{"id":106214,"date":"2021-03-17T14:57:45","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T21:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=106214"},"modified":"2021-03-17T15:16:27","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T22:16:27","slug":"saint-patrick-and-the-plague","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/saint-patrick-and-the-plague\/","title":{"rendered":"Saint Patrick and the Plague"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/span>f you’re a long time reader, you might be expecting my annual post on Saint Patrick. If you’re interested in that, I encourage you to read last year’s “Saint Patrick was an Englishman<\/a>“. No, these exceptional times call for something altogether different and briefer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, midway through an onerous interview process, I was again passed over for a job. I’ve been looking for nearly a year, and it’s grim. My unemployment benefits ended the week of Christmas, and my extended plague benefits remain on hold until the Unemployment Department deals with their backlog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you know anybody looking for a writer or an editor – or heck, a liturgist – send them here: https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/thomryng\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When our Plague lockdown began last year, I wrote the date on a Post-It note. I’m not sure what possessed me to do that, but here it is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

So that’s a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day. May our future days be better than these.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I am afraid,
I put my trust in thee.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust without a fear.<\/p>Psalm 56:3-4a<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’re a long time reader, you might be expecting my annual post on Saint Patrick. If you’re interested in that, I encourage you to read last year’s “Saint Patrick was an Englishman“. No, these exceptional times call for something altogether different and briefer. Today, midway through an onerous interview process, I was again passed over for a job. I’ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":106216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-moments-in-time"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_5281-scaled.jpeg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-rD8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":110348,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/and-it-was\/","url_meta":{"origin":106214,"position":0},"title":"And it Was","author":"Thom","date":"17 March 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Francine journaled obsessively. Every year, sometimes more than once, she would try out an entirely new journaling system. Like me, she never met a notebook she didn't need. In addition to monthly and daily entries about the mundane things, she kept separate writing journals.\u00a0 She had a ritual she called\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Francine my love"","block_context":{"text":"Francine my love","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/francine-my-love\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Francine-with-ramen.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Francine-with-ramen.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Francine-with-ramen.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Francine-with-ramen.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Francine-with-ramen.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":106808,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/saint-patrick-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":106214,"position":1},"title":"Saint Patrick was an Englishman!","author":"Thom","date":"17 March 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It's not quite true of course; Patrick may have been born on the isle of Britain, but in a time before the Angles had arrived and started making it Angland. No, his family were Roman Catholic churchmen from the Roman Imperial province of Britannia. Today, nobody is going to go\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/St-Patrick-by-Tiepolo.jpeg?fit=632%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/St-Patrick-by-Tiepolo.jpeg?fit=632%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/St-Patrick-by-Tiepolo.jpeg?fit=632%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109517,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/tenebrae-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":106214,"position":2},"title":"Tenebr\u00e6","author":"Thom","date":"08 April 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"our parish of Saint Patrick in Tacoma will celebrate a Tenebr\u00e6 service. You are most welcome to join us on the Wednesday of Holy Week (16 April) at 7pm. What is Tenebr\u00e6? The word itself is Latin for \"shadows\". It is a Holy Week service tied to the prayers of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107309,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/the-advent-of-the-lord-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":106214,"position":3},"title":"The Advent of the Lord","author":"Thom","date":"27 November 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Advent began with last night's vespers, and today is the First Sunday of Advent. This is the first day of the new liturgical year, so happy Advent and happy new year! Behold, the Name of the Lord comes from afar, and His glory fills all the earth. (Magnificat Antiphon for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Advent-Candles.jpg?fit=448%2C298&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":89430,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/saint-patrick-was-an-englishman-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":106214,"position":4},"title":"Saint Patrick was an Englishman!","author":"Thom","date":"17 March 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Well that got your attention, didn't it? It's not quite true of course; Patrick may have been born on the isle of Britain, but in a time before the Angles had arrived and started making it Angland. No, his family were Roman Catholic churchmen from the Roman Imperial province of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/St-Patrick-234x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":88252,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/saint-patrick-was-an-englishman-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":106214,"position":5},"title":"Saint Patrick was an Englishman!","author":"Thom","date":"17 March 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Well that got your attention, didn't it? It's not quite true of course; Patrick may have been born on the isle of Britain, but in a time before the Angles had arrived and started making it Angland. No, his family were Roman Catholic churchmen from the Roman Imperial province of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/St-Patrick.jpg?fit=391%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106214"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106221,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106214\/revisions\/106221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}