But we can always use someone else to pray for us too. And I really like this neat Patron Saint Generator that Jennifer Fulwiler of Conversion Diary came up with. Elizabeth gave it a try and guess which saint choose to represent her this year? St. Catherine of Siena. So I decided to give it a whirl too.
Jennifer's application makes it so easy. Just click the button and off it goes. Putting out a call in heaven I reckon, "Patron Saint needed for the man on aisle three," or something like that. Whoever shows up has chosen you, see? Don't go second guessing the saint that arrives at your doorstep, because even if you don't know why this saint should be your patron, invite them in and get to know them! Look over in the sidebar and you'll see that St. Frances of Rome is my patron this year. Looking at the citation that arrived with her, I'll just say that I am looking forward to getting to know her better.
I am so excited about this that I too am posting on it. When I got home from work, I gathered the family after dinner so we could all pick a saint for this year too. My youngest son went first and St. Aloysius of Gonzaga arrived on our doorstep. Wow, I said, that was your great-grandfathers middle name kiddo! My daughter was up next and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton rang our doorbell. Break out the fine china! My oldest son gave it a whirl and St. Jane de Chantal entered our little circle, and she can teach us a thing or two about forgiveness. Lastly, my wife was introduced to her patron for 2011, St. Margaret of Hungary—a princess no less!
Next, I let them all know that I want to know all about their patrons too and I want them to know them as well as they know their best friends. And when we say our prayers at night, we'll ask our saints to pray for us. And Elizabeth had another great idea, which I shared with my family: we'll also ask our patron saints to teach us what they know. Schools out, so saint school is in! I walked them over to the YIMCatholic bookshelf and showed them how to learn more. Then I went searching for more on their particular saints to see if there were any biographies written about them. 4 out of 5 ain't bad, so 4 new classic books were added to the self too.
So join the club dear reader, and give Jennifer's application a try. Don't over-think this, just click it and open your door. Don't forget how the apostles (after prayer) chose Matthias—they drew straws! Add the name of your patron that arrives on your doorstep in the comm box below, and I'll see if I can find a book about them and I'll add it to the YIMCatholic Bookshelf for you too.
Getting to know you, getting to know all about you...that's what I'm singing now. Because the saints are Christian role models for us all.
Saints Be Praised!
