— Forfeiting My Mystique, Kaveh Akbar, in '100 Queer Poems, an anthology' (2022)

[text ID: Some saints spent their whole childhoods biting their teachers' hands and / sprinkling salt into spider-webs, only to be redeemed by a fluke shock of grace just before death. May I feather into such a swan soon.]

Anne Carson, “Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides” / George William Joy, “Sleeping Joan of Arc” / Andrei Tarkovsky / Anne Sexton / “Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian”, Il Sodoma / Caroline Walker Bynum, “The Holy Feast and the Holy Fast” / “St. Denis Picking up His Head”, 19th century Panthéon murals / Margaret Atwood, “Half Hanged Mary”

Chelsea Hodson, "Tonight I'm Someone Else" // l.a.m, "The Rising of the Phoenix" // @astrono77153462 // author unknown, "Fallen Angel in Church" // Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov // Franz Kafka and @wingful // @conturnacious // Ted Chiang, Hell is the Absent of God // Google search results // David Bowie

The Saint of Never Getting It Right

(Click for full quality!)

I know this is the most unpopular opinion in the world when it comes to the lost gem Wall-E, BUT I think everyone is wrong about Auto.

Specifically, I don’t think he was a blind dumb machine mindlessly following his programming. In fact, I think the very reason he acted the way he did is because he was self-aware and had developed some bad vices over time. If he was a mindless machine who only did as his programming and superiors told him to, he would have obeyed the Captain’s orders to return to Earth after seeing it was habitable again. I think he knew what he was doing was morally wrong, but he didn’t care. Auto is capable of feeling emotions like frustration and even fear which are clearly shown during his face off with the Captain. Moreover, I think Auto was aware that if the humans returned to Earth, he would not only lose his power over humans, but also over machine. Plus, he would become obsolete because all the humans would leave the Axiom ship which is the one ability he doesn’t have.

In other words, I think Auto was very aware that HE was the one who had all the power and didn’t want to give it up. I think over the 700 years, being “king” got to his head and corrupted him to the point where he stopped caring about humanity and was more concerned with staying in power. People forget that personhood doesn’t mean sainthood. In other words, Auto can serve as a cautionary tale that power can corrupt anyone.

I was raised Protestant so I don’t have any background knowledge here but I’ve always been SUPER curious about the saints and how it all works, no obligation to explain don’t worry about it, but I’m finding this tournament very interesting and a bit educating. Like I didn’t know about the whole “pre-saint” thing (can’t remember the word well enough to spell it) like the church or whoever designating that someone will become a saint once they die if I’m understanding that right from the context clues I haven’t googled things yet for further research.

OK! Happy to help! The professor in me won't let this ask go unanswered.

There are two kinds of saints. Capital S saints are people who the Church has declared are in heaven/with God because of a) exemplary, holy lives they've led, and b) signs of miracles (often medical ones) where people pray for their intercession. Little 's' saints is anyone and everyone in heaven. So, in theory, your grandparents, great grandparents, etc.

Big S, canonized saints, is what this tourney's all about. What Catholics believe: when people go to heaven and they are with God, they are literally closer to God than we are. When Catholics pray (talk) to saints, NOT WORSHIPPING, that is reserved for God and God alone, they're asking for help. Worship = praise, love, adoration, service, acknowledging power/glory/majesty. Praying to/talking to - let's have a chat.

Think of it this way: have you ever asked a friend to help you move? You've got a super heavy package and need help taking it from point A to B. Technically, you can do it all by yourself, but you can get a friend to help you, or several! Catholics ask these saints, or friends, to help with prayer requests.

We believe that the saints can hear us when we pray to them, and will help us. They want to help us! You'd help a friend in need, yes? This is what the saints are for all of us. Friends! Free friendship for free help with God! What a fabulous deal!

The pre-saint business comes with beatification. When a holy person dies, there's a five year waiting period before their cause can be opened for canonization. In the past, 3 miracles were needed, but now only two are needed for canonization.

The process goes like this - person dies, wait 5 years, go through investigation to make sure the person was actually a good person. Martyrs go straight to Blessed stage (2nd to last before Saint). Venerables are non-martyrs but still super cool holy people. They need at least two miracles. Martyrs need one.

In the past, incorruptibles were considered miraculous, e.g. people whose bodies mysteriously/miraculously don't decay after death. Nowadays it's not considered good enough for a miracle because burial conditions can impact this and it's hard to verify. I mean, people still go apeshit over incorruptibles (I do) but it's not enough to be a miracle.

What IS a miracle: very commonly it's medical miracles. Tumors that disappear overnight. Diseases that disappear. Things doctors said couldn't happen and then they do happen.

The Vatican hears thousands of cases a year, they have a team of medical professionals, and most of the miracles don't qualify as miraculous. They're REALLY rare. For a lot of saints, it can take hundreds of years to go from one step to the next because the professionals try to prove that there was no medical reason why something would disappear or be healed.

The miracles, combined with holiness, 'prove' that these people are truly with God because God has worked through them to produce a miracle. The miracle is not the saint's doing, per se, but rather God working through the saint. We thank the saint for 'bothering' God enough to hear our prayers.

Again, you can go to God directly, but imagine if you had a ton of friends bugging God about the same thing. The persistent widow of Scripture comes to mind, or all the prophets' bothering God in the Hebrew Scriptures. The more friends you have bothering God, the better off you are.

This is why Catholics, in particular, are SO fond of Mary. She is the mother of Jesus, the mother of God, and what's Jesus going to do? Ignore his mother? Hell no. He's going to pay attention, and maybe it doesn't always work (Mary's a busy lady with all our prayers) but she listens and intercedes for us.

This is why saints are so rad. They're normal folks like you and me who led exemplary lives across so many circumstances and are now enjoying the splendor of heaven.

I'm personally gunning for little 's' saint. I doubt I'll be cool enough to be a canonized saint, and that's ok by me!

Vatican puts 35 Catholic ‘martyrs of Kandhamal’ in India on road to sainthood

Did you know about Saint Goranas, the little-known Catholic Saint who was a gorilla?

Though he was born near the equator in the year 471 A.D., Goranas had a special gift for spreading the love of Christ. Blessed with unparalleled strength, Goranas often performed miracles that astounded onlookers, including the raising of a man from the dead and the transformation of a raging bull into a docile lamb.

Despite his large stature, a kind heart quickly made Goranas a beloved figure in the area. Crowds anxiously sought to witness his miracles, including an incredible feat where he suspended himself on a cross of vines for three days straight in prayer and meditation.

But it was his final act of faith that earned him sainthood. While on a mission to spread the gospel in a remote region of the Congo, Goranas refused to abandon a sickly orphan. Knowing he could ensure the child’s safety only by sacrificing his own life, he chose to take the boy into his arms and hurl himself from a steep cliff, shielding the young boy from an untimely death.

In appreciation of the gorilla’s selfless act of faith, Pope Gregory IX canonized him as a saint. Today, Saint Goranas is still remembered throughout the Catholic Church as a symbol of courage and Strength.

Nicolaus Steno – Scientist of the Day

On Oct. 23, 1988, Pope Paul II beatified the Italian geologist Nicolaus Steno, declaring him Blessed.

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“For me the divine is the real.”

From The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector

𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝑨𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝑲𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅...✨🕊️

Meghan Markle has a 'good excuse' to refuse UK reunion with Kate Middleton, Prince William: expert...