There has been some talk recently that Pope John Paul II is looking for a patron saint of the Internet and computer programmers. The favored candidate is St. Isidore of Seville (560 – 636) – St. Isidore was a brother of three other saints. He wrote a dictionary, an encyclopaedia, and a few history texts. He was a teacher, and brought the writings of Aristotle to Spain.
As a connoisseur of knowledge and information, I’d say St. Isidore fits the bill pretty well. However, I suspect that there may be other saints who could be equally qualified. Since I am not Catholic, I used this list from The Catholic Community Forum. Here are my candidates for patron saint of the Internet:
Gratus of Aosta (??? – 470): I could not find much information on him, but supposedly he is the patron saint of the fear of insects (aka “bugs”). All computer users, especially programmers, fear bugs (in software… get it? Ha!). Alright, it’s a stretch… Let me see who else there is…
The Archangel Raphael – Raphael’s patronage includes many things, one of which is eye problems. We all know that sitting a foot away from the screen all day is going to make us all go blind. This is especially significant to those of you who spend a lot of time on porn sites. Don’t you remember what your mother told you about that??
St. Dymphna (???) – Dymphna is the patron of mental illness, which to those of us who have been “online” for some time, is quite obviously a problem on the Internet.
Gengulphus (??? – 760) – The patron saint of unhappy marriages; With the explosion of online gaming, porn, and chat sites, I’m guessing there are more than a few households who should be asking this saint for help.
Well, I don’t think my choices are going to get much consideration. That’s okay. Maybe we should concentrate on the positives of The Information Revolution ™. In fact, I propose a patron saint for bloggers. I nominate St. Francis de Sales (1567 – 1622). St. Francis used letters and written pamphlets to spread the Word. His teachings emphasized love and joy. In fact, in 1608, he wrote a book called Introduction to the Devout Life, which was written originally as a series of letters. This book was condemned by many preachers at the time because St. Francis encouraged dancing and the telling of jokes. His last word of advice was to a nun, to whom he said simply, “humility” – certainly a fine sentiment to contemplate when our web stats are down.
Bye for now.
I think St. Francis De Sales embodies everything that a blogger is
I wonder if there is a patron saint of computers or if St. Isidore of Seville would cover that as well. I could just see it. The St. Isidore screensaver that “blesses your computer while your away”.
I wondered that myself so I looked it up. I think St. Isidore is supposed to be the patron saint of computer users and computer programmers – apparently the Internet falls into that domain.
The screensaver’s not a bad idea. I know a lot of people running Windows ME whose computers could use a blessing or two!