Need help with Saints

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fastenatingguy

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I volunteer to teach catechism and preparation for the sacrament of confirmation for 8th graders. Last week at the end of class, we were discussing “sin” in preparation for upcoming confessions this week. One of the students asked if there were any saints who committed terrible acts on earth (eg. murder) before turning their lives around. I said “yes there were and I will offer a few examples next Sunday.”

I look forward to your assistance, thanks!🙂
 
St. Paul murdered Christians before his miraculous conversion.
 
There was this famous saint…I think he was probably Italian who was just about ready to kill a man as part of the traditional family vendettas that were so common back then…but I’m not sure what his name is. I will have to look.

I think there are a few modern day stories of men in the 20th century who are on death row who became very very good Christians during some point in their prison sentence.

Also, I believe Maria Goretti’s murderer became pretty holy the last 10 or 20 years of his life. Someone I’m sure knows better than I do on that.

I’m not sure about Paul killing Christians, but he consented to the stoning of Stephen, it seems, and the bible says he brought Christians bound in chains back to Jerusalem to stand trial, etc.
 
St. Paul- sanctioned the murder of Christians, persecuted the early Christians.
St. Augustine- apostasy, sexual impurity, struggled a lot with lust (even sired a child out of wedlock)
St. Moses the Black- murder, crime
Moses the Patriarch- murder, owned slaves
St. Mary of Egypt- prostitution
 
Oops, I misread…for just murder

Well, Mary Magdelan for starters.

St. Francis was a partyer at best and maybe worse before his conversion.
 
Saints With a Past

How bad can you be and still become a saint? The short answer is: Pretty awful thoroughly wicked, even. With Professor Thomas J. Craughwell, you’ll meet an outlaw, an anti-pope, an embezzler, a con-artist, two fallen women, and two mass murderers who, for most of their lives, were as far as possible from sanctity and holiness.

catholiccourses.benedictpress.com/index.php/CC-Saints-with-Past

-Tim-
 
JamalChristophr said:
Oops, I misread…for just murder

Well, Mary Magdelan for starters.

St. Francis was a partyer at best and maybe worse before his conversion.
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Thanks, it doesn’t have to be murder. I think some/many of my students are stuck in the "how can a murderer or a ____________________ be forgiven of such horrid sins and become a saint?"
 
JamalChristophr said:
Oops, I misread…for just murder

Well, Mary Magdelan for starters.

St. Francis was a partyer at best and maybe worse before his conversion.
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Mary of Magdela is not considered to be a prostitute, btw. Pope Gregory the Great expressed his own opinion that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute but that was NEVER a Church teaching and there is also nothing in scripture to support such an opinion.
 
fastenatingguy said:
Thanks, it doesn’t have to be murder. I think some/many of my students are stuck in the "how can a murderer or a ____________________ be forgiven of such horrid sins and become a saint?"
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Remind them that’s it’s not so much that they were forgiven (although of course God can forgive anything) but that they REPENTED and changed their ways, becoming holy.
Confirmation is a commitment to holiness.
 
pianistclare said:
Remind them that’s it’s not so much that they were forgiven (although of course God can forgive anything) but that they REPENTED and changed their ways, becoming holy.
Confirmation is a commitment to holiness.
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Thank you Clare, it was a poor choice of words on my part. :o
 
I would like to thank you all for your help.

God bless you all,

FG
 
fastenatingguy said:
Thank you Clare, it was a poor choice of words on my part. :o
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No worries, it’s just kind of a pet peeve of mine, LOL

There are lots of cool saints to choose from. I teach Confirmation every year, and I’m always fascinated by the ones they select.
There’s always a few Sebastian’s among the boys, with Peter, Toribio Romo, and Patrick
The girls tend to go with Catherine of Bologna, Hildegard of Bingen, Cecilia, and Guadalupe.
😃
 
You might want to watch the recent movie, “St Vincent”, with Bill Murray.

It’s actually a wonderful example of a man that seemingly does everything wrong and is not a man living a good or holy life, yet in the end, a young boy he befriends makes a fine case for his “sainthood”. It left a tear in my eye I will admit.

OK, not a real saint through the Church, and it’s just a movie, but it’s a very good example of an imperfect man reaching “sainthood” like so many of our real saints did.
 
King David and Paul the Apostle are two easy examples you can grab right from scripture of literal murderers.
 
fastenatingguy said:
I volunteer to teach catechism and preparation for the sacrament of confirmation for 8th graders. Last week at the end of class, we were discussing “sin” in preparation for upcoming confessions this week. One of the students asked if there were any saints who committed terrible acts on earth (eg. murder) before turning their lives around. I said “yes there were and I will offer a few examples next Sunday.”

I look forward to your assistance, thanks!🙂
Click to expand...
St. Mary of Egypt, a harlot form her youth, not for money, as she told Zosimas solemnly that it was “out of insatiable desire”.
 
Vico said:
St. Mary of Egypt, a harlot form her youth, not for money, as she told Zosimas solemnly that it was “out of insatiable desire”.
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One of our boys chose her this year.
 
jimcav said:
You might want to watch the recent movie, “St Vincent”, with Bill Murray.

It’s actually a wonderful example of a man that seemingly does everything wrong and is not a man living a good or holy life, yet in the end, a young boy he befriends makes a fine case for his “sainthood”. It left a tear in my eye I will admit.

OK, not a real saint through the Church, and it’s just a movie, but it’s a very good example of an imperfect man reaching “sainthood” like so many of our real saints did.
Click to expand...
Very good movie.

Bill Murray and I attended the same high school, although he is eight years my senior. His sister, Nancy, really is Sr. Nancy and was one of my teachers.
 
HOW can such horrible sinners become saints?
They repent.
God forgives them.
 
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