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Byline: Renee Enna
Long before there was Dr. Phil, or Suze Orman, or Dr. Spock, there was St. Anne and St. Francis and, for that matter, St. Patrick _ just three of the more than 3,100 patron saints (and counting) who Catholics have always relied on to help with whatever ails them.
Now, it's true that people don't pray to Dr. Phil. (Well, let's hope they don't.) And it should also be noted that when you pray to St. Anne, you're not asking her to solve your problem. You're just asking her to help: Saints act as intermediaries between you and the Big Guy.
This is partly why the spirit moved Clare and Alice La Plante to write a book that was less about self-help and more about saintly help. The sisters (as in siblings, not nuns) are Catholics who grew up in St. Edna's parish in Arlington Heights, Ill. Both are writers. Both are self-acknowledged worry-warts who are partial toward invoking the saints. It ...