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Searching for Saints

It ain't over yet — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:51:16 -0800

Recently someone in this thread described Mr. Rogers as "as close as America has ever come to producing a real-life saint". Can anyone suggest other Americans deserving of the title?

Help me ID the saint this statue represents, please.

soulbarn — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:27:26 -0800

I came across this shrine in Arizona. The statue on the left (decapitated, though the head is still present and can be seen in the detail photo) is the only one I can't identify, not being too familiar with Catholicism and Latin American folk practices. Can anyone tell me who (which saint?) this is? Here's an image of the entire shrine; and here's some detail. (Click on "all sizes" above the image for a larger view.) Thanks (comments on the shrine are welcome, as well.)

Prayer notices in the local paper - what are they for?

lysistrata — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:49:29 -0800

I sometimes see announcements in the newspaper praising saints and listing prayers or novenas with instructions to publish the same ad in a future edition of the paper if the prayers work for you. Who places these ads? What purpose do they serve? What's the deal?

Of course I'm a saint!

parmanparman — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:53:39 -0800

Who are the lowest regarded saints? Not just of the Catholic Church, but of all denominations that claim saints (Methodist, Anglican, Orthodox, etc.)? I read that someone had seen a poster "Meet one of India's highest-regarded Indian living saints." It got me wondering, who is lowest-regarded of the saints? I know that's an aside to my question. But seriously, who among the Christian saints are the most low-regarded?

Que milagrosamente te apareciste al indio juan diego manifestando tu presciencia con divinas rosas!

bookish — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 19:36:35 -0800

Is there a specific name for the Catholic candles you can get at Mexican grocery stores? The ones in glass jars with pictures of saints, Marias, or Jesus? And can anyone tell me more about them, such as how they fit into Catholicism or their cultural resonances? I'm curious about them, and I've found remarkably little info on the internet-- which leads me to wonder if I'm not using the right search term, or if (egads!) there actually is not a website out there with information.

When the saints come marching in...

nkknkk — Tue, 01 May 2007 14:13:56 -0800

HagiographyFilter: Looking for a reference for Catholic Saints' Days in Hispanic cultures. Deep into novel research, I find myself needing to know more about the Catholic saints (and specifically, saints' feast days or other honored days) in Hispanic cultures. Ideally, I'm looking for a calendar or other resource that tells me the saint, a little about them, and the day that they're celebrated.

My roadblocks are that a) I speak no Spanish myself, and b) I know nothing about Catholicism (let's not discuss how I came up with this character then, sigh).

Love me some Google, of course, but when I look at general listings of Catholic saints like this: List of Saints, I have no idea if one/some/all of these would resonate to a new friend from Mexico, or Cuba, or El Salvador. I know that some regions have their own saints, and we all love Our Lady of Guadalupe, but... then what?

I guess what I really need is either (a) confirmation that a nice all-encompassing list (like the one linked above) is good enough, and it's not that different from culture-to-culture within the Catholic tradition, or (b) a pointer to a resource that's better, if I were from Latin/Central/South America and Catholic, and wondering which feast-day it was today. If the resource is in Spanish, that's ok - I have friendly translators standing by.

What are Cowled children?

undule — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 09:12:14 -0800

I am looking for information on "cowled" children, that is, children born with a defect characterized by a loose flap of skin attached to the forehead. As a pup, I was told stories concerning such children which regarded them as saintly, such as the Catholics regard stigmatics. In college, I read a book which mentioned them, the title of which I've forgotten. I haven't been able to find anything on Google, anyone have any info on this phenomena or perhaps suggestions as to research material?