The Poetry of Apollo

On July 20, 1969, man first set foot upon the Moon. On July 20, 2011, the last flight of the last Space Shuttle is heading to a close. Perhaps appropriately, the (hopefully temporary) ending of the US manned space flight was aboard Shuttle Atlantis. It certainly gave me a sinking feeling.

But the project that took us to the Moon was called Apollo, ostensibly after the Greek god associated with hunting, harmony, and healing. Perhaps the folks over at NASA had sense of humour, or maybe God the poet was at work again, for July 20 is also the feast of Saint Apollinaris.

Saint Apollinaris was a Syrian ordained a Bishop by Saint Peter and sent as a missionary to Ravenna during the reign of Claudius. Perhaps because of his name, Apollinaris quickly made a name for himself as a healer. Many miracles were ascribed to him, which brought him to the attention of the Imperial authorities. He was exiled, tortured, and imprisoned for the faith. After several rounds of this, he was martyred, probably by being run through with a sword.

This optional memorial is new to the USA liturgical calendar. It was dropped from the General Roman Calendar during the calendar reforms in 1968, just a year before Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. Apparently, Apollinaris wasn’t going to take his holiday’s removal lying down!

I am often amused by God’s poetry, facilitated no doubt in this case by folks who saw the connections and ran with them.