Angels & Saints

First, a reprint of a very, very short story that’s perfect for today, Maundy Thursday, from To Cut A Long Story Short, a collection of short stories by Jeffrey Archer:

Death Speaks

There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the market-place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture; now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there death will not find me. The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the market-place and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning? That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.

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For the benefit of my friend Raoul Tidalgo who has been persistently demanding for a reprint and those born in April (Former Pres. Joseph Estrada, Tirso Cruz III, Gloria Diaz, Albert Martinez, Angel Locsin, Luis Manzano, Rosemarie Sonora, Lhar Santiago, Isah Red and Ricky Reyes among them), here are their Guardian Angels (March 31 to April 30), from Who Is Your Guardian Angel? By Veronique Jarry:

• March 31 to April 4: Sitael (third angel of the Seraphim; stars under Sitael include Alec Guinness, Debbie Reynolds, Marlon Brando, Eddie Murphy and Alec Baldwin);

• April 5 to April 9: Elemiah (fourth angel of the Seraphim; Francis Ford Coppola, Bette Davis, Spencer Tracy and Billie Holiday);

• April 10 to April 14: Mahasiah (fifth angel of the Seraphim; Thomas Jefferson, Omar Sharif, Matthew Perry and Samuel Beckett);

• April 15 to April 20: Lelahel (sixth angel of the Seraphim; Leonardo da Vinci, Jessica Lange, Charlie Chaplin and Claudia Cardinale);

• April 21 to April 25: Achaiah (seventh angel of the Seraphim; William Shakespeare, Ella Fitzgerald, Jack Nicholson, Shirley Temple, Shirley MacLaine, Al Pacino and Barbra Streisand); and

• April 26 to April 30: Cahethel (eighth angel of the Seraphim; Michelle Pfeiffer, Duke Ellington and William Randolph Hearst).

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I didn’t know that there are so many saints until my religious friend (is that a halo over his head?) gave me The Pope’s Calendar 2011 with Christ’s 12 Apostles on the cover. Here they are and the months (January to June, Part 1) their names are mentioned:

• January: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (Jan. 4), St. John Neumann (5), St. Charles of Sezze (6), St. Raymond of Penafort (7), St. Severinus of Noricum (8), St. Peter Orseolo (10), St. Theodosius (11), St. Margareth Bourgeois (12), St. Hilary of Poitiers (13), St. Sava (14), St. Arnold Janssen (15), St. Anthony the Abbot (17), Blessed Cristina Ciccarelli (18), St. Henry of Finland (19), Sts. Sebastian and Fabian (20), St. Agnes, St. Vincent (22), St. Francis de Sales (24), Sts. Timothy and Titus (26), St. Angela Merici (27), St. Thomas Aquinas (28), St. Gildas the Wise (29) and St. John Bosco (31).

• February: St. Bridgid of Ireland (Feb. 1), St. Blase (3), St. Veronica (4), St. Agatha (5), St. Josephine Bakhita (7), St. Jerome Emiliani (8), St. Miguel Cordero (9), St. Scholastica (10), St. Saturninus and Companions (12), [St. Valentine] Sts. Cyril and Methodius (14), St. Claude dela Columbiere (15), St. Juliana (16), St. Theotonius (18), St. Conrad of Piacenza (19), St. Peter Damiani (21), St. Polycarp (23), St. Ethelbert (24), St. Tarasius (25), St. Victor (26) and St. Hilary (28);

• March: St. David of Wales (March 1), Blessed Angela of the Cross (2), St. Anselm of Nomantola (3), St. Casimir of Polland (4), St. Virgil (5), Sts. Perpetua and Felicity (7), St. John of God (8), St. Ogilvi (10), St. Eulogius (11), St. Theophanis (12), St. Mathilda (14), St. Louise de Marillac (15), St. Heribert (16), St. Patrick (17), St. Cyril of Jerusalem (18), St. Joseph, Husband of Mary (19), St. Nicolas of Flue (21), St. Deogratias (22), St. Turibius de Mongrovejo (23), St. Irenaeus Sirmium (24), St. Lucia Filippini (26), St. Tutino (28), St. Joseph of Arimathea (29), St. Zosimus (30) and St. Benjamin (31).

• April: St. Celsus (April 1), Blessed Pedro Calungsod (2), St. Isidore of Seville (4), St. Vincent Ferrer (5), St. Peter of Verona (6), St. John Baptist dela Salle (7), St. Walter of Pontoise (8), St. Mary of Cleophas (9), St. Stanislaus (11), St. Alferius (12), St. Martin 1 (13), Blessed Lydwina (14), St. Hunna (15), St. Fructuosus of Braga (16), Blessed Mary of the Incarnation (18), St. Leo IX (19), St. Agnes of Montepulciano (20), St. Mark the Evangelist (25), St. Franca Visalta (26), St. Peter Armengol (27), St. Peter Chanel (28), St. Catherine of Siena (29) and St. Pius V (30).

• May: St. Athanasius (May 2), Sts. Philip and James (3), St. Florian (4), St. Angelo (5), St. Dominic Savio (6), St. Domitian (7), St. Gregory Nazianzen (9), St. John of Avila (10), St. Ignatius of Laconi (11), Sts. Nereus and Achilleus (12), St. Mathias (14), St. Brendan (16), St. Paschal Baylon (17), St. John 1 (18), St. Leonard Murialdo (19), St. Bernardine of Siena (20), St. Christopher Magallanes (21), St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk (23), St. Gregory VII (25), St. Philip Neri (26), St. Agustine Canterbury (27), Blessed Margareth Pole (28) and St. Joan of Arc (30).

• June: St. Justin (June 1), Sts. Marcellinus and Peter (2), Sts. Charles Lwanga and Companions (3), St. Francis Caracciolo (4), St. Norbert (6), St. Robert of Newminster (7), St. William of York (8), St. Efhren (9), St. Landericus (10), St. Barnabas (11), St. Anthony of Padua (13), St. Valerius (14), St. Bernard of Aosta (15), St. John Francis Regis (16), St. Gregory Barbarigo (17), St. Elizabeth of Schoonau (18), Blessed Osanna of Mantua (20), St. Aloysius Gonzaga (21), Sts. John Fisher and Thomas Moore (22), St. Joseph Cafasso (23), St. Prosper of Reggio (25), St. Cyril of Alexandria (27), St. Irenaeus (28) and Sts. Peter and Paul.

(Note: The next list [July to December] will be published on Monday, April 25.)

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