Having grown up in the Catholic faith, I am aware that today is All Saints Day. I have often been bemused by the concept of sainthood. In researching the topic, I consulted www.dummies.com to refresh my memory about the qualifications for canonization. There are basically two:
- Two verifiable postmortem miracles
I guess the verifiable part of the miracle-making is the tough one. A dozen years ago, when Lasik surgery gave me perfect eyesight after being legally blind for most of my life, I claimed it a miracle. And I can verify that my eyesight is perfect. (Well, except for that presbyopia thing.) My Lasik surgeon has done thousands of these procedures. Is he a candidate for canonization? I'd vote for him.
I don't mean to make light of this particular church tenet. But it's pretty tricky territory. I am happy to say that I know many people who live exemplary lives of goodness and virtue worthy of imitation, and there are certainly thousands upon thousands of soldiers and others who have died heroic deaths. And when, exactly, does this major conversion of heart have to have taken place? Can someone be a dick for 80 years and then give it all up to be saintly for the last few years of life and become a saint?
Again, my intention is not to offend. I just have questions, that's all.
As a kid, I only knew of three patron saints. I was named for St. Therese of Lisieux, The Little Flower. In reading her story today, I am as puzzled as ever as to how she became a saint, and apparently, I am not the only one. But as a child, I was very proud of my patron saint. The other two patron saints of whom I was aware, thanks to my grandmother praying out loud, were St. Jude, patron saint of the hopeless, and St. Anthony, patron saint of lost articles. (And I have to admit, St. Anthony has helped me find things.)
I spent some time perusing a list of patron saints, those heavenly advocates of nations, places, crafts, activities, classes, clans, families and people. Did you know there's a patron saint of birdflu (St. Rocco)? St. Isadore of Seville, who died in the year 636, is the patron saint of computers and the Internet. Go figure. There's a patron saint of ice skating (St. Lidwina of Schiedam)! But I was most intrigued that there are three patron saints of comedians (St. Genesius of Rome, St. Lawrence, and St. Vitus) and three patron saints of brewers (St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Boniface, and St. Wenceslaus)! Perhaps a good brew was what kept Good King Wenceslaus going through the cruel frost to feed the poor man?
Today, I will think about the saints that live among us in the here and now. They are deserving of our love and gratitude. Right here, right now.
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