Patron Saint or Guardian Angel?

[kellie]

Hi all,

Do some people find a particular Saint whose life and teachings inspire them to be better themselves and therefore pray to that Saint regularly?

Is this a normal thing to do?

I don’t mean the Saint whose name you took for Confirmation either.

And do you call this favourite Saint of yours your Patron Saint or Guardian Angel?

Lately I have been reading about some Saints lives and some really appeal to me, as if they are a friend in Heaven that I can call on, for no particular reason other than to chat spiritually to them.

Do people do this? Or do they just pray to Jesus, Mary, and the Patron Saint of the cause they are praying for?

I hope that makes sense.

Thank you

 

[LilyM]

Let’s get some definitions out of the way first.

Saints are saints (human beings who at some point have had bodies) and angels are angels (disembodied spirits). The archangels alone of the angels, out of courtesy, are given the title Saint (taken from the Latin word for Holy).

Guardian angels are a different thing altogether - each of us has an angel (unnamed) or angels particularly appointed to specialy watch over us throughout our lives. We should all pray to our guardian angels always as well as Jesus, Mary and the Saints.

A person having a patron saint is a bit different again. In this situation it’s the person who chooses the saint as their patron, usually, as you said, because of some attraction to them.

I have several patron saints, including Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Mary is a saint and a patron too, remember!), St Joseph, St Francis of Assisi, St Joseph of Cupertino at times …

I do pray to all of 'em and to the individual or collective members of the Trinity about pretty much everything. Though at times if there’s a patron saint associated specially with a specific cause I’ll pray to that saint as well (eg St Peregrine for cancer).

 

[kellie]

Thanks Lily

So we don’t know who our guardian angels are? Is that right? But we all have them?

And I may choose a Saint whom I feel an attraction to, even if their associated cause (such as cancer) isn’t something I am inflicted with, I just happen to like how they lived etc ??

Of course I always pray to Jesus and Mary.

 

[Evan]

I pray to whichever saint is having a feast day. Also to saints that experienced problems like I have. Also to angels.

But I also pray to some of my deceased relatives who I believe have gone to heaven having passed through purgatory. They too would be saints, but not canonized. They have a special connection to me and to my family (and they’re not as busy as some popular saints )