Dear Reader:

Tomorrow is the day designated for St Patrick-the Patron Saint of Ireland, among many other countries! It is the day everyone wants to be Irish and attempts at Irish broques are downright laughable! ( especially as the day wears on)

” Saints Alive”, of course, is an expression that projects astonishment at something extraordinary … Grandmother Wilson always followed star gazing (with the grandchildren on summer nights) with that expression… followed by her personal addendum “How awesome is the handiwork of God.”

Even though the word ” saint” is used to describe someone-a friend, neighbor, mentor, etc. who continuously helps others during their personal struggles… the Catholic Church’s reference is to a heavenly being who, while alive on earth, performed at least two miracles . ( Before a ” Blessed” can be canonized the person must have been deceased for five years.)

Gin-g laughed and sent me a comment that she might be Baptist but every time she loses anything…she turns to Saint Anthony… the Patron Saint of lost objects. ( affectionately nicknamed… Saint ” Car Keys!” )

Looking back on my own revelations the first time Honey Burrell took me to St Jude’s Chapel of Hope … it was, no doubt, Saint Anthony who pushed me to accept Mike and Honey’s excited invitation to visit the chapel.

On the way there in July of 2010 I heard Bill and Beverly Barutio’s names for the first time. Once inside the chapel that warm July day… I knew I was home. Immediately an inner voice said softly ” Go where you feel most alive.” I was there! Beverly was there!

Beverly Barutio kept her promise to St Jude… when she prayed for restored health in 1981 …after advanced cancer had pervaded and spread throughout her body. (Saint Jude is the Saint of ” Improbable but not Impossible causes.” )

She thanked her doctors for all their efforts but no more chemo… she turned to faith for healing. And in exchange for more time with loved ones… she would build a chapel for all who sought refuge from life’s afflictions. It was finished exactly ten years later! St Jude’s Chapel of Hope.

Beverly always said that ” If just one person comes” it would all have been worth it. ” I knew then we were kindred spirits, not because of ” little c” or as she called her cancer ” an annoyance ” but because when I nervously started the blog post ” Chapel of Hope Stories” I told myself that if I just had one reader… it would have been worth it.” ( Beverly and I were both surprised and excited that this was not the case. )

Several years ( 2011) ago Honey and I met Bob Hurley, reporter from the Greenville Sun newspaper, who told me that Beverly and I would have been instant friends.. we were so much alike. It reinforced my initial feeling of camaraderie… two worlds joined together.

And throughout it all… there is Honey-the epitome of generosity and kindness… who always brightens my life with her everlasting friendship. To me… she should be crowned ” Miss Pineapple” every year for her southern hospitality… she is my saint!

So until tomorrow… ” Saints Alive!” Surround yourselves with the everyday saints in your life and the eternal ones too. There is no such thing as having too many saints in your life!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh