Have You Picked Out Your Saint for 2006? It's not too late!

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**Did you know that you can receive a new saint to be your companion each year? **

There is a New Year tradition of picking a saint as your personal companion. This is a tradition that has spread far and wide, especially with families, parishes, and prayer groups, actively strengthening ties with our family in Heaven. If you haven’t participated in this tradition, this may be your year. It is a concrete and very personalized way of increasing our communion with the saints and it is simple:
  1. Print out the names of several saints (click here for the list of saints) cut them and fold them up, and put them in a basket.
  2. Invoke the Holy Spirit through spontaneous prayer.
  3. Then ask for a saint to pick you.
Yes, actually, IT IS THE SAINT WHO CHOOSES YOU and not the other way around! Like everything that comes from above, how reassuring! That saint has the responsibility of taking good care of you throughout the year and will protect you, guide you on the right path, and reveal to you his/her particular charism.
  1. Reach into the basket and pull out a name. That’s your saint for the year.
**(The easy online way to do this is to bring up the list catholic.org/saints/popular.php, close your eyes, scroll up and down. The saint across where you stop is your saint) **

It is important to get to know better the life of your new “buddy”, protector and companion for the year so that you may profit spiritually and develop a deep relationship with this saint who will guide, help and intercede for you. At the end of the year that saint doesn’t leave but stays with you when you get a new one!)

There always seems to be a special message in the choice of saint. Our family in heaven is truly attentive to us, wanting to help us and encourage us. We have only to turn to them. It is especially powerful when introduced to young people. They feel that special touch from heaven, when they receive their saint. Just think what message of love a saint could send to a young person through this friendship and companionship!

This is a tradition that you can gladly extend to your visitors, friends, and family members – just as I am doing here, who in turn may eagerly anticipate being given a saint for the year. Once more, we can only marvel at the workings of Divine Providence, since, most of the time, these new companions have achieved wonderful things for their “protégés” before the end of the year.

**6. Then rejoice together about the saint that has chosen you as his/her "protégé” by sharing who he/she is by posting it on this thread. **
 
Saint Agatha, 3rd century virgin and martyr

Not who I would have expected. I wonder what she and the Holy Spirit have in mind for me this year?

I’ll have to do some research to know more about her. Thank God for the Internet. 🙂
 
Wow! I think we’ll do this tonight 🙂 Even though we’re adults and a toddler in this family, it sounds like a lot of fun and a great way to learn about a new saint! I just got Bob and Penny Lord’s newest book (Saints: Misunderstood, Maligned, Mistreated–or some order of those three ‘M’ words!) for my birthday and highly recommend it to everyone interested in reading the lives of the saints! My dear mom and dad got me an autographed copy for my birthday after my dear hubby suggested this book to them as one I would love :bounce:
 
🙂 Fun!

I have recently adopted St. Francis as my new favorite saint, but I did your page and got:

Saint Peter Claver S.J. (celebrated September 9th). “Consider how many people think you a saint, and praise your sanctity throughout the town, and seem to delight to see you; ponder on how they would run from you if they really knew you.” Pray for prisoners and those in slavery of all kinds.

LOL!!! 😃 You have no idea how appropriate this is for me - especially this day! (Not to say people think I’m a saint, but they do have a much rosier perception of me than is the truth - something I’ve thought of often recently. 🙂 )

Thanks for the link!
 
I like your wonderful sharing of this idea. Thank you; I will share this idea with my family as well. God bless.
 
What a wonderful idea. Thank you for posting this. I will print it and pick a saint. I have so many favorite saints. Thanks for the post:)
 
As you can see from the photo here attached to my post, my saint
is always Bernadette. ( I do like Saint Joseph )
 
Saint Bernadette of Lourdes.

Not who I would have expected. I wonder what she and the Holy Spirit have in mind for me this year as well?
 
St. Cecilia, patron of musicians. Good thing I was a music major and enjoyed making music. Perhaps she will help me get back into it? :cool:
 
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Alison:
Umm…Why is Fr. Slavko Barbaric listed as one of the Saints? That’s bizarre.
Peace Pilgrim I do not support the messages of Medjugorje as it is unapproved. I chose not to include the messages of Medjugorje in using the list of Saints you have provided; But, I do like your wonderful sharing of this idea. Thank you; I will share this idea with my family as well. God bless.
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Hi Alison,

A friendly note to say: You are certainly free to support or not support whatever you wish and to think inclusion of Fr. Slavko is bizarre. I must admit that your word “bizarre” took me aback. It sounded harsh and inflammatory. I wondered if I should just ignore your comment or respond. WWJD? I’ve decided to respond with as much kindness as I can muster, giving you the benefit of the doubt that it was a reactionary comment and not an act of intentional calumny (a sin).

You seem to have the impression that if an apparition is not approved it is to be deemed “bad”. This is simply NOT TRUE. I must speak up, otherwise I am contributing to the perpetuation of an untruth and an accomplice to sin.

"Local Church leaders sometimes feel they must keep Medjugorje “under wraps” until formal Church approval is given. However, because of the extraordinary occurrences which have taken place there, Rome has established for itself a very different pastoral response; a response of cautious support rather than distance.

The support, of course, is **low keyed and provisional ** so as not to cut short the on-going process that will lead to final, definitive judgement.The process historically has only granted full recognition to world-scale apparitions when they have come to their conclusion. Fatima was formally recognized only 13 years later, while Guadalupe delayed 200 years.

Since apparitions with any negative content are quickly disavowed, the wait-and-see attitude of the Church is in itself a provisional kind of approval. Both the pope and the Yugoslavia bishops are treating, and indeed protecting, Medugorje as a legitimate place of pilgrimage and a shrine, although they cannot officially say that explicitly as yet. They are also giving great priority to the pastoral needs of the people who are experiencing conversion through Medugorje."

As Franz Werfel who wrote “Song of Bernadette” (of Lourdes) wrote: “For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible.” It is a matter of faith and personal revelation. No one – including yourself – is required to believe or disbelieve Our Lady’s appearances.

Last year, I picked Fr. Slavko – or should I say, he picked me! At the time I knew precious little about him. But because he chose me, I made the effort to know him. I am so grateful that I kept an open heart and bought his books, read and studied his profound writings on prayer, faith, love, and The Mass. He greatly accelerated my conversion and my husband’s to Catholicism.

I was a stranger to the faith, and he was kind to me, taking me on as his little “buddy” for the year.

If you were to know him through his work, you might think of him, as I and many do, as a very holy and humble priest with a contagious love for God. Your comment makes me wonder if he has been undeservedly maligned and slandered by those with less than holy agendas…

I wish to keep this thread positive and on topic: it is about picking a saint for the year. I do not think this is the thread to continue this discussion. Feel free to take this to another thread if you wish.

Peace be with you. Make of it as you will, but let us follow Jesus’ example and be kind, respectful and charitable. Fr. Slavko is in heaven and cannot defend himself from your charge that his inclusion is bizarre.

God bless you. We are His children. Let us get along and play nice. I am very happy that you think positively of the sharing this tradition. I hope your saint will be a most loving and supportive one as mine was last year.
 
After praying to the Holy Spirit, then scrolling up and down the list of saints then stopping on a name with my eyes closed, I have been picked by the:

Holy Souls in Purgatory (celebrated November 2nd). “For if he had not expected the fallen to rise again it would gave been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead, whereas if he had in view the splendid recompense reserved for those who make a pious end, the thought was holy and devout. This was why he had this atonement sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they might be released from their sin.” 2 Maccabees 12:44-45 Pray for the Souls in Purgatory and allow them to help you pray for a deeper communion between the saints in heaven, in purgatory and on earth.

Since discovering purgatory and the souls there in the last year, I have prayed from the heart for them and was especially drawn to the St. Gertrude Prayer, which Our Lord Jesus Christ revealed the following prayer to St. Gertrude the Great. The Lord promised that each time it is said, 1,000 souls would be released from purgatory (and enter Heaven):

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, those in my own home, and within my family. Amen.

I stayed very aware on Christmas Day of the fact that the largest number of souls were being “graduated” to Heaven. Perhaps the Holy Spirit is making sure that I will keep doing my little part in helping these souls.

If we don’t pray for them, who will?

And, as Our Lady has said, most souls go to purgatory first, very few get the fast pass to Heaven. I am honored and humbled that the souls in purgatory have picked me to help them get to Heaven. I will do my best for them this year.

I want to know them as well as I can, so I will be studying up on the holy souls so I may be of most service to them.

God bless each and every one of you as we begin this new year, 2006. I think Catholic Answers is a Godsend for neophytes like me.
 
Peace Pilgrim:
Since discovering purgatory and the souls there in the last year, I have prayed from the heart for them and was especially drawn to the St. Gertrude Prayer, which Our Lord Jesus Christ revealed the following prayer to St. Gertrude the Great. The Lord promised that each time it is said, 1,000 souls would be released from purgatory (and enter Heaven):

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, those in my own home, and within my family. Amen.
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Peace Pilgrim,
I am so happy to hear that you are devoted to helping the Holy Souls in Purgatory! You might be interested in the Mission to Empty Purgatory at www.mtep.com 🙂 They are trying to get people who say the St. Gertrude prayer to let them know, so they can keep track of how many prayers have been said. They have done some estimates on how many people have ever been born and taken the highest number. Then they take the birth rate, adding that number to the number of people born every day. The goal is to have one St. Gertrude prayer said for every 1,000 people born. Therefore, assuming everyone ever born went to Purgatory and is still there, Purgatory would be emptied. Right now, there are about 86,537,960 prayers still needed.

Let me conclude with this quote:
"Yet how quickly we could empty purgatory if we but really wished to." – St John Vianney, Cure d’Ars
 
Too cool. I am printing it out and doing it today with my family and some friends! I think I will take it to my 5th grade CCD class! I am trying to help them find their way to individually express their gifts and talents within the Church and so have been trying to help them find Saints they can relate to according to their interests and personalities.
 
I truly enjoy this wonderful idea you have brought forth. My Saint is St. Francis of Assisi.
May you have a blessed Christmas Season.
 
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Alison:
I truly enjoy this wonderful idea you have brought forth. My Saint is St. Francis of Assisi.
May you have a blessed Christmas Season.
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Alison,
I have a brother-in-Law who is struggling with some person pro. however he is seems very attached to St. Francis of Assisi, would you be able to reccomend any books about him.
thanks.
 
Hello Kayla,
the books on St. Francis that I have in my posession are really outdated so I do not have any particular ones in mind; but this is a good site to find some of St. Francis’ writings; you could print them out and give them to your brother:
franciscan-archive.org/patriarcha/opera/fwintro.html

another good site is: san-francesco.org/scritti_eng.html

I also suggest watching the movie “Francesco” which was on the Vatican’s religious movies list. It was so genuinely beautiful and showed a very real perception of St. Francis. I truly enjoyed this movie compared with others I have seen on his life.

Perhaps you could go to the library and pick out some books on St. Francis’s life. Kayla, I’m sure you will find something worthwhile for your brother. I will pray for you and your brother. God bless.
-Alison
 
Alison said:
🙂 Hello Peace Pilgrim. I meant not to offend you by my previous comments; please accept my heartfelt apology if I have :gopray:. I meant no harm. In any case, I meant not to slander Fr. Slavko in any way but spoke the way I did because it may be that Fr. Slavko needs to be prayed for if he is in purgatory. We cannot just assume, however certain by what we have seen of him, that he is in Heaven. It would be an injustice against him. I do not know why you may think me uncharitable or someone with a “less than holy agenda” but you are free to believe that.
I truly enjoy this wonderful idea you have brought forth. My Saint is St. Francis of Assisi.
May you have a blessed Christmas Season.
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Hi again, Alison!

I have read your past posts and have a sense of who are. No, I do not believe you are an uncharitable person in general. Yours may have been an unintentional, uncharitable act of speaking before thinking. I am guilty of those acts too! In fact, you sound like a delightful child of God, someone who I would enjoy getting to know; you ask great questions.

I forgive you! I suspect that you reacted to information that surprised you and you lost your peace and calm. This may be a small learning experience to realize that words are powerful and that there are less inflammatory ways to respond.

“Bizarre” is not a friendly term. A less seemingly hostile response would have been as you wrote in your last response: "…it may be that Fr. Slavko needs to be prayed for if he is in purgatory. We cannot just assume, however certain by what we have seen of him, that he is in Heaven. It would be an injustice against him. "

I would have then referred you to this and you may have understood why I said what I did. You may not have agreed, but you would have understood that my experience there would have led me to phrase what I said in that way.

As for someone with a “less than holy agenda” – I was not referring to you. Before I went, I researched intensely and I came across a few critical articles replete with human inaccuracies, unGodly mean-spiritedness, unfortunate misperceptions and outright lies (and we know who lies…). I am grateful that I listened to the Holy Spirit’s calm, nonstrident voice, kept an open mind and heart and responded to the call. Our Lady – and what a Saint she is – pointed and lead me to Her Son, plain and simple. There are many roads that lead to Rome and God mapped out my route with a fruitful visit to Medjugorje. What counts is that She lead me to her Son who is the Way.

Now, I am being led to also pray for the Holy Souls of purgatory through Our Lord and Our Lady. If it were not for my pilgrimage, Purgatory would still be just a ski resort, no more, no less. If you should die before me, I will be praying for you as I pray for ALL the holy souls in purgarory, including Fr. Slavko if he is there; if I precede you, please pray for me.

Peace? Enough on this. I’m over it. I will follow Christ’s example to forgive and forget.

Which saint picked you? I am interested, given our spirited exchange. Abundant blessings to you!
 
God bless you Peace Pilgrim. I have yet to print out and cut out the Saints Page because my printer is out of order. But I will probably use my printer at work to do this. I really want to share this with my family. Thanks a bunch.
-Alison
 
Mine was St. Peter Julian Eymard. I don’t know much about him. I’ll have to research him.
 
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