Miscellaneous

Saints and Lawyers

By Anne Skove, Esq.

It sounds like an oxymoron and/or a punchline, but some lawyers really are saints. For All Saints' Day, here are a few:

• St. Ives: As he was going to...well, University of Paris (he couldn't well go to St. Ives, could he?), he ended up graduating in civil law. He then studied canon law and became an advocate for the poor and a judge. He is the patron saint of lawyers. "Sanctus Ivo erat Brito, Advocatus et non latro, Res miranda populo."


• St. Thomas More: Patron saint of lawyers, court clerks, civil servants, politicians, statesmen, adopted children, difficult marriages, and Pensacola, among others, St. Thomas More is known today as a major legal scholar and theologian. He was a member of Parliament (not to be confused with Parliament), Lord Chancellor, lawyer, and judge. He was beheaded for not backing Henry VIII's bid for pope. One can actually visit More's parboiled head, as it sits somewhere in St. Dunstan's Church (which is, ironically, Anglican).


• St. Catherine of Alexandria: Imagine an 18-year-old woman debating the top philosophers of her day, particularly if her day was around the year 300. If it sounds amazing, it may be -- today she is often viewed as mere legend, more an aspirational figure than an historical one. But the story has staying power as it demonstrates the courage of girl power in the face of pagan torturers. The Catherine Wheel was named after her. Catherine is the patron of lawyers, barristers, jurists, librarians, educators, scholars, students, secretaries, and, for unknown reasons, knife sharpeners.


• St. John of Capistrano: Mediators, have you ever felt the session go so awry that you felt like a prisoner by the end of it? That's exactly what happened to St. John of Capistrano. He tried to mediate conflict between Perugia and Malatesta, but ended up becoming a POW. (Malatesta does not sound like a friendly place, fwiw.) He was pro-Crusade, but also a Franciscan. Perhaps that juxtaposition made more sense in his time than in ours. He is the patron saint of judges and jurors.

Finally, we just heard about this through the office grapevine, but it's Tommy's birthday! As he is still living, he does not yet qualify for sainthood. Congratulations TO him for getting wiser all the time!

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on November 01, 2008 (boomark / email).