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In MILLIONS, Damian copes with the loss of his mother through studying the lives of Saints, starting with his saintly namesake. Damian knows a lot about Saint Damian, patron saint of surgeons, who was a physician that gave free medical treatment with his twin brother – including a miraculous leg transplant. Damian’s brother, Anthony, doesn’t care much about the Saints. Interestingly, he’s named after the patron saint of lost things (like a duffel bag full of cash).
Throughout MILLIONS, Damian is visited by apparitions of Saints. The first is Saint Clare of Assisi. St. Clare founded the Order of Poor Ladies of San Damiano (or, Saint Damian), eventually called the Order of Saint Clare. Near the end of her life, Saint Clare was too ill to attend Christmas Eve Mass which was held several miles away. During the Mass, as she laid in her bedroom, she had a vision of the Mass displayed on the wall of her room. This vision led the Church to call her the patron saint of eye disease. In 1958, Pope Pius XII designated her as the patron saint of television, as well, due to the remarkable similarity of her vision back in 1252 to this new technology.
The next Saint to visit is Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order and longtime mentor to Saint Clare. Despite his father’s efforts to grow him into a successful merchant, Francis wanted to live a life of profound poverty. One day, while praying in the ancient church of San Damiano, God told him, “Francis, repair my Church.” Initially, Francis thought God wanted him to repair the crumbling building, but later realized that God was calling him to repair the spiritual Church. Francis began preaching to all sorts of peoples—and animals. There’s a story of St. Francis preaching to birds who stayed to listen throughout his sermon, and only flew away when Francis ordered them. As a result, Saint Francis is known as the patron of animals and ecology. He is also the patron of merchants—perhaps making his father proud, after all!
The final saint to visit the brothers is Saint Peter. Peter first met Jesus after a long, unproductive night of fishing. Jesus entered his boat and preached to a crowd from there. He then instructed Peter to lower his nets once more. Though doubtful, Peter complied, and the nets filled so abundantly with fish that two boats were required to carry the catch back to shore. For this reason, Saint Peter is the patron of fishermen, net makers, and shipbuilders. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” In Catholic tradition, Saint Peter is believed to stand at the gates of Heaven, welcoming new souls to enter.
Now that you know more about these saints, the next time a million dollars in cash falls in your lap, you'll know exactly who to call for a little divine guidance!
Find more information about Millions here.
