And forgive the Bearded Lady, Amen.

Did you know? The patron saint of carneys is also the patron saint of murderers. His name is Saint Julian the Hospitaller, and he once hallucinated that a deer told him he was going to kill his parents. (FYI, he did kill his parents. Don’t worry, though: he was really sorry, and did penance by building a hospital by a river to care for sick travelers. He also “rowed travelers across the river,” which sounds like another famous ferryman, not that I am suggesting anything untoward.)

The carney/murderer thing can’t be a coincidence is all I’m saying, and I thought you should know. I love a goddamn saint.

7 Comments

  1. Considering the festival made of executions, historically and presently, I’d have to agree, putting those two together under one saint fits.

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  2. Have you read Flaubert’s St. Julien novella (The Legend of St. Julien l’Hospitalier)? I can’t begin to describe how good it is (it also features one of the most crushing closing lines in the history of closing lines).

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  3. I hope that if I’m ever awarded sainthood, and it’s not looking likely at this juncture, that I’m a godamn saint, or as I would prefer it spelled, a got-damn saint.

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