AS WE celebrate the 7th anniversary of Sun.Star Bacolod, my sincere congratulations goes to the management and staff of this company who has played a significant part of my life since 1999.
For the seven years of celebration, we are to choose seven topics from our treasure chest of favorites. As part of thanksgiving I shall share seven of my favorite saints (the list can be longer) who have journeyed with me and to whom I am grateful as well.
Some cults criticize us Catholics for venerating saints. They call it idolatry. Our Church is undivided. We have the Church Triumphant (the ones in heaven) and the Church Militant (that’s us the faithful here on earth). When we (earthlings) go down in worship before God, we are mystically united with the saints in heaven. They pray together with us, intercede for us.
Since they are nearer the Throne of God, they are our lobbyists when we storm heaven with our supplications. Saints became saints not because they were holy since Day 1 of their birth. Some led very despicable lives. Christ’s devoted disciple Mary Magdalene was known to be a slut. St. John the Baptist was a weirdo with his slovenly looks. He must have looked like that man we see in Lacson St. walking while rolling a tire. Enough to make you ran away. Of the millennium saints, there is St. Therese of Lisieux, who was a cry baby (“ingat”), overly sensitive, in fact, neurotic. There is even a saint, St. Cyprian, who was a follower of Satan who delved in sorcery and demonic actsbut who turned 360 degrees and became a saint.
Saints were ordinary beings like you and me who had faults (big ones and big time like St. Augustine and St. Paul – men of the world to the max) but who transformed their lives, sanctified themselves and became great saints of our church. For all our weaknesses—pride, sloth, glut, anger, envy, greed and lust— there is a saint we can equate with. From them we have hope for conversion, and metamorphose to better persons.
1. Mary tops the list of my favorite saints. Poor Mama Mary is always at the forefront of arguments because God the Father chose her to be His only creation without the blemish of original sin. She was the chosen one to be the mother of the Savior and conceived her son through the power of the Holy Spirit. St. Mary, from the onset of her life, glorified God. She is the ultimate saint.
Mary comes with so many titles and many have devotions to her. My favorite is Mary Untier of the Knots. There are many knots in our lives that seem to have acquired permanent residency. There are attitudes, situations, circumstances, severed relationships which despite ceaseless efforts seem unresolved. Frustration sets in and waiting is tortuous. But if we just continue to appeal to her to untie these knots, there is indeed a change. There is the knot of attitude in accepting that there are things that will never change or at least not at the moment. Everything happens in God’s time.
Pope Francis also has a special devotion to Our Lady Untier of the Knots. If I have problems, they are molehills compared to his.
2. St. Joseph is my next favorite. When my Dad passed away I asked St. Joseph to be my father as he was to Jesus. When crisis arises, and I needed my Dad’s counsel, I would ask St Joseph. When I became a single mother with three sons to care, provide and love more, I once again asked St. Joseph to be the father of my sons who will help me guide and protect them. Now I ask him to also watch my apo.
3. Then there’s my BFF (best friend forever) St. Anthony of Padua. He is most renowned as the patron saint of lost items but he is so much more. He is famed for his countless miracles and his celestial teachings have made him a Doctor of the Church. Whenever I need a friend or a miracle, I always ask St. Anthony to be with me or to help me…ASAP (as soon as possible)! He never fails!
4. I have always been a fan of Sta. Teresa de Avila. I love her feistiness, her determination, her wit and her humor. She was a feminist in the Medieval Ages, unafraid to discourse with the leaders of the Church even during the time of the Inquisition. To do what must be done, her famous words ring in my ears whenever I am in a crisis situation: “Do not be afraid, do not be frightened. God alone suffices. All these shall pass.”
During her lifetime, she traveled through countless encounters and battles to establish her discalced monasteries but she always won the war.
5. St. Michael the Archangel remained steadfast to obedience with the Lord. St. Michael is my traveling companion whether at home or in foreign lands. When my son Andre was in Bali and very sick, I asked St. Michael just one request: “Please let him be well enough to reach Manila.” It was Holy Week and we were doing the Visita Iglesia. As I descended the car, Andre called that he has landed in Manila. Entering the Sto. Niño Church, there was this larger-than-life image of St. Michael. I knew in my heart he was telling me: “Prayer granted.”
6. Sto. Pio of Pietrelcina was a friar, mystic, and stigmatist who just died in 1968 and one of the greatest saints of our times. He was a man of piety who wanted to suffer Christ’s wounds in secret. People would flock to him for confessions and he is believed to have the gift of reading souls, the ability to bilocate, communicate with angels and worked healing before they are requested of him.
I always appeal to Padre Pio whenever I am plagued with illness. Also, since he can read souls, I ask him what I should do when in doubt or troubled. He also gets an earful for my financial needs. I don’t know why but I just do.
7. I must make a final choice but let me put 2. It’s a tossup between Sta. Lucia and Mother Marie Eugenie. Sta. Lucia, after whom I was named, is the patron saint of eyesight. St Lucia/Lucy means “light.” When my vision is clouded by my desperation or my delusions, l ask her to clear my sight.
Mother Marie Eugenie was the founder of the Religious of the Assumption and the school that educated me for nine years. I pray to Mother Marie Eugenie because I value my Assumption education which was totally holistic. I pray to her to mold me to be a better mother, grandmother, friend and person.
As you can see, I have special relationships with my favorite saints. They all have special assignments and tasks in my life. They are my companions in joy and in difficulty. It’s good to have someone up there lawyering for us. If other religions find it silly, I don’t. I only gain from their friendships and their help!
Again, my congratulations and thanks to Sun.Star on our 7th anniversary. May the saints in heaven continue to pray for the success of all your endeavors!*