notbecauseofvictories:

so I’ve always sort of liked the idea that within the communion of saints there the Heavy Hitters, the Career Saints who are invoked widely and in situations of grave need—I’m talking your Catherines and Francises and Theresas, the Twelve Disciples and Michael; the Big Time Major League saints who intercede on behalf of so many, and so are always in conversation with the divine, case managers for the sick and dying and hurting and faithful of the world.

but that also means that there’s a bunch of saints hanging around who are just—minor holy women, lesser martyrs, incidental virgins, doctors of the church who never managed to find a publisher. They’re not prayed to very often, and rarely called on to manage the difficult cases; they have a lot of free time.

so what do you do, if you’re a saint with some free time on your hands? You answer all the not-quite-prayers, the “jesus, don’t turn red don’t turn red’ muttered by cab drivers and the “christ, can you just try it to see this from my point of view?” spat out by a furious girlfriend and all the “oh god please let me make this meeting in time” “please don’t let me fail” “I’m so tired I hope I can get home”

or maybe I just like the idea that every time you mutter “god, let me be okay” there’s some girl killed in 9th century for refusing to marry who falls into step beside you—and though no book or chronicle or living person remembers her name, she squints up at you and says with holy authority, “yeah, you’re going to be fine.”

Tags: you know what i like this a lot and i'll tell you why because as much as i love the idea of guardian angels the idea of a great and mighty being watching out for us despite being a protestant i like the idea of saints just as much because they ARE us and sometimes you don't need a great and mighty being from the celestial battlefield sometimes you need someone who's familiar with the worldly battlefield who's familiar with the dizzy highs and crushing lows of being human that's why i like this i like to think of saints as the ones who come when you need someone who understands not just a being of power yeah man i think about this a lot for someone who's not even slightly catholic (apparently my theology is like 12th century catholic though) (shh it's a secret) religion saints