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Catholic Patron Saints

 
 
 
I emailed the pope on having a saint for atheists.
 
That would make sense in the Catholic model.
Wouldn't make sense to the atheists, but it isn't supposed to. It would provide comfort for those Catholics who feel a need to pray for their apostate loved ones.
Problem is, the Pope can't just invent one. There has to be some famous person, famous for his or her effforts on behalf of atheists, then a few atheist-themed miracles attributed to him afterwards...
anyone setting out to dedicate their lives to atheists would do well to first study the priests who dedicated their lives to administering to lepers... an ungodly lot of them ended up lepers, themselves.
 
Keith&Co. said:
That would make sense in the Catholic model.
Wouldn't make sense to the atheists, but it isn't supposed to. It would provide comfort for those Catholics who feel a need to pray for their apostate loved ones.
Problem is, the Pope can't just invent one. There has to be some famous person, famous for his or her effforts on behalf of atheists, then a few atheist-themed miracles attributed to him afterwards...
anyone setting out to dedicate their lives to atheists would do well to first study the priests who dedicated their lives to administering to lepers... an ungodly lot of them ended up lepers, themselves.
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Funny that, because Hansen's Disease isn't particularly contagious. If they had just washed their hands after physical contact with the patient's bodily fluids, they likely would never have contracted the disease themselves. It's astonishing that while the authors of the Bible were busy writing up all of God's rules for living, with close detail about how often and how severely one may beat ones slaves, never once did the creator of Mycobacterium leprae bother to mention the importance of washing ones hands after contact with the sick. Or for that matter, not crapping in the river, using latrines that are too shallow, or putting cesspits and latrines uphill of, or close to, the water supply.

The hazards of wearing mixed fabrics seem rather to pale alongside Leprosy, Dysentery, Cholera and Typhus. It's almost as though the priorities were being set by a bunch of ignorant pre-scientific control freaks, and not a divinely inspired elite with access to all the wisdom of the universe. Go figure.

If only Leviticus had included a bit about 'Let not mosquitoes feast upon your flesh or that of your children, for they are unclean and spread plagues; drain the still water in which they multiply, and do not make your homes near swampy ground', several million people's lives would have been spared the horrors of Malaria, West Nile Fever, Yellow Fever, various hemorrhagic fevers and versions of encephalitis, etc., etc. It's rather astonishing that they couldn't find room for something that important.
 
Is there a patron saint for damned souls, who are already suffering in Hell?

I suppose such a one would have to be more merciful than the God who did the damning, so probably not.

So I'll meet him later on
In the place where he has gone
Where it's always double drill and no canteen.
He'll be squattin' on the coals
Givin' drink to poor damned souls
And I'll get a swig in Hell from Gunga Din!
-R. Kipling
 
Jobar said:
Is there a patron saint for damned souls, who are already suffering in Hell?
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Joseph Smith.

part of the Mormon theology allows posthumous baptism into the LDS religion.
John Lennon and Hitler have both been saved in this manner.
 
Yeah, I've heard of that.

I suspect the Pope has rather a different view on the matter, eh?
 
Jobar said:
Yeah, I've heard of that.

I suspect the Pope has rather a different view on the matter, eh?
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Yeah, he probably wishes they'd thought of it.

They kinda theologized themselves into a corner. You can pray all you want for your estranged, atheist or gay relative, but once they're dead, they go to their final reward, no backsies. No more reasons to pay the holy fisc on their behalf...

This REALLY seems like one of the things the church would have charged for a while back, extending the 'indulgences' post-mortem. Pay enough for the Bishop to write a letter to the Pope, asking him to intercede personally with Archangel Lemuel, who will wash your dead loved one's soul clean of sins, rebaptize them as Catholics, turn them straight, and escort them to Heaven where you'll meet them later on.
The suggested donation levels would depend on the diocese and the sins (that you know of or suspect).
 
Writing as an outsider -- I've read Garry Wills on Catholicism, but not a lot of other complete works -- I'm a bit baffled by saints. There are so many, and they all seem to be like American First Ladies; they all have a special cause. Isn't there one to pray to, if you lose a household item?
To you in the know, are these causes that the saints are patrons of -- are they written down in dogma, or is the cause assigned strictly by popular belief and usage? When they are canonized, is it noted what their specialty is supposed to be?
Also, are there any unusual or weird cause assignments? (I think there needs to be a patron saint for busted shoelaces, for those stupid moments when you're about to go out, and the lace pops in half, and there's not enough left to tie.)
 
ideologyhunter said:
Also, are there any unusual or weird cause assignments? (I think there needs to be a patron saint for busted shoelaces, for those stupid moments when you're about to go out, and the lace pops in half, and there's not enough left to tie.)
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It comes from the way the saints manifest themselves, their saintly power. If I spend the next 40 years working on SLBMs, that's a career.
If I die, then become connected to SLBMs, or SWS, that's my patronage, the issue or group or situation I become the patron of. The one people pray to as a special insider with God's ear, to intercede on their behalf.

For my money, the weirdest Saint is the one, forget the name, who you pray to when you have an excess of humility. He helps when you're too humble to stand up for yourself... But then, wouldn't excess humility prevent you from praying to him in the first place? "Not to bother you, Saint (Ignatz?), but some guys, they were saying I have this problem...but, you know, it's okay if you don't do squat about it..."

There were also several saints that rose to popularity as Saints of the Inquisition. They were retired some time back, and the Church doesn't talk about them much. Kinda leery to find out what they were patrons of...
Like, the guy you pray to when you have a sliver under your fingernail, or the guy who helps you build a really hot fire,
 
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