Best Saints to Introduce Non-Catholic To?

  • Thread starter Thread starter refulgence
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
refulgence said:
…in other words, saints that the average American could relate to.
Click to expand...
Choose average American Saints then. 😉
  • Elizabeth Ann Seton–also she was a wife and mother before she founded her order.
  • Katherine Ann Drexel (yes, from that Drexel family!)
  • Rose Hawthorne Lathrop (the daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne the author)
My daughter is interested in woman saints who were wives and mothers, so we have a little list, high on that is Gianna Beretta Molla, the patroness of pro-life causes who was a pediatrician as well as a wife and mother.

Other favorites of ours are Blessed Maria Corsini and Blessed Luigi Beltarme Quattrocchi–a married couple who were made blesseds together. And, of course, Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux. Theresa’s parents are intersting because Mr. Martin gave up his business in order to help his wife in her’s!
 
My patron saint is Joan of Arc and I love her dearly… She was more than a martyr. She was a 17-year-old illiterate peasant girl who had visions of two saints and an angel, led armies into battle (and won), crowned a king and stayed alive for five months while on trial by the English (her assessors were highly educated Churchmen, about 50 in number). And then she had the courage to die for her faith. Every female appreciates a story like that! 🙂
 
Alot of people said St. Francis already, but I say him too. I think with your wife being a Lutheran, seeing how St. Francis responded to sin in the church is very different compared to how Martin Luther did. St. Francis de Sales might be another one that would be good for a Protestant to learn about.
Someone who is not declared a saint but I like his conversion story is Thomas Merton.
A person favorite of mine is St. Callixtus. Everyone doesn’t always agree in life, even in the church, and he is a great example of how to handle disputes with a fellow Catholic.
 
Look into St. Francis de Sales. He re-converted whole cities to Catholicism in the wake of the Reformation.

He’s a Doctor of the Church with some fantastic writings - but don’t let that disqualify him. His book “Introduction to the Devout Life” is an absolute masterpiece and IMO should be read by anyone serious about developing their spirituality.
 
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned her yet, but what about St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). Another person I’ve always loved ever since I heard about her is Kateri Tekakwitha.
 
Another good saint is Padre Pio – twentieth century saint, deep love for Christ, amazing miracles, good biographies available with photographs!

Another that might appeal to a Lutheran is St. Ignatius of Loyola: deep love for scripture (his Spiritual Exercises and favored method of prayer involve meditation on scripture), Christ-centered spirituality, balance of prayer and active ministry. His Autobiography is quite short and very readable.
 
refulgence said:
My wife is considering converting. She’s asked me to put together some information for her on the differences between her denomination (Lutheran) and Catholicism, which I have.

As part of this, I wanted to include some info on saints and a selection of saints’ stories. Some were easy to choose - Blessed Damian of Molokai, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Mother Theresa (I’m aware she’s not canonized yet), St. Francis of Assisi, and of course Mary.

What other saints have compelling life stories and would be good for evangelizing?

I’m looking for saints that are famous for something other than:
  • “first brought Christianity to place X” - that is primarily what St. Patrick, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, etc. are known for.
  • was mainly a saint because of his/her martyrdom (e.g., St. Sebastian)
  • was primarily a saint because of what he wrote (I love Thomas Aquinas, but he isn’t the first saint I’d tell a non-Catholic about)
  • was a great administrator (e.g., St. John Bosco), founder of an order/abbot (e.g., St. Anthony of Egypt), famous Pope, etc.
  • was, well, weird. I mean, St. Paul the Hermit lived in a cave for 90 years…I’m sure there is much to learn from such a simple life, but it’s hardly compelling for the average person!
…in other words, saints that the average American could relate to.
Click to expand...
***May I suggest a slightly different approach:shrug: What about Saints with her name, your name. the name of your children or patron Saints for her and you’re firld of endeavor?

Maybe explain why Pope Benedict choose this name?***

Love and prayers
 
In addition to seconding Padre Pio and Francis De Sales, allow me to throw in John Henry Newman (although not a Saint yet, he will probably be in a few years). An Anglican priest who went searching for proof of the Apostolic roots of the church of England and found instead a calling home to the Catholic Church.
 
I would suggest James Martin’s book My Life with the Saints. Martin is a Jesuit who really had very little knowledge of saints when he decided to enter the Jesuits. His book, which is part autobiographical, introduces the saints in a way that is very down to earth and not full of sappy stories. I was very surprized by the saints that he chose as his “friends.” He shows how the saints can influence our lives and how they help us, in a way that would be non-threatening to non-Catholics. I recommend it to those in our RCIA process. Many of our candidates after reading the book have gone on to read books about or by the saints themselves after Martin’s introduction to them.
 
Forgive me, but I’m going to echo a lot of what has been said already:
  • St. Francis of Assisi, for sure (he’s my Confirmation saint!)
  • Mother Theresa, who based her life and her spirituality on that of St. Therese of Lisieux
  • The Apostle Paul, and other apostles, especially John the beloved disciple
 
St. Francis/St. Clare, St. Therese/St. Teresa, St. Faustina, St. Joan of Arc, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and so on (all of the major saints) would be good.

Personally, I liked St. Francis (some protestants ‘celebrate’ his feast day), and St. Faustina (my patron saints). I really liked to read about saints to whom Jesus spoke to - not that I had a problem with Mary, which I don’t. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel/Lourdes/Fatima/etc., were the first apparitions of Mary that I read about.
 
I spent last week introducing folks to St. Augustine: first through Peter Brown’s wonderful biography

payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/08/12/in-celebration-of-peter-brown%e2%80%99s-augustine-of-hippo/

Then a short biography:

payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/08/13/a-short-biography-of-saint-augustine/

Finally I cross checked St. Augustine with some other readings and got some interesting “asides:”

payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/08/14/the-majesty-of-st-augustine/

A teaser:

The Active Life And The Church
“There is a fundamental error about the Church’s attitude to the Active Life — a persistent assumption that Catholic Christianity, like any Oriental Gnosticism, despises the flesh and enjoins a complete detachment for all secular activities. Such a view is altogether heretical. No religion that centers about a Divine Incarnation can take up such an attitude as that. What the Church enjoins is quite different: namely, that all the good things of this world are to be loved because God loves them, as God loves them, for the love of God, and for no other reason. That is the right ordering of love, about which so much is said in the Purgatorio. A full Active Life, rightly ordered, is therefore in no way incompatible with holiness or even with a rich Contemplative Life. Indeed many of the greatest Contemplatives have been masterly men and women of business – one need only instance St. Augustine of Hippo, St Theresa of Avila, or St Gregory the Great.”
Introductory Papers On Dante – Dorothy Sayers
 
djeter said:
I spent last week introducing folks to St. Augustine: first through Peter Brown’s wonderful biography
Click to expand...
The Peter Brown biography of St. Augustine is first rate, as is everything written by Peter Brown. Great scholar and author.
 
Hi All 👋 What about St. Paul. I think it would surprise many Evangelical Protestants how much respect and honor we give to him.
 
Irish_Kathy said:
Hi All 👋 What about St. Paul. I think it would surprise many Evangelical Protestants how much respect and honor we give to him.
Click to expand...
St. Paul is really big with Protestants. I once had heard a joke (can’t remember how it went) but something along the lines that Catholics worship Mary, but Protestants worship Paul.
 
Father Solanus Casey. American. Not yet a saint, but his cause is moving forward with great enthusiasm.

There are some web sites about him. Amazing person. Performed a lot of miracles.
 
I was surfing through the CAF site and found this; thought it might be relevant and helpful:

“If you say the Holy Rosary everyday, with a spirit of faith and love, our Lady will make sure she leads you very far along her Son’s path.” – St. Josemaria Escriva
 
fultonfish said:
I was surfing through the CAF site and found this; thought it might be relevant and helpful:

“If you say the Holy Rosary everyday, with a spirit of faith and love, our Lady will make sure she leads you very far along her Son’s path.” – St. Josemaria Escriva
Click to expand...
Thanks Fulton Fish 👋 St. Josemaria Escriva is fast becoming one of my favorite Saints. I LOVE THAT QUOTE!!! 👍
 
Before I became Catholic (and Christian), the first Saint I learned about, whose story really helped me to believe, was St. Ignatius of Antioch. The story of his martyrdom, how he would not renounce his faith in Jesus Christ even as they dragged him in to the Colosseum (happy and smiling) to face the Lions and his death. St. Ignatius did not want the Christians in Rome to try and secure his release, he wanted and longed to go home to the Lord.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top