>
>What a saint! How do we properly refer to him? St. South Wind? Surely a
>better title. He could easily become part of a lecture I'm giving this
fall,
>
>Thanks, Bindy
>
>
While the Pope, on a recent visit to Mexico City, announced the canonization
of a number of Mexican saints, I do not believe our good friend Mattheo
Manzano to have been among them. Therefore the proper form by which to
refer to him would be the Venerable Mattheo Manzano or, modernized,
Venerable Mateo Manzano.
I should, perhaps, have mentioned in the original posting that Mattheo's
last name of Manzano means 'apple tree; and that Vetancurt expands on this
sense in his references to 'fragrance of the fruit' and 'the frozen branch.'
There is an additional reference, which i had omitted, which translates, 'He
embraced the Cross of mortification with such joy that, 'though only a
Nursery of recent seedlings, he showed himself to be a tree of mature
fruit.' (It is to be recalled that the establishment of orchards throughout
the New World is one of the frairs' inarguable contributions.)
While it is noted that Manzano's blood, after his death, cured a devotee's
menstrual flow, there may be another symbolic reading, given his name's
meaning. The connection between the apple and menstrual pains would be
intriguing for someone to delve into - or it may be that someone on this
List already has.
In any event, while it may be premature to call him a saint, I believe the
traditions of our Esteemed List would favor combining the ideas of
apple/fruitfulness and menstrual pain/cures (a step far beyond mixing apples
and oranges!), and baptize the Venerable Fray Mattheo Manzano as:
Fr.Utero
Respectfully submitted,
jmichael
By the way, what is the topic of your lecture this fall?
jm
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