I am very excited to write about the chosen Saint for this week on the blog. In the Catholic world, if you learn about the Saints, chances are that Saint Pio of Pietrelcina will be brought up at some time or another. Padre Pio, as he is also known and what I will refer to him as, lived a mystical life that most of us will likely not experience. Even though there are many spiritual gifts that he received that set him apart from a simple lay person, there are still many small devotions and life practices that we can incorporate into our daily routines in order to live a life of holiness as he did.

Francesco Forgione was born May 25th, 1887 in Italy. Even from the age of five, Francesco already seemed to have a miraculous ability. It is said that he could see guardian angels as well as speak with Jesus and Mary. When he was 15, he joined the Capuchin Order, took the name Pio, and eventually became a priest in 1910. When Padre Pio was 31 years old, he was given the gift of stigmata, which are the wounds of Christ, on his hands, feet and side.

That was not all that Padre Pio was given, but he was also blessed with gift of healing, bilocation, prophecy, miracles, discernment of spirits, the ability to read hearts, the gift of tongues, the gift of conversions, the grace to see angelic beings in form, and many more! After living for 81 years, he died on September 23, 1968, and stated that his real mission would begin after he died. On June 16, 2002, he was canonized by Pope John Paul II. Years earlier, in 1947, Pope JPII (who was just a priest at the time) had visited Padre Pio to have his confession heard.

I think that one of the pillars of St Pio’s life was his devotion to prayer. His prayer life was constant and he took St. Paul’s “pray without ceasing” quite literally. That being said, the prayers were not super complicated, but were simple prayers that could be repeated. I think that sometimes when people pray, they have trouble with what words to use. Our prayers don’t have to be extremely complicated, or even profound. Sometimes the simplest prayers are the most beautiful. Prayer really is just talking to God whether it be for praising Him or asking for help. Padre Pio would recommend praying the rosary. I don’t know whether or not this is true, but my uncle has told me that Padre Pio would pray 30 rosaries a day more or less, but then would add, “never less”.

Padre Pio is also a great example of humility for us. He didn’t seek out these abilities that he was given, but rather used them in a humble way to better serve the Lord and to be a helper to those in need.

 

For more information on St. Pio, go to: http://padrepiodevotions.org/a-short-biography/

This week we another female Saint in the Church, Elizabeth Ann Seton! While the Saints that we have talked about in the past weeks have had religious Catholic parents, Seton is a convert to the faith, and she was also born in the United States.

Elizabeth was born on August 28th, 1774 in New York City, and she is actually the first native born American to be canonized. Her wealthy parents allowed her to live an upper class life as a child. When she was about 20 years old, she married William Seton, and they lived a happy life together. The good times did not last long though, as many deaths began to occur in the family, and it started with William’s father. While Elizabeth took care of William’s half brothers and sisters, he ran the family business. Then, more tragedy struck as William also died from tuberculosis. Rather than question why God would do this, Elizabeth was drawn closer to the will of God. She eventually converted to Catholicism and started the first free Catholic school in the United States. She died in 1821 at the age of 46 and had also established two orphanages and one more school.

What I like a lot about Elizabeth is that she is a Saint that was married. While being married and becoming a Saint is not extremely rare or anything, many of the Saints do belong to either the priesthood or to a religious order. Not only that, but when faced with great suffering, she does not get upset with God, but in a great act of humility has the desire to draw nearer to him in a time of need. She is a wonderful example for us in our lives, for when things get tough, let us try to become closer to the Lord and not be afraid.

 

For more info on St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, go to: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=180

Since the last two weeks were about two great male Saints in the Church, this week I wanted to talk about a wonderful female Saint. While there are many of course, this week I have chosen Therese of Lisieux. While she didn’t live that long on earth, and didn’t accomplish anything substantial in her life, she lived her ordinary duties with great love and a fervent devotion. Living little never seemed so big.

She was born on January 2, 1873 to a mother who wanted to be a saint and a father who wanted to be a monk, so her family was already quite devout in the faith. When Therese was four years old, her mother died of cancer and so Therese’s older sister, Pauline, took the place of her mother. Therese had become ill at a young age and it is said that while she and her sisters were praying, Mary had appeared to her and cured her illness. Therese eventually joined a Carmelite convent, most likely due to her older sisters going there. In the convent, she endured great suffering, and in 1896 she began to cough up blood! It wasn’t until a year later that her condition was made obvious to everyone, since she had continued to work without telling anybody. She died on September 30, 1897 from tuberculosis and is the patron saint of the missions.

Therese understood that in her situation, she would not have the opportunity to change the whole world, so instead of doing so, she lived “the little way”, which is to glorify God in everything we do, no matter how small. While she was on her deathbed, she spoke about spending her eternal life back on this earth to help those that she could not while under the limitations of her life in the convent. She is a great example for each person striving for holiness, because the reality is that most of us will change the world in a drastic way. Therese shows us that suffering is inevitable, and so if we are to suffer, we might as well offer it up for the glory of God. Not only that, but in everything we do, we can give glory to God, since he gives us each day, and we can serve Him in our own special way.

 

For more info on St. Therese of Lisieux, go to: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=105

This week we have a very great saint and a doctor of the Church, Augustine of Hippo. He was born in 354 in North Africa, and his mother is also a Saint in the Church. While his father was a pagan, St. Monica was a devout Catholic, and so Augustine was raised Catholic. Although, while in school, he began to take on pagan beliefs and practices, which eventually led to him to live a lifestyle of seeking pleasure. He had relations with a women and bore a son out of wedlock.

With the help of Saint Ambrose and prayers from his mother, Augustine eventually converted to Christianity in the summer of 386. He devoted himself to serving God, joined the priesthood, lived a life of celibacy, and tried to convert the different groups of the region to the faith. St. Augustine died in 430, and is the patron Saint of brewers, printers, sore eyes and theologians. He wrote many books, was an expert on theology and philosophy, and helped develop doctrines of the church.

One of the things that makes St. Augustine very attractive to people is that we know a lot about his life, and during his younger years he was engaging in things that we believe to be morally wrong. This though, makes him more human, and we can relate to him better because we as sinners often fall short. The beauty is that we get the opportunity to try again and to do better to become the people that God calls us to be. People can often become discouraged when they look at the lives of the Saints because they only see the good and holy parts of their lives, but in reality everyone has their own struggles and shortcomings, even those who the Church have deemed to be in heaven with God.

 

For more information on St. Augustine, go to: https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_augustine.html

For my first post I have to decided to talk about one of my favorite Saints, Dominic Savio. While he did not live a long life full of fortune and fame that many people desire to live, Dominic definitely lived a life of meaning and purpose, and arguably lived a life that was truly worth living.

Dominic Savio was born on April 2nd, 1842 in Italy. The young boy had a deep love and desire for Jesus Christ. When Dominic had first received his first communion, he wrote four promises in a book. The four promises were that he would go to confession often and receive the Eucharist as often as possible, to sanctify Sundays and festivals in a special manner, that Jesus and Mary would be his friends, and that he would rather die than sin. He had within himself a great humility as he would say, “I can’t do big things. But I want all I do, even the smallest thing, to be for the greater glory of God.”

Dominic’s one true desire was to get closer to Jesus and to help his classmates get there along the way. While being a student under one of the great Saints of the church, John Bosco, Dominic’s health began to worsen and he was sent back home. He died on March 9th, 1857 at the age of 14.

What Dominic shows is that no matter who we are or how old we may be, we are all called to become as holy as possible. The Sainthood does not discriminate against age, race, or past failures, but rather it is a calling that all of us can meet. Jesus calls us to be like children, and Dominic is a prime example of what being a child of God truly means, both figuratively and literally. All of us are called to be imitators of Christ and to love one another as He has loved us.

 

For more information on this great Saint, go to: http://www.donboscowest.org/saints/dominicsavio