Well, hello, Saints Lawrence, Catherine of Alexandria, and Jerome...







These, my friends, are the holy saints that Catholics like me pray to when we want to ask for something book-related. (Like, say, divine intercession in the book choices made by Oprah's Book Club. My prayers go something like this: "Please, gentle saints, allow Oprah to see the damage she is doing by forcing people to read hideously depressing stories that will "elevate" and "uplift" them, and encourage her instead to direct her audience towards books that will actually inspire them to read other books as well, even if they haven't been Oprah-approved, before people stop reading fiction altogether. Amen.")

Note: Nothing good happened to Saints Catherine and Lawrence, unfortunately, but they both went out with spirit. St. Lawrence was roasted on a grid iron. St. Catherine touched the wheel that her jailers were intending to kill her on and it blew apart... not that it did her much good, seeing as they just beheaded her instead. (You know those Catherine Wheel firecrackers? Yeah, that would be the connection.) I'd have to check, but I don't think anything terrible happened to Saint Jerome. Still if you're looking for a person to pray to about book-related concerns of your own, any of these guys are solid bets.

Labels: Religion