Divine Intervention

Something is lost and can’t be found,
Please St. Anthony, look around.

As I invoke St. Anthony yet again to help me find a lost possession, I can’t help wonder if angels are the only help we have in today’s world. When all else fails, seeking divine intervention seems to be the only way out. Does it work? Well, to each, his own. But here too, you are spoilt for choice.

We completed our difficult trips to the Spiti Valley and Ladakh in our small car (considered totally unsuitable for terrains like those) without any problems, while there were studier jeeps stranded on the way. True or not, I like to attribute it to St. Petronilla, the patron saint for mountain travellers. Travellers to other locations and the ones too lazy to book hotels in advance, need not despair. They have Gertrude of Nivelles, the saint of travellers, who helps find lodging while travelling. Every weekday morning sees me calling upon St. Denis, the patron saint against frenzy and headaches. Before going out to crowded places nowadays, I never forget to remember St. Barbara, the angel against explosions. Ironically, he is also the patron saint of grave diggers, dying people, and mathematicians (the kind who bore people to death!).

While M.F. Hussain could benefit from St. Catherine of Bologna (the patron saint of painters and artists) and St. Margaret of Antioch (falsely accused people and people in exile), Ratan Tata would love some help from St. Rita of Cascia, the angel for desperate, seemingly impossible causes and situations (read Singur). St. Felicity, the patron saint to have male children, would be a big hit with Indian families, who think a baby girl is just not good enough. Old parents who are too much of a burden for their children can only hope to be looked upon by St. Rita of Cascia (saint against lonliness) and St. Francis of Assisi (against dying alone). May St. Gotteschalik, the angel of lost vocations, grant good sense to our politicians.

Though God seems to have sent angels for all possible problems man could create, I think I could do with just a few on a daily basis; St. Expeditus, the patron saint of prompt solutions and against procrastination, and St. Vitus, the saint againt oversleeping (this one can take a break on weekends!).