Author: D. A. Hosek
-
Today’s saint Picture: Saint Aloysius Gonzaga
There’s a Saint Aloysius church in Chicago, but it doesn’t have a Saturday Mass so I’m doing a picture instead of my nerd pilgrimage today. Aloysisus Gonzaga was one of the generation of Jesuits who entered when the order had become established after Ignatius’s death and, although born an aristocrat and the heir apparent in…
-
A visit with my younger self: 6 July 1998
It’s interesting to me that I find the following more humiliating than my account of stalkerish behavior. Writing requires two talents: that of description and that of imagination. That the two may exist separately is clearly acknowledged; that they may only thrive together cannot be denied. Story idea, An old man deals with the death of a friend much…
-
Today’s saint picture: Saint Silverius
Looking over the options for today’s saint, I ended up settling on Saint Silverius, who was one of the handful of popes without a roman numeral after his name (out of 267 popes, there are 41 without roman numerals). What’s more, his father was a pope, although he had married and bore Silverius before being ordained…
-
Today’s saint picture: Saints Mark and Marcellinus
A pair of saints about whom nothing is known beyond their names which of course means that it was an opening to make things up. So tradition says that they were twin brothers in the Roman nobility who refused to apostosize and were beheaded as a result. The drawing I did here was based on…
-
Today’s saint picture: Saint Albert Chmielowski
Albert Chmielowski is another one of these interesting figures, he was involved with the Polish independence movement in the 19th century and in a battle, was injured by a Russian grenade leading to his losing his leg. He went on to study engineering, but discovered he had a talent at painting so he dropped out…
-
Today’s saint picture: Saint Lutgardis
Catholics have a tendency to overdo it with the priests, monks and nuns in their canon of Saints and Lutgardis falls into that category, although in her case, she originally entered the convent not out of any sense of vocation but because her dowry had been lost in a failed business venture. She was twelve…
-
Catholic nerd pilgrimage: Most Holy Trinity Dockhead
Looking at Catholic churches in London, there were two churches named “Holy Trinity” (or something close to that). I picked the one that was more accessible by public transport and dragged my kids to the 6p Mass, which, it turned out, was the shortest Sunday Mass I’ve ever attended at 37 minutes long, thanks, largely,…
-
Today’s Saint Picture: Elisha
Today’s saint picture is of the prophet Elisha. While the old-style designation would be to call him “Saint Elisha,” the title “Saint” for Old Testament figures always feels kind of off to me, but looking at the commemorations for the day, I couldn’t pass up on Elisha since one of his trademark stories was having…
-
A visit with my younger self: 3 July 1988
My next journal entry showed some ambitious plans: Outline for “Lilith” (epic poem in blank verse) Book I—Lilith’s arrival at the Red Sea. She meets the demons (souls without bodies). She acquaints them with her history and becomes mistress to them all. Book II—Adam’s realization that Lilith shall not return voluntarily. He tells his story…