Belated Happy Birthday To Blaise Pascal, Unofficial Saint and Mystic

Last updated on: January 24, 2017 at 6:52 pm

June 20, 2016 by Frank Weathers

By Français : anonyme; une copie d’une peinture de François II Quesnel gravée par Gérard Edelinck en 1691. English: unknown; a copy of the painture of François II Quesnel, which was made for Gérard Edelinck en 1691. Polski: nieznany; kopia obrazu Françoisa II Quesnela wykonanego dla Gérarda Edelincka w 1691. (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons — Blaise Pascal, from the collection at the Palace of Versailles; a copy of the painture of François II Quesnel, which was made for Gérard Edelinck in 1691. CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Over at Aleteia, they’re remembering the birthday of a friend of mine. He’s one of the fellows who helped bring me into the Church.

My buddy Blaise Pascal is a lot like me. That is, excepting the obvious fact that he was a mathematical genius, inventor of a calculator, etc., and though I enjoy mathematics, I am a mere admirer of genius in this and many other departments. No, I mean that just like me, he needed something to constantly remind him of why he remains a Christian.

Something that he could turn to for strengthening his resolve to leave his earlier life and pursuits, and recall why he decided to give his all to Christ and His Church. Something he could turn to that would remind him of his calling when he was in “the world” but away from his Bible, his breviary, or his rosary.

You see, Blaise had a mystical vision.

And he wrote it down for himself, and for us too. Also, check out the other posts that folks have written to remember this complex man on what would have been his 393rd birthday.

If you’d like to read more of what I’ve written about Pascal, the search window beckons.