Tell us about your devotion to a rather unknown saint/blessed

[goforgoal]

MarieVeronica and karoleck Thank you and God bless you for telling me about Mattie J.T. Stepanek. I’m starting to love this kid more and more.

I did ask if there was a cause for his Sainthood it looks like they are starting to promote his cause. I do Pray that someday the halo of Saint will be placed upon this young boy

mattieonline.com/?page_id=1201

What is it about Mattie J.T. Stepanek that I love so much? Even though, Mattie went through physical pain he had perseverance and he promoted Peace.

Something that Our Lord Jesus, taught us and wanted us to do – from the Crib right down to the Cross.

We could sure learn a lot about Mattie.

I also really admire these two Servants of God’s

Servant of God, Ovide Charlebois and Servant of God, Br. Anthony Kowalczyk

oblatevocations.ca/oblate_heroes.php

It is a personal and private matter as to why Servant of God, Ovide Charlebois means so much to me.

By the way, I do have a Novena which I have shared on this thread:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=715143

As for Servant of God, Br. Anthony Kowalcyzyk…It just goes to show that God loves us all. Please take the time to read his biography and you’ll see what I mean:

brotheranthony.org/new/node/4

I do Pray that Fr. Thomas Byles may be considered for Sainthood or perhaps he is?

fatherbyles.com/byles.htm

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-17583535

I also Pray that Church will consider Rhoda Wise for Sainthood as well.

rhodawise.com/

• Please do take note MODS and CAF users that I am not trying to promote an unknown cause for Sainthood it is up to the Church and of course we shall leave it in God’s Holy hands.

On a side note and it reminds me of what Brofessor I really admire Saints who are not Roman Catholic such as St. Julian of Norwich she is venerated in this Anglican and Lutheran Churches however.

julianofnorwich.org/

I like her because she is a Christian Mystic and as silly as this may seem St. Julian of Norwich has an icon with a cat.

My dad was an Anglican who converted to Catholicism before marrying my mom. I also have many family members who are still Anglican.

God bless,

goforgoal

 

[karoleck]

MarieVeronica and karoleck Thank you and God bless you for telling me about Mattie J.T. Stepanek. I’m starting to love this kid more and more.

I did ask if there was a cause for his Sainthood it looks like they are starting to promote his cause. I do Pray that someday the halo of Saint will be placed upon this young boy

mattieonline.com/?page_id=1201

What is it about Mattie J.T. Stepanek that I love so much? Even though, Mattie went through physical pain he had perseverance and he promoted Peace.

Something that Our Lord Jesus, taught us and wanted us to do – from the Crib right down to the Cross.

We could sure learn a lot about Mattie.

I also really admire these two Servants of God’s

Servant of God, Ovide Charlebois and Servant of God, Br. Anthony Kowalczyk

oblatevocations.ca/oblate_heroes.php

It is a personal and private matter as to why Servant of God, Ovide Charlebois means so much to me.

By the way, I do have a Novena which I have shared on this thread:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=715143

As for Servant of God, Br. Anthony Kowalcyzyk…It just goes to show that God loves us all. Please take the time to read his biography and you’ll see what I mean:

brotheranthony.org/new/node/4

I do Pray that Fr. Thomas Byles may be considered for Sainthood or perhaps he is?

fatherbyles.com/byles.htm

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-17583535

I also Pray that Church will consider Rhoda Wise for Sainthood as well.

rhodawise.com/

• Please do take note MODS and CAF users that I am not trying to promote an unknown cause for Sainthood it is up to the Church and of course we shall leave it in God’s Holy hands.

On a side note and it reminds me of what Brofessor I really admire Saints who are not Roman Catholic such as St. Julian of Norwich she is venerated in this Anglican and Lutheran Churches however.

julianofnorwich.org/

I like her because she is a Christian Mystic and as silly as this may seem St. Julian of Norwich has an icon with a cat.

My dad was an Anglican who converted to Catholicism before marrying my mom. I also have many family members who are still Anglican.

God bless,

goforgoal

There are some nice ones there! Those Oblate missionaries are certainly an inspiration.Mattie does have a great charm & he is just so sweet and holy -even from the other side!!

I do not think there is a problem in admiring the virtues of outstanding women & men coming from a different christian tradition.I think that as long as one makes it clear that these are not Catholic Saints.I mean who does not admire a heroic leader like the Lutheran Dietrich Bonhoeffer?

After all Blessed Cardinal Newman was a former Anglican,I am sure that he was a just & saintly person then,worthy of admiration.I think it was the reason that he was able to draw some of his Anglican friends into full union with Rome with him

victorianweb.org/authors/newman/jhnbio2.html
.
For us Catholics,all it means is that we can not public-ally venerate these type of people,nor can we celebrate their lives liturgically.The reason being, is that they are not on the approved calender of saints and we have not a certitude that their writings or spiritual private revelations are totally free from error.

 

[karoleck]

Blessed Devasahayam Pillai ,pray for us!

This 18th-century Catholic layman was martyred for refusing to deny his faith in India.He was beatified on the 3rd.of December 2012.He was a trusted soldier of a Hindu King but later incurred his wrath for embracing Christianity.

martyrdevasahayam.org/?refreshed

 

[erine]

St Philomena She’s been removed from all liturgical calendars. She was never included in Roman Matryology. Her canonization is controversial. Still, I really like this young lady, and she has helped me.

She is like my sister! I love her!

 

[UpUpAndAway]

St. Guy of Anderlecht, pray for me!

St. Guy is the patron saint of sacristans, and I am the most unworthy of sacristans. That Fr. B chose me for this job shows that either he didn’t have (m)any options or he is seriously misguided. :sad_yes:

It just so happens that Anderlecht isn’t that far from where I live, about 45 minutes by train or car, so I might have to poke around there one day.

 

[karoleck]

St. Guy of Anderlecht, pray for me!

St. Guy is the patron saint of sacristans, and I am the most unworthy of sacristans. That Fr. B chose me for this job shows that either he didn’t have (m)any options or he is seriously misguided. :sad_yes:

It just so happens that Anderlecht isn’t that far from where I live, about 45 minutes by train or car, so I might have to poke around there one day.

Nice one! You are doing a wonderful service for the glory of God.It might be a rather hidden vocation—yes,I believe it is more than a job.You are in God’s House,a place of Worship & a place of Silence.

As for your planned pilgrimage to the burial shrine of St.Guy of Anderlecht, make sure that you make it a definite planned task,rather than a pie in the sky intention! Whilst you are there ,pray & venerate the holy relics and ask St.Guy to give you confidence & trust in your God given abilities, as a Sacristan.Since I cannot make it physically, so please ask St.Guy that I may always to God’s Will in my life.

I have never heard of St.Guy–here in aussie land be “celebrate” Guy Fawkes(however one spells it ) which was “bonfire night” and as kids we all let off fireworks.We spent a month gathering any burnable rubbish for this night time event.It really is an English protestant invention,where Guy was supposed to have put an explosive amount of gunpowder to blow up the British Parliament. It was “discovered” before the event and Guy was burnt at the stake–it was an anti catholic set up.

Thanks for your contribution and here is another link to St.Guy of Anderlecht–I sort of am attracted to St.Guy, as I have worked as a laborer & even a sloppy sacristan for a while!! He also protects us from being bitten by mad dogs–I am all for that!!:whacky::tsktsk:

Patronage

Anderlecht, Belgium
against epilepsy
against hydrophobia
against infantile convulsions
against mad dogs
against rabies
animals with horns
bachelors
convulsive children
epileptics
horned animals
laborers
protection of outbuildings
protection of sheds
protection of stables
sacristans
sextons
work horses

catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=473

 

[karoleck]

Do saints actually perform miracles?

Good point! Thank you for pointing this out as I presume it is a rhetorical question.

Saints do not technically perform miracles, themselves. God performs miracles, usually at the request of a saint.This is why we ask the saints to intercede for us to God and St.Paul even writes in the Letter to the Hebrews; on how Christ is “living to intercede” to God The Father on our behalf.The saints imitate this line of action in,with & through Christ,Priest & Victim…

 

[karoleck]

I have found many of the holy people here to be interesting! I had never heard of - Augustine Tolton, Elisabeth Leseur, Bl. Fr. Leopoldi, St. Oswald and St Christina the Astonishing, and I enjoyed all of their stories.

Personally my more unusual saint (perhaps), is St Damien of Molokai. He was a Belgian priest who volunteered to serve on the island of Molokai in Hawaii, knowing that it was a leper colony. The people there had no system of government and he established churches and hospitals and housing for them. After years there, St Damien contracted leprosy himself, and died in 1889.

What draws me to him is how selfless he was, risking his physical health to aid ill people and spread the Gospel to those who were outcasts. He is an example to us all, I think.

More info on him at catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2817

I have been “going through” this thread and I forgot to reply to your wonderful choice of St.Damian Molokai(there is a wonderful movie out there on his life also).A few years back I had “time on my hands” as I was a carer for an elderly priest.During that time I read all the 22 books that Robert Louis Stevenson has written(as someone gave them to me);This article was included in the series.

Stevenson(of a protestant Scottish background) had spoken at length to a Dr.Hyde who knew Fr.Damian very well;he also visited Molokai few years later after Fr.Damian’s death. Whilst visiting Sydney he read a horrible article written by a protestant cleric.It was so false,as to what he had seen that the article "got his Scottish anger up " and he wrote the following article,using all this writing gifts to defend Fr.Damian with both barrels blazing!

fullbooks.com/Father-Damien.html

you tube movie link in series

youtube.com/watch?v=Wpnee2hbY4w

 

[UpUpAndAway]

Thank you for your encouragement! You have no idea how inept I am. On Monday it took me ten minutes to open a bottle of wine. I have forgotten to light candles, put the tabernacle key in the lock (major fail not usually discovered until Communion time), fill the water cruet, include a purificator or lavabo towel (thankfully, I’ve never forgotten both at once)…sigh. Then there are all the times I put the wrong lectionary out, or opened the right lectionary to the wrong page, dropped the paten, spilled the contents of the corporal…and yet I’m the principal sacristan, i.e. the boss of the sacristans. The sacristy is my direct responsibility and anything that goes wrong there is my fault even if I’m not present when it happens. It’s a long story how all this came about. I won’t bore you with it.

Nice one! You are doing a wonderful service for the glory of God.It might be a rather hidden vocation—yes,I believe it is more than a job.You are in God’s House,a place of Worship & a place of Silence.

Obviously you’ve never been in our sacristy. http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/Pascal_S/smileys/30.gif I’ve seen calmer kindergarten playgrounds. More peaceful three-ring circuses, even. But I agree with you about it being more of a vocation than a job. What makes it different is that this responsibility was bestowed upon me. I neither discerned nor chose it. That said, despite my foibles I do find worshipping the Lord in this manner rather satisfying. My priest seems much calmer than he was before I came along; that in itself is a great blessing, believe me.

As for your planned pilgrimage to the burial shrine of St.Guy of Anderlecht…

“I might have to poke around there one day” doesn’t exactly qualify as a plan, but hey, it’s just around the bend so it wouldn’t take much to make it one.

…make sure that you make it a definite planned task,rather than a pie in the sky intention! Whilst you are there ,pray & venerate the holy relics and ask St.Guy to give you confidence & trust in your God given abilities, as a Sacristan.Since I cannot make it physically, so please ask St.Guy that I may always to God’s Will in my life.

This is sort of a vicious circle in that I’m so busy with my service as a sacristan that between that and the rest of my life, I’m booked solid until September. But I will try to fit this in as soon as I can and I will definitely pray for you when I get there. In the meantime, I’ll pray for you anyway.

Thanks for your contribution and here is another link to St.Guy of Anderlecht–I sort of am attracted to St.Guy, as I have worked as a laborer & even a sloppy sacristan for a while!! He also protects us from being bitten by mad dogs–I am all for that!!

Who could find fault in that?

 

[ilealj]

I have been struggling with a few things in my life, so I prayed that the Little Flower would intercede on my behalf and send me a rose as a sign that she had taken on my ‘case’ as she often does. Three days later I pulled my 2013 saint name at my Divine Mercy prayer group and was puzzled to see that the name was Marthe Robin who was completely unknown to me and not canonized. Turns out that she was a french mystic and stigmatist who experienced three apparitions of the Little Flower during her life. St. Therese sent me her special friend to pray with me! Marthe was paralyzed for decades and yet organized catholic schools and a ministry to teach catholic laity theology all from her sickbed. Since I have lived with fibromyalgia since I was 16 I pull a lot of strength from her story.

I also love St. Raphael who is the patron of the day I was welcomed as a Catholic (traditional calender).

 

[Rocky24]

Venerable Pope Pius XII!

 

[pollynova]

St. Dismas, the good thief.

 

[karoleck]

I have been struggling with a few things in my life, so I prayed that the Little Flower would intercede on my behalf and send me a rose as a sign that she had taken on my ‘case’ as she often does. Three days later I pulled my 2013 saint name at my Divine Mercy prayer group and was puzzled to see that the name was Marthe Robin who was completely unknown to me and not canonized. Turns out that she was a french mystic and stigmatist who experienced three apparitions of the Little Flower during her life. St. Therese sent me her special friend to pray with me! Marthe was paralyzed for decades and yet organized catholic schools and a ministry to teach catholic laity theology all from her sickbed. Since I have lived with fibromyalgia since I was 16 I pull a lot of strength from her story.

I also love St. Raphael who is the patron of the day I was welcomed as a Catholic (traditional calender).

Welcome ilealj!

The Servant Of God Marthe Robin is a great role model & worthy of imitation. She is one of those Victim Souls so close to The Sacred Heart Of Jesus. Marthe’s story is an incredible one,I have included the links below,I have read her short life story and it was very uplifting.She offered up her life as an oblation for the grace of the conversion of sinners.It certainly mirrors the life of my friend “little Therese” ,she had a hidden life of love offerings ,yet she has been proclaimed a Doctor of The Church and the Patroness of Missionaries!! In this link are other wonderful examples of how the grace of God works extraordinarily in weak and sometimes very sick persons;when they unite themselves as Victims in union with Christ,Priest & Victim.Here is a sample of one of her prayers—thank you for sharing this would be saint (Marthe Robin) with us here.

mysticsofthechurch.com/2009/11/marthe-robin-mystic-stigmatic-victim.html

**“I am Thy prey, oh Jesus, in the Cross and in joy, in cruel trials and in sharpest pain; oh how sweet it is to suffer when it is a sacrifice to Thee! And when one has as one’s sun the great fire of Thy heart. I know where love dwells, I have seen the shining of Its flame, And for Thy heaven, oh Jesus, I would gather flowers. Painful torments bloody my soul, but unceasingly I repeat, 'I thank Thee, my Savior."

“Oh Virgin Mary, let me each day be more docile, more patient, more simple; unnoticed and forgotten. I do not ask that God bring about in me things that are visible, but only that I be a small, lowly child, sweet and humble of heart.”

“My Lord and my God, to You I abandon myself. You wish me here, and here I shall remain, with no thought of leaving; if you wish me elsewhere, that is what I too wish. I know, oh Jesus, that always and everywhere You are saving me for yourself. Oh my Jesus, how thy little victim suffers, but how she loves Thee, with as much love as she has received … oh Jesus, keep me always. I belong to Thee; give me patience and peace in everything.”** ( by Marthe Robins)

 

[karoleck]

St. Dismas, the good thief.

Yes,the repentant thief is something most of us sinners can relate to!!

Here is a beautiful link which includes a sermon on St.Dismas preached by Saint Anselm and even a better commentary by an expert Professor Plinio. This deals with all the issues behind St.Dismas, as he is a saint coming from tradition, rather than any formal recognition by The Catholic Church.

traditioninaction.org/SOD/j238sd_Dismas_03_12.html

 

[karoleck]

Venerable Pope Pius XII!

Yes, he was an extraordinary Pope!

It was he that consecrated the world to The Immaculate Heart of Mary,establish a feast in Her honor----he should be proclaimed a saint just for these two things!!

Here is a Link to his brief story–note all the Saints that he canonized --all well known “household saints”–rather a small number compared to our great pope Blessed John Paul 11.

I always think that in the last hundred years,right up to the “age of the anti-christ” ,we have witnessed some of the saintliest Popes in the whole history of The Catholic Church–on par with the first few centuries in the age of Martyrs.It proves the old adage of St.Paul that where sin abounds,grace abounds even more.

catholic-forum.com/saints/pope0260.htm

 

[karoleck]

Thank you for your encouragement! You have no idea how inept I am. On Monday it took me ten minutes to open a bottle of wine. I have forgotten to light candles, put the tabernacle key in the lock (major fail not usually discovered until Communion time), fill the water cruet, include a purificator or lavabo towel (thankfully, I’ve never forgotten both at once)…sigh. Then there are all the times I put the wrong lectionary out, or opened the right lectionary to the wrong page, dropped the paten, spilled the contents of the corporal…and yet I’m the principal sacristan, i.e. the boss of the sacristans. The sacristy is my direct responsibility and anything that goes wrong there is my fault even if I’m not present when it happens. It’s a long story how all this came about. I won’t bore you with it.

You will not bore us here,I am sure that your many “faults” must put a smile on the priests’ face.I think that we all get nervous and perhaps too eager to get everything "right"when we do something new.I think that as long as we are prepared to laugh at our follies,all will be well.In a few months time, you will wonder about these things ,as you by then will have mastered the role of a sacristan.Before you know it you ,will be blamed wrongly—even when things are correct and all right!!

 

[goforgoal]

karoleck- I understand what you are doing and what you are doing is great. However, I would not suggest the Tradition in Action website and I would highly recommend you stay clear from such websites.

Tradition in Action claims to be “committed to defend the perennial Magisterium of Holy Mother Church and Catholic traditions. TIA also works for a restoration of Christian civilization, adapted to contemporary historical circumstances.”

However, TIA’s members attempt to do this by ridiculing the Roman clergy, the Pope, and many prominent Catholic leaders and religious. Their manner of presenting pictures and commentary completely aside from any context is both a misrepresentation of facts and disgraceful to the Church and Her hierarchy. While ostensibly seeking to reinstate traditions in the Church, this site ridicules the living Tradition of the Church’s Magisterium and therefore, it cannot validly claim a right to defense of Holy Mother Church. We recommend avoiding it altogether.

Quoted from the website: catholicculture.org/culture/reviews/view.cfm?recnum=3026

Three years ago, in the Springtime I proposed a question concering the Tradition in Action website which you can view here:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=448944

Just be careful karoleck and please do take note that I am not trying to take away what this thread is all about which is making the unknown and unappreciated Saint, Blessed, Venerable, or/and Servant of God known and loved.

Now, lets get back to the orginal question…

May Our Lord, reward a CAF Member who introduced this beautiful and Holy Soul:

Mother Yvonne-Aimée de Jésus

vultus.stblogs.org/2013/02/mother-yvonne-aimee-de-jesus.html

or

augustines-malestroit.com/a_portrait.php

Mother Yvonne-Aimée de Jésus, please Pray for us. Amen.

God bless,

goforgoal

Yes,the repentant thief is something most of us sinners can relate to!!

Here is a beautiful link which includes a sermon on St.Dismas preached by Saint Anselm and even a better commentary by an expert Professor Plinio. This deals with all the issues behind St.Dismas, as he is a saint coming from tradition, rather than any formal recognition by The Catholic Church.

traditioninaction.org/SOD/j238sd_Dismas_03_12.html

 

[Terry_Washingto]

Here is one of my favorite intercessor Blessed Frs.Francis Xaviour Seelos.(just to get this thread rolling and an example that I had in mind for this new thread)

A priest friend of mine showed me a video of Blessed Seelos.Fr.Peter was rather excited when after he distributed the holy cards ; he found out that my parents both lived in the town of Fussen and that my eldest sister was born there.I suppose that it brings home to me that saintly people were just normal human beings that responded heroically to the call of grace in their lives.I am, hoping that Blessed Seelos will interceed with the Heart of Jesus,the soul of my sister who has wondered far from God.I have an attachment to Blessed Seelos as he is a Redemptorist.

Blessed Seelos,pray for us.

youtube.com/watch?v=cmLOlw96kJY

youtube.com/watch?v=I3RKwyIMIcU (link for Blessed Nickolas-previous post)

Small world- he’s also one of my favourite saints!

Terry

 

[Terry_Washingto]

My favourite patron saint is St. Priscilla. Why I don’t understand- may be because it’s like myself, and husband/fellow martyr Aquila, she is a convert-or maybe because their feast day (July 8), falls exactly a week after my own birthday. As I noted in another post “Why can’t we see Angels”, although I KNOW that her earthly body has long since crumbled into dust millennia ago, she seems so really to me that although I neither hear voices or see visions of her. that I can visualize not just the heart beating beneath her cerulean( sky blue- a colour assoicated with Our Lady- I am artist and have freuqnetly painted her so) bodice, but the blood pumping through her body’s veins, arteries and capillaries. Once for a moment, I felt as was being drawn not just into the depths of her own heart, but that of our mutual Maker God- just as she(and presumably He) wishes- “Come to me Terry, I wish to draq you closer to not just my own heart- but my our mutual Maker- God- my offer is utterly sincere!”

Terry

 

[karoleck]

My favourite patron saint is St. Priscilla. Why I don’t understand- may be because it’s like myself, and husband/fellow martyr Aquila, she is a convert-or maybe because their feast day (July 8), falls exactly a week after my own birthday. As I noted in another post “Why can’t we see Angels”, although I KNOW that her earthly body has long since crumbled into dust millennia ago, she seems so really to me that although I neither hear voices or see visions of her. that I can visualize not just the heart beating beneath her cerulean( sky blue- a colour assoicated with Our Lady- I am artist and have freuqnetly painted her so) bodice, but the blood pumping through her body’s veins, arteries and capillaries. Once for a moment, I felt as was being drawn not just into the depths of her own heart, but that of our mutual Maker God- just as she(and presumably He) wishes- “Come to me Terry, I wish to draq you closer to not just my own heart- but my our mutual Maker- God- my offer is utterly sincere!”

Terry

Nice one:thumbsup:
I suppose that the name Priscilla was made quite prominent in the secular society since the daughter of Elvis Presley was given this christian saints namesake.
She was a great example of a lay person who helped in the spreading of the Gospel to the gentile world.St.Paul had a great admiration for both Aquila & Priscilla.

I think that the sort of inspiration that you describe is a wonderful example of how the saints transcend the ages in time.Since they live in Heaven,they are not captives of time or space as ourselves, but they belong to The Communion of Saints,The Mystical Body of Christ.

I suspect that should we have the great grace of reaching Heaven after our death,we will be greeted by those already there and the first being those that helped us reach the place of eternal bliss.Since you are devoted to Blessed Seelos & St.Pricilla here on earth,you have already established a spiritual friendship that will carry on in the next.

You are fortunate to have a visual imagination, which must be a great gift to you as an artist.I am a visual learner, but this gift of yours is totally missing in my life.It must help your prayer life, as you are able to visualize the events & scenes in The Scriptures.I seem to need plenty of prayer cards(either of current photographs or products of artists) just to help me focus better on the saints.In the end ,it really does not matter what they looked like; but what sort of life they led and their inner souls’ response to the grace of God.Still by your paintings you give the saints flesh & blood ,added to a transcendental spiritual experience of their lives.Thank you for your thoughts & posting.