Day 74 - The Devil made me do it!

April 21, 2016
Day 74
Hello!

Today I was in NYC for a Dr. appt.  It was a GORGEOUS day so I decided to walk from the train station to the dr. office.  It's a 2.5 mile walk each way.  I didn't take a direct path, but followed the sun (working on that tan :)  which had me walk past the infamous, beautiful St. Patrick's Cathedral.  St. Pat's is one of NYC's most famous landmarks.  It is an icon of New York City.  I always love going in there as it is just so beautiful and peaceful, amongst a bustling city.  (Just an FYI..you now have to have your bags checked to go in!)

When I walked in there was the votive candle stand in which you can light a candle and say a prayer. I lit a candle and said a prayer for everyone I know who is trying to quit drinking and who wants to quit drinking that they will succeed and be happier.  Of course I included my blogger peeps (those that I know and those that I don't!)

So, I left out a side door, which coincidentally was The Door of Mercy.  (Pope Francis has dubbed 2016 as the Year of Mercy.)  Across the street was the St. Pat's gift shop.  I thought I'd go in and by a Saint card for the patron Saint of Addictions.  (I figure it couldn't hurt and I need all the help I can get!)  I didn't know who the patron Saint of Addictions was and the girls working there were busy.  So I googled it!  And the first answer that came up was brilliant:   The patron Saint of Addiction is THE DEVIL!!!!  OMG!  Ain't that the truth!!!  Have you ever heard the saying "Alcohol is the Devil's Brew?"  It makes me so mad to think that the devil had such a hold on me for so many years!  Now, I am not a religious person.  I used to be.  I wonder if that is what of the things that alcohol has taken from me.  I was most likely too hungover to get to mass on Sundays!  Again, the devil made me do it!

I really think that to equate alcohol to the devil is not only clever, but the truth.

Tonight, I once again googled the patron Saint of Addictions and it is Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe.
Here is why:

Our Lady appeared to Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe and showed Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe two crowns; one white representing purity, and one red representing martyrdom.  Our Lady asked Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe if he wanted them, and he replied, "Yes."

At 16, Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe entered the Franciscan monastery in Lviv, which is now in the Ukraine, but was a part of Poland at that time, and he was ordained a priest at age 24.  In 1939, the Nazis conquered Poland and arrested Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe and his friars releasing them on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

In 1941, Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe was again arrested by the Nazis and this time was sent to Auschwitz for three months where he was severely beaten. 

A prisoner escaped from Auschwitz, and the commandant announced that ten prisioners would die as punishment for the escaped prisoner.  Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe, Number 16670, was not selected to die by the commandant but stepped forward and asked to take the place of a man who had a wife and children.  The commandant agreed to the exchange.

Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe and the other nine were placed on death block without clothes and in the dark, for the slow and painful death of starvation.  One by one the prisoners died, but when four remained, including Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe, who had almost no flesh on his bones, the jailer appeared with a hypodermic needle filled with carbolic acid which is an alcoholic, corrosive, poison used in insecticides.  For this reason, Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe is known as the Patron Saint Against Drug Addiction. 

Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe was beatified in 1971 and canonized in 1982.

Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe feast day is August 14.

It is very interesting to me that he was made the patron saint of addiction. He certainly was NOTHING like the devil!  While I find his story beautiful, I was looking for a saint that had a real drinking problem and overcame it!  I think I would find hope in that.  Oh well...we really know that the Devil made us do it!!

Wishing you the insight to fight that damn devil !  And also praying that you will be successful in your endeavor to quit drinking!

Love,
Sober at 53