Thursday 24 April 2014

How many saints have you met?

As far as I know, I have not met any officially-recognised saints, and indeed most of us haven't. However, my retired parish priest, Monsignor M., has certainly met Pope John-Paul II - or, if he hasn't, then he must have photo-shopped a picture of himself with the late pope; which monsignors don't normally do. So I am only two steps away from a saint (or will be, this weekend).

saints medal

This is what saints look like.

Of course, saints are by definition already dead, so if you want to meet a saint you must catch him or her while still alive. It seems that my advert in the Tablet, "SAVED PERSON WOULD LIKE TO MEET SAINT. OBJECT: DOING GOOD THINGS" was doomed to failure.

Still, you may be able to spot embryonic saints going about their everyday business.

saint with halo

The halo is sometimes a give-away.

For the purposes of this post, we shall have to exclude the latter-day saints, many of whom may be wonderful people but are not quite what we had in mind. Luckily, someone has given me a little book, which will help me with my saint-hunting.

book of saints

Have you seen any of these people recently?

By the way, did someone overlook Pope Pius XII?

two old friends

Two old friends who are not yet saints. >

11 comments:

  1. If you want a serious answer, I have met several saints. Many are under the age of 50 and take their faith seriously, knowing where real Catholicism will lead them in this hostile world.

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    1. Very true, sister Mum. Many of the most saintly people won't be recognised officially.

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  2. I have conversed with a saint who lives in a shed in Croydon...does that count?
    As for Pope Pius XII, he will go down in Church history as a martyr of political correctness!

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    1. The Holy Bilocating Deacon of Stockport? The one with supernatural knowledge of Eccles' true identity? The saint who generously invites cross-dressing Rabbits to go for Tapas? I believe numerous bishops are falling over themselves to give good references to the Congregatio de Causis Sanctorum.

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  3. I have met many saints too but they were all over the age of one hundred and eleventy. As for the bilocating deacon of Stockport I know not as that is north of the saintly line of Watford Gap. All saints come from a line south of Croydon as far as I am aware.

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    1. I think the clue is in the word "bilocating". We northerners are short of spiritual sustenance, though we have (as Ian McMillan notes) a variety of wonderful sheds in Stockport.

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  4. I love Saint Shimano the patron st of bicycle gears.

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  5. There's my sainted aunt - I met her a few times, phew!

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  6. I know the great grand-niece of a martyred Mexican priest who was executed during the Cristero Wars. He was declared a saint by the Church in 1992.

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  7. My old novice mistress is a saint.

    Hey, I'm still alive. That's all the evidence anyone should need.

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  8. What about St David Attenborough? The BBC canonised him years ago and as far as I know he is not yet dead.

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