St. Denis’s Day, and a missed chance at humor

Yesterday, October 9, was the Feast Day of St. Denis.

Who?  He’s the patron saint of Paris (and France, by some accounts), and possessed people.   Take a look at this statue, from the “left door” of the Cathedral of Notre Dame  in Paris (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris: portail de gauche).  He was martyred by beheading, in about 250 C.E.

St. Denis, patron saint of Paris and possessed people, greets visitors to the Notre Dame Cathedral. Wikimedia image, by Urban

Our trusty friend Wikipedia explains:

According to the Golden Legend, after his head was chopped off, Denis picked it up and walked two miles, preaching a sermon the entire way.^[6] The site where he stopped preaching and actually died was made into a small shrine that developed into the Saint Denis Basilica, which became the burial place for the kings of France. Another account has his corpse being thrown in the Seine, but recovered and buried later that night by his converts.^[2]

Clearly, he is the guy to pray to about Michelle Bachmann, Rush Limbaugh, intelligent design, and the Texas State Board of Education, no?  You catch my drift, you can use this factoid to some advantage, enlightenment, and perhaps humor.

As Rod Stewart sang, just “let your imagination run wild.”  Maybe St. Denis is listening.