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"

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Today was my first attempt at downloading a book on my PC Kindle ... it worked!
 
The book is Lent With the Saints: Daily Meditations. St. Anthony Messenger Press Books. Kindle Edition, by  Greg Friedman O.F.M., (2011-11-30).
 
Amazon gave me a "quick look" inside the book before I bought it and I really liked what I saw. I think it is going to be an amazing help for everyone interested in their journey to their heavenly, promised reward.  You will be seeing this for the next 40 days.  Thank you so much Father Friedman! I hope you enjoy it as much as I will ...


Ash Wednesday
Do You Want to Be a Saint?

Joel 2:12–18;
Psalm 51:3–4, 5–6, 12–13, 17;
2 Corinthians 5:20—6:2;
Matthew 6:1–6, 16–18  

In The Seven Storey Mountain, the Trappist monk and spiritual writer Thomas Merton explains how, when asked by his friend Robert Lax what he, Merton, wanted to be, he replied that he wanted to be a good Catholic. Lax, a poet and mystic, told him, “What you should say is that you want to be a saint.”
 
Merton deferred, conscious of his own failings and inadequacies. But Lax persisted: “All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one.” By desiring sainthood, Lax said, we consent to become what God has created us to be. God, in turn, will make us saints.1
 
As we begin these lenten meditations with the saints, it may be helpful to remember that the foundation of Lent is our baptismal identity with Christ. This season prepares those who seek Christ for baptism; those already baptized use this time to renew that identity. In singling out exceptional followers of Christ, we don’t want to forget that all Christians should desire to live forever in the eternal life of God. Such a goal is the fulfillment of our Christian identity. That’s another way to describe sainthood. And it’s also a good goal for our lenten prayer and practice.

Today’s Action

Who is your favorite saint?

Read the life of that saint, whether online or in a book about saints, and choose some of the saint’s qualities that might influence your lenten observances.  
 
Prayer
 
God of our conversion, lead us to sainthood through our lenten journey. May we embrace this time of penance in a spirit of prayer. May we fast from all that distracts us from you. May we come to the aid of those in need. At journey’s end, may we find ourselves renewed as members of the body of Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.    
 
1. Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain: An Autobiography of Faith (New York: New Directions, 1948), p. 260.
 
Friedman O.F.M., Greg (2011-11-30). Lent With the Saints: Daily Meditations (p. 2). St. Anthony Messenger Press Books. Kindle Edition.
 
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