Week 2 Reading Diary: Saints and Animals

For this week, I chose to read the Saints and Animals unit.

In the story of Saint Kentigern and the Robin, I could identify with how the other school boys made fun of Kentigern for doing well in school. But I thought it was funny that when the boys couldn't make him fail his lessons or get him into trouble, they didn't simply give up and leave Kentigern alone. Instead, they thought they would get creative by blaming him for the fire going out.

I really liked how in the second part of the story, the bird came back to life and his song not only convicted the cruel boys who had killed him, but also told Saint Servan the true story. It was cool to see a miracle, which is usually a joyous occasion, get the other school boys in trouble. And I was glad to see that that conviction changed their mischievous ways at last.

The theme of jealousy was again present in the story of Saint Blaise and His Beasts. It seems the common folk were often envious of the spiritual gifts that God entrusted to the saints during this time.

I like how in the stories about Saint Comgall and Saint Berach, the author gives the year it took place in relation to Christ's birth. It makes the stories seem that much more real.

The way Saint Berach binds the mother cow and the wolf together after the murder of the calf is really thought-provoking. On the one hand, I would never accept the murderer of my child into my home and call him a replacement. But on the other hand, it can sometimes be hard to see exactly where the line between victim and criminal is drawn. If the murderer were abused as a child, it might change my outlook ever so slightly on the situation.

The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe reminds me of The Jungle Book in that a mother wolf discovered an abandoned baby and brings him into her home.

I wasn't really a fan of the ballads because they were written in poetry style. The sentence structure makes it harder for me to comprehend the story.

However, I really enjoyed one stanza of the Ballad of Saint Giles and the Deer.

"Swift as a thought his arrow flew,
Saint Giles threw out his arm,
Alack! the aim was all to true,
Saint Giles must bear the harm."
I really liked that he was willing to take an arrow for a wild animal. Furthermore, I loved how Saint Giles ended up using that experience as an opportunity to minister to the pagan king.

This quote from Saint Francis of Assisi struck a chord with me. "It does not become a servant of God to have an air of melancholy and a face full of trouble." It would be tough to tell people about the Good News with a grouchy face.

The way that Saint Francis wanted to live his life being poor in order to follow his Master is really commendable. Many Christians agreed when Jesus said "Take up your cross, and follow me." But very few did so.