What is a Saint?
And What are They to Us?
A saint is a tiny mirror, reflecting one aspect of the infinite personality of God. We were born to be exactly that; reflecting His personhood in an unrepeatable fashion.
The way to become what we were born to be is to die to the Old Adam and be reborn into the New Adam. The Saints know this: “As I diminish, He increases.” The more we die to ourselves, the more we become like ourselves.
Saints have forgotten the world, and look only after their own intimacy with the Divine. In so doing, they have healed the world and sanctified it.
Saints are not the Mediator, but they are mediators to the Mediator. Christ is the only Mediator, yes… but so are we—to the extent that we participate in Christ.
All of the saints reflect Christ. And because of that, not one saint is the same as the other.
Devotion to saints is devotion to a particular road to God.
What happens when I bring a saint into my prayer, into my life, into my household? The result is sanctity; a sanctity that is pursued in communion with a teacher and friend.
Our household is finding its little collection of saints. We have declared the patroness of our household to be St. Hildegard of Bingen. Why? Because we are musicians, writers, growers of gardens. We are artists and mystics. Or at least, that is what we want to be. All of us.
[When I asked what the boys wanted to do when they grew up, I’ve never been prouder as a parent. First boy said teacher. Second said archaeologist. Third said sculptor. Fourth said a papa.]
But we’ve started to notice more saints as we grow together. My wife’s patron is Joan of Arc. Mine is Gregory the Great. And as I’ve picked up a real leaning towards Benedict and Bernard of Clairvaux, my boys have started to notice and love the persons that show them the way to Christ. Francis. John the Baptist. Paul, Ludmila & Wenceslaus, Cyril & Methodius, Boniface, Patrick, Pio.
As my children read the Lives of the Saints and express the desire to pray with them and learn more about them, it is as if I feel a cloud of benevolent family friends take their place in our lives. Every personality quirk and funny preoccupation of my children finds an echo in sanctity. My boy who loves John the Baptist needs so little from life to be happy; I could see him on a rock, eating a grasshopper, pulling honeycomb from a tree and smiling with wild abandon. My boy who loves Francis is romantic and gentle and rapturous. My boy who loves Paul wants to get everything right, every priority straight, wears authority quickly and easily, and makes snap decisions and never goes back.
I am in love with Hildegard and Bernard. Their world-building and their cosmological preoccupation. Their odd mixture of militant conviction, frantic desire, and savage delight. What is it about Benedictines, laboring in prayer, praying in labor, that draws me to them so? Why are they so good at saving civilization? It’s not out of dogged obedience but rather a sort of cultural energy, concentrated and contained.
I love Benedict’s dismissive gibe at Satan; “Drink the poison yourself!” There’s an earthy, amost homely quality to Benedictine spirituality, this flowering depth in the simplicity of their sanctity.
This is the kind of sanctity that feels natural to me. The kind of sanctity that calls me deeper, that invites me to cast off my self-centeredness and become what God made me to be. In the full exercise of my inborn powers, I am able to pursue Him without distraction; and by so doing, my household comes alive.
It is simple, really. The Saints are friends and helpers, mentors and exemplars. And my family has benefitted deeply from our quiet, awkward courtship with them. We are closer to God and closer to each other, as we walk together towards our final end; union with Christ.
Saint Hildegard of Bingen
Saint Joan of Arc
Saint Pope Gregory the Great
Saint Paul
Saint Francis
Saint John the Baptist
Saint Patrick
Saints Cyril & Methodius
Saint Ludmila
Saint Wenceslaus
Saint Boniface
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Saint Benedict
Ora pro nobis
All ye Holy Saints and Angels,
Ora pro nobis.
Amen.
