We love the whole idea of Saints, don’t we?
    Of course, we define the word “saint” in dozens of different ways.
    In classic Christianity, saints are people who have made it into Heaven. Protestants tend to associate this with the Catholic church, but most Protestants regularly affirm that they believe in “the communion of saints.”
    Some saints have been canonized — which means that church leaders have decided they demonstrated enough “heroic virtue” that these saints are officially recommended as spiritual models for people around the world.

    Saints are hugely popular these days. In fact, some of the hottest spiritual Web sites provide daily meditations on the saints. Here’s a link to one of the best: Saint of the Day.
    But that’s just scratching the surface, right?
    Saints are also a football team. Or, if you’re reading this in the UK, they’re a rugby team from Northampton. In Korea, it’s the name of a top center for scientific research on microscopic technology.
    A number of rock bands around the world have used the name, not to mention hundreds, if not thousands, of composers through the centuries.
    Saint also is the infamous nickname of Simon Templar, a crook
turned Robin Hood who was the main character in best-selling novels, TV shows and
movies.   
    Saints are all over the map — quite literally, including in many U.S. states.

    TODAY, we’re going to invite you to have some fun with an aspect of saints that has become a part of popular culture: the idea that many saints are “patrons” of particular groups and situations down here on Earth.
    Who hasn’t heard of a friend burying a St. Joseph statue, in these tough financial times, to help them smoothly sell their home? Who doesn’t know that St. Jude is the patron of seemingly “lost causes”? And, who doesn’t know a traveler who wears a St. Christopher medal?
    This is a rich, and sometimes macabre, source for writers, filmmakers and artists.
    For instance, do you know why St. Lawrence is the patron of cooks? Because, when the Romans tortured and killed him in the 3rd Century, they did so by grilling him to death. Bravely keeping the faith until the end, St. Lawrence’s final words were: “I’m done on this side! Turn me over!”
    Ouch!
    (That’s St. Lawrence supposedly roasting in the painting at left from an antique prayer card featured in today’s recommended book: “This Saint’s For You!” by Thomas Craughwell.)

    THIS QUIZ is a Mix ‘n’ Match puzzle, based on the stories of patron saints included in “This Saint’s For You.” There are hundreds of books about saints available these days, but this is one of the most delightful collections I’ve seen in recent years. Not only is it packed with saints, whose lives are nicely summarized by Craughwell, but the book also provides about 200 full-color images of these fascinating old prayer cards.
     INTRIGUED? Well, click on the book cover or the illustrations and you can read a fuller review — and consider
buying a copy through our Amazon-related store.

    Try to match these 10 saints with the groups that regard them as patrons.

    Then, when you think you’ve got them lined up correctly, click on the link at the
end — and the correct answers will pop up. If you’re a daily subscriber by
Email (you can sign up for free on the right-hand side of our site),
we’re sorry that you don’t get this Click-to-See-the-Answers feature in
your Email versions — so, please don’t read too far ahead today, if
you’re an email reader.

THE 10 SAINTS:

    1.) St. Hippolytus of Rome once worked for the emperor during the persecution of Christians, but later he was martyred himself in the third century — pulled apart by animals.

    2.) St. Callixtus was a thief and scoundrel. Finally sentenced to hard labor, his hard heart was softened and he later became a pope himself.

    3.) St. Gertrude of Nivelles governed a convent and miraculously ended a horrible infestation of mice in the local grain supply.

    4.) St. Melangell, an Irish princess, bravely fled across the waters to Wales to avoid an arranged marriage. She hid in the woods and remained a devout virgin.

    5.) St. Nicholas, famously recast as Santa Claus, was known for many miraculous deeds — including helping those caught in storms.

    6.) St. Camillus de Lellis was a former soldier, gambler and all-around scoundrel. He literally cleaned up his act as he devoted himself to helping the urban poor and sick in innovative ways.

    7.) St. Rene Goupil, a French surgeon, crossed the Atlantic to Canada where he treated both settlers and Indians — until he was abducted and was repeatedly tortured by a hostile tribe.

    8.) St. Brigid, an Irish abbess, ran a convent blessed with abundance, including a supply of ale that was never exhausted. She also had a talent for healing difficult cases brought to her.

    9.) St. Andrew was among Jesus’ earliest followers.

    10.) St. Hubert, who died in the 8th Century, had his miraculous, mystical experience in the woods one day.

THEY ARE PATRONS OF:

    A.) Cemetery workers

    B.) Rabbits

    C.) Anesthesiologists

    D.) Jailers and Prison Guards

    E.) Dairy workers

    F.) Fishermen

    G.) Nurses

    H.) Hunters

    I.) Sailors

    J.) Cats

    When you think you’ve got all the answers, CLICK on the link below in the online version of this
quiz, and the ANSWERS will pop up!
    Ready? CLICK for the ANSWERS below …

HERE ARE THE ANSWERS:

    1.) St. Hippolytus. D. During his work for the emperor, he was in charge of looking after Christian prisoners who were about to die. During that phase of his life, he met the soon-to-be-grilled St. Lawrence, who helped to convert him to Christianity. (His holy card was featured with the questions, above.)

    2.) St. Callixtus. A. Because he was a clever man and was experienced with hard labor, when he converted and started working for the church, he was assigned to run the vast burial chambers known as the Roman Catacombs.

    3.) St. Gertrude of Nivelles. J. Her holy card (at right) is a reminder of her miracle with one last little rodent bravely scurrying up her staff.

    4.) St. Melangell. B. In the 6th Century, she prompted the creation of one of the world’s first wildlife sanctuaries, because she was famous for protecting even the rabbits in her forest from hunters and their dogs. For years after her death, hunters were barred from her woods.

    5.) St. Nicholas. I. Long before all of those stories about reindeer and the North Pole, St. Nicholas was known for miraculously saving sailors in the midst of terrible storms at sea.

    6.) St. Camillus de Lellis. G. He became a nurse himself and was a pretty amazing health-care worker in his day. He stood 6-foot-6! Plus, his strict orders about sanitation in his clinics helped many of his patients as much as anything else he could have done in the 16th Century.

    7.) St. Rene Goupil. C. You don’t even want to know what was done to this poor physician. Suffice it to say his death wasn’t nearly as quick as that of St. Lawrence. He endured pain for so long that his memory became associated with research into alleviating pain.

    8.) St. Brigid. E. She was full of miraculous energy, according to traditional stories. Once, in the heat of a local paternity dispute, St. Brigid was called to help. She blessed a newborn baby — and the child suddenly spoke up to identify its own father. In Ireland, you’ll still find straw crosses, reminders of St. Brigid, hanging outside barns.

    9.) F. There are many legendary stories of St. Andrew, handed down through the millennia, but the basic associations between Andrew and fish are right there in the gospel stories, which you can read for yourself.

    10.) St. Hubert. H. Until this miraculous moment, Hubert was an avid hunter who likely would have disappeared into the mists of history with billions of other souls. Instead, the giant stag he was pursuing turned around, revealed a cross between its antlers and told him to change his life. Yes, a talking animal sent Hubert back out of the woods (without ever touching this prize stag). He dove into the heart of the church for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, hunters still revere his prowess in the woods.
    Perhaps it has something to do with our timeless affection for tales of “the great one that got away”?

How’d you do?
    Remember — if
you enjoyed this week’s
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    Tell us what you think. Click Here to email me, David Crumm, or leave a Comment for other readers on our site.

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  Now more than ever, we need to see the world clearly.
    But, now more than ever, American news media are pulling back resources from reporting around our world. In a time when we have all the tools to observe every corner of our global family, these powerful new tools are pointed in all the wrong directions, it seems.
    We should be hearing the voices and stories of men and women around the world. Instead, there is too much media static showering down around us.
    You know the problem: It’s far easier to find embarrassing photos of Britney Spears than it is to find the brave stories of Buddhist monks who risked their lives to push for freedom and justice in the streets of Myanmar.
    That’s why “The Atlas of Religion” by Joanne O’Brien and Martin Palmer is so important. They have sorted through oceans of data, searching for the most up-to-date and authoritative sources, and they’ve distilled the global importance of religion into dozens of colorful maps and commentaries.
    To buy a copy of their book for yourself, or to consider using it with a discussion group or class, click on the title or the book cover and you’ll jump to our bookstore, where you can read more about the book and buy a copy, if you wish.
    Much of the information in this book may seem like a revelation. Remember that, if you have trouble with geography — say, trying to figure out major locations in the Muslim world or to chart growth areas of Catholicism around the world — you’re not alone.
    Each year, national polls show that most Americans don’t know much about the shape of the world beyond our borders.

    So, let’s have a little fun with this data — and perhaps we’ll learn a little bit along the way today. All 10 questions today are based on information presented in O’Brien’s and Palmer’s superb new book.

    Here are the rules: Try to answer all 10 — then, click on the link at the
end — and the correct answers will pop up. If you’re a daily subscriber by
Email (you can sign up for free on the right-hand side of our site),
we’re sorry that you don’t get this Click-to-See-the-Answers feature in
your Email versions — so, please don’t read too far ahead today, if
you’re an email reader.

    Ready?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    1.) Which country is the home of the world’s largest number of Muslims?
    Choices: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Indonesia, Iraq.

    2.)  We know that church attendance is very low in Europe now and that countries like Russia and China have experienced decades of anti-religious regimes. As of 2005, what percent of the world’s people tell pollsters that they are agnostics or atheists?
    Choices: 14 percent, 27 percent, 38 percent, 52 percent.

3.) Which of these four countries has the highest percentage of Christians among its residents?
    Choices: Nigeria, Indonesia, Angola, Egypt.

4.) A worldwide shortage of Catholic priests is reshaping the culture of the world’s largest Christian denomination. But, right now, which countries have the highest numbers of Catholic priests? Rank these five countries in order, highest to lowest, by their total number of Catholic priests?
    Choices: Mexico, U.S., Italy, Poland, Brazil.

5.) Some countries still require their monarchs to adhere to a specific faith. Which faiths are required of monarchs in these countries:
    Choices: Norway, UK, Jordan, Thailand

6.) The world’s 2 billion Christians donate about $300 billion a year to charitable causes, but which Christian branch has the most financial resources? Rank these churches by the average income of their members around the world?
    Choices: Catholic Church, Protestant Churches, Orthodox Churches, Anglican Churches.

7.) The U.S. sends more Christian missionaries beyond our borders than any other country in the world — something that most of us correctly assume is true, right? But what we don’t know is where all these globe-hobbing missionaries are landing. At this point, which of these countries is the world’s biggest IMPORTER of missionaries?

    Choices: U.S., Brazil, Russia, India.

 

8.) The Bible remains the world’s all-time best seller, although popularly published lists of best sellers exclude Bibles to give other books a shot at the No. 1 slot. As of 2005, how many new copies of the Bible were distributed around the world in various editions (complete Bibles, Testaments, audio Bibles, etc.)?

    Choices: 11 million, 26 million, 41 million, 72 million.

 

9.) Billions of people around the world get religious messages from radio and TV. We know that U.S. radio and TV stations collectively are the biggest Christian broadcasters in the world. The widest-reaching religious voice in broadcasting globally is Christian, followed by Islamic broadcasts. None of that is surprising. But — collectively, who has the third widest-reaching broadcast voice?

    Choices: Buddhists, Bahai’s, Hindus, Jains.

 

10.) News media regularly report on the growth of Islam, but Christianity is growing in many parts of the world, as well. Between now and 2025, which of these four countries does the “Atlas” predict will have the biggest growth in Protestant churches?

    Choices: Turkey, Canada, Australia, Brazil.

     INTRIGUED? Well, click on the “Atlas” cover above and consider grabbing a copy of the book. These 10 questions are just a tiny sampling to whet your appetite for the fascinating facts in this new book.

    When you think you’ve got all 10 answers, CLICK on the link below in the online version of this
quiz, and the ANSWERS will pop up!
    Ready? CLICK for the ANSWERS below …

 

    HERE are THE ANSWERS:

   
1.) Indonesia is home to nearly 200 million Muslims, the largest population in any country on Earth.

    2.) 14 percent total. Despite all the oppression of religion in the 20th Century and lack of church attendance in Europe, faith remains hugely important around the world. Only 12 percent of people describe themselves as agnostic or having no religious beliefs. Only 2 percent identify themselves as atheist.

    3.) As of 2006, Angola is 90 percent Christian. The other three countries’ populations are between 10 and 50 percent Christian.

    4.) Italy has the most Catholic priests — and the other four countries rank in this order: U.S., Poland, Brazil, Mexico.

    5.) Norway: Christianity. UK: Christianity. Jordan: Islam. Thailand: Buddhism.

    6.) The question listed them in the correct order: Catholic Church, Protestant Churches, Orthodox Churches, Anglican Churches.

    7.) Believe it or not, the U.S. imports more missionaries than any other country! We welcomed 33,000 missionaries as of 2005, the most recent data available for the “Atlas.”

    8.) It was 72 million copies in 2005 alone.

    9.) Buddhists, who place a high value in broadcasting their messages from many countries around the world.

    10.) Among those four countries, the answer is: Brazil. The “Atlas” shows a significant growth in Protestant churches by 2025 stretching from Mexico through Latin  America, Colombia and into Brazil.

    How’d you do?
    Remember — if you enjoyed this week’s
quiz, you can print it or email the entire text it to a friend. We
only ask that you credit the quiz to “David Crumm” and
“readthespirit.com”
    Tell us what you think. Click Here to email me, David Crumm, or leave a Comment for other readers on our site.

    AND: Especially if you enjoyed our theme today —
    COME BACK TOMORROW for our Conversation With photographer Martin Gray on his decades-long quest to photograph the Earth’s sacred places. He’s close to completing his enormously challenging quest — and has published a new book so that you and I can sit back and dream about the places we’d love to travel for inspiration and enlightenment.