So this made some Internet noise the other day, but I’ve been too busy to get to it until now. Basically an old Brazilian lady had no idea the figurine she was praying to was Lord Elrond of Rivendell, not Saint Anthony, patron saint of lost things, among other distinctions. Pretty embarrassing.
Now, the easy thing to do here would be to pile on and make fun of her for being so wrong. I’m not going to do that though, for a couple reasons. First of all, Elrond isn’t a horrible guy to pray to. He’s the oldest and wisest elf in Middle Earth, for crying out loud. Literally nothing on the whole continent happens without his knowledge or approval. He lead the army that beat Sauron the first time, then orchestrated the creation of the Fellowship that beat him the second time. People have prayed to worse people.
Secondly, and most importantly, that is the most saintly figurine I’ve ever seen. That’s clearly a religious figure. I’m not knocking anyone who gets fooled by that. Plus, I’m pretty sure elderly South American women will treat almost anything as an idol, especially a figure of a saintly looking man in a long robe. This little mix up was clearly not her fault. If anything, this woman’s family is to blame for embarrassing her like this and breaking up her prayer routine.
Brian's Den 