History of the Catholic Church in Spain who was active in many different modes of religion, including organizing convents and new congregations, and developing the theology of the Counter Reformation in Spain that permanently minimized the Protestant influence there. In the 1620s Spain debated who should be the nation's patron saint- the current patron Saint James Matamoros (Saint James the Moor-slayer) or a combination of him and the newly canonized Saint Teresa of Ávila. Teresa's promoters said Spain faced new challenges, especially the threat of Protestantism, and the declining society at home and needed a modern patron saint who understood these problems and could lead the Spanish
The Patron Saint of Eels The Patron Saint of Eels The Patron Saint of Eels (2005) is a novel by Australian author Gregory Day. It won the 2006 ALS Gold Medal. A moral tale, the novel tells the story of an Italian saint, Fra Ionio, who comes down from heaven to the small Australian town of Mangowak, to save some eels trapped in a ditch and to teach life lessons to some locals. Lisa Gorton in "The Age" noted that the novel "is gentle in spirit, reverent and celebratory", and "is as much a tribute to the life of a small town as it is