Giving Up Meat for Lent: A Series of Dilemmas

From Gemma Correll on Threadless

Or: The one where Luke finally stops being a wuss.

Earlier this year, I decided to use Jennifer Fulwiler’s Saint Name Generator to receive a patron saint for this year. Having a patron saint has been a fruitful exercise in the past, so I figured this year I would give Jennifer’s handy tool a go.

This year I received:

St Nicholas of Tolentino

This awesome friar is the patron of holy souls in purgatory, mariners, and babies (babies!). He was also named after St Nicholas of Myra, as his middle-aged parents visited his shrine in Rome seeking a child – which is pretty cool given that St Nicholas of Myra in Penrith was where my parents were married and I received my sacraments. Nice to see a connection there!

But that’s not what this post is about. As I scrolled through his life, a line stuck out at me:

“A vegetarian, Nicholas was once served a roasted fowl…”

Wait, a vegetarian?