Patron saints

Each night before I go to sleep I say a little litany of my own, asking saints of my choosing for their intercession. Many of these saints are featured around my blog. Generally, a lot of them I chose myself and have something to do with an area in which I need particular help. However, in this list, there are also a couple of saints which I did not actively choose but rather they ended up coming to me. Thinking about these saints last night, I realise that God assigned them to me in order to help me with various things in my life. Going the Irish way about it*, I'll start from the bottom (in terms of the order in which I say them in the litany).

Saint Ignatius of Loyola, my confirmation saint.
Okay, so I did choose this saint, but I was young at the time and didn't choose him for any real reason. I just liked the name. I had originally chosen Saint Athanasius because it sounded even longer and more unusual but I suppose that it would be too obvious that that was the reason I chose him. Anyway, I chose Saint Ignatius and then never really thought about it again, apart from on an odd occasion. I started becoming a little bit ashamed of having chosen him both because of the arbitrariness of my choice and also because of the reputation that the Society of Jesus has. My dad told me about how the Jesuits were extremely strict (and drove on of my uncles through marriage to stop being a Chaldean Catholic) and also nowadays they are often seen to be associated with being dodgy priests, so much so that some people seem to roll their eyes every time they see SJ after a priest's name. I think this is highly unfair as I have met some great Jesuit priests but nevertheless, for a while I was ashamed of having a confirmation saint associated with the Jesuits.
I then came to realise that never mind what the Society of Jesus is like now, I should still be honoured to have such a great saint like Saint Ignatius as a patron. Thinking about it last night, I realised that by assigning this saint to me, God has recognised my lack of missionary zeal and and obedience to God and His Church. I am quite cowardly when it comes to sharing my faith in person but I like to think that through Saint Ignatius' intercession, I have become more confident in explaining my faith to others. Furthermore, after "that incident" over a year ago, I now realise how important it is to support the Church and those in authority rather than always questioning and doubting them, which had been my usual initial reaction.

Saint Vincent de Paul, the saint on my birthday.
According to the OF calendar, the memoria of Saint Vincent de Paul is on my birthday. In the EF calendar, it is Saints Cosmas and Damian (aside - how I wish the two calendars were the same!). Again, I did not "choose" this saint - he just happens to have his memoria the same day I celebrate my birthday.
Saint Vincent also founded a congregation with a missionary aspect, further emphasising what I said above about Saint Ignatius. I also think of works of mercy when I think about Saint Vincent and so I believe God is trying to encourage me to undertake more works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual, as currently I do very little.



Saint Juliana of Liège (or of Mt Cornillon), my saint of 2010/2011
On the blog Angela Messenger, the blogger assigns saints to people who ask her for one. She says that she does not specifically choose a saint for a particular reason but prays on it and lets God choose for her. She does this each November so that you have a saint in time for the new liturgical year. Last year I got Saint Juliana of Liège, a saint I'd never heard of. I was very interested to find out that she was an ardent promoter for the introduction of the feast of Corpus Christi. Since having her as a new patron, I have tried to go to the weekly Holy Hour my priest holds more often. Greater devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament is always greatly beneficial for one's soul, and I think I have already noticed some of the effects. Often, it was when praying before the Blessed Sacrament that saints received visions, such as Saint Margaret Mary.


Saint Stanislaus Kostka, my saint of 2009/2010.
In 2009 I got Saint Stanislaus Kostka, again a saint I'd never heard of. This prompted me to find out more about him. He was a Jesuit novice who died when he was 17. His religious fervour and devotion to the Lord and to the Blessed Virgin Mary were notable, and he longed to be in heaven with God. He died on the feast of the Assumption (he was said to have longed to be in heaven for the celebration of our Lady's assumption). His piety and devotion was met with hostility from his brother Paul, who was still alive when Saint Stanislaus was beatified. This encouraged me to devote myself more to the Eucharist and to Mary, as he was. His bravery when faced with death I found inspiring. I had intended on dropping him from the litany to make way for Saint Juliana, but found I kept saying him anyway, so I've decided to continue to ask for his intercession. I still need help with greater devotion anyway.

I think God through His providence has assigned these saints to pray for me as they are all areas in which I need great help.


*An Irish woman whom I met at weekly adoration often uses this expression. An example: "This may sound a bit Irish, but if I'm there, I'm there and if I'm not, I'm not."