Sanctity

I wrote this in 2005, and it's worth repeating:
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Many people like to discredit the Canon of Saints as being predominantly a record of legends, fables, or myths. St. Patrick is a prime refutation of this claim. He was an historic figure whose deeds are felt to this day. Yes, legends abound: driving the snakes out of Ireland and the shamrock catechism. But why should that make a difference? Does our understanding of St.Nicholas as an historic figure make Santa Claus any less real?

Let's be historically-critical, then. Supposing the legend of driving the snakes out of Ireland were merely a more colorful way of saying that he converted the pagans? Would you like to be a fuddy-duddy and demand just the facts-- or would you rather live in the blessed realm of story (in the sense that Tolkien defines it, for all those keeping score)?

My point is: one cannot believe in the Communion of Saints through intellectual inquiry. It comes only through faith. But so does belief in Christ. Hence the maxim: to deny the Saints is to deny Christ. Let's not descend to the level of those quacks re-writing the Bible (I refer to the Jesus Seminar and those "scholars" promoting the Historical Jesus movement, which has done so much to abscond with the Truth). Let's embrace the Faith of our fathers, the Faith of St. Patrick, that Faith which steers the Church through history to the blessed end of all things, which is Christ.