Tuesday 9 January 2007

Favourite Saints

OK. OK. Some of my recent posts have been a little bit heavy. My output yesterday was a bit over the top too! Three posts in one day... I must have time on my hands. Fr Richard is this week up in Ampleforth, leading a retreat with the young people from SPES - the Evangelisation School based at St Patrick's Soho. So please pray for them and for him. In the meantime I'm holding the blog fort alone.

On the FWC retreat weekend with the girls we got round to talking about our favourite saints. You'll see that we've recently added a substantial list of patron saints for our blog. It took me some time to think of all the saints I love, and to make a list of the top ten (we didn't include Our Lady as she HAS to be everyone's favourite, so we took her as read). I'm afraid my list certainly looks like male domination, and they're quite a clerical bunch - and I think I scandalised some people by not including St Therese of Lisieux... Anyway, for better or worse, here's my top ten, in no particular order:

1. St Paul (The centrality of the mystery of Christ)
2. St Augustine of Hippo (Anti-Pelagian and anti-Donatist hero)
3. St Ignatius of Loyola (Apostle of Friendship with Christ)
4. St John Marie Vianney (Model holiness and humility for priests)
5. St Peter Julian Eymard (Apostle of the Eucharist)
6. St Charles Borromeo (A model pastor for his people)
7. St Maximilian Kolbe (Martyr to friendship with Christ and others)
8. St Anthony of Padua (simply for his ability to find lost things)
9. St John Fisher (How we need bishops like this today)
10. Bl Elizabeth of the Trinity (We are in our lives the praise of God's glory)

I'm afraid that when Ven John Henry Newman and the Servant of God Pope John Paul II are beatified a couple of these will have to drop out to make way.

Do feel free to contribute your list of favourite saints - could be interesting to compare notes!

PS Please pray for my eldest sister who has just been diagnosed with cancer - her name is Mandy. Thanks.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry to hear your news about Mandy. I'm praying for her. Doctors can do so much these days.

--

on a side note, this came up in my Google Reader next to Mulier Fortis, so I thought you were Mac for a moment! (Which put a new spin 'I'm afraid my list certainly looks like male domination')

John Paul said...

Great list Father J, I need to learn more about John Fisher, I know the faith movement began there and what a wonderful movement that is.

Will be praying for your sister, hope you and the family are all ok...

JP

Niamh said...

good list padre, although it was my idea, but i guess we can share the holy spirit eh?

still in total shock that St therese didn't make ur top ten she is so ace. She's been stalking me for months it ace ace ace.

hope ur well and recovered from ur girly weekend.

hey u 2 padres, should consider feeding ur blog into facebook, its a great way to network. It takes time to build but its making a bit of a good catholic community online i think so it may be worth doing.

something to consider?

anyway ta ta for now. I am praying for you lots and lots like jelly tots and for ur sister

love in JESUS,

Holy granny

Fr Julian Green said...

Yes Holy Granny, I did admit it wasn't my idea! But it's a good one, so I used it. Still, nobody has come up with a list of their own. I wouldn't have a scooby how to get onto facebook so you'll have to tell me what it means to "feed it into facebook" some other time. If it means taking up yet more time, then I probably wouldn't have the time unfortunately. I have to live in the real world as well as in blogsphere/cyberspace. Thanks for the prayers.