The Book of Unlikely Saints — work in progress
Belgian soldier take aim in the tale of Pierre le Poseur
The story of the standard saints are well known. There’s Peter and his futile attempt to walk on water, Paul and his conversion at Damascus, and Catherine breaking her wheel of torture. But there are so many others who almost made the canon of the saints. But for a quirk of history or storytelling, their deeds would have also become exemplars for the faithful. Now, these stories have been collected and published for your edification. Read the inspiring stories of the Very Stinky Virgins of Rome, who housed the early Church in spite of their anosmic love of garlic! The story of Pierre le Poseur, a Congolese youth who mimed the poses of Holy Cards, until that practice came against the evil intentions of the Belgian soldiery. There’s Lavinia the Lepherd, a young Scots girl, a herder of rabbits, who longs for a chance at love. And Cletus of Missouri, a blockhead to whom the Blessed Virgin appears in the guise of a prom queen.
Target publication date: Christmas 2019
Why write this book?
As a Catholic, the saints and their stories have been part of my experience since a young age. But some stories are so over the top that they beg to to be poked at lovingly. Take the legend that when St. Paul’s head was lopped off, it bounced three times, causing the appearance of three holy fountains! Or Saint Agatha, portrayed with her severed breast on a plate, like a pair of pair of quivering mile jellies.
I set out to create a series of saints who had become sanctified almost in spite of themselves. Laviania was a lonely Scots girls with a mysterious power over rabbits. Pierre le Poseur’s shallow faith, which took the form of standing in the poses shown on holy cards, nevertheless found himself a martyr for truth. The Jesuits of Canada one-upped even their own predecessors, pre-emptively mutilating themselves in defiance of the Hurons, turning many of them to Christ in the bargain.
When will you publish?
I have a few other projects to get through first, but once I get about 25 saints on paper, and illustrate their stories, I should be ready to release this oeuvre to the world. Maybe 2020?