Now my Catholic friends are probably wondering - can't I get some spiritual help with this? Well yes, I hope so. Trouble is, both the Bible and the Church teachings remain very silent on this subject. Is smoking a sin? Well, over-indulgence probably falls under the heading of Gluttony, along with cream cakes and one-too-many on the wine front. But it doesn't seem to be actually a sin itself. One of you - Penny I think -offered to track down a patron saint of smokers (or rather trying-to-stop smokers). Any luck? Did any of the saints enjoy a cigar after dinner, meditate with their pipes, or have twenty Woodbine in their pockets along with their rosary?
I don't know.
Looking to some of my 20th century Catholic writer heroes, (the mid 20th century seemingly the peak of smoking popularity) I'm finding they all seem to suffer from this vice!
Here's J R R Tolki
enAnd G K Chesterton...
And in case non-Catholic Christians are feeling smug,
here's C S Lewis apparently setting himself on fire:
So I'm not getting much support from these guys!Hmmm....
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