THE MORE OBSCURE CATHOLIC SAINTS PART ONE

In a nod to Robert as in: Robert the apathetic sanctimonious sinner and toilet cleaner  I've decided to run a series on the more obscure Catholic saints. Robert seems to have a fascination for these 'saints' and the obscurer and nuttier the better. His latest is Mary of Jesus of Ágreda or, as he calls her Maria of Aggradda or Marie of Aggredda. It probably doesn't matter as she's pretty insignificant in the scheme of things as far as the Catholic Church goes but her fame and influence is more suited to Spanish political history:

Mary of Jesus of Ágreda  also known as the Abbess of Ágreda (2 April 1602 – 24 May 1665), was a Franciscan abbess and spiritual writer, known especially for her extensive correspondence with King Philip IV of Spain and reports of her blocation between Spain and its colonies in New Spain (America). She was a noted mystic of her era.

Well that, from Wikipedia was OK except for the nonsense of bilocation which enthrals Robert. Wikipedia goes on: 

A member of the Order of the Immaculate Conception, also known as Conceptionists, Mary of Jesus wrote 14 books, including a series of revelations about the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her bilocation activity is said to have occurred between her cloistered monastery in rural Spain and the Jumano Indians of central New Mexico and West Texas, as well as Tucson, and inspired many Franciscan missionaries in the New World. In popular culture since the 17th century, she has been dubbed the Lady in Blue and the Blue Nun, after the color (sic) of her order's habit.

Apart from that wine reference there, the rest is gobbledygook. How could anyone write 14 books on the 'Blessed Virgin Mary'? Also, who on earth (or anywhere) could believe in bilocation and the fact that a cloistered nun 'flys' off regularly to visit some Indians in America. I mean, what did the Indians think and did anyone think to ask them? Maybe Mary of Jesus of Ágreda could join the ranks of Marvel superheroes. I'm sure that bilocation would be a pretty good power that the audience of children and sad older men could get into.

"Sorry, I've got to go. I'm hearing the final boarding call to New Mexico in my head."

Anyway, back to my series on obscure saints.

It's quite fitting that the first one up is Saint Jude (there is a prize for the first person who spots the pun).

Like many of the saints, Saint Jude cannot be sufficiently “explained.”  It's better  to sit back and simply hear the stories that have been made up about him. Here is one:

Kissing other men.

One day while Jude was praying to his god, he received an answer: “Hey Jude, if you want to know my will, you must hate and despise all that which hitherto your body has loved and desired to possess. Once you begin to do this, all that formerly seemed sweet and pleasant to you will become bitter and unbearable, and instead, the things that formerly made you shudder will bring you great sweetness and content.”

Jude was comforted by these words and  wondered how he could act on them.

One day, as he was having a quiet ale in a tavern, he met a homosexual man. He had always felt an overpowering horror of homosexual men, but making a great effort, he conquered his aversion, approached him and kissed his hand. The homosexual man then gave Jude the kiss of peace, after which he left the tavern and went home.

Some days later he took a large sum of money to the tavern, and gathering all the customers together, he gave them alms, kissing each of them. Formerly he could neither touch or even look at homosexual men, but when he left them on that day, what had been so repugnant to him had really and truly been turned into something pleasant.

Indeed, his previous aversion to homosexual men had been so strong, that, besides being incapable of looking at them, he would not even approach the places where they frequented. But, strengthened by God’s grace, he was enabled to obey the command and to love what he had hated and to abhor what he had hitherto wrongfully loved.

There are many other stories made up about Saint Jude and, maybe later, after we've looked at other obscure saints I can recount them. Needless to say, Jude's actions in this and other ways brought him to the notice of his god (via the auspices of Bishop Prismatic of Padua) and he was canonised for his actions.