Our saints are specialists

TV and RADIO
by Elizabeth Bano
,THE MAKING of a Saint (11 am Friday) was a balanced, informative and absorbing account of the extraordinary process of canonisation. Libby Purves guided us through the Vatican's labyrinthine procedures, with their investigations of the merits of the candidates extending over days, weeks, months and even years.
Perhaps we should be encouraged by the fact that there is, apparently, no shortage of candidates (no less than 2000 are under consideration), but as Peter Hepplethwaite pointed out, few of the successful candidates have been parried or led ordinary family lives and it is from the Religious that the majority of saints are drawn.
As Libby Purves reminded us, you can always find a "specialist" saint to intercede for a particular cause and the associations of saints with particular causes has probably arisen because one of the tests of sainthood is whether prayers have been answered.
Cardinal Newman is under consideration for canonisation and Gerard Tracey, Archivist of the Oratory, said that successful intercessions by him were associated particularly with success in examinations, easy child-birth and the solution of accommodation problems.
There are, of course, the well known saints, such as St Anthony to whom we pray when something has been lost, St Christopher, patron saint of travellers and St Blaize, renowned for his help with throats. However, less well known are St Bernardina, patron saint of advertising executives and St Martin de Porres, one of whose tasks is to care for mens' hairdressers. It may be that this programme owed much of its success to intercession by Gabriel, patron saint of broadcasters.
The Anglican Church cannot do without saints, but its procedures are less formal and were even described as "slapdash". A recent list was said to have been drawn up by an informal gathering of bishops seated beneath a tree and emphasis is placed on practical achievements. Ordinary mortal failings by no means disqualify Anglican saints, who are not subject to the fearsome scrutiny of the Devil's Advocate.
The social reformer Josephine Butler, for example, was accepted even though nobody was sure whether or not she was an Anglican. She was one of a "slate" of seven candidates proposed to remedy a shortage of women, of whom three were accepted and three were rejected outright. Josphine Butler succeeded on a slender majority vote of the House of Bishops. The saints inspire us by their example, but this programme showed that even in the making of saints there is much human argument and debate.
Sunday August 23, 6.32. Morning Has Broken, Radio 2. 7.30, Good Morning Sunday, Radio 2; Roger Royle takes a rest this week, and the programme is presented by Chris Stuart.
7.40, Sunday Radio 4; Weekly religious current affairs programme; 9.15, Articles of Faith, BBC1. Linda Mary Evans presents today's programme from the Nurses' Home of the John Radcliffe Hospital Oxford, and explores the theme of "New Ways for Old".
9.30, Morning Service, Radio 4. A service from St Paul's Church, Rusthall, Kent. I lam, Morning Worship, ITV; Today's service is for holidaymakers, and comes from a local high school in Shoringham, Norfolk, which is taken over by the Baptist Church.
2pm, Scribes — Scholars and Saints: The Art of Celtic Manuscripts, ITV. "Durrow Story", an investigation into the Book of Durrow, Durrow being one of a number of monasteries where great manuscripts were written and illustrated.
2 . 4 5 p m The Ten Commandments (part 2) ITV. (Part 1 shown Saturday 2.30pm), Cecil B D Mille's vivid and dramatic dramatisation of the Book of Exodus and the story, of Moses.
6.40, Songs of Praise, BBC1; The second open-air Songs of Praise, comes from the Esplanade of Dover beach, close to the Hoverport. Sally Magnusson meets local people, including the coastguard, and goes aboard a cross-channel ferry.
8.30pm. Hymns on Holiday, Radio 2; the Sidmouth International Folklore Festival in Devon is the setting for this holiday programme introduced by Frank Topping.