Everyone knows that St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. Most people know that St. Valentine is the patron of lovers and engaged couples. And what an unhappy childhood you must have had if you don't know that St. Nicholas has a special place in his heart for children.
But did you know that St. Augustine of Hippo is the patron saint of beer?
More precisely, he's the patron of brewers, which ought to be enough to make him a favorite in Athens. He's in charge of a myriad of other subjects, too: printers, theologians and, of course, St. Augustine, Fla.
He and all the other happy residents of heaven were recently celebrated with the feast of All Saints. The Catholic Church celebrated the big day last Wednesday, while other Christians, like the Episcopalians and Presbyterians, moved it to the following Sunday.
The saints have been commemorated since Christianity's earliest centuries, when the adherents of the new religion were being suppressed with vigor. The persecuted faithful very early on had a habit of celebrating the martyrs on the anniversary of their deaths; after the reigns of a few energetic Roman emperors, the number of martyrs mushroomed, and a common day for all of them began to develop. In 837, Pope Gregory IV established November 1 as the day for remembering all the saints.
Today, there are literally thousands who have been formally recognized as such. Pope John Paul II contributed a great deal to this number; during his papacy, he canonized 484 saints. Pope Benedict has been much more reserved, canonizing only nine so far; some years ago, he expressed concern that John Paul's numbers were a bit excessive.
Such a large group encompasses every facet of human life, and reading the stories of the saints is a bit like paging through the scrapbook of a huge, eclectic and slightly off-the-wall family. There's St. Simon Stylites, who, in the 5th century, took prayer and penance to a whole new level by climbing a pillar G? and living on top of it for the next few decades. There's St. Drogo, a 12th-century saint who is patron of ugly people because he himself was physically repulsive. St. Pio of Pietrelcina, who died in 1968, experienced the stigmata and could levitate and bi-locate.
Then there's St. Dymphna, a 7th century maiden with a sordid family history. After her mother's death, her father came unhinged, and his search for a new bride convinced him that the only girl for him was his 15-year-old daughter. She ran away from home, but was inevitably tracked down and beheaded for refusing to acquiesce to her father's demands. St. Dymphna is the patroness of all those suffering from anxiety or mental illness, for obvious reasons.
Even television has its own patron saint. TV was assigned to St. Clare of Assisi because when she was too ill to go to Midnight Mass, God broadcasted it for her on the wall of her room. St. Isidore of Seville has been proposed as the patron of the Internet, because of his fondness for compiling information.
There are a couple points to keep in mind. First, one doesn't pray to saints; one prays with saints. Asking St. Anthony of Padua to help you find your wallet is not the same as worshipping him; rather, it's a request that he join his prayers with your's. To some extent, invoking the saints is like phoning relatives long-distance to ask them to pray for you.
Secondly, the term saint typically refers to people who have been canonized and whose virtues have been formally and publicly recognized. But really, a saint is anyone who is in heaven. There are likely multitudes of ordinary
every-day people who have attained sainthood but who remain unknown.
No one would say that it's easy, however. It takes a lot of effort and self-sacrifice. But you, I and Joe Schmo ultimately have every chance at someday being included in the feast of All Saints, at least anonymously.
In other words, you don't have to necessarily spend your life on top of a pillar to be a saint. That's good news. But now it's time to get to work. 17
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Maggie Kostendt
Holiday stresses immense diversity of saints
