Who's your Saint?
Happy All Souls Day y’all! Got to love the way the Catholic Church takes care of those who have passed before us. Today is the day where we specifically offer up all of our prayers to those souls in Purgatory waiting to be fully purified in order to finally be with God! Make sure you say a special prayer today, like the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for example.
What is just as awesome is that the day before this, November 1st, is All Saints Day, in which the Church celebrates those who are in Heaven RIGHT NOW; aka the saints! A saint is someone who is someone who has passed away and gone to Heaven and is with God. So November 1st is our day to celebrate those in Heaven, and then the next day on November 2nd, we pray our hardest for those who are almost there!
Both of these Feast Days are extremely important to the Church. All Saints Day is a solemnity, which means we celebrate it as we would celebrate any Sunday through our obligation to attend mass. On All Soul’s Day, we also celebrate with masses throughout the day. The cool part about All Soul’s Day is that we are able to attend mass three times in one day, each with a specific intention. The first mass is for one of our own intentions, the second is for the intentions of the Pope, and the third is for all the departed. This is the only day a year when a priest can perform two masses in a row!
So on this day when we remember those who have passed before us, we wanted to tell you a bit about the saints who are important in our lives; our Confirmation Saints!
St. Kateri Tekawitha
Patron Saint of ecology and the environment
Feast Day July 14
Born in 1656, and canonized on October 21, 20112, St. Kateri was the first Native American recognized as a saint. Kateri was born in New York in a Mohawk tribe. Her Mother was an Algonquian woman who had been captured by the Mohawks, and was then married to the chief. Kateri learned Christianity from her mother; however, her whole family died during a smallpox outbreak. Kateri contracted the disease, but survived. The illness scared her for the rest of her life and weakened her vision. She was baptized Catholic at the age of 19 and, much to her adoptive parents dismay, she refused to marry and pledged herself to Christ. Unfortunately, because of her poor health, she died at the age of 24. Minutes after her death, the scars that had marked her face from the smallpox illness, vanished.
St. John Bosco
Patron Saint of Youth
Feast Day January 31
St. John Bosco lived in Italy between 1815-1888. When he was young, he had a dream in which God showed him his life-long mission. In the dream, he saw a crowd of boys at his school yelling and fighting with each other. John then ran up to them and starting yelling and fighting the boys in an effort to stop them. In that moment he had a vision of Jesus who told him, “Not with blows will you help these boys, but with goodness and kindness!" John realized it was his mission to reach out to young people who were in need of God’s love and mercy. He went on to become a priest and spent his life ministering to orphans and underprivileged boys in Turin, Italy. He opened several orphanages and schools and became the founder of a new religious order, the Salesians. John Bosco was also very talented, and he used his athleticism to perform tight rope stunts and other circus tricks. He would gather a large crowd with his performance, and then would share the Gospel of Jesus with the people who came. St. John Bosco never gave up on the teenagers he spent time with, and always saw goodness in them. He inspires us to live the faith while we are young, and not wait until we are older to dive in. St. John Bosco, pray for us!
St. Patrick
Patron Saint of Ireland
Feast Day March 17
St. Patrick was born in Brittan in the 4th century. When he was still a child, Patrick was captured and taken as a slave to Ireland until he was 20 years old, when he escaped. After escaping slavery, Patrick returned home for a few years only to receive a vision calling him back to Ireland. Before going, Patrick wanted to be best equipped to spread the Gospel, so he studied and became a priest. After being ordained a priest, Patrick was then ordained as a bishop and was sent to spread the Gospel in Ireland. Upon landing in Ireland, Patrick was met by a druid chieftain who tried to kill him. However, Patrick miraculously avoided death and ended up converting the chieftain. Through the grace of God and with the help of the chieftain, Patrick was able to convert all of Ireland in 40 years. As a bishop, he lived in poverty, endured much suffering, and traveled the country, until he died on March 17th, 461AD. Patrick’s life and his witness inspires us to spread the Gospel beyond our comfort zone, and to bring Christ even to those who have hurt us. St. Patrick, pray for us!
