How long have you had that sitting in your back pocket, waiting for the right moment?
There's precedent for acquiring a patron saint by adverse possession. St. Barbara was martyred after having been locked in a tower, and conventional representations of her showed her holding a small tower so that she could be identified. Given what a small, handheld tower looks like (no, apo, not that), artillerymen started praying to her under the belief that it was a cannon. And now she's the patron saint of the artillery.
I just now came across Homobonus, slol. So to speak.
So what I meant to say in 2 is that we should just start praying. Do it for long enough, and he's ours.
I don't know, if we had to fight the tailors for him it might be tough. They have lots of sharp objects at their disposal.
Overlap is totally cool. St. Joseph manages to cover both carpenters and cuckolds without any arguments.
But while IANAC, I know that a number of saints are patrons of more than one group; why should we have to fight the tailors? It seems appropriate that St. Homobonus should be shared.
Usually, it's just like LB described in 2). Sometimes it has more to do with the saint's life. St. Lydwina fell while ice skating in the 1500s, developed gangrene, and suffered a holy life, so she's the patroness of figure skaters.
St. Blaise had his throat slit, so there's a Blessing of the Throats during flu season every year.
(If you're gonna have a religion, it may as well be a fun one.)
if we had to fight the tailors for him
Oh, I think it needn't come to blows.
The menu at the feast of St. Homobonus was based on the medieval tradition of debating. In the clerical and scholastic circles important questions were argued, such as whether the knowledge that angels possessed was innate or acquired. However, as things go, debating became popular among the secular people as well.
Right up our alley, really.
Homobonus was a married cloth-merchant who died in his bed? Talk about a low bar for sainthood.
If you're gonna have a religion, it may as well be a fun one.
Seriously, if I were going to be religious I'd be Catholic. They have exorcists, people!
He died at Mass. OT: Did you see this story, Jackmormon?
The smallest breed of penguins, often known as "fairy" penguins
Hey, a saint and a mascot in one day!
re: 2
LizardBreath and I have discussed this before, and I absolutely bow to her superior knowledge of such things. However, as a member of the Ancient Order of Saint Barbara, I note only for information purposes that there is another version of the Saint Barbara story.
artillerymen started praying to her
Asking her to intercede on their behalf. No idolators, we!
I want to make fun of knitting tiny penguin sweaters, but that picture really just was too cute.
I hope the NY-branch members of the Order of Saint Barbara got a chance to see Nan Goldin's show in Chelsea. It was better even than Ballad of Sexual Dependency, if there are any Nan fans in the house.
I saw the Goldin show and was truly distressed afterward.
15: Possibly true, but my story's better. Given that a few minutes googling produces exactly no support for my story, and several dozen sources for yours, all I can say is that I'm clearly right, and broccoli.
JM, you seen Amy Sillman yet? I'm thinking that show is worth the trip up this weekend (+ the Judds at Christie's).
I'm sure the artillerymen were looking for protection against burst breeches and misfires. Maybe we want St. Barbara.
I had a Saint related question recently, so I'm glad to see this post. Does anyone, especially other New Yorkers (only because I assume they're more likely to know, I'll take an answer from anypne) know how or why St. Mark's street is so-called? The first two sites I found on the history of New York Street names didn't cover it, and then I gave up.
If I were going to guess, I'd say that there was probably a church of that name there way back when. But I don't know.
No, I haven't seen that show or even that artist, as far as I know. I always immediately forget the names of contemporary artists until like the twenty-third time I see their stuff. If you do come up, drop a line somewhere. Sat afternoon would be a good time for me to do some gallery cruising.
OMG ITTY BITTY PENGUINS IN SWEATERS!
okay. breathe. St. Cala-of-the-fairy-penguins!
For more evidence that I might be right, the church at 2d and 10th is St. Mark's church. You wouldn't name a church after a nearby street, but the reverse, or the possibility that the church used to be a block or two away from its current location, seems more likely.
I'll send out an APB if I think I can make it up this weekend.
OT: Comment windows load really slowly for me since the move. I don't know much about the internets but the status bar at the bottom of my browser seems to suggest that the pageload is getting held up by statcounter.com. Do we need a counter in the comments?
One other thing. This orphan code sits at the bottom of all my comment windows:
Subroutine _hdlr_pings redefined at lib/MT/Template/ContextHandlers.pm line 2731.
Subroutine _hdlr_pings redefined
This in honor of Hedler Pings (may s/he rest in peace), the hamster that powered the blog's first server.
For what it's worth, these are always at the bottom of comments for me.
Odd number of elements in hash assignment at lib/MT/App/Comments.pm line 68.
Use of uninitialized value in list assignment at lib/MT/App/Comments.pm line 68.
Subroutine _hdlr_pings redefined at lib/MT/Template/ContextHandlers.pm line 2731.
No slowness.
I get nothing but comment love. And I think I will make it on Saturday, so shoot me a line, JM or anybody else interested in trolling Chelsea and/or seeing the Judd sale/show at Christie's.
Oo, I've never been to an auction house public viewing and would be a little scared to do so without some guidance. Anyone else up for it?
Yeah, me neither actually. Someone, hold our hands.
Hey, I'd be up for it (sorry - WAY behind in comment reading). I've been to Christie's before for one of their viewings. I think it was some auction affiliated with Aperture magazine -- I remember it was the first time I saw Piss Christ. I was kind of nervous, too, but just went with "act like you belong here".
Maybe we should do this by email.
Should I try to look not-broke?
You should look as broke as possible, and then surprise everyone by dropping loads of cash.
I'll drop you and Smasher a line.
I don't remember what I wore but I didn't get dressed up. It was pretty much like any other gallery thing. I'm not sure if there's a difference based on the sponsoring group and if Aperture was just laid back, though.
Ah, and I see now by going through my calendar that the thing I went to was at Sotheby's, not Christie's.
I've heard that Sotheby's and Christie's are just pretending to be different auction houses in competition, so that's okay.
