Yes, that’s right.. there is a saint for beers! While checking out some exotic varieties of beer at the huge Central Market in San Antonio, I chanced upon a local Texan beer called… Saint Arnold of course! It prefers to go by the old fashioned name ‘ale’ instead of beer, but it’s a wicked little thing if you can get past the initial taste shock. The neck of the bottle has a label that gives out a tasty bit of information about the patron saint (emphasis mine):
As Bishop of Metz, Saint Arnold spent his life warning of the dangers of drinking water and extolling the virtues of ale. During his funeral, his pallbearers stopped to slake their thirst, but regretfully there was just one mug of ale to share among them. Then a miracle came to pass…that one mug never ran dry, and all of the thirsty mourners in the entire gathering were satisfied.
That’s the kind of people I want at my funeral – people who can keep drinking from an endless pitcher! Since my curiosity about this wonderful patron saint was sufficiently aroused by now, I decided to find out more (again, emphasis mine):
Water was not necessarily safe to drink during the dark ages, especially around towns and villages. Nasty stuff. Arnold always had the well-being of his followers close at heart.
Beer, on the other hand, was quite safe. Arnold frequently pointed this out to his congregation. He is credited with having once said, “From man’s sweat and God’s love, beer came into the world.” It goes without saying that the people loved and revered Arnold.
Indeed. Saint Arnold was in fact, canonized by the Catholic church for that beer-mug miracle!
On an unrelated note, I’ll be moving back to Arizona from Texas in a few days. I’ll be working with a great GPS company and I’m excited about working on something that I’m really passionate about. San Antonio has been a great place, and I’ve had a great time going through this wonderful old city, but I’m terribly excited about going back to Tempe which is almost like home for me. Good ol’ Arizona! If you find me in a pub in Tempe (or if you ever meet me), the drinks are on me!