A Feast of Guardian Angels - The Protectors!

The Feast of Our Guardian Angels!

Today, October 2, 2007, is the day designated to celebrate our Guardian Angels, Raphael (hand-painted Saint Raphael medal pictured), Gabriel & Michael. These saintly fellows, as well as those Angels not as well known, protect us and look after us day by day, and night after night.

Raphael is said to promote healing and to foster happy meetings. Gabriel is known as "the messenger" and is known for bringing happy news. Michael is the saintly protector of our police and aids in the preservation of our cemeteries. In the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life" an Angel named Clarence is assigned to look after someone, who in a time of despair, wished he had never been born. So, Clarence, being an Angel who was working on getting his wings, decides to show the man what life might had been like if he had his wish granted and he had not been born. The world turned out to be a very dreary place since he was not around to make things better. And in the end the man saw his troubles were not so bad, that he enjoyed great love and camaraderie with his fellowship of men, and had an abundance of love in his life.

On the days when your meetings and interactions with others are not proceeding as you might like, or when the news of the day is less than bright, and for the times when you face serious danger, remember to rely of the comforts of the Guardian Angels, Raphael, Gabriel and Michael to see you through. Because even though people can be difficult and lilt your spirit, and meetings can become but onerous chores, and dangers often surround us, the Guardian Angels are with us always and watching over us. Try to elevate your thinking to reach a point where you can feel the Angels and they will bring a healthy perspective during troublesome times and trials and tribulations.

Bruce Springsteen's Magical October Tour Begins!

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will offically begin their tour of the United States and Europe in just a few days! Bruce's new album, entitled, "Magic" has been reviewed by Rolling Stone Magazine and received 5 stars. * * * * * We can't wait to buy a copy.

We have not seen Bruce Sprngsteen perform live since he played at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in April, 2006, in New Orleans. In the photo above he is wearing our hand-painted Saint Peter medal during his performance. Although the photo of the hand-painted saint Paul medal on the right is not Saint Peter, it still the same medal Bruce wore because if I could turn the picture, you would see that saint Peter is on other side.

There was a great article about Bruce Springsteen and the tour and the album, which comes out on October 2, 2007, in today's New York Times by A. O. Scott. Bruce made some comments about how the country needs to get back on track after 9/11 and the flood of the Deep South in August, '05. He said there is a long walk ahead for America and it seemed like he was talking about New Orleans, in a way, since we have been on a long road, or walk, toward recovery and one of our recovery programs is actually called "Road Home."

Bruce helped us heal when he performed at Jazz Fest and we hope he can offer some catharsis to the rest of the nation during his tour. The wars and the flood have been hard for all of us to endure. We wish Bruce Springsteen, his wife, Patti Scialfa, and all the members of The E Street band all the best throughout their tour and will be excited to see and hear them again, somewhere down the road. We know that Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, will be looking after Bruce and the band troughout their travels. With with every breath they take and every step they make, he'll be watching ....

Longboat Key Tennis Legend Jerry Schneider Dies

Andy Roddick's Predecessor, Jerry Schneider,

the Pioneer of Indoor Tennis,

Goes to Heaven

http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ ' s Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes, welcomed Jerry Schneider at the Pearly Gates recently. Tennis greats Arthur Ashe and Big Bill Tilden also awaited Mr. Schneider's arrival. They congratulated Jerry for creating the nation's very first Indoor Tennis facility in Illinois and for his exemplary work as the first president of the Indoor Tennis Association. Many other saints the dearly departed attended a big party carrying signs that said "Jerry Schneider Is and Was Ahead of His Time," "Age is Just a Number" and "Jerry Schneider, Two Time Senior Olympics Champion at age 80 - Something."

Saint Matthew, the tax collecting, banking Saint publicly apologized to Jerry for the way banks treated him "back-in-the-day" in the 1950's when he was first thinking up Indoor Tennis. Matt said "The bankers should have listened to Jerry earlier than they did but thankfully his Dad stepped in and embraced his indoor tennis idea." Saint Lucy the visionary praised Jerry and noted that the former editor of Tennis Magazine called Jerry "the father of modern Indoor Tennis." Saint George, the patron of soldiers, recalled Jerry Schneider's heroic efforts in World War II. The evangelist Saints, also known as "fishers of men," also commended Jerry for his success competing in tarpon fishing tournaments while in his 80's.

Jerry spoke briefly and said he will always love tennis, and he asked the Saints to help a great Indoor Tennis player, Andy Roddick, win the 2007 United States Open. His request was met with thunderous applause and his suggestion approved by acclamation. Look for Andy Roddick to play a saintsational U.S. Open this year!

The "Faith Based MySpace"

Robbie Davidson's "Faith Based MySpace" at http://www.xianz.com/

Katie Zezima, a journalist, has written about a new website, http://www.xianz.com/, which describes itself as a "Faith Based MySpace." The site does not welcome content that is deemed inappropriate, such as explicit sexual content, posts filled with obscenities, or derogatory language in general. Though Xianz does not have nearly as many members as MySpace, it manages to maintain a fairly closed group who are simply not interested in interacting with folks whose ideals or lives are antithetically different than their own. A young member of Xianz, Caitlin, age 16, says " I use Xianz because it is a place that I can come to and have fellowship with friends ... [and enjoy ] helping others." It seems Mr. Davidson has followed the age old maxim for success, "it's quality, not quantity" and we congratulate him for his vision to create a web site with high ethical standards.

Celebrating Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the "Cure D'Ars"

Celebrating our Relic of

Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney

on his Feast Day!

The way we came to possess an actual relic from Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney ( The "Cure D'Ars" or "Priest of the town of Ars") is a fun tale to tell today since August 4th is his Feast Day on the Catholic Calendar. We have a beautiful Saint JMBV medal that is actually more of a locket than a medal and inside the locket is a piece of Saint JMBV's robe under glass. It is a great treasure and we have kept quiet about how we discovered it, that is, until now. ...

Since 1987, when I first began hunting for Saint medals, I have been to many cities, states and countries looking for unique Saint medals. Naturally, Rome, Italy, is the best place to go to find Saint medals since the Vatican is located there. I love going to Rome and hunting for medals and am planning to go again this fall. But last year I came up with yet another brilliant idea, a "sure-fire" plan to unearth many different Saint medals to add to the http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ collection. The plan failed miserably, as many of my plans (some might call them "schemes" but let's not go there today...) often do in the end, but finding the relic from Saint JMBV was a fantastic consolation prize! So, like always, things worked out perfectly in the end.

After having been Saint medal hunting in Rome several times, I concluded there must be other great places to find Saint medals and that's what led me to France. The Vatican was located in Avignon, France, during the 13th Century so it seemed quite logical that a trip to Avignon would yield lots of great new Saints medals to paint and write stories about. So, a trip to Southern France was scheduled. I was very excited about collecting a cache of Saints to add to my collection and could not wait to get to Avignon.... We stayed in Provence, in a little town called Loumarin, which is south of Avignon. I wish I had paid more attention during the journey but because I was so obsessed with Avignon and finding Saint medals the towns we visited are vague in memory.

The drive to Avignon took us throughout Provence and when we finally arrived I could hardly wait to start collecting medals. Before we got to the former Vatican, I started going into small shops to sort of get an advanced peek at the medals I would be finding. It was funny that the first store I went into did not have any medals but I was undeterred. The second store did not have any Saint medals either but that was fine because there were many other quaint shops and we had not even gotten to the ruins from the 13th Century Vatican. Ruins.

Ruins. Hmmmm. Ruins. A smart person would have probably paid attention to the word ruins. Avignon is a city of ruins. The people of Avignon do not celebrate religion or religious icons like the people of Rome. If you're looking for feudal Lord figurines, swords, and masks, Avignon is the place to go. If you're looking for religious iconography, trust me on this: you'll be sorely disappointed. Throughout the city of Avignon and inside the ruins of the Papacy I did not find one single, solitary Saint medal. Zip. Nada. None. There were a few crosses here and there and one store had a handful of Rosaries for sale but I could not find one Saint medal. My "brilliant" plan to add different Saints from Avignon was a complete, utter, total failure. You live, and you learn.

The region of Provence is beautiful. The little towns are set apart in locations that make it possible to visit 2 or 3 or 4 little cities in a day and each has its own unique charm. But the town I loved best was Saint Remy and it's not because of its name. After our trip to Avignon we decided to do "day trips" and try and visit the towns on the days when they held their outdoor markets. Since looking for Saint medals had not worked out too well, looking for things to decorate our house that was being rebuilt after the flood seemed like a good plan and a welcome diversion. We found great fabric for curtains, and a beautiful lithograph of a street scene that reminded us of a small town we had biked through in Belgium. We found great gifts and we happened upon a street fair that was very much like a yard sale with lots of recycled treasures at bargain prices. Since I have never been able to kick my habit of going to yard sales, I was in a bit of heaven to be at a "yard sale" in St. Remy. It was my favorite part of our trip.

But when you travel with others you have to make some concessions. And since there were lots of places to go and things to see, I was prodded a bit to "hurry up" through the street sale. Left to my own devices I probably would stay at a yard sale or a thrift store all day long, or at least until I found something truly spectacular to my mind. But my friends wanted to move along so when I came across a vendor who was selling some Saint medals, I did not really take the time to sift through what was for sale and instead, bought every medal that was for sale, for a total of about 2 Euros, or 3 dollars.

On our way to the next town, while we were in the car, I took the Saint medals I bought out of my pocket and started looking at the Saints I found. I was very happy to see a round Saint Rocco (Rock, Roch) medal, the patron of dog lovers, as it/he is one of my favorites. I liked the others too and then noticed a medal that was thicker than the rest. It was a Saint Jean Marie Baptiste medal and I recognized him because my dear friend from college, Debbie "Rowdie" Woessner, a schoolteacher in Florida, had ordered his medal package recently and I recalled writing his story for her. As I looked at the medal it started to fall apart! It seemed to, anyway, but then I realized the medal was not a medal and was instead, a locket. Cast on the front of the medal is an image of Jean Vianney and the letters

" SAINT J.B. VIANNEY CURE D'ARS P.P.N."

On its back, the medal has inscribed:

" LINCE AYANT APPARTENU AU SAINT CURE D ARS ."

Inside the Saint medal/locket is a piece of glass and behind it is a small piece of Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney's robe.

It is fitting we tell our story of Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney and his relic today, on his Feast Day. Jean Vianney was a great priest of the town of Ars. He always wanted to be a priest but many felt he did not possess the intellect necessary. He failed in his studies and he failed again. But he never gave up and he eventually succeeded and became the priest he always wanted to be. He is perhaps best known as a most dedicated confessor. He would work tirelessly bringing people back to the Church through Reconciliation. Saint Jean would hear Confession for 12 hours a day in winter and up to 16 hours a day in summer. He brought many back to the Church. http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ will never, ever, come close to measuring up to the successes of Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney but we will keep following his lead, trying to bring people "lapsed" in their Faith, back through the doors of the Church. And "lifting spirits, one saint at a time."

EPILOGUE:

We still have the relic of Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney. It is a treasure. But we also realize that we cannot keep it and that it must be passed on to a group or entity closely associated with the life and vision of Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney so that many can enjoy its beauty. We welcome advice and suggestions about the appropriate placement of this Saint Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney's relic as we know that some things are meant to be shared, not kept.

Thank You!

Thank you's...

Thanks to:

* http://www.catholicanalysis.blogspot.com/ and its founder, Oswald Sobrino, for including and recommending http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ in the August 2, 2007 edition of the blog! We are honored to be included.

* http://www.sqpn.com/ , ( "The Best in Catholic Podcasting ") and "The SaintCast with Paul Camarata" for mentioning us in Podcast # 63, titled, "Saint Anne."

* http://www.CatholicBlogs.blogspot.com/ for adding us to their impressive roster of blogs.

* http://www.pewsitter.com/ for designing a great advertisement for us and putting our link on their front page.

* And most especially, y o u ... for visiting this blog and helping to spread the word about http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ , the home of hand-painted saint medals and serenity stories.

All the best,

rob clemenz, founder

http://www.saintsforsinners.com/

"The saints are the sinners who keep on trying." Robert Louis Stevenson

New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees Makes Dog's Day!

Drew Brees Meets and Greets his Canine Fans!

The New Orleans Times-Picayune staff photographer Chris Granger took a great photograph of New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees as he was spending some quality time with a four legged fan/friend, "Ellie," a pomeranian. Ellie went to the Saints training camp recently and like, the dog pictured here, "Mookie," Ellie was dressed in a Saints jersey. Ellie's human, Jay Crosthwait, of Jackson, Mississippi, gave Ellie a boost and Brees gladly signed her Saints shirt. The photograph of Ellie, Drew, and Jay clearly shows that our New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees is "dog's best friend."

Bereavement...

On Death and Dying...

Yesterday afternoon we got another one of "those calls." It was from Jessica, a long-time member of the "saintsforsinners.com family." She asked for a saint Elizabeth Ann Seton http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_elizabeth_ann_seton_medal_story.htm medal package, so I suspected she was looking for comfort after the loss of a loved one, and sad to say, I was right. A 4 year old boy had died and Jessica wanted Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton because she thought Saint Elizabeth could help a Mom grieving the loss of her child. I agreed with her wholeheartedly. The Roman Catholic Church does not yet proclaim Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton as a Saint who can help with bereavement but at http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ she is most definitely our "go to gal" for help with dealing with tragedy.

Elizabeth Ann Seton is the first American born saint. She enjoyed a life of wealth; her father was a doctor and professor at Kings College ( now known as Columbia University ) and her grandfather was an Episcopalian Minister. Elizabeth married and had 5 children but her daughters, Anna and Rebecca, died long before Elizabeth. She obviously knew what is was like to lose a child. Her mother died when Elizabeth was 3 years old so she knew what it was like to lose a Mom at a very young age. Her husband died when Elizabeth was only 29. Her father also died early in her life. Elizabeth Ann Seton experienced many tragedies early in her life. And she faced rejection and ostracism when she chose to become a Roman Catholic.

Through all of her tragedy and sadness, Elizabeth found the will to persevere. She carried on and did many remarkable things. Elizabeth founded the Daughters of Charity of Saint Joseph and was a brilliant educator, though not only through "book" learning. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton also teaches all of us by the example of her storied life. She always carried on and put her best foot forward in the many faces of adversity that were continually being presented.

If you go to our testimonial page you can read a lovely, heartbreakingly candid story from another saintsforsinners.com family member who has been able to "channel" some strength from the life of Elizabeth Ann Seton. And if you ever find yourself in the difficult position of needing to comfort someone as they endure the loss of a child, or if you experience this tragedy yourself, try to rely on saint Elizabeth Ann Seton for help, guidance, and perseverance. Should you wish to touch her image and grasp her strength with her medal, simply ask for one and it will be on its way to you without delay.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Jessica and her family today and we know saint Elizabeth Ann Seton will soon be doing her important work, helping those who must endure painful tragedies in life.

Saint Agatha Visits Nora Roberts to Offer Comfort

Saint Agatha visits Robin Roberts

Saint Agatha, the Saintly Patroness invoked for help with cancer issues, has gone to ABC News anchor Robin Roberts, in an effort to help her find peace and comfort during a difficult time. Saint Agatha, known specifically for her association with those recovering from breast cancer, said "Robin Roberts can prevail through her ordeal, and in doing so, help millions of others in similar situations." Ms. Roberts has a tie to the home base of http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ , since her sister, Sally Ann Roberts is a television anchor at WWL TV on Rampart Street in the historic French Quarter. Saint Agatha will be looking after both Roberts sisters as well as the rest of their family. Two other ladies are also going to join this battle to help Robin Roberts. They are two lovely ladies named Our Lady of Prompt Succor ( "Quick Help" and Our Lady of Perpetual Succor ( "Constant Help"). All of us at www.saintsforsinners.com , as well as our communion of saints will be praying for the Robin Roberts family, her friends, and her colleagues. Saint Agatha asks that you too, say a prayer for Robin and her family.

Saint Margaret's Mission

Saint Margaret takes on Challenging Mission

http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ 's dear sweet saint Margaret of Antioch http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_margaret_medal_story.htm is packing her bags to begin several months of miracle work in California. At the most recent saint Monopoly Tournament, after 657 years, it turned out that the finalists were "saint" Clare, the patroness of television, "saint" Gabriel, the Arch Angel and saint Margaret, the fertility/safe pregnancy saint. It was a slow moving final game since Clare owned the green "Pennsylvania properties" along with the hostel-like Mediterranean and Baltic Avenue properties near "GO" and Gabe and Margaret pretty evenly split up the rest of the board except for Broadway & Park Place, which were split between Clare and Margaret and thus,not a factor.

At some point Clare was talking about the new TV shows coming out and said she was enjoying "John from Cincinnati." Margaret asked if God was on that show and Clare quickly changed the subject and began listing the recently canceled shows. When she said "The Simple Life" was ending its run, Gabriel said he was happy since "Nicole is in a family way." Margaret was quite surprised to hear Nicole Richie had gotten pregnant since there were no safe pregnancy prayers on her roster coming from the Richies. Gabriel explained that was because they were praying to a new saint for safe pregnancy, Philomena, and also to the Arch Angel Raphael, for happy news. Although Margaret was hurt and felt left out, she admitted that Nicole was in good hands with Philomena and Raphael. Until Philomena called the Monopoly Tournament asking to speak to Margaret! Moments later, Margaret started playing erratically; she traded all her properties to Clare to get Park Place and quickly built motels. But she kept landing in places where she could not afford to stay and was soon the 3rd place finisher, whereupon she announced, "I am going to California with Philomena and Raphael."

It turned out that Nicole had disregarded Philomena's instruction to lie low during the pregnancy and instead went on television with Daine Sawyer of "Good Morning America" to tell the world she and her baby's father, rocker Joel Madden, were going to be parents. This alarmed her appointed saints and they came running to the Mother of safe pregnancy help, Saint Margaret, for help. The three of them will be staying with Nicole and Joel until the baby is born and then the patrons of Moms, Gerard and Ann, will both stay with Nicole for as long as it is necessary for the family to thrive.

Saint Margaret said the baby boy would likely be named Lowell and he is tentatively scheduled to be born near the escalators at the Beverly Center on New Year's Eve Eve. She also acknowledged she heard Mr. Madden humming Paul Anka's "(You're) Having My Baby" during commercials at ABC. Mr. Anka, upon hearing the news said, "That song definitely has one more # 1 hit left in it."

Saint Martin of Tours Celebrates NHL Hockey Player Patrick Kane!

Saints Martin of Tours and Saint Sebastian

Celebrate NHL Hockey Player Patrick Kane!

http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ 's big time partying saint, Martin of Tours, patron of wine lovers and bartenders, has been holding a week long celebration inside the Pearly Gates of Heaven. The reason? One of his esteemed students from his Saint Martin of Tours school in South Buffalo, New York, Patrick Kane, has been named the # 1 selection in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Saint Sebastian, patron of athletes http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_sebastian_athletes_medal_story.htm is also co-ordinating the celebratory events. Saint Martin has raving about Patrick Kane and all the saints are excited to hear this handsome, sensitive fellow will be playing professional hockey for the Chicago Blackhawks as their rookie Right Wing. In a sport known for being rough, physical and painful, Patrick Kane appears to be worthy of breaking the stereotypes and bringing some welcome finesse to the game. This young man is not afraid to be himself, even if his kinder, gentler personality might be atypical. Patrick Kane is a humble and self-deprecating guy. He told a story to writer Michael Schmidt about playing in one of his first big hockey matches as a boy. He said he "I went out on the ice with my skates on." But he couldn't figure out why he "kept falling." He says he eventually realized, "I went out with my skate guards on." Asked about his weaknesses, he freely acknowledged, as a smaller player, his strength may be his biggest weakness. But he is not afraid to throw himself out there. He recently went to see the Chicago Cubs and sang his heart out while performing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the "7th Inning Stretch." He also talked about being "into '90's love songs, like Natalie Merchant's 'Kind and Generous.' " And he also later proclaimed "I like chicklite stuff. I like love songs, and when I saw 'The Pursuit of Happyness," I cried. http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ , our very own saint Martin of Tours, and the communion of all our saints wish the very best for Chicago Blackhawks right wing and promise to look after him throughout the season. Our only request: please continue to be the refreshing, wholesome, kind-hearted man you have become! If you do, we're sure there will be 10,000 Maniacs cheering for you in the stands at every game!

USA Today's Great New Way ...

USA Today's Henry G. Brinton's Notso Manic Monday

Henry Brinton wrote a great article in today's "USA Today" on page 11A http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/07/faith-at-the-of.html and presented a thoughtful column about the "value of integrating religion and work in meaningful ways." Brinton was not preachy in his article; instead he offered that creating an inclusive workplace that taps into the resources of religious traditions could help to foster a better sense of community in the workplace. And he followed up with this crystal clear caveat that "such behavior doesn't mean proselytizing on the job." When I read the article I felt as though Mr. Brinton was speaking for and about http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ .

Although http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ is all about the Old Age Saints, in many ways it is less about Catholicism and religion than it is about history and the concept of trying to help others through sharing the lives of people in history who have stood for something. Folks who tried to do the right thing. It just so happened those folks in history have been declared saints by the Roman Catholic Church, or Holy See. So, naturally Catholics grasp the concept quite readily and revere the saints we have written about as well as their medals we paint so vividy. But, over the years, it seems we have also heard from a great number of people who like the concept of identifying with a saint, yet, are, for whatever reason, less entrenched in the teachings of strict religious principles. I think Mr. Brinton and SaintsforSinners.com share the same ethos, the idea that following "Golden Rule" principles can make us all better people. The hard part is doing it day after day and week after week - not just during an hour a week at Church but also on line at the slow moving toll booth, or while sifting through a voice mail maze at "Most Companys Today," or when encountering a person with a view point and personality entirely different than our own. To make it through those snapshots in time, we all can use a little help.

And that's where the idea of integrating religion and work (and life) seems beauteous! But that's not saying it's easy to do. A saintsforsinners.com case in point, for illustration: Long ago, a member of our saintsforsinners.com family suggested that I should try and get my hand painted saint medals and serenity stories in Cosmopolitan Magazine. It sounded good to me so I practiced due diligence and bought issues of the magazine, lugged them home ( if you carry a few copies of Cosmo around you'll soon develop a newfound respect for any postal worker who has to deliver it on their route every month. It's heavy! ) ane set about reading the articles and figuring out how saintsforsinners.com medals could fit into the pages of the magazine. Some of my friends in the media business offered great tips and soon I was ready to make the call to talk to a real live person at Cosmo. So, I rang her up and amazingly got through on my first try. I spoke to a lovely lady who was polite and cordial, listened to my ideas, and offered encouragement. I felt hand-painted saintsforsinners.com medals would soon be blessing the pages of Cosmo! So, I fine tuned my concept and suggested ways to offer free medal packages to readers as prizes, or in a give-a-way or some sort of contest. Saints Valentine and Agnes, our patrons of love were ready to be sent out of the factory and off to Cosmo. They felt "love" was perfect for Cosmo and I could not find a reason to dispute their notion.

To make this story short, it turned out that many at Cosmo embraced the medals and loved our "serenity for sharing" concept. Pretty soon I was directed to the Editorial Department to make my pitch. And that's where the whole house of cards came falling down for saintsforsinners.com's plan to unite in a project with Cosmopolitan. I was politely told, by a lady whose name was Gloria ( I think ), that Cosmo just did not "do religion." Because it would invariably offend someone so as a general policy rule, religion-type things are typically "passed" at Cosmo. This was where I quickly backpedaled, saying "the saints are not really about religion, they are about serenity for sharing." Gloria was not buying it and my cosmopolitan plan to unite saintsforsinners.com with the biggest magazine in the world fell apart. Butl like Chumbawamba I got up again and our hand-painted medal images were soon gracing the pages of OK! Magazine, Portland Monthly and a host of others. One door closes .... you know the rest.

I like the fact that today, July 30, 2007, Henry G. Brinton has written, in the world's largest newspaper, that "spirituality has begun to move into the workplace." He writes that many companies, like Coca-Cola and Microsoft, are becoming more faith-friendly. He says that people want to "bring their whole selves to work, - mind, body and spirit -instead of having to leave their soul" at the door of the lobby of their office. I think he's right and I fervently hope he's on to something. Because, if he is, you may just see our http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ medals on the pages of a huge Hearst publication some day. One can only hope. And pray. If not, maybe things will go better with Coke!

THE SAINTS ARE COMING: A CALL FOR ENTRIES!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like New Orleans Saints Sign-Making Time...

A Call for Entries....

Real Life Wonder Animals!

A Tribute to Quentin & Oscar: Real Life Wonder Animals!

The New England Journal of Medicine has reported that Oscar the Cat (How can I not capitalize "Cat" in this instance?) can determine when a person is going to die at the Steere Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, where he lives. http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/4/328 And, as a hard working feline, Oscar makes sure he snuggles up close to the person who is getting ready to pass away, to provide purrfect comfort during their twilight hours.

In Saint Louis, Moussouri, http://www.strayrescue.org/ founder Randy Grim is the human for another exceptional animal, Quentin the Miracle Dog. Quentin is a Dog who survived the gas chamber and who, like Oscar, has taken on full time employment. He is working to help stray dogs throughout the country. Quentin is also the subject of a wonderful book, "Miracle Dog - How Quentin Survived the Gas Chamber to Speak for Animals on Death Row." With a wonderful foreward by Dr. Jane Goodall, this book is a true "Must Read."

The saints known to be closely linked with animals are the obvious, saint Francis of Assisi, the patron of animal lovers and birding enthusiasts, saint Roch, the patron of dog lovers, and saint Hubert, http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_hubert_medal_story.htm the patron saint invoked to protect folks from encountering rabies, among other things. We have pictured the hand-painted saint Hubert medal above, with a stag to his right and a loyal Dog on his left. It's nice to know that these saints are able to represent our four legged friends and offer their various protections to all of us.

And, on a comical note, it is fun to examine the saint Hubert medal very carefully.... If you look at the medal you will see that there is a cross in the antlers of the stag next to saint Hubert. Hubert saw that cross while hunting one Sunday and it drove him straight to the church, where he belonged on Sundays! Now keep that image of Hubert, the cross and the stag in mind the next time you go to a bar or a liquor store. Before you start drinikng, take a close look at a bottle of Jagermeiser. You will see the image of the cross and the stag in the center of the green and orange bottle. And if you drink the contents of the bottle you may turn into Dr. Doolittle and start conversing with saint Hubert, the stag and the dog. If you do and if they have anything interesting say, please let us know what you talked about. And if you want to wear an image of saint Hubert, you know where to find a nice one!

Saint Anthony, Come on Down ... I'm Searching for Answers About the War.

Searching for Answers about the War

Today I'm asking saint Anthony .... http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_anthony_medal_story.htm to "come on down to help me find" ... answers. Many believe that saint Anthony helps people find lost objects, like car keys and wallets, but the saint Anthony I have grown to know and love has left such findings to his apprentices and their assistants and interns in Heaven. My saint Anthony helps folks find peace, comfort, tranquility, and understanding, to name a few qualities. And that is why I am calling on him today.... because it is a very perplexing day. The newspapers have shown that there were a "few moments of joy in Baghdad" yesterday. The Iraqi national socccer team advanced to the Asian Cup Championship Match and the pictures in the papers have shown delighted Iraqi children waving their country's flags while smiling and cheering for their team. It seemed like a perfect day for the youngsters and for all of the law-abiding Iraqi citizens everywhere. Sadly, it was also reported by New York Times writers Richard Oppel, Jr. and Qais Miller that, on that same day, bombs "killed at least 50 Iraqi people and wounded 135 more." Another article about Iraq and the War, by writer Michael Cieply, told of Hollywood actors Tommy Lee Jones, Susan Sarandon, John Cusack, Ryan Phillippe and others playing roles in upcoming movies that will tell stories about the War and its aftermath. Paul Haggis, the writer and director who won lots of awards for his movie "Crash" last year, will be presenting a movie called "In the Valley of Elah." In the movie, there is a scene where it is shown that the American flag is being "flown upside down in the heartland, the signal of extreme distress." The notion of flying the flag upside down is what led me to try and find answers and thus, I have been calling upon saint Anthony to come on down and visit and help me learn "what is the ring thing to do?" A part of me wants to go fly a flag upside down and put an upside down flag bumper sticker on my car. If that is the signal of extreme distress, it seems appropriate. I am distressed about the War. But then, another part of me feels that by waving an upside down flag, an argument could be made that you were against our soldiers and did not care about them, when nothing could be further from the truth. My heart aches for the families who have suffered because of this War and all Wars. The residual impact of War has affected me many times. As a boy I was told that my father went to fight in World War II and I know he was a decorated hero of the War. But I was also told that when my father went to fight for our country he left America with a wonderful personality and came back, after 6 years, with a very different, not so wonderful personality. He never spoke of the War and there was some unspoken rule that let me know it was not appropriate to ask questions about those 6 years of my father's life. In retrospect, I wish I had broken the rule and asked some questions but I did not and can not since my father has gone to eternal rest. I only know that War changed my Dad and made him less of a person.

It seems likely there will be people flying flags upside down very soon. It seems appropriate if flying an upside down flag is indeed meant to show extreme distress about the War. I'm so distressed about the War and Wars in general that I find myself thinking of an upside down flag tattoo! But first I must wait it out for a while with dear saint Anthony, who will help me find out whether flying such a flag is the right thing to do. Maybe flying an upside down falg could successfully send the right message, elevate the level of debate about the War, and bring all of our soldiers home safely while leaving the Iraqis in a place where they can celebrate joyous occasions, like winning soccer games on behalf of their country. I hope saint Anthony will hear my call but I also realize he is very busy, because it seems like no one can find the answers about this horrible War. I'm sure his phone is ringing off the hook.

"Saint Anna" - Dr. Anna Pou, Louisiana's Living Saint

HEAVENLY PRESS RELEASE

Saint Thomas More Celebrates Courage & Conviction of Dr. Anna Pou!

CONTACT: Saint Thomas More,

1. 800. PRAYERS

(772.9377)

http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ ' s Saint Thomas More, http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_thomas_medal_story.htm a saint who was viciously and unfairly persecuted during his time on earth, has scheduled a Lecture Series in Heaven to review and study the courage and conviction of the formerly persecuted and now exonerated, Dr. Anna Pou. The event will occur Now. It was Dr. Pou who was unfathomly considered to be a criminal for selflessly, tirelessy, benevolently, and lovingly caring for the sick in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing flood. The flood is known in Heaven as the worst natural and man-made disaster to ever occur on American soil. Numerous saints are clamoring to participate in what saint Valentine has said will be a "true and very much deserved Love Festival for Dr. Pou," whose name will also be presented to the Holy Family as a "Living Person Worthy of Sainthood" ( "LPWOS" ). Hundreds of Saints in Heaven have already signed a Petition In Favor of Future Sainthood for Pou, to be given to Jesus at the end of the Lecture Series.

The saints for those sick with cancer, Peregrine and Agatha, will be honoring Dr. Pou's commitment to providing help to the elderly and infirm during their bleakest hours. Saint Maximilian Kolbe, the patron of the Holocaust, will moderate a panel discussion on Selflessness entitled "The Powers of Pou." Our Lady of Guadalupe will be providing her customary "Special Favors" to all who attend the series.

The cost for the event is the usual 3 prayers and 3 caring gestures to be poured on deserving and undeserving people on Earth by the saints in attendance. Seating is not limited as "All are Welcome in Heaven."

http://www.saintsforsinners.com/

11 Year Old Declared Genius at SaintsforSinners.com Convention

Saints Luke, Cosmos & Damien Discuss Bush's Polyps

Doctor Saints Comment on Disparity in Health

Care Availability, Noting W's Preferential Treatment

Three http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ saints for Doctors, Luke [ http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_luke_medal_story.htm ] and twins Cosmos & Damien, [ http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_cosmos_and_damien_medal_story.htm ] met days ago in heaven to discuss the recent surgery of George Bush. They noted that President Bush had 5 small polyps removed from his colon by very capable doctors and recalled that he had this procedure performed in 1998 and 1999.

Saint Luke called in the patron saint of accountants, saint Matthew, [ http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_matthew_medal_story.htm ]who added and then reported that Mr. Bush has thus had 3 preventive measure surgeries on his colon.

It was then noted that not everyone on earth is so fortunate to have such preventitive health measures and care so readily available, like the very fortunate and privileged president Bush. They then channeled some thoughts into Dr. Margot Kushel, M.D., in San Francisco, California, and helped her write a short yet brilliant letter to the newspapers to try and educate the public about the alarming disparity in health care. Her letter was published today, July 24, 2007, in the New York Times, and she articulately noted that you can't have polyp removal surgery in the Emergency Room. She must have said this because Mr. Bush recently commented that the "E.R." is a form universal health care.

All of the saints at the meeting were dubious of this claim and CBS Anchor Woman Katie Couric's former husband, Jay Monahan, [ http://www.monahancenter.org/ ] who died from colon cancer, implored all the saints to "wake up the American public about the urgent need for health care for all." The patron saint invoked during emergencies, saint Expedite, [ http://www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/saint_expedite_medal_story.htm ] also fretted, saying "some folks have dozens of polyps in their colon and can't get the care they need." He lamented that "many Americans do not even know they are in emergency situations." The saints for doctors will continue to monitor this issue and took time to offer special blessings to Doctor Kushel in San Francisco for heightening awareness about the very serious health care problem(s) facing many in America (and elsewhere).

Saint Cecilia's Repotoire to Honor Ron Miller

Saint Cecilia Pays Homage to

Motown Songwriter Ron Miller

Earlier today, at 2:00 A.M., EST, http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ 's Saint Cecilia, the Patroness of music lovers and musicians, hastily called an Emergency Meeting of all the Saints to formally request that today, July 24, 2007, be declared "Ron Miller's Motown Day." Her proposal was approved by acclamation. Mr. Miller was Motown Record's first white songwriter and died on July 23, 2007.

Saint Cecilia brought in a number of Motown greats to sing songs during her presentation. Marvin Gaye sang a beautiful rendition of Miller's "Touch Me in the Morning." Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland performed "For Once in My Life." Biz Markie and Tupac Shakur rapped their way through "Yester-me, Yester-you, Yesterday" to critical acclaim and the meeting ending with former members of the Temptations singing "Heaven Help Us All" in an acappella version that moved several saints, as well as the dearly departed Ron Miller, to tears. A celebration of Mr. Miller's life followed and is ongoing at blogtime.

Accrding to former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood (now nicknamed "Thoroughly Good") Marshall, Mr. Miller, is having a wonderful time in Heaven visiting his family and friends in the music and entertainment industry. The musical session was recorded perfectly and several versions are available on www. IHeavenlyTunesandConcerts.God, available by invitation only.

All living friends and family of Mr. Ron Miller should "be assured that Ron is enjoying his eternal resting place," according to saint Cecilia.

Rhymes with Muse

July 23, 2007

NEWS, PHEWS, Points of VIEW, the burning FUSE & a bit of a HEW & a sincere THANK YOU!

Greetings, folks and I hope all of you are doing well during these "dogs days of summer." I must first apologize for being an absent blogger for so long. There are many plans, ideas, and notions flickering along and the light has been too bright and too dark to focus. But, "that was then and this is now" ( ASIDE # 1: Props to S.E. Hinton for writing that great book, along with "The Outsiders" and "Rumble Fish" and while I'm at it, major props to The Police member, Stewart Copeland for creating the stellar soundtrack to "Rumble Fish." Now that's what I call music! ) and I am going to try my best to post here every day.... Again, sorry to have been away so long...

OK, here goes:

NEWS:

Our house is starting to look like a house, finally. You can see some images at http://www.returntogeneraldiaz.blogspot.com/ - I'm in regular contact with http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ saints Barbara the builder's saint, and saint Joseph the Worker and they seem to be answering our calls as the house looks better and better every day.

We are experimenting with advertising by joining forces with http://www.pewsitter.com/ and if you go there you will see our very first online advertisement. If you are a part of our group that are followers of The Catechism of the Catholic Church, I recommend a visit to Pewsitter as it offers a plethora of information for the truly devout. Please post a comment and let us know what you think of our ad!

Along the same line, we were happy to be included in a "saintcast" podcast on http://www.sqpn.com/, the "best in Catholic Podcasting." Dr. Paul Camarata mentioned us in his recent audio broadcast (the one about saint Anne) and he linked us there too. If you go to http://www.sqpn.com/, scroll down and you will see Paul's saintcast link. We are making future plans with Dr. Camarata but that news comes later in our BURNING FUSE section.

We read a very poignant article about former New York Met catcher and current Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball player Mike Piazza recently. He spoke of his faith and his family and how he felt guided and gifted with his faith. He was not preachy but he carefully presented his points of view that showed him to be extremely articulate and reasoned in his approach to life. So, all of the saints at http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ met and decided I will be sending him a hand-painted saint Michael medal package along with a Saint Joseph package since that's his middle name, according to http://www.espn.com/. It will be interesting to find out if we hear back from him. If you know of someone who should receive a free hand-painted saint medal package, please let me know and I'll ask the saints if I can send one out!

BACK TO PEWS:

If you are saying prayers, please do a "shout out" or 2 or 3 or 4 to saint Gertrude, patron of cats and saint Francis, patron of animal lovers and ask them to look after our cat Natasha who is 17 and starting to have some kidney failure problems. The saints have been looking after her already. We felt she was ready to leave us for the Pearly Gates and a visit with saint Peter, Heaven's Gatekeeper, but after a trip to see the New Orleans veterinarian, Dr. Chris Algero, she has rebounded quite well and is doing much better. Thank you, Dr. Algero, Thank you, saint Gertrude and many thanks to you, saint Francis!

HEWS:

OK, please let me know if I should keep this "HEWS" section going - "hew", according to the OED, basically means to "chop up into pieces".... So, here goes:

Mr. Jack Valenti, the famous chief of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) died recently and many, like Alan Horn of Warner Brothers, lamented his passing and had lots of kind things to say at his funeral/memorial service on July 19th, 2007.

And then his daughter, Alexandra, took the podium and gave quite a stirring eulogy about her dad. You might reasonably argue she took a page from the playbook of good ole' saint Theresa of Avila, who was well known for speaking her mind and even yelled at Jesus when he was bothering her.... Alexandra said she finally understood what it meant to "hunker down like a jackass in a hailstorm" which was a saying her Dad used. She went on to say her Dad had more energy than anyone but she was also very forthright and candid in her eulogy. She dropped a bomb about the actor Warren Beatty. She said Mr. Beatty once called her up after her Dad had suffered a stroke but Mr. Beatty might need some lessons in how to offer compassionate condolences. He told Alexandra that her father's stroke had been "really inconvenient for" him. Ouch. I'm not sure whether Alexandra apologized to Mr. Beatty for her father having a stroke. I hope she didn't. If Mr. Beatty keeps making insensitive remarks like that our guess is that his beautiful wife, Annette Bening, will be floating away from him like the plastic bag in "American Beauty." As Jodie Sweeten from "Full House" often said, "How Rude!"

BURNING FUSE:

Some upcoming things we are going to write about once their fuses burn down a bit more;

1. We will be writing about http://www.teamtootb.com/ , Lee Mortenson, Race Car Driver Bob Emery and saint Richard of Chichester (who uses the superior oil, Amsoil, when he races in Heaven);

2. We will be presenting a playlist from Wilco musician Jeff Tweedy;

3. We will have some news about http://www.sqpn.com/ and http://www.saintsforsinners.com/.

4. We will be following your advice on where to take the blog so please do comment and let us know what to keep, what to discard and what to add!

"THAT's SO RANDOM" CONGRATULATIONS DEPARTMENT:

This is a bit from the http://www.saintsforsinners.com/ "random acts of kindness" file. Sarah Bryant and Erik Cetrulo were married this past weekend in New England. Sarah graduated from Colgate University, one of the most beautiful campuses in the world, located in Hamilton, N.Y., and Erik graduated from Stanford, a school we have never been to ( but we love their baseball cap ). We wanted to offer our sincere congratulations to them, even though we have never met them before. BUT ... we have seen their photograph in the newspaper and these two folks are both g o r g e o u s. PHEW! It's getting hot in here.... May God Bless you both with a lovely and enduring union.

An Irishmen won the British Open - good ole Padraig Harrington beat Sergio Garcia. He is the first Irish guy to win the British Open in a million years (slight exaggeration).

FINAL THANK YOU & ADIEU:

Thanks to Los Angeles Stylist Extraordinaire Kenny Wujeck for taking a look at our hand-painted saint medal designs! And a message to all before we say 'goodbye' - never underestimate the kindness of strangers!

THAT's ALL FOLKS - post a comment if you can -

Peace.

rob clemenz @ www.saintsforsinners.com

Happy Birthday, SaintsforSinners!

It is amazing 10 years have gone by since the day www.saintsforsinners.com officially began. I was living at 856 City Park Avenue in New Orleans and my friend Mary had inspired me to try and paint the Saint medals. I had been toying with the notion of staining the medals different colors but that just was not working out. The first set of painted medals that went out were mostly Saint Christopher, the patron of travelers www.saintsforsinners.com/stories/christopher.htm .

Mary actually painted the first one and I had it on my bulletin board prior to the flood in '05. Rick Duplantier was celebrating his birthday and he had a party. I gave hand-painted Saint Christopher medals and story cards to everyone at the party. They were really well-received and I thought they would be passed around a lot since the story card I wrote about Saint Christopher specifically said "Wear this medal for a short time and then share it with someone you love." Back then, the cards were laminated so the instruction was pretty much indelible. The folks liked their medals. The idea of having everyone give them away? That idea tanked!

I remember being happy that people were liking the hand-painted medals and stories and it gave me a boost when, after weeks had gone by, friends were still wearing the medals. I didn't realize people would get emotionally attached to their hand-painted saint medals, but they did. That was a blessing and a curse. If people were keeping the medals to themselves, my "serenity for sharing" concept was tanking just like the "share this medal with someone you love" notion was failing. Still, it was fun and exciting and invigorating to have the saints in my life and to be spreading them around. I don't know if I truly knew where I was going or what I was doing, but it was clear that at least a little bit of serenity was being spread and shared.

Fast forward and 10 years have zoomed by. Incredible. It seems like yesterday when I saw Mary painting that first medal on the porch of our house. I do remember she had painted Saint Christopher in all the rainbow colors. He looked pretty fabulous.

And now I have several saint medal hunting trips to Roma under my belt, hundreds of free saint stories written on the web site, several hundred different saint medals available, and with many more to come. 10 years is a long time. But it went by in a blink it seems. I think I need to send some love and serenity and most of all, appreciation to my friend Mary today. It was unknown to us at the time, but she was paving the way for me to change my life. I'm following my bliss as a full time j.o.b. and am so grateful to Mary for helping me to take those first baby steps. I think someone will be getting flowers today!

peace - rob clemenz @ www.saintsforsinners.com p.s. - I promised to talk about the pictures today but am going to hold off on that until tomorrow.

Hello All - Welcome to the Blog!

Hi Everyone - Welcome to the first blog from rob on the new www.saintsforsinnners.com blog. After lots of trials and tribulations, a few learning curves were finally passed and we are ready to entertain a few select visitors (that would be you)! An official blogwarming party is in our future. We hope to provide a place to visit to try and refresh and renew and "reify." A place where the positives in life are fondly highlighted and the lows are hopefully given a bit of a lift. A place for hope and faith and love. There will be lots of work to do to catch up with all the erudite bloggers but with persistence, perseverance and undoubtedly, the help of some old age saints, we will prevail as a blogging presence on the world wide web. Please check back from time to time and see how we are making out. This is hopefully the beginning of an exciting journey. Tomorrow, June 11, 2007 marks the 10th Anniversary of the creation of www.SaintsforSinners.com. It has been quite a ride! Thanks to all of you for embracing a kernel of an inkling of an idea wrapped in a riddle and helping to make it through some literally treacherous waters. We made it through the rain. We did it! Let's see where the the second decade takes us; put on your seat belts, Mulholland Drive can't even compare to the curvy road we are attempting to navigate. Who knew? Not me, that's for sure. The first links I added are "Return to General Diaz," which is basically a chronicle of the rebuilding of our home, "Tennis Served Fresh" a site committed to discussing all things tennis, and finally www.mayasmom.com, a site I discovered yesterday. It's a web site devoted to celebrating the role of being a Mom, perhaps the most important, vital role of all, in my opinion. Thanks to all of you and to Saint Isidore the farmer and Patron Saint of the Internet for guiding us along over the past 10 years. If you care to post a note, you can register OR you can just take the easiest route and just post "anonymously" by checking "anonymous" and then you can always just add your name or nickname to the bottom if you like. peace - rob clemenz @ www.saintsforsinners.com p.s. - I will explain the pictures tomorrow!