Thursday, August 16, 2007

Do any lawyers go to heaven?

A few must have over the years. Saint Thomas Aquinas was sort of a lawyer. And Saint Thomas More was a lawyer, though he was canonized as a martyr (though is the official patron of politicians and an unofficial patron of common law attorneys).

Then there is Ivo of Kermartin (also known as Saint Ivo of Brittany, Saint Yves, or Saint Ives). An advocate and judge, his epitaph was said to have been:

St. Ivo was from Brittany
A lawyer but not a thief
Such a thing is beyond belief!

It is also said that when St. Ivo of Brittany died, he was accompanied to heaven by some recently deceased nuns. When they reached the Pearly Gates, St. Peter told the nuns that they would have to wait in purgatory a little bit, as there were so many nuns in heaven, that the nun's house was full and they needed to build an extension. He then turned to St. Ivo and said that as he was the first lawyer to make it to heaven, he could come right in.

Maybe God does work miracles occasionally.

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