“Traditionally, there are two ways that Christians
relate to the saints: as patron and as companion….Christians, especially
Catholics, ask for the saint’s help, for his or her prayers in heaven, in the
same way that you would ask for a friend’s prayer here on earth…. But the model
more prevalent in the early church… was the saint as companion….The saint was
seen as our fellow traveler along the way to God; by following his or her
example the saint provides us with a model of Christian life.”—James Martin,
S.J.,
My Life with the Saints (2007)
(The image accompanying this post shows Paul Scofield
in his Oscar-winning role as St. Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons—a
figure who put his career and even his life at stake for the sake of a
principle. With all the imperfections of his life--as a man and figure making his way amid the religious and political quarrels of his day--More remains a model of courage over opportunism in his melancholy but determined opposition to his capricious king's whim.)
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