Bede said, "I wonder how God feels about being smaller than Zita and Anthony."
I replied, "God likes to keep a low profile."
Bede sent me an interesting blog post from Making Light about St. Barbara, whose feast day was December 4. Teresa, the author of the blog, writes,
Barbara is the most volatile of the Three Explosive Virgin Martyrs,* who form the core lineup of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.* She’s most often shown as a beautiful young woman holding a tower that has three windows. The other two EVMs are Saint Catherine of Alexandria, as in Catherine-wheel fireworks, and Saint Margaret of Antioch, who defeated a dragon that had swallowed her by blowing it up from the inside,* which is why Margaret is the patron saint of women in labor. They hang out being ahistorical and irrepressible together.
St. Barbara sounds pretty cool, but I must admit I'm intrigued with St. Margaret of Antioch. When I was pregnant with Lucia, she was two weeks overdue, and we had to go to dramatic measures to bring her into this world.
13 comments:
::giggles::
You guys have some surreal saints in your pantheon. That's hilarious.
I have a St. Anthony's sitting on my mantel here, by way of my husband, by way of a farm in El Salvador. I am impressed by the likeness!
Two weeks? I wouldn't have blamed you for seeking help from Saint Margaret at that point!
And--I can't believe I forgot about Barbara! I'm going to cut a branch of flowering cherry (we live outside of DC, every other house has a cherry) and see if I can get it to bloom.
Um...explosive virgin martyrs? The Little Sisters Without Mercy At Our Lady Of Corporal Punishment must have glossed over them in my daily childhood religion classes. Maybe because the whole explosion thing was proof that virginity, past a certain age, is really bad for you...
Great pic! I love the "God likes to keep a low profile," response. :)
Hi all! The House of Glee has been pretty droopy with illness this past week, hence the sparceness of posts and replies. Here's to hoping Lucia makes it to school tomorrow. Thanks for checking in, and I'll visit your blogs soon.
I hope you all feel better!
I LOVE IT.
When I was little, I imagined God as living in a cave and looking a lot like Darth Vader. Go figure.
Are those big muscles bulging on St. Anthony's arm?
That's exactly what I thought God looked like, right down to the boots! Nice. And I must say the notion of exploding virgin martyrs sounds... well, I'm not sure how it sounds. Pious, chaste suicide bombers? Were there only three, or do the three keep getting replaced, like Charlie's Angels?
As a proud alumnus of Saint Michael the Archangel, I did learn about how Michael slew the dragon But no mention of Saint Barbara blowing up a dragon from the inside. Seems the ladies (exploding or otherwise) get short shrift yet again.
Lori/Goddess: The world needs to know about the exploding ladies. Sing it, sister!
Timothy: I think they keep getting new lives, like Ms. PacMan.
BlueMamma: You'd better believe it!
Jules: I think you're onto something there. A lot of people have imagined God's voice as sounding a lot like James Earl Jones, after all.
LSM: Thanks! I am hoping that we're getting there soon. I am going to have to change my name to Sneezy soon.
I now feel like I have to start including the acronym "EVM" in everyday conversation.
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