Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Light a candle to your favorite saint

I came across a nifty little website which allows you to light a candle on behalf of the Catholic saint of your choice.

They even have my favorite obscure hermetic saint associated with Charlemagne, namely Saint Namphaise (or Namphasius) as well as Saint Roch, the patron saint of dogs and pestilence.




Simply fill out an online form, an email will be sent to your chosen recipient and a virtual candle will be lit on their behalf for sixty days.

Some saints have but a scant number of candles lit, but others such as Saint Genevieve have multiple pages of candles. I expected to find dozens of candles lit for Joan of Arc, but alas there was none.



Until I lit one.

Enjoy lighting virtual candles to your favorite saints.

And may everyone have a wonderful new year filled with joy, good health, and prosperity!

Linda

8 comments:

Cindy Pavlinac said...

Saint Roch is a favorite of mine. With his pilgrim’s hat and faithful dog companion, he’s just like me and my dog Merlin on a road trip, except that we drive, wear sunglasses, and eat power bars rather than loafs of bread carried around in a dog’s mouth. Saint Roch wards off plague, always handy during one’s travels, and protects against vampire attacks, appreciated when looking for a motel after dark. His saint day during the August Dog Days of Summer is celebrated as the birthday of all dogs. St. Roch is welcome to travel with us any day.
CindyP and Merlin, Merlins Road Trip.

Linda C. McCabe said...

Cindy,

So you had heard of Saint Roch before?

Coooool.

I hadn't heard of him before visiting Puycelsi and seeing his statue.

Protects against vampire attacks, eh?

I wonder if any of the myriad of urban vampire fantasy books on the market have used Saint Roch at all?

I hope to see you soon my dear. It's been too long.

Linda

Liam said...

Saint Roch is big in Spain. You see him all over the place, and there's a saying that someone is "mas fiel que el perro de San Roque" -- more faithful than St Roch's dog.

Anonymous said...

I was just talking about you today to another "wanna-be" writer. She is involved in this little blog project I started called 8 Women Dream. Her dream is to get something published. I thought about you and the many kindnesses you have shown me through the past couple of years... and the club. I am glad to see that you are still here...
Hugs,
Catherine

Linda C. McCabe said...

Liam,

Thank you for stopping by and for sharing your knowledge of St. Roch. I had no idea he was so popular.

Did he travel a lot in Spain as well as southern France?

Linda

Linda C. McCabe said...

Catherine,

I hope you can come to the meeting this Sunday. Invite your friend as well.

We are having two literary agents come and speak. They have yeaaaars of experience and you cannot help but learn from them.

Linda

Liam said...

Hi Linda,

I just checked the Catholic Encyclopedia article on him, and it appears he was born in Montpellier in 1295, which I believe was part of the Kingdom of Aragon at that time. That's probably how devotion to him spread through Spain.

Anonymous said...

hello everyone...i want to share the miraculous intervention of SAINT ROCH for all the inhabitants of the small farming village of BARANGAY DANAO, MACARTHUR, LEYTE, THE PHILIPPINES.According to my grandparents, Saint Roch had helped them during the pests that plagued the village and the whole island of Leyte during spanish time, where many people had died, and one evening they witnessed a man dressed like Saint Roch with a dog accompanying him had stopped the plagued immediately by talking silently as if he is communicating the plagued to depart the village and in the whole island...since then the villagers gathered together to hear the story and they knelt down as if thanking the saint for his intervention...then again, during the second world war another miraculous sightings by the villagers again occured and many of them saw a man dressed as Saint Roch who ordered the Japanese army batallion to stop killing the locals, strange but true as the Japanese surrendered to the Americans as early as on October 20, 1945 to the surprised by the American government...the whole village and the entire island were in jubilation as the war concluded immediately...SAINT ROCH not only helped to stop the plagued, indeed he also stopped the war to an end...
Up to now, the village of DANAO had erected a chappel where a new and vibrant statue depicting the image of SAINT ROCH is now enshrined to his honor and continue to attracts countless numbers of worshippers to this brave and helpful servant of the Lord not only in Spain, but in the small farming village of Danao, where Saint Roch feast is always celebrated yearly...
Come and see the beauty and serenity of this small farming village of BARANGAY DANAO, MACARTHUR,LEYTE, PHILIPPINES...

Edwin