November 3 - St. Rumwold of Buckingham

If you were going to make up a saint -- not to cast aspersions on the veracity of any saints currently in the canon, but if you were -- you'd be hard pressed to top the feats of St. Rumwold. For starters, he only lived three days. Most of us didn't take the opportunity to do anything miraculous during those three days, but check out wee little Rumwold's accomplishments.

* proclaimed himself a Christian
* asked for, and received, Baptism and Communion
* preached a sermon on the Trinity, quoting both scripture and Athanasius
* predicted his death
* specified his preferred burial arrangements.

Moreover, he continued to be a force after death. He once showed up at a wedding to caution a groom who had just sworn, while at Church no less. The groom then swore again, and his bride disappeared in a puff of perfume, leaving her clothes behind. Miraculous mac, or what?

Of course, some people carry things too far. A statue of the saint at Boxley Abbey could only be moved by the truly pure of heart. That standard of purity was measured by a monk with a lever that engaged a rachet mechanism. Give an adequate gift and you could shove the kid around; stiff the monks a few quid and you could push and go nowhere.

I consider it a pity that those monks had to put a stain on such an exceptional young saint's reputation with their cheap mechanical trick.