Lourdes: Where the Saint Alarm went off

I found the PERFECT place for sainting in Lourdes the other week, and I have to share it with all of you.  While in Lourdes, there is this underground basilica and it has at least 50 gigantic banners of saints just hanging around this basilica (I didn’t count the exact number: it was a lot). It looks like a huge Catholic Gymnasium with all of the Catholic MVPs hanging from the balcony. 

Now, I know about quite a few saints, and nearly all of the most well-known ones.  Nevertheless, I wrote down a whole notebook page worth of saints hanging in this basilica that I had never heard of.  These include, but are not limited to, St. Maron, St. Joseph Moscoti, St. Joseph Cottelengo, Bl. Charles de Foucauld, Bl. Bartolo Longo, and more  

I couldn't help myself, I just had to write down all of their names and introduce myself to these beautiful people.  How amazing is it:  When constructing this basilica the people could have just put up all well known Saints, but instead there are Syrian monks, Korean Martyrs, and saints from other countries that deserve to be well known.  We truly live in a communion of Saints, and it was wonderful to get to see an example of that communion.  This is besides the fact that in the basilica was a mass with so many people from so many nations.  The communion of Saints everyone.  It's real. 

For the Record, here are very brief descriptions of each Saint I mentioned above:  

St. Maron: A Christian monk and hermit from Syria whose followers started the section of the Catholic Church called the Syriac Maronite Church

St. Joseph Moscoti: A physician from Italy, who lived in the early 20th century, who directed several hospitals, served the soldiers in WWI, and was known sometimes for miraculous healings of patients; he was said to be able to diagnose and prescribe treatment for a patient without having seen the patient.  

St. Joseph Cottelengo: A priest from Turin Italy, whose work I have gotten to see in the past few days.  He was inspired by St. Vincent de Paul, and founded organizations to house the poor, sick, elderly, and the disabled.  He founded the Brothers of St. Vincent de Paul and the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul.  Known as the St. Vincent de Paul of Italy

Bl. Charles de Foucauld: A French priest from the late 19th Century who was a re-convert to Catholicism, and sought to be among the most abandoned of the world.  He spent most of his days living in the Sahara desert, Syria, and other Middle Eastern nations.  

Bl. Bartolo Longo: Friend and spiritual guide of above mentioned St. Joseph Moscoti.  (See, all Saints know each other).  He was raised Catholic but completely abandoned the faith, had a secular life, then began ridiculing the church and became a Satanist priest.  His friends and family prayed from him and eventually some of his teachers with the help of a priest brought him back to the faith.  He became a Third Order Dominican and spent the rest of his life making amends for his past failures.  Kind of like a more modern St. Paul if you will. 

St. Bernadette: My own Patron Saint

In the four years I have been doing All Saints Month, I cannot believe that I have not written about St. Bernadette.  For those who know me, you are probably sick of me talking about Bernadette.  I can’t help it.   I love her, and now I’m going to tell you why.  

First some context.  I spent my second day in Europe in the small town of Nevers, France, and then travelled to Lourdes.  In Nevers, St. Bernadette spent the entire latter part of her life in this town as a Sister of Charity, and it is in the convent of the Sisters that she died.  During my time in Nevers I stayed at the convent where St. Bernadette lived, and saw the incorrupt body of Bernadette.  Was I being a fangirl while seeing all of this?  Yes.  Very much so.  

Why is Bernadette my favorite saint?  Well, several reasons.  But first, some basics about Bernadette.  She was a poor peasant girl living in Lourdes, France, when our blessed mother, the Virgin Mary, appeared to her in a grotto.  Bernadette prayed the rosary with Mary and eventually started doing this regularly.  Mary appeared to Bernadette a total of 18 times.  In that Grotto, Mary told Bernadette to dig a spring, which still flows today and is a site where many people come to for healing (yes, I did get to see that.  It’s awesome).  During one of these visits, Mary also told Bernadette “I am the Immaculate Conception”.  If you want more info, check out this website:  http://en.lourdes-france.org/deepen/bernadette-soubirous

Bernadette is my favorite saint for several reasons, first of foremost, she was the one who chose me.  I took Bernadette as my confirmation name without knowing too much about her.  But throughout the next several years, I kept noticing St. Bernadette appearing in random places in my life, so I started to get to know her.  I love her for her obedience to the Virgin Mary, being willing to do whatever she said, without question, even if everyone around Bernadette thought she was crazy.  Bernadette also had a great personality, with some stubbornness.  She was an ordinary peasant girl that Mary chose to appear to, and Bernadette kept that spirit of Mary throughout her life as a sister.  A final thing about Bernadette, she suffered a lot through her life through physical illness, but was joyful throughout the suffering.  She found comfort in the cross of Christ and knew that her suffering was not in vain, rather, it was part of God’s plan for her.    

I admit, I have read and learned about everything there is to know about Bernadette.  Visiting Nevers and Lourdes, I got to see what I already learned.  But as much as I know about Bernadette, I realized during this trip that I can never fully grasp what she was like.  I can know facts and quotes from her, but the only way to really know her is through meeting her, and I will have to wait to Heaven to do that.  I can’t wait.  

You finally have a very brief reflection on my favorite Saint.  What is yours?  Why?   Something to think about. 

Saint Friends are Friends forever

Ever noticed how a lot of saints are paired up?  To provide a few examples, you have St. Francis and St. Clare, St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, and St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of God.  Then you have the mother-child pair St. Monica and St. Augustine who both knew and learned from St. Ambrose.  St. Vincent de Paul worked with St. Louise de Marillac, who had a spiritual director named St. Francis de Sales.  If you get into more obscure saints, you have the great team up of St. Boniface, who worked with St. Walburga, whose brothers were Sts. Willibald and Winebald.  They all worked to kickstart the Church in what is now Germany.   

The point is, a lot of Saints knew a lot of other Saints.  This is no coincidence.  Sainthood is often preached as the way that one individual comes to do God’s will and achieve holiness.  We look at Saints as great individuals of the Church.  

But they weren’t just individuals, and there was no way that they achieved Sainthood on their own.  It’s like the phrase goes:  You get more done when you work together.  Good luck achieving Sainthood on your own.  Very few people do.  But when Children of God come together to lift each other up, holiness is a less daunting task and easier to achieve.  Even Jesus says, “When two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them” (not exact quote).  

To bring this into my own life, I have been travelling through France and Italy with some of my great friends.  Has it been awesome?  Yes, but that doesn’t mean it has been smooth sailing the whole way through.  I know I could not get through this trip without my fellow student travelers.  We work together to get through the tough parts, support one another if we feel weak, but also rejoice together over accomplishments, and share the moments blessed by God.  

We do great things when we work together, and Sainthood is no different.  The nature of great friendships is that we lift each other up to the heights; lifting each other up to holiness.  Treasure your friends, because who knows, one day you may all be Saints.