dome?

Here's a little information on the Infant of Prague. Have a quick read. I'll wait.

Okay, so you can get anything from a little statue made of plastic or plaster (which means he'll always be in his traditional red cape rendered in plastic), to the fancy in kind that is just like the original and you change the little outfits.  I actually have one of the former, and now we also have a little plaster one with a removable cloth cape.  We just leave it on him. It's always chilly in our house because California houses are not insulated.Or you can spring for an more full size statue with all his different outfits. Outfits sold separately.

You could conceivably get one like mine with a removable cape and then make a velour one and replace the doll clothes one. The one we have is made from whatever that stuff is out of which doll clothes are made. But it does have a nice sort of white lace like trim on it.

Since you clearly know how to use the internet, just google "Infant of Prague Statue".  There is one in a dome on Ebay as we speak, but it's a pricey one. There are many, many others at very affordable price points.

A very holy Holy Week to everyone. We'll post between polishing if we can.