…which I suppose means little or nothing to anybody but me!
But today is the feast day of my patron saint, whose biography can be found here. (I’m younger and handsomer than the picture, though – something I get to say very seldom, so I’m taking the chance to now! ;))
My favorite quote from him is from his account of St. John (the guy who wrote the Gospel and three Epistles) on his (John’s) deathbed – when asked for one last piece of wisdom for those who counted him their teacher to treasure, he responded, “Little children, love one another.” Polycarp told that story repeatedly, and it’s been handed down ever since.
My second favorite is from his Epistle to the Philippians (link is to J.B. Lightfoot’s accurate but King-James-ish translation): “He who has love is far from all sin.”
Wow. And here I thought you’d finally been beatified.
'Course…you ain’t dead or nothing.
I’m a Jew…but any excuse for a feast!
Here’s a slightly difference take on the ‘love one another’ thing from the decidedly NON-saintly band, The Uninvited:
"I talked to God and God said “John,
I let them kill my only son
and my creation’s so undone
that I can’t help out everyone
But if you’re looking for advice
you don’t need to ask me twice
start with the basics: just be nice
and see if that makes things all right.”
So the concept lives even in the secular world. And it’s STILL fine advice fall all, devout and not.
Poly- not for nothin’, but I think of you every single day I work, twice each day. I pass “Policarp” street, and each time I think of you. Happy St Polycarp day!
I never knew there was a Saint (that’s why I never take that category in Jeopardy[sup]TM[/sup]). Always thought it was a strange allusion to a lot of fish, or maybe the many bones of the hand.
Is there a parade or do we get to self flagellate or something? Candy?
<hijack>
I once heard someone say that all Jewish festivals could be summarised as follows:
;j
</hijack>
Strangely enough, I was studying about St Polycarp - in the context of the cotribution of martyrs to the growth of the Christian faith - just this weekend…
I’ve heard that version as well, grimpixie, but in reality that would actually only apply to Purim and Channukah (and for the latter there is no formal feast). The other holidays (Rosh HaShannah, Yom Kippur [which is a fast day], Succos, Passover and Shavuos) have nothing to do with anyone trying to kill us.
Some years ago, back in Upstate New York, Barb and I knew a guy who worked for our local newspaper. He was a dropout from the Catholic diocesan seminary, located on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in St. Lawrence County, where he’d been training for the priesthood.
The liberal arts school in that rural area, north of where we lived and within the paper’s circulation area, was St. Lawrence University. SLU had a good hockey team, but their other intercollegiate teams, to put it charitably, sucked.
Our friend was assigned to do headlines for the sports section one week in the fall, and when SLU lost a football game, he produced probably one of the great multiple puns of all time:
For those of you who are going, “So why’s that funny?” with quizzical looks on your faces, here is a hagiography of the original St. Lawrence after whom river, county, and college are named.
