St. Patrick is dandy. He gives us a great excuse to eat corned beef, wear that green dress that’s been moldering in our closet and get drunk on tinted-green beer.
In this politically correct world, however, it seems he’s getting too much attention while other saints are being shafted. Where’s the equal opportunity? It’s just not right.
We need to rally for the forgotten saints, those whose special days pass without nary a notice, never mind a parade.
True, a few saints come close to St. Pat. We have St. Valentine with his overpriced roses and jolly old St. Nick. Nicholas corners the calendar from mid-October to mid-February, if you count all the post-holiday sales.
But the rest are all glommed into All Saints’ Day, which gets buried by All Souls’ Day and shadowed by Halloween.
All Saints’ Day is about as notable as Presidents’ Day, where none are honored above the others, leaving men like Abraham Lincoln rubbing shoulders with the likes of Richard Nixon.
Again, that’s just not right.
To make it right, we need to create some marketing ploys that give other saints the same recognition – and wide array of Hallmark cards – shared by Pat, Valentine and Nicholas.
Other saints that deserve widespread recognition include St. Francis of Assisi. He is tops because he connected with animals, even openly preached to a flock of birds. His courage is notable, as anyone preaching to a flock of birds today would probably get quietly taken away in an ambulance. Francis was the Dog Whisperer of the late 1100s. We can honor his Oct. 4 holiday by volunteering at a local animal shelter and then taking home a puppy.
St. Anthony is another fine dude who gets lost in the shuffle. Folks who have lost their car keys, wallets, or large sums of money they hid after getting drunk on St. Patrick’s Day know he’s the guy who will help you find things. He’s also quite a matchmaker. St. Anthony’s June 13 needs to be recognized by going on a blind date and making an extra set of house keys.
St. Joan of Arc also needs more of a celebration. Leonard Cohen gave her a nice nod in his song of the same name, but that’s still not enough. The woman burned at the stake for her beliefs, for goodness sake. Her May 8 day of honor should include a day of picnicking and and fireworks, kind of like the Fourth of July.
These examples are just the tip of the martyr iceberg. We didn’t even begin to touch on saintly and notable folks from Buddhism, Hinduism and a host of other religions.
And we need to mention one more very important yet lesser-known saint whose Oct. 25 holiday should be celebrated every day of the year. St. Crispin was the patron saint of shoemakers. We love any excuse to buy shoes. Besides, we need some fancy footwear to go with that green St. Patty’s Day dress.
[tnipoll]
What do you think?
Do you care about St. Patrick’s Day?
Will you be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day? How?
Did you know it’s rumored he’s not even Irish?
What other saints do you admire?
Are you a saint?
