Thursday, February 05, 2015

One for the Catholic trivia file (or for when you lock yourself out of your room)

No, I didn't lock myself out of my room (at least not this time); it was one of the other sisters on my floor. She had inadvertently pushed the lock in on her doorknob last night, and things did not look
"Here. Try this one."
good: not for her, and certainly not for the two convent cats she is caring for! Since sister never locks her door, she didn't even know where the keys were (probably in the desk). But since this is an older door, going back decades, not even the superior knew where the spare key was. She tried all the keys she had--but sister had to gather up some toiletries from the community closet and spend the night in a guest room.

This morning, as news got around (as news does in any community setting!), suggestions abounded. Up in the provincialate there was a stash of mystery keys: maybe one of those would fit. (No.) Sister Margaret has a mystery key! (Nope.) There was only one option left: John the handyman would have to drill the lock out. (What would the noise do to the cats?) On my way to the office, I nodded to the sister who stood out in the hall, waiting for John. "Pray to St Peter!" I said. That got her thinking. Sure, Peter has keys, but isn't there a patron saint of locksmiths or something?

Sure enough. As the local superior approached with yet another set of mystery keys (this is a big place), Sister was on her phone, learning about St Baldomerus and the Baldomeric oath (the locksmith equivalent of the Hippocratic oath). "You know," she said to the superior, "There's a patron saint of locksmiths! It's St Baldo--" a key turned in the lock "--merus."

Remember that for next time!

5 comments:

Sr. Ann Marie said...

Loved the story of the missing key! Trust me, it's all too familiar. Will have to remember Baldomerus! We pray to one of our deceased sisters, Sr. Cora--whom I never met but she works wonders. On a more serious note, I was so happy to have read about Archbishop Romero--definitely saintly material!

Sister Anne said...

God love Sr Cora, your key finder! When I was in UK, they ask Sr Kathleen to find parking spots in London. I've seen her work. She's good... What is your specialty going to be, Sister? I'm still working on mine!

Sister Anne said...

God love Sr Cora, your key finder! When I was in UK, they ask Sr Kathleen to find parking spots in London. I've seen her work. She's good... What is your specialty going to be, Sister? I'm still working on mine!

Ann said...

Don't you just love stuff like this?!

Sister Anne said...

Ann, I think this is the fun part of being Catholic!