Spiritual Quote of the Day (Fr. James Martin, on ‘The Saint as Companion’)

“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.)

Quote of the Day (Fr. James Martin, on God's ‘Invitation to Friendship’)

“The call to sanctity is an invitation to friendship with God. It is a call that transformed the lives of the saints into gifts to the One who loved them into being. The invitation to holiness is a lifelong call to draw closer to God, who wants nothing more than to encounter us as the people we are and the saints we are meant to be.”—James Martin, S.J., My Life With the Saints (2006)

Quote of the Day (Fr. Martin, on Canonization)

“Certainly there have been as many saintly wives and husbands as there have been holy priests and nuns. But religious orders and dioceses know how to navigate the canonization procedures on behalf of bishops, priests, brothers and sisters. By contrast, how many families have the resources to embark on the decades-long process on behalf of even the holiest mother or father?”—James Martin, S.J., “His Wife’s a Saint, So Is Her Husband,” The Wall Street Journal, October 17, 2008

(At Mass this weekend, the pastor of my church, St. Cecilia of Englewood, N.J., Fr. Hilary Milton, drew our attention to the beautification occurring in Lisieux, France, today for Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux. The ceremony has particular interest for my church, which is the Eastern Shrine of St. Therese the Little Flower. Fr. Hilary pointed out how unusual it was that the parents of a saint are themselves now on the road to canonization.

Fr. Martin’s excellent article, which I’ve linked above, underscores another unusual aspect of this process: the short roster of saints who have been married, and the even briefer list of those married to each other. It’s an inspiring piece about the persistence of faith even amid the multiple difficulties and tragedies of life.)