One of my favorite sites, The Toast, had a piece this week by Molly Priddy called My Secular Patron Saints. The author wrote about her Catholic upbringing and how it was at odds with her own beliefs:"By middle school, I wasn’t looking to the Catholic communion of saints for life inspiration anymore. They didn’t apply to me, other than the women who died being obstinate. I learned that in order to survive, I had to find my own patron saints for inspiration. I had to build my own mythology, one in which my wants and dreams and desires were important, not just a lesson in sin or a second-class concern."
She kicked it off with Saint Idgie Threadgoode, Patron Saint of Tomboys.
I really liked this. I also was raised Catholic; like Ms. Priddy, it didn't stick for me, either. I questioned too much, not to mention bristled at the subservient role women play in the Catholic religion. But I've always loved the idea of patron saints. I love the idea of one figure whose special mission is to look out for those she was assigned. When I was confirmed, I took the saint's name of Brigid, mostly because she's one of the patron saints of Ireland (and dairy!) and it was the name my great-grandma had wanted my mom to name me. But as I read through Ms. Priddy's patron saints selection, I thought about coming up with a stable of my own patron saints, ladies who were "my own people, birds of my feather." And yes, it seemed necessary that they only be women. So here they are, in no particular order:St. Bella Abzug
Our Lady of Hat-Wearing Feminists
St. Eloise
Patron Saint of the Exuberantly Misbehaved
St. Red Fraggle
Patron Saint of Gingers, natural and otherwise
St. Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Patron Saint of Ladies Who Could've Done the Job as Well as Or Better Than a Man If She'd Only Been Allowed
St. Rory Gilmore
Patron Saint of Voracious Readers
St. Liz Lemon
Our Lady of Night Cheese
Sts. Bailey and Lulu
Patron Saints of Blind Love
St. Amy Poehler
Patron Saint of Being Awesome
(I mean, really, how do you encapsulate all that Amy Poehler is other than 'awesome'? Tied with St. Knope- Patron Saint of Lady Friends)
St. Grace O'Malley
Patron Saint of Female Pirates and their
Modern-Day Equivalent
Sts. Edina and Patsy
Our Ladies of Fabulousness, Sweetie Darling
St. Ramona
Patron Saint of Being True to Yourself
St. Lucille
Blessed Lady of Hospital Bars
St. Sally
Patron Saint of Fussy Eaters
St. Harper
Patron Saint of Writers Who Just Need Some Time Off to Write
St. Dorothy Parker
Patron Saint of Wit and the Stylish Comeback
St. Dorothy Zbornak
Our Lady of the Cutting Look
St. Joan Jett
Patron Saint of Bad-Assery
St. Eleanor
Patron Saint of Doing the Thing That You Think You Cannot Do
St. RBG
Most Blessed Lady of Protecting Our Rights
