A reader writes:
I am fascinated by the person popularly known as Mr.T. He is such a curiosity that I cannot seem to put him out of my mind. I wonder about things like "Does he go to bed with his jewelry on?" "Is he always Mr.T or does he become Mr.Other Name when he gets home after a day of work?" "Is his father, T Senior (presumably), ashamed that his son did not pursue a more respectable career as a scientist named Dr. Q?" "Does he eat his own cereal?" "Does he wear more or less jewelry when going to weddings?" Such a human enigma!
I don't have definite information on all of these questions, though here's what information I have:
According to Wikipedia's entry on him, Mr. T was born Laurence Tureaud, though that's not his name now. He changed his name to Laurence Tero and then to Mr. T. Literally: Mr. T. He therefore does not go home and have another name. He also does not seem to go to bed with the jewelery on--at least anymore--since it appears that he gave up wearing the jewelery (at least the chains) after he became involved in relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina last year. He did, however, sometimes wear it to bed in the past, "to see how my ancestors, who were slaves, felt." Since givingup the chains, he presumably doesn't wear them to weddings now, either. I would assume that he has eaten his own cereal at least once. I know if I were joing to license a cereal, I would want to make sure it tastes okay. And I'd hope that his father is proud of him given how successful he's been.
The reader continues:
Then I wondered what would happen to him if he were to A) Convert to Catholicism and live an exemplary life (not that I am judging his current life) and B) Die and finally C) Become canonized -- what would we call this saint? Would it be St.Mr.T with both titles (saint and mister) or would the St. just replace the Mr. and we would just call him St.T?
Somehow St. T just does not have the same weight as Mr.T. I think it is the second syllable in mister that makes the name really work. It is kind of like growling when you say it "Mis-TERRR".
It seems in general titles earned in this life are dropped when the St. is added. For example, it is not St. Sister Therese but just plain old St. Therese. The only sort of exception to this would be the nickname that goes after the name to distinguish this St. First Name from other saints First Name. For example St. Therese the Little Flower.
In such a case, I wonder if it would be appropriate to refer to him as St.T of the Mister or something like that.
Anyway, I was just curious about titles and how they work with saints and wondered if you could provide any insight into that whole thing.
Mr. T apparently is a Christian, who is reported to take his faith seriously these days. If he were to become a Catholic and (at least henceforth) lead a life of heroic virtue then he would potentially be eligible for formal canonization.
Should he be canonized then--at least as things stand now--he would be referred to as St. Mr. T because the Mr. is an actual part of his name. It is not an honoriffic, but the first part of his legal name.
Of course, if he had aspirations toward canonization then he might change his name again--perhaps back to Laurence Tureaud, but as things stand now, it would be St. Mr. T.
Hope this clears up some of the mystery surrounding this human enigma!
CHT to The Curt Jester for Photoshopping the above image, and especially for his creative take on what kind of halo St. Mr. T would have!
"Mr. T apparently is a Christian, who is reported to take his faith seriously these days."
He also has a unique way of evangelizing. He snarls and says: "Pray, sucka!"
Posted by: bill912 | July 25, 2006 at 12:14 PM
I pitty da fool!
It would be the cooolest confirmation name.
Posted by: Steve | July 25, 2006 at 12:29 PM
Jimmy, I'm so glad we have someone like you around, to answer these really pressing, weighty questions...
Posted by: Margaret | July 25, 2006 at 12:33 PM
What might happen if Mr. T and Chuck Norris were bishops?
Posted by: | July 25, 2006 at 12:40 PM
Ah the Dumb Ox has posted on Bishop Chuck Norris.
http://oxfiles.blogspot.com/2006/03/pope-apoints-five-new-bishops.html
Posted by: Mike | July 25, 2006 at 12:44 PM
If he was baptized as Laurence Tureaud, why wouldn't he be St. Laurence Tureaud? Wouldn't the baptismal name be used over the legal name? (Assuming for sake of this argument he had been baptized as a Catholic and not converting in the future...)
Perhaps he would be St. Laurence Tureaud the B.A.
Posted by: chris-2-4 | July 25, 2006 at 01:01 PM
So we can pray that one day we add these names to the Litany of Saints:
St. Dweezil and St. Moon Unit Zappa...pray for us.
St. Sage Moonblood Stallone...pray for us.
St. Speck Wildhorse Mellencamp...pray for us.
St. Apple Paltrow...pray for us.
St. Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence (take a breath)...pray for us.
St. Fifi Trixabelle....pray for us.
St. Pilot Inspektor Lee...pray for us.
All holy men and women...pray for us!
The parents obviously weren't thinking of the Litany of Saints when they named their children.
Posted by: John E | July 25, 2006 at 01:14 PM
I think St. Mr. T has a nice ring to it.
"Pray, sucka!" Thank you bill912 for making me laugh out loud. I needed that today. :)
Posted by: Cory | July 25, 2006 at 01:16 PM
Jimmys cereal would of course be low carb!
Posted by: SteveL | July 25, 2006 at 01:25 PM
I've seen Mr. T on TBN. I've also seen "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels (wrestler), Zeus/Tiny Lister (former wrestler/actor), "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase (former wrestler) and many other famous personages.
Christianity is taking over the entertainment world!
Posted by: Jason | July 25, 2006 at 01:27 PM
With respect to typology, the A-team certainly does take on a whole new dimension.
Would he also be dubbed "the saint of the ignorant:" given that, as already noted by steve,he does 'Pity da fool.'
Posted by: joe | July 25, 2006 at 01:36 PM
I would love to see Mr. T become Catholic, but then again, I'd love to see everyone become Catholic.
Thanks for this amusing topic Jimmy.
Dave
Posted by: DaveJ | July 25, 2006 at 02:26 PM
Since Mr. is his first name, and many saints are known only by their first names, couldn't he be known as St. Mr.?
Posted by: Mr. C | July 25, 2006 at 04:27 PM
There *is* St. Padre Pio . . . remember we were all asking about that a few years ago? "Saint" is basically just saying "Holy" at the beginning of a name, but we've made it into more of an honorific (think of the other descriptors in the process, "Venerable" and "Blessed" - "Holy" fits in there more if you think of it that way, but "Saint" is the word we use).
It would have to be "St. Mr. T" unless he went back to his previous legal name, otherwise it would just sound silly. I have to agree, if Mr. T converted to Catholicism and lived a life of heroic virtue, "Mr. T" would be one of the coolest confirmation names of all time! (Not a great baptismal name, maybe . . .) Like "Xavier", IMO. BTW, I pity da fool who doesn't cross the Tiber!
I'm sure this all sounds silly to overserious types but I do hope Mr. T (as I hope everyone else) becomes Catholic one day (did I once read about him going to Catholic elementary school? maybe not . . . ), and it is an amusing topic, which we don't have enough of these days!
(How about St. B.A. of the Baracus?)
Posted by: Meg Q | July 25, 2006 at 05:21 PM
It must be a slow week for you guys!
PEACE
P.S. I got to see Mister T a number of years ago at a wrestling event. He was the side-kick to Hulk Hogan, who by the way, was always good in buying raffle tickets from the local priest.
My priest friend, Father Brian G., had an interesting parish, both William F. Buckley, Jr. (the intellectual and commentator)and Hulk Hogan (the wrestling showman)were his parishioners.
Ah, what a world we live in!
Posted by: Father Joe | July 25, 2006 at 06:09 PM
"Pray, sucka!" <-- I love this!
I can imagine other teachings:
"Repent, sucka!"
"Love one another, sucka!"
"Forgive one another, sucka!"
Posted by: S | July 25, 2006 at 07:01 PM
Mr T being a Christian explains why he has said that while he is always happy to do cameos in movies and TV shows, he has said that he won't do any nude scenes or sex scenes. (But I haven't heard of anyone wanting him to do any of those yet anyway!)
Posted by: Rhys | July 25, 2006 at 07:33 PM
He might be called St. Padre Pio, but his official name is St. Pio of Pietrelcina.
Interesting topic!
Posted by: Charlotte | July 25, 2006 at 07:37 PM
I don't know... this St. Hulkster thing is now starting to sound sort of appealing, especially after viewing a couple of episodes of "Hogan Knows Best." He did make a miracle comeback... does that count multiple times?
Posted by: M. Swaim | July 25, 2006 at 09:12 PM
OK, when I find myself taking time to read this, that's when I know I'm really just procrastinating and ought to get back to work.
Posted by: Seamus | July 26, 2006 at 07:14 AM
I can help the reader, I think. I NEVER think about Mr. T,except when he's in a news report, which is..what? Once a decade maybe?
Posted by: Peggy | July 26, 2006 at 07:45 AM
Well, maybe it would be like the popes that get canonized. Pope Pius X is now called Pope Saint Pius X (which always makes me wonder why we don't say "Pope Saint Peter"), so would it be "Mr. Saint T?" Of course if his name is just "Mr. T" I would have to guess it would then be "St. Mr. T."
Posted by: Roman Sacristan | July 26, 2006 at 08:23 AM
After a few hundred years the earthly honorific will drop in favor of the "St." title. St. Teresa of Avila was also known as "Mother Teresa" back 500 years ago.
Posted by: Dr. Eric | July 26, 2006 at 12:45 PM
Saw this on Wikipedia:
In 2006, Mr. T announced he would never wear his chains again saying, “No, T, you can never wear your gold again. It's an insult to God." He came to this decision after seeing the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Mr. T also donated a great deal of clothing and money to Katrina victims. In October, 2006 [2] his new reality television show for TV Land, called I Pity the Fool [3] begins, which will find the devout Christian assisting those in need.
Posted by: Jason | July 26, 2006 at 12:51 PM
I pity the fool who doesn't pray at St. Mr. T's Shrine!
Posted by: Dr. Eric | July 26, 2006 at 09:01 PM