as you know, if you read this piece of dung with any semblance of regularity, i am crazy. i also fence. last night at mass instead of listening to the eucharistic prayer which i have heard probably around 2,000 times in my life i got to thinking. is there a patron saint for swords? so after the recessional i leapt silently up four flights of stairs and wandered in the general direction of my room in a madcap quest to find this out. when i finally arrived at my room an hour later i’d forgotten about it. but then i remembered and checked it out.
There is no patron saint for swords, but there are THREE for swordsmiths, Dunstan, Maurice, and Michael the Archangel. so no dice. but, was there a patron saint for fencing? yep, that is Michael the Archangel again. Something about beating the shit out of Lucifer with a sword and kicking his rebellious ass out of paradise. oh yeah, that and being the general of the heavenly host. what you think angels just sit around all day and sing praises? they need to kick ass too.
when i was confirmed as an adult in the Catholic church it is customary to accept a confirmation name of a saint who you think is a good match for you. I chose my bro Michael the Archangel. and then later i became a fencer. albeit not a very good one, but at least i’ve got gumption.