Category: Saints

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Saints

St. Thérèse of Lisieux: A patroness for missionaries

Michael R. Heinlein

September 26, 2023 6:07 am September 26, 2023

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Her family was the context in which St. Thérèse of Lisieux began to discover her “Little Way” of holiness for which she’s so well known. From an early age, this…

Her family was the context in which St. Thérèse of Lisieux began to discover her “Little Way” of holiness for which she’s so well known. From an early age, this daughter of saints, who would go on to be a saint herself, learned to accept all as grace and providence, and to rely solely on God’s will to find her peace. St. Thérèse teaches us that holiness is found in doing little things consistently and with great love.

Thérèse was born the ninth child of Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin on Jan. 2, 1873, in Alençon, France. Louis would lose his wife to breast cancer four years later, and his brother-in-law helped arrange for the widower’s family to move north to Lisieux.

During her childhood, Thérèse was considered weak and unusual. At the age of 9, she became so sick that it appeared the end was near. Her father even requested Masses at Our Lady of Victories Church in Paris, and her family kept vigil at her bedside. As three sisters were leading prayers of intercession to the Blessed Mother in front of the family’s statue of her, Thérèse experienced a miracle: The statue began to smile at her. She was healed.

Thérèse and her four older sisters (her other four siblings did not survive infancy), discovered God’s call to the religious life. And Thérèse was quite insistent upon doing God’s will as soon as possible, despite the many difficulties she encountered on that path.

Refused entry to the Carmelite convent in Lisieux because of her young age, Thérèse seemingly could not contain the zeal with which her soul desired total union with Christ. She even used a meeting with Pope Leo XIII during a pilgrimage to Rome as an opportunity to seek his assistance. The pope replied “Well, my child, do what the superiors decide … You will enter if it is God’s will.” The local bishop later gave his consent for her to enter the Lisieux Carmel when she was 15.

Life in the Carmel of Lisieux was taxing for Thérèse. Living with the other nuns was not always easy. She was maligned and mistreated. But it was there that Thérèse found her “Little Way.” Entering the convent with a desire for spiritual greatness, her attitude slowly changed, writing in her diary: “I applied myself especially to practice little virtues, not having the facility to perform great ones.”

Thérèse explained the “Little Way” more: “Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.” Among the names she’s known by today is “the Little Flower.”

Finding blood in her handkerchief, she experienced “joy,” and awaited death as the final act in her complete union with Christ. Dying from tuberculosis, she taught of suffering’s purpose: “I have reached the point of not being able to suffer any more, because all suffering is sweet to me.”

Thérèse experienced intense physical suffering and offered it all to the Lord, in union with his to the end — uttering as she breathed her last, “My God, I love you!” She died on Sept. 30, 1897.

The simplicity and practical approach to the spiritual life of St. Thérèse of Lisieux make her among the most popular saints in the Church, and the universality of her message reached a pinnacle in 1997 when Pope St. John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church.

Her feast day is Oct. 1.

Michael R. Heinlein is editor of Simply Catholic.

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3 min read

Saints

Good Reads For Growth in Holiness

Michael R. Heinlein

September 19, 2023 7:46 am September 19, 2023

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The vast panoply of spiritual writings from the saints and other holy persons can be overwhelming and intimidating. There are just so many priceless works! That makes it hard to…

The vast panoply of spiritual writings from the saints and other holy persons can be overwhelming and intimidating. There are just so many priceless works! That makes it hard to direct someone to a text without knowing more specifics. Additionally, I can only address or recommend those I’ve read or have some familiarity with. All that being said, I would recommend the following three spiritual classics without hesitation:

“Introduction to the Devout Life”: St. Francis de Sales addresses Christians living in any state of life who want to grow in a personal relationship with Christ. He reminds readers that God made all of us with intentionality, and our goal should be to fulfill that. As he wrote, “Be who you are and be that well.” The book is composed in five parts, each relating to a particular stage on a person’s Christian journey, the third of which — on the practice of virtue — is most helpful in anyone’s life.

“Story of a Soul”: The autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux chronicles the saint’s short life that, not unlike many, was filled with much suffering. In the book, the saint posits her “Little Way” — a spiritual path to serve God in one’s littleness and simplicity. The “Little Way” doesn’t require us to do great things or offer great sacrifices, but to be faithful in all the ordinary and daily circumstances of life — embracing it all as a gift from God. St. Thérèse sums up her spiritual plan well: “I know well that it is not my great desires that please God in my little soul, what He likes to see is the way I love my littleness and my poverty; it is my blind hope in His mercy, this is my only treasure…. The weaker one is, without desires or virtues the more ready one is for the operations of this consuming and transforming love…. God rejoices more in what He can do in a soul humbly resigned to its poverty than in the creation of millions of suns and the vast stretch of the heavens.”

“Confessions”: St. Augustine’s Confessions is a partial autobiography chronicling his own conversion and the regrets associated with his formerly sinful life. The last portions of the book are a commentary on a variety of theological and philosophical ideas. Especially moving in the text are St. Augustine’s reflections on the Faith and his own memories of his relationship with his mother who, in fact, brought him to the Faith. Confessions is one of the most profound conversion stories in history, one to help all Christian grown in their own relationship with God. In this work we find the famous line that sums up St. Augustine’s primary discovery in his spiritual journey, and perhaps experienced in many of ours: “For Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee.”

These and other spiritual classics are available from Our Sunday Visitor’s Noll Library Classics.

Michael R. Heinlein is editor of Simply Catholic. Follow him on Twitter @HeinleinMichael.

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Saints

Why Do Catholics Venerate Relics?

Michael R. Heinlein

September 8, 2023 7:24 am September 8, 2023

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Although more than a common part of Catholic culture and practice, the veneration of relics has been practiced less during the last 50 years or so. But that seems to…

Although more than a common part of Catholic culture and practice, the veneration of relics has been practiced less during the last 50 years or so. But that seems to be changing in recent years, as a number of saintly relics have been traversing the United States, attracting large numbers of the faithful. Relics seem to be making a comeback, and in a big way.

And yet the veneration of relics in the Catholic tradition can be misunderstood easily. At first glance it can appear to be displaced praise. Critics would falsely claim that praise or worship is accorded to the relic or saint rather than God himself, who, of course, is rightly the only subject of all worship.

A proper understanding of relic veneration, however, is best achieved with an appropriate approach. It would simply be incoherent to think that a Catholic or Christian would offer praise and worship to anyone other than God. And yet, honoring the saints — and their relics — is also an important part of what we do.

In order to develop a proper understanding of the place of relics in the Christian tradition, it might be helpful to consider them within a different context — that of family. It’s not uncommon for many people to honor the memory of their loved ones by keeping pictures of family around the house. Nor is it uncommon to keep cherished belongings of our deceased loved ones, like grandma’s jewelry or grandpa’s Bible. These belongings likely are treasured, and treated with honor and reverence. They’re kept in safe and honorable places. They’re well-packaged when we move. They’re often handed on from one generation to the next. These secular “relics” assist us in recalling the person and his or her life, and the memories that remind us of who they were and what they were about.

It is not rare to honor remnants of relatives’ bodies, or those of notable people. Often parents will keep first teeth that are lost or save clippings of their child’s first haircut. We build monuments to great men and women, and set up grave markers to memorialize them. And so it seems almost second nature for us to honor members of our family and those dear to us as well as the objects that belonged to them.

And so why wouldn’t a similar reverence translate into our family of the Church? The saints are those men and women from our family who are deserving of our honor for their life of spiritual greatness. Moreover, they have put on Christ in baptism and beocme members of his body.

Catholics see the members of the Church as members of a family. Of course, as human beings — composites of body and soul — the Church honors their bodies after death. We, of course, do this as well in our families when we visit and decorate graves on birthdays, death dates or holidays. Made in God’s image and likeness, we recognize the dignity of the human person by honoring their earthly remains — that is why the Church demands of proper disposal of a person’s remains (burial of body or cremains).

Within this context, then, we should understand that relics are meant to be honored and venerated, not worshipped. In fact, the saints lead us to fuller worship of God in spirit and truth. By honoring their memories, bodies and belongings, we give thanks to God for the saint’s holy witness. Relics are physical, tangible, concrete reminders that heaven is obtainable for us — so long as we recognize what made the saints holy and work to apply those qualities to our lives. When venerating relics we express gratitude to God for those members of our spiritual family. In the presence of the relics we recall their holy lives and we pray for the grace to achieve what they’ve achieved — eternity with God in Heaven.

Michael R. Heinlein is editor of Simply Catholic. Follow him on Twitter @HeinleinMichael.

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1 min read

Saints

Purgatory Needed for Saints?

Msgr. Charles E. Pope

August 6, 2023 9:10 am August 6, 2023

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When the Church canonizes a saint, we are confirming they are in heaven. The pope does this based on the supplied evidence of a holy life, and also the evidence…

When the Church canonizes a saint, we are confirming they are in heaven. The pope does this based on the supplied evidence of a holy life, and also the evidence of miracles credibly attributed to the prayers of the saint. Canonization says they are in heaven now and that any purification they might have needed is complete. The Church is not thereby indicating that the saint needed no time in purgatory, only that their purgation is now complete and they are in heaven, as seen by the evidence of the miracles wrought by God through their prayers. Though we cannot know if or for how long a canonized saint might have needed purification in purgatory, it seems likely that even most canonized saints would need some purgation after death. Jesus promises us that when he is finished with us we would be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (see Mt 5:48). Even very holy people probably need some final purification for the Lord to finish and perfect this awesome promise in us.

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Saints

Meet Blessed Stanley Rother

Michael R. Heinlein

July 28, 2023 6:57 am July 28, 2023

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Blessed Stanley Rother was born in 1935 on a farm outside of Oklahoma City. His family came from German stock and were diligent in the practice of the Faith. They…

Blessed Stanley Rother was born in 1935 on a farm outside of Oklahoma City. His family came from German stock and were diligent in the practice of the Faith. They were hardworking farmers, and in his youth, Blessed Stanley was very interested in learning the family business. Before entering the seminary in San Antonio, his previous education did not include Latin, which made success in the seminary a difficult proposition. Eager to lend a helping hand with the various needs of the seminary’s physical plant, Blessed Stanley was taken advantage of in many ways by the seminary community. This, combined with a poor aptitude for learning Latin, created a perfect storm. He was dismissed from seminary only three years away from ordination.

Blessed Stanley’s Oklahoma bishop supported his vocation and believed he had potential. So he sent Blessed Stanley to Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland, the rector of which described him before ordination as “a very effective and valuable parish priest.”

As a priest, Blessed Stanley was close to his people. This was most evident, when after five years as a priest, he arrived to serve at a mission his diocese sponsored in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, among the Tzutuhil Indians.

It is amazing that despite his earlier difficulties learning Latin, that Blessed Stanley learned the difficult native language of the Tzutuhil — mostly unwritten at the time. It is clear that this was only possible on account of his missionary zeal and God’s grace that energized him. To accomplish this, he relied on immersion learning a tutor’s guidance. Mastering the language was essential for Blessed Stanley to be one with his flock. Additionally, he set out to learn Spanish.

In Guatemala, Blessed Stanley spent himself in the service of his people, truly becoming their shepherd — the one who nourished and protected them. He became known affectionately as Padre A’Plas — or, Father Francis — which used his middle since his first name was not very well translatable into Tzutuhil. Blessed Stanley put to use his skills from the farm by helping his flock learn to cultivate crops, counseled them, and even was even known to pull teeth when necessary. He spoke out for their rights and freedom when threatened by the Guatemalan government. This was in a time of great political unrest and turmoil in Guatemala that wreaked havoc on the country in the 1970s and 80s.

Blessed Stanley was more than a social worker or community organizer, though. He was the father of his flock — nourishing them in Word and Sacrament and teaching their children the Faith. Eventually, Blessed Stanley was regarded as an enemy of the Guatemalan government for equipping his people with the Gospel. Like many others, he knew his life was threatened. Many had warned him on multiple occasions. Even his own archbishop asked him to stay in Oklahoma while he was there to visit home. Despite knowing he was a target, Blessed Stanley willingly chose to return to Guatemala, continuing to defend and be a father to his flock.

Just months before his death, Blessed Stanley wrote “the shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger. Pray for us that we might be a sign of the love of Christ for our people, that our presence among them will fortify them to endure these sufferings in preparation for the kingdom.” On July 28, 1981, Blessed Stanley was killed for defending the rights and dignity of his people. His death was no less noble than his life had been. The Tzutuhil people asked to bury his heart in the parish church from which their father had preached and presided. In 2016, Pope Francis declared him a martyr, and in 2017, he was beatified as the first U.S.-born martyr and first ever native born American priest so designated.

Michael R. Heinlein is editor of Simply Catholic. Follow him on Twitter @HeinleinMichael.

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Saints

Father Augustus Tolton, a man for our times

Michael R. Heinlein

July 6, 2023 8:25 pm July 6, 2023

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Although he died more than 120 years ago, Father Augustus Tolton is a man for our times whose story deserves telling. Father Tolton is America’s first recognizably black Catholic priest,…

Although he died more than 120 years ago, Father Augustus Tolton is a man for our times whose story deserves telling. Father Tolton is America’s first recognizably black Catholic priest, and his story revolves around faith, perseverance and holiness.

The legacy of Father Tolton has spread in recent years, mostly due to the opening of the cause for his canonization in 2010. The late Cardinal Francis E. George stated in 2014 that introducing Tolton’s cause was “one of the most important, if not the most important” ecclesiastical actions he had taken in his nearly 17 years as archbishop of Chicago.

Telling Tolton’s story is no easy task as much about his life is unknown. Records are especially poor because of his early status as a slave and as a man of color in a post-Civil War society. As research into Tolton’s life continues, more can be told. Much of what is known has been compiled in his official biography, called a “positio,” which was submitted in 2018 to the Vatican Congregation for Saints’ Causes as part of the ongoing effort toward his canonization. His cause cleared a major hurdle on the path to canonization when he was declared “venerable” on June 11, 2019.

Tolton’s life, which began as a slave in eastern Missouri, is just as much harrowing as inspiring. After escaping slavery with his mother and siblings, Tolton reached maturity in Quincy, Illinois, amid the inherent racism of postwar society. Since no American seminary would accept him, he was forced to work arduous, low-level jobs instead of fulfilling his desire to study for the priesthood.

Alongside his labors, though, Tolton pursued many of the studies needed to prepare for seminary, useful when he at last was accepted to the Roman college that trained priests for foreign missions.

Tolton’s first assignment as a priest — which likely took an unexpected turn of events because of a then-ongoing debate on race among American hierarchy — changed Tolton’s trajectory from the African missions to which he had been prepared to go. Instead, he was sent to his Quincy hometown — an assignment that proved to be a crucible for the first identifiably black man wearing a priest’s cassock in America. Tolton was maligned and mistreated by many, including his own brother priests. In Tolton, though, like the scourged Christ, none of the hatred shown toward him was ever reciprocated. Rather, it was transformed by love.

Eventually, Tolton requested a transfer to Chicago, not so much to make his life easier, as to allow his ministry to be more effective. A growing population of Black Catholics there became his new flock. His work to establish a parish for Black Catholics in Chicago, combined with a good deal of travel for speaking engagements on the plight of his people, however, took a toll on the priest. After returning from a retreat by train, Tolton collapsed on a Chicago street corner in record-breaking heat on July 9, 1897, and died shortly thereafter.

Tolton left a lasting legacy by which he is remembered in two specific ways: as a believer who always trusted in God’s plans, never allowing the hardships and obstacles he faced to keep him from attaining holiness; and as a model priest who spent himself in service to his flock, never seeking personal gain.

Michael R. Heinlein is editor of Simply Catholic. Follow him on Twitter @HeinleinMichael.

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