Are you a Performer? Pray to this Saint 

If you are a stage performer, or an actor, to whom you should have prayed for the special intercession and protection? Here is a saint specially patronized by the Catholic Church.
Saint Genesius is the patron saint of actors. There is a story tells of how he had an epiphany while performing in a play satirizing Christian sacrament and converted to Christianity on the spot, right in the middle of the play. Emperor Diocletian, for whom the play was being performed, was enraged and, when Genesius refused to change his mind, had the performer tortured and beheaded.

Sadly, this story is just that—a story—that originated three centuries after Genesius’ death. Genesius was actually a legal clerk who became so upset about the edict of persecution for Christians that he left his position and went in search of baptism. He was beheaded, around 303 CE, but there’s no evidence to suggest the conversion-during-a-play story is accurate. Nevertheless, St. Genesius remains the go-to patron for actors.

 

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