Friday, August 27, 2010

St. Daniel of Padua (? to 168)


When I dropped off my passport renewal packet at the post office earlier this month, I calculated that by the time my new one would be mailed back to me, I'd be in between moves. That meant it might be forwarded to my summer address which would increase the chances of it being lost.
Of course, it was inevitable that I'd get the electronic e-mail this week saying that my passport had been shipped and to expect it on or around Saturday (exactly the time we'd be moving).
Yesterday, when I spoke with the post office manager, Sue, she said if I gave her the passport tracking number, she'd know if it had arrived yet. (My wish was that it hadn't, so that she'd be able to hold it for me).
Sure enough, it didn't go as planned, and I learned that the letter carrier realized it was a passport and took it upon herself to deliver it to my winter address.
"What business did she have doing that?" I asked the post office manager. "It is the one piece of mail that I needed to receive this summer!"
Because of what the letter carrier did, I now had to deal with my landlord and his wife (who live there during the summer) and the chance of them marking on it "not at this address" and have it being handled again by the post office.
Sue apologized profusely then agreed that more than likely the passport could literally be lost in the mail. Before slipping into panic mode, (both my new and old passports were in the envelope and the nightmare of having to reapply for another one would include more annoying paperwork) I called my landlord. He said he'd check the mailbox and call me if it was there.
In the interim, I remembered that St. Gabriel is the patron saint of mail delivery and all things postal and I just happened to be wearing his medal around my neck. Also, since St. Anthony of Padua is a patron saint of lost articles, I'd be safe if I asked for his intervention to prevent the loss. Since, I've been to his basilica in Padua, Italy, I like to think I'm given special and speedy preference.
No sooner had I thought of all this than my cell phone rang and the landlord said that he had good news. He was holding my passports.
Throughout the ordeal, I learned that St. Daniel of Padua, who was born a millennium before St. Anthony, is also a patron saint of lost articles. His job was deacon to St. Prosdocimus.
St. Daniel of Padua was of Jewish descent. He died a martyr in 168. He is also the patron saint of women whose husbands are at war.
St. Daniel of Padua's feast day is Jan. 3.
Oh, yes, I did call Sue back and thanked her for her help although I know it was divine intervention.

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