Just when we think it’s time to move on a to another topic about the saints, besides those topics involving CV-19, someone suggests a new CV-19 topic idea. This time, that someone is Emily, who thinks we should mention the health care workers and CV-19. Of course, as usual, Emily is right.
So. Here’s a little letter about some of the health care saints to think about and perhaps share their stories with others. Maybe your doctor, or a neighbor who’s a nurse, a sister who’s helping another with radiation treatments, a butcher to let them know they have a saint too, or a pediatrician, who helps young kids, or someone who is just feeling a little blue, and maybe needs a happy meeting to cheer them up! Let’s get this newsletter started.
The healing saints are surely sorely needed now, more than ever, it seems. Some of the health and healing saints conversely also help our caregivers looking after those sick, or those in danger of becoming sick. These healing saints are working overtime, and like many in the world today, are not even getting paid! These are the Saints looking after our medical professionals who are on the front lines, helping the rest of us. They are basically on “double duty,” caring for others, while also needing to be cared for themselves so they can do their important work. As someone once said on Facebook, “It’s complicated!”
Here are just four (we had to narrow it down to 4, because we had to narrow it down) of the saints whose hand-painted saint medals we have who can help our health care professionals, as they in turn, help the rest of us during this CV-19 Pandemic:
Saint Agatha, Patron of Nurses and Cancer Patients
We usually refer to saint Agatha as the patroness invoked for helping with cancer, especially, breast cancer. It’s also true that Saint Agatha looks after our Nurses. Licensed Professional Nurse, Registered Nurses, Caretakers and Orderlies, to name a few. Remember Saint Agatha is around, ready and about, to help out in all sorts of ways! We also have a Saint Agatha medal that is just too hard to paint – we can’t seem to get her looking spiffy like we like, so, for the first time ever, if you order our pretty hand-painted Saint Agatha medal package, we will add this other version of Saint Agatha, unpainted because …. Well, just because we can't seem to paint this one right.
Saint Luke – Patron of Doctors and Artists and Butchers
We know Saint Luke as the patron of artists and butchers, but it’s time to remind and relay that Saint Luke also looks after our physicians and doctors. One of our doctor friends, Michele, who does Emergency room work, used to wear our hand-painted Saint Luke medal on her stethoscope. We will have to check to see if she still does. We will let you know, but if we forget, please remind us. Thanks.
We were in Rome for Padre Pio’s Canonization back in 2000. In fact, that was the very first one and it was sweltering hot. That was back in the day when the newsletters were mailed, with stamps! We sent out a bunch of Padre Pio postcards from Rome too – we lost the ones we had in the flood - but would love to see one of those now – we wrote notes on each one by hand! That took forever and a day! Our friend Tim helped but it was still a bit of an ordeal, though not one we regret! If you have one of those postcards, can you send it to us? We will send it back!
This may be added extra, superfluous information, but did you know that Padre Pio went to a hospital one time to look after a very sick kid? He did. The kid had swallowed a magic marker top, which should be a good reminder not to open magic markers with your mouth and teeth. I digress. Anyway, the magic marker was stuck in his throat (why Saint Blaise was not helping remains a mystery) so Padre Pio came along and saved the kid.
After the kid was feeling better, he was asking about the bearded guy who came to see him. And his family and the nurses were, like, “Kid, What are you talking about? A bearded guy did not come to see you and we should know because we have been here the whole time!” So, then the kid brilliantly described Saint Padre Pio to everyone and the they figured out is was Saint Padre Pio who had come to the kid’s rescue and saved him from the swallowing and choking of a magic marker top!
Raphael is one of the Arch Angels that never fails. Firsts, he’s the patron of love; who doesn’t like love? Second, he brings happy meetings and who doesn’t like a happy meeting? Only rabble rousers! And finally, Arch Angel Raphael is a health and healing saint, so he is quite apropos and very needed for these times.
And so, here it is, or was, if you read everything. Our 3rd CV-19 Newsletter about Saints to recognize our health care professionals! Two more newsletters will be coming eventually, because rob (that’s me, I write in the third person in case you haven’t figured that out yet) is insisting that he wants to write a newsletter that is partially about Saint Kevin of Glendalough. Saint Kevin is one rob’s very favorite saints, because of his story.
Look forward to a few more newsletters about this CV-19 pandemic. Better still, look forward to the “Happy Ending” newsletter when we are not writing about the CV-19 problem. Trust us, we would much rather write about Easter Bunnies, the Resurrection, or even Saint Dismas the Good Thief, than prattle on and on and about CV-19. Keep the faith! Hopefully the topic subject will change soon.
Please share this newsletter and the others we have written about Coronavirus-19 ( CV-19 ) with your friends, family and neighbors. Who knows, maybe reading this stuff will make someone feel just a tiny bit better. And if that happens, we have been tremendously successful. Thanks, and may God Bless You and Everyone Else!