Friday, May 05, 2006

Patronage

I looked up the patron saint of dogs today for a friend, since her mom is really entangled in the life of her dogs. It's Saint Roch, in case you wondered. I have a Saint Christopher's medal I sometimes wear that was a Christmas gift from about 5 years ago. My husband parked on a side street in Kilburn (London), and made me wait in the van in case it needed to be moved. He went into a jewelry shop and picked out a few necklaces, and came back to the van to get me so that I could go with him and choose which one I liked. Once I chose, I walked back to the van. He came back a few minutes later. It was Christmas Eve day, and he handed me a box with the necklace inside the next day. I've since changed the chain on it, and although I'm not Catholic I always liked Saint Christopher because of the journeys that make up life and experience. He's the patron saint of travel. But today I also found out that he was the saint of gardens, Germany, and people who carry things. That's me of many different levels.

Mother Teresa has a case of pending sainthood. I learned a lot from Christopher Hitchens's The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice. It was his scathing opinion of just how saintly Ma Theresa was. I tend to believe in his skepticism. I saw his documentary Hell's Angel too, which was based on his book. If successful, she will be the patron saint of the Gutters. How easily one could confuse her as a rep of Home Depot, or roofers.

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