More Saints

Speaking of the communion of saints, two people I most look forward to welcoming into the fold of officially recognized saints are John Henry Newman (whose beatification was recently approved), and Dorothy Day.  Today's Zenit has an interesting interview with Robert Ellsberg, the editor of a newly-released collection of Dorothy Day's diaries, "The Duty of Delight".  Here's an excerpt:

Q: Why have you chosen to title her diaries, "The Duty of Delight"?

Ellsberg: This was a line that recurred frequently in her diaries. She herself contemplated using it as the title for one of her books.

Often, after a recital of drudgery and disappointment, she would simply write, "The duty of delight."

I think it was a reminder to seek God in all things. That is really the theme of her diary, which is a chronicle of her efforts to perform all the chores and duties of her daily life with love and joy.

And here's a description of a more obscure saint that I was delighted to see recently in Magnificat.  Maybe he should be resurrected in the public eye as a patron for those victimized by predatory lenders?  Or the patron of lawyers struggling to find good witnesses for their cases?

Saint Severus of Naples, Bishop (c. 409).  Severus served as bishop of Naples, Italy, enriching his dioceses with the erection of numerous churches.  He is said to have defended in a most remarkable manner a widow victimized by a greedy creditor.  The latter was owed the tiny sum of one egg by the woman's husband, who had forgotten to pay the debt before dying.  Seizing the opportunity to profit from the man's death, the creditor made a false claim that the deceased had owed him a considerable sum.  As the widow was too poor to pay the amount, the judge ordered the woman and her children to be sold into slavery.  In desperation, the widow fled to the bishop, begging him to intervene.  Severus summoned the people of Naples to the deceased man's tomb.  After praying that God would make known the truth of the case, Severus called upon the dead man to speak from the grave as to what he really owed.  The corpse replied, "I owe but one egg."