With the loss of the Catholic faith, we also have lost an appreciation for the redemptive value of suffering. Today's saint, St. Agapitus, said, "A head, which would wear an eternal crown in Heaven, must not hesitate to wear suffering and pain upon earth. Wounds and burns make my head the more worthy to be crowned with eternal glory." The Atlantic covers the ramifications of the American citizenry's expectations in "Who has a Right to Pain Relief?"
Tradition in Action has a helpful little piece on how emblems came to be used to represent saints.
A review of a summer pipe tobacco called "Charlemagne" features black and white pics of dogs with pipes in their mouths. What's not to like? Kick back, light up, and read "King Charlemagne and the Dog Days of Summer."
