What is This Saint of the Year Devotion All About?


This isn't superstition. St. Faustina and her religious order did the same thing!

I would like to explain to you about the practice of picking a saint at random to be your “holy protector and intercessor” for the year. Actually, the saint is the one who chooses us though.The tradition of letting a saint “pick you,”is not a new one. St. Faustina wrote about it in her diary, "Divine Mercy in My Soul".
The excerpt is below. . .

“There is a custom among us of drawing by lot, on New Year's Day, special Patrons for ourselves for the whole year. In the morning, during meditation, there arose within me a secret desire that the Eucharistic Jesus be my special Patron for this year also, as in the past. But, hiding this desire from my Beloved, I spoke to Him about everything else but that. When we came to refectory for breakfast, we blessed ourselves and began drawing our patrons. When I approached the holy cards on which the names of the patrons were written, without hesitation I took one, but I didn't read the name immediately as I wanted to mortify myself for a few minutes. Suddenly, I heard a voice in my soul: ‘I am your patron. Read.’ I looked at once at the inscription and read, ‘Patron for the Year 1935 - the Most Blessed Eucharist.’ My heart leapt with joy, and I slipped quietly away from the sisters and went for a short visit before the Blessed Sacrament,where I poured out my heart. But Jesus sweetly admonished me that I should be at that moment together with the sisters. I went immediately in obedience to the rule.”

Excerpt from "Divine Mercy in My Soul, the Diary of St. Faustina"

Saturday, February 23, 2013

St. Padre Pio, pray for us!


Saturday of the First Week of Lent
Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio): Signed With Christ’s Love

Deuteronomy 26:16–19;
Psalm 119:1–2, 4–5, 7–8;
Matthew 5:43–48  

Padre Pio was spiritual inspiration for the older Italian members of my family. He was for that generation what Mother Teresa is to mine. I recall reading stories and seeing photos of Padre Pio in the Italian religious magazines my Nonna received, and hearing from my cousin in Italy of a visit to the saint’s shrine after his canonization.

Francesco Forgione entered the Capuchin Franciscans as a teenager. He received the name Pio and was ordained in 1910. In 1918, praying after Mass, Fr. Pio saw Jesus in a vision and afterward saw that he had received the wounds of Christ—the stigmata—in his hands, feet, and side.

His condition, like that of all modern stigmatics, was a cause for caution among his superiors, and Pio had to endure investigations by doctors and church officials. When he was at last allowed to do public ministry, his Masses and long hours in the confessional drew hundreds each day. He also was known for physical and spiritual healings worked through him.

Padre Pio knew many trials, but he understood that God’s grace and love were available to all. He helped mediate that love and forgiveness through years of ministry, until his death in 1968. His bearings of the wounds of Christ reminds those entering the church this Lent that they are to identify completely with our Lord. Padre Pio understood, in the words of today's Gospel, how to "be perfect ... as your Heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48)

Today's Action

Consider how God's covenant of love (today's first reading) with us in Jesus is made visible in your life.

Prayer

God, who gave the Law to Moses, teach us the Law's perfection in Jesus. Show us how to be merciful to enemies and to those who hate us. In imitation of Jesus, may we embrace the sinner and forgive those who do us harm. Amen.

Friedman O.F.M., Greg (2011-11-30). Lent With the Saints: Daily Meditations. St. Anthony Messenger Press Books. Kindle Edition.
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