St. Ann, St. Ann

From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living Catholic Faith, 101 Stories to Offer Hope, Deepen Faith, and Spread Love. 2008. Jack Canfield, Mark Victore Hansen & LeAnn Thieman. p. 248-251

"St. Ann, St. Ann"

Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance; it is laying hold of His highest willingness - Richard Trench.

My friend, Patty Duffy, had all the beauty of an Irish colleen, with silky chestnut hair, a heart-shaped face and laughing eyes. She was tall and athletic, friendly and funny, yet since she had left college and begun her internship at the local newspaper, there were no men on the horizon. Zero.

One Saturday night on her way to Mass, she stopped at her grandmother's house to share her misery, one single gal to another. Patty was happily surprised to find her grandma alone and anxious for a chat. When she began to bemoan her dateless status, her grandmother had asked, "Do you ever pray to St. Ann?" [Santa Anna dalam bahasa Indonesia]

"St. Ann? Why?"

"Well, she was the mother of Mary, the Blessed Mother, and she is considered one of the patron saints of single women. What you have to do is say 'St. Ann, St. Ann, send me a man as fast as you can.'"

Patty burst into peals of laughter. "That's like little kids saying 'Rain, rain, go away!'" [FYI, kalo enggak salah yang lengkap adalah: rain, rain go away, come again another day :)]

"Well, you go ahead and laugh, Miss Smarty Pants...Miss Single Smarty Pants, but don't know it till you've trided it."

Still smiling, Patty finished her coffee, kissed her grandmother goodbye and headed off to church.

She silently lamented, "Here it is Saturday night, and I'm sitting in church... alone."

She glanced around at the plaster statues and located one of the Virgin Mary as a child next to her seated mother, St. Ann. She looked kind, and she certainly looked as though she was keeping a close eye on her own daughter.

"I have no idea if Grandma is even right about this... but what could it hurt?" Feeling unbelievably silly, she began the little prayer. "St. Ann, St. Ann, send me a mas as fast as you can."

For the next two days, any time Patty thought of it, she repeated the little prayer.

On third day, an old friend from college called and asked her out for a drink.

Then a guy from work, whom she had never even spoken to, asked her to an opening of an art gallery.

Bye the end of the next week, she had three dates.

Eagerly, she told her grandmother how the plan had worked. Grandma wasn't surprised. "Oh, honey, how do you think I ended up with your grandfather? He was the sweetest man, and he really fit all my specifications."

"You had specification?" She crumbled another cookie into her tea and studied her grandmother. "What exactly were you looking for?"

"Oh, I was very specific. I wanted a man who didn't drink, because that would mean the he could manage his money carefully and he wouldn't be drinking it up at a bar while his wife and kids did without. He also had to wear his seatbelt. A man who wears his seatbelt is aware of his own mortality, and he wouldn't risk his life in any stupid daredevil sort of way. Finally, he had to be a Catholic. If we were Catholics together, then there would be so much for us to share and enjoy every day in our beliefs and our future together as a family."

At first glance, Grandma's list seemed a little superficial, but the more Patty thought about it, the more it showed how carefully considered it was. Each of those requirement represented something important in the character of a prospective mate.

"What the heck," thought Patty. "St. Anne, St. Ann, send me a man who wears his seatbelt, doesn't drink, and is a Catholic!"

On Tuesday of the following week, a colleague of Patty's invited her out after work to meet a friend of her fiance.

Patty said her revised prayer.

The friend was stereotypically tall, dark and handsome. He had chiseled features, an easy smiles and friendly eyes. His faint German accent made him not only mysterious but exotic, in a romantic sort of way.

"Hi, I'm Joe," he said extending his hand to Patty. She felt a little shock as she took his hand in hers. They laughed and talked easily. He asked her out for dinner and she happily accepted.

When he picked her up, he helped her into her side of the car, went around to the driver's side, slide into his seat and latched his setbelt.

"That's one," she thought to herself. After they settled themselves in a booth at a local restaurant, Patty ordered a beer and Joe ordered a diet soda. "I never drink when I'm driving," he said, unwrapping the straw.

"That's two, St. Ann!" Patty tried to keep herself from smiling. Joe was telling a serious story about attending a camp in his native Germany.

"What kind of camp was that?" she asked trying to refocus her thoughts on the conversation.

"Actually, it was a church camp, a Catholic church camp where I worked with the boys teaching them soccer."

"Joseph," she began, "you really something else."

"My name isn't Joseph."

Patty thought to herself, "Here we go. I knew he sounded too good to be true. He's probably got an alias or several ex-wives. He probably..."

"Patty, are you listening to me? I said my name isn't Joseph; it's Joachim."

"Joachim? Where have I heard that name before?"

"In the Bible. St. Joachim was St. Ann's husband."

It was a few moments before Patty could speak. "Thank you!"

"For what?" asked Joe.

Patty looked at the man who literally a gift from heaven and said, "I wasn't speaking to you."

by Rosemay McLaughlin.



So far dari buku Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living Catholic Faith, favorit gue yang satu ini. Gue ketawa ngakak begitu kelar baca nih cerita. Terkaget-kaget waktu Joe bilang kalo nama lengkapnya itu Joachim. Hahahaha...bisa banget deh!!

Gue ndiri baru tau tuh doa St. Ann itu...mungkin perlu juga dicoba :)