Monday, February 19, 2007

Lovely Rita

When I was in Barcelona, my friends Guierrmo, Gloria and Jana took me to an old beautiful shop in the Gothic Quarter that sold religious artifacts. I wanted to find a statue of a patron saint, but it couldn't be just any old patron saint, it had to be the right one. In my mediocre Spanish I asked the woman at the counter to rattle off some saints for me and what they represented.

There were patron saints against shipwrecks, slander, slavery, and sexual temptation (No thank you, not that one). There were saints that protected us from twitching, typhoid, vanity and vertigo, and upon further research I discovered there are even saints for chicken farmers, fiddlers and forgotten causes.

But what saint would I return home with that would sit upon my desk and look at me in my time of need?

Just then the woman behind the counter said, "Rita La Abogada de Imposibles," to which I replied, "Para!" (Stop!) That's it!
Saint Rita of Cascia, Patron Saint... of the Impossible.

And now, during a time in my life when so much feels impossible, I look to Rita who looks back at me and whispers, "It's possible Katie, it's all possible."

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