Most of my professional life revolves around saints and the imprint of their cult and veneration on society. As a consequence, I easily notice cultural expressions that contain some reference to saints, and as such cultural expressions are plentiful around the globe, I sometimes embark on very unexpected detours into cultural terrain that is new to me. With very few exceptions, these detours tend to be rewarding and to broaden my horizon in new directions, regardless how tenuous the link to saints actually turns out to be.
One recent case came shortly before Christmas when I noticed the title of a collection of poems by Indonesian poet Norman Erikson Pasaribu, translated into English by Tiffany Tsao. The title, Sergius seeks Bacchus, jumped out at me because Sergius and Bacchus are a pair of fourth-century soldier saints. Their popularity in early medieval Christendom is perhaps best demonstrated by the church dedicated to them which was built during the reign of Emperor Justinian (r.527-65), which is still standing in Istanbul and colloquially known as Little Hagia Sophia. The title does indeed refer to these saints, as they have become iconic figures among gay Christians, and the title thereby reflects Pasaribu's Christian background and his sexual orientation.
The collection of poems is an unexpected consequence of my saint scholarship, but without that scholarship it is possible that this book would have completely passed me by. I am very glad I caught it, however, because the poetry is rich, rewarding, and, as seen already in the opening poem which recounts Pasaribu's coming out, it is devastatingly and beautifully heartbreaking.
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