SAINT WALPURGA (aka "Walburga") AN EXAMPLE FOR MODERN WOMEN

 

Saint Walpurga (Walburga)

(born about 710, died 25 Feb, 777-779)

FEAST DAY: February 25

Although I had never heard of today's saint when I began to study her, I already felt a strong pull toward her and I wondered why. Firstly, I am descended from and fond of many saints of this approximate era and locale (Middle Ages in the British Isles), and her name sounded familiar to me, but I have just discovered that she is considered to be the patron saint of female writers!

Walpurga, who is now typically referred to as "Walburga" in the west, was a very well educated woman of 8th Century Wessex, who is the first female published writer, thus her patronage of female writers.

It is likely I am related to her, as I am descended from King Ingeld of Wessex, (my 39th great grandfather) who died in Canterbury, Kent, England in about 718, approximately 8 years after Walburga's birth. He was not her father, however, because all the records indicate that she was the daughter of someone called "Richard the Pilgrim," who is referred to as an "underking," and her mother Wuna of Wessex. Family history prior to Walburga's parents is lost in the mists of time, but we know that there were likely dense relationship connections in that area of the country, with many folks related to one another, especially since the nobility marries amongst themselves. I have many ancestors and cousins in Wessex during the years when the area around "Dumnonia," (approximately relating to modern-day Devon), was first becoming part of Anglo Saxon England. These centuries from about 600 a.d. to 1300 a.d. are my favorite in the history of my ancestors, and I am frequently rooting around in the historical records, looking for my "royal rellies."

(Of course we have to keep in mind that, when you go that far back in time, the records are never perfect. Names and dates can fluctuate, but the places in which these people lived their lives are rather more set, as even today we have corroborating places of pilgrimage, with old castle ruins, holy wells, and other sorts of geographic place markers. There are written records, especially with regard to the exploits of kings. One has to piece it all together to figure it out for individual persons.)

Considering the early era and obscure parentage, I was fascinated to see how much information there is on this saint in the internet records. There are a large number of paintings of her, quite a few merchants selling her holy medals and statues, and a few books (mostly of prayers and novenas.)

All of this has aroused a determination to learn as much as I can about this saint and to include her in my prayers to the saints, at the very least to mention her among them, especially because I am a writer and I have suffered terribly with writer's block for the last 20 years. I am looking for inspiration to get my books finished before I die, and I am already 70 years old, so I do not have much time left!

It will take me some time to get up to speed with all the information that is known about her, so I will do the best I can with what I can immediately absorb, and then will return later to add more. 

Something we should know about her, which I think has some implications for our modern life, is that Walpurga's father was both royal and extremely pious. This is a recurring theme that I find in the Middle Ages which appeals to me greatly.

Walburga's Father

Richard the Pilgrim

One sees these people, draped in ermine and being treated like little demi-Gods but instead of arrogant and haughty people, the kings and queens are often extremely religious, modest, and HUMBLE. Under those sumptuous clothings, some of them were wearing hair shirts as a penance. 

This saintly quality was frequently transmitted to their children, and there are entire families of saints (such as in today's case) which I find quite inspiring. Another example would be Saint Therese of Lisieux, though she is more contemporary.

It would be so easy for these kings and queens to just kick back and let everyone serve them, eat all kinds of glorious food while the serfs eke by and practically starve on rough fare. But that is not the case with many of the royal saints of the Middle Ages who were passionately religious.

It is quite a different family arrangement than what we often find today. I can't tell you how many times I have heard people say that they don't want to interfere with their childrens' freedom to pick their own religion. Their excuse for not taking them to church or giving them ANY religious instruction at all is so that they will not violate their right to freedom of choice, which is ridiculous, when you think about it. Obviously, the parents themselves are not usually going to church so they have no religious instruction to give. Their decision to "let the children decide for themselves" is apparently a smokescreen to disguise their own limitations.

.

Walburga's parents transmitted to her and her brothers a remarkable level of piety and dedication to the faith. It demonstrates the beauty of and possibilities for families to become instruments of holiness.  

Looking at this issue from a personal perspective, I will tell you that I did not come from a religious family. I really wish I had, because it took me decades to get to where I am today, and I feel sad when I contemplate how much better I could have behaved with this gift of life that God gave me, if I'd had the blessing of a family that was interested in God. But my family was entirely unlike the ideal. Even my beloved Grammy, though a good woman, eschewed religion. She DID say that "all you need is the Golden Rule," which I believe originally came from the Bible, but I never saw her read the Bible, and don't know that she even HAD one, and she definitely did not go to church.

My mother LOATHED Catholics because, oddly enough, my grandmother sent her to Catholic school. I suppose the nuns were mean to her. That is a mystery for which I will never have an answer.  You see? The Catholic Church has been on the outskirts of my family all the time.

For much of my adult life, I struggled between the beliefs under which I had been raised, and a nagging sense that there was something better, finer, higher.... something holy. I investigated many religions. I was on the Scientology flagship when I was 19. I studied Buddhism in my 20's. I was a nun in a Hindu convent in my 30's and then, finally, when I read about the Catholic mystics while a hindu nun in that convent, I finally realized what I needed. Even then, it took a number of years before I was able to join the Catholic Church which is, itself, the topic of another entire book. 

As usual, I have digressed! I just wanted to give you all an idea of the contrast between a family raised with God, and one raised with immorality and selfishness.

We do not often see the combination of piety and power in the kings of today. On this topic, I am going to mention something that is political in nature, and I ask your forgiveness for doing so. I am sure you have noticed that I mostly do not discuss politics in my blog. I have more to give in the sphere of holy things than politics But just now, recent government actions are intersecting with spiritual and moral expectations of our leaders. We need them to be of the highest moral character in order for each to be an effective leader. But the current office holder falls so short of requirements that it is frightening many of us.

FAKE MAGAZINE COVER CREATED BY

THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE AND

SHARED ON HIS OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE

"X" ACCOUNT

Donald Trump has just taken his second bite of the apple and is president AGAIN. He has recently posted on his social media platform a painting of a fake "Time" Magazine cover, depicting himself wearing a crown. Underneath the picture is a paean to himself, after which he writes, "Long live the King!" It is terrifying because he is acting like a brutal, dictatorial king, breaking many laws, violating the Constitution of our country, and hurting a lot of people with mass firings, mass deportations, and cruel language that disparages various categories of human beings. He has a tremendous amount of power, and with it he is punching down on those weaker than himself. 

His right hand man, an unelected immigrant from South Africa, (Elon Musk) has been tasked with the job of destroying many of the agencies of our government. As is typical of this administration, Trump says they are doing one thing, i.e., "getting rid of waste, fraud and abuse," but they are actually doing something more sinister. The courts are trying to stop him, but he is simply ignoring the judgments and proceeding with what he wants to do.  He verbally CLAIMS that he is complying but thereafter continues on as he was going, simply ignoring the judges' rulings. It is maddening.

For instance, we were initially told that Musk and a small band of teenagers and college dropouts were conducting "audits," but they immediately started to destroy agencies that Trump does not like, starting with USAID that delivers foreign aid to starving people throughout the world. Aside from the obvious horror we feel at the idea of innocent people dying in the Sudan due to famine, for instance, the loss of our reputation around the world will most certainly have colossal ramifications.

The battalion of college kids spent only ONE WEEKEND sending emails to employees of USAID, firing people and furloughing others. Obviously, the agency CANNOT function, so all the food that we were trying to get to the people starving in Sudan and other places is, instead, sitting in warehouses or rotting in stalled transport.

Two days is not enough time to conduct an audit of my own personal finances, what to speak of an agency with world-wide operations. Neither Musk nor his band of college students has the education or experience to conduct an actual "audit" which would take months or years when conducted by professionals. Our aid to the poorest of the poor throughout the world has been kneecapped.

The people who have been fired are not surgically targeted. Musk and his teen crew simply chose the easiest people to get rid of, and then they bragged about how much money they saved because of firing them. The approach of these people is overwhelmingly transactional in nature, completely ignoring the humanity affected.

In addition, the operation is being done in a sloppy manner. They have been wrong about the nature of the contracts, the exact amounts of the required payments,  and have misunderstood reports and spreadsheet. Most unfortunate is that they appear to have failed to prepare themselves by getting information and instructions from those for whom these areas are familiar.

It appears they have no idea what they are doing, and while they may save money on salaries, they are disabling the primary functions of these agencies.

In another instance, when they sent out emails firing the people who kept watch over our stockpile of nuclear weapons, they had to walk it back but did not know how to contact those recently fired people whose business email accounts had been cancelled.

Trump is resolutely remaking the government in his image.  The House, Senate and Supreme Court are all "in his pocket" and getting him to obey the laws has been impossible. One judge issued an order and two weeks later had to issue the same order again, admonishing Trump to follow his order. But instead of doing so, he continues on with the plan.

Before taking office, Trump said he knew nothing about Project 2025. After the election, he is following it exactly. The government is being transformed into an American oligarchy, and it is terrifying.

. Even before he was elected, the GOP was heeding his orders, in some cases blocking measures that would solve problems that they complain about all the time just to avoid the solution being effected during someone else's administration. This man will not tolerate anyone else being given credit for anything good, unless Trump himself is dispensing those laudatory comments in a condescending way that imputes the original agency to himself and his orders and directions.

He has become increasingly rude, demanding and dictatorial. He threatens to hurt anyone who does not behave as he likes. He is continually issuing illegal and unconstitutional orders. In a recent public meeting, he asked one Governor if she was going to "comply" and she clearly said she would comply with "all laws and the Constitution," and he told her that she BETTER comply with what he wanted or her state will get NO Federal funding. This is how he talks. He says the silent parts out loud. 

Recently, in keeping with his habit of rudely and aggressively talking down to reporters, he has decided to abolish the First Amendment by limiting the journalists who cover him to an exclusive list of his choosing. Their journalistic credentials are limited, to say the least. In a hundred years, we have never seen this. But we have seen it in other countries. 

Historically, the famous Hitler did this in Germany. Currently, the countries that behave this way are Russia, North Korea, Burma, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Eritreya, Cuba, Uzbekistan, Syria and Belarus. There may be more. Dictators always suppress the free press as one of the first things they do to keep a country under their heel. Notice that the above list is composed of countries that are not known for being wealthy and successful. Dictatorships are not healthy governments, yet the egomaniacal personalities cannot give them up. They are obsessed with power.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

The Republicans in charge of the other branches of government are thrilled. They sit back and watch while the president destroys one agency after another, apparently not caring about the human costs. They can clearly see that the Constitution is being violated but as long as it is being violated to benefit them, they do not make a move to stop the speeding train.

Today the House of Representatives passed a resolution that will give the rich more tax breaks and will pay for it by robbing the poor. They are expressly after Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. The poor will lose medical care, food and housing. Old people will be thrown out of nursing homes. Many of us will end up in the street, homeless. 

None of this comports with the Christian faith to which he pretends to belong. They justify this cruelty by saying that charity is the job of the church. So they think it is alright to actively hurt the poor. A tiny little handful of men at the top of the ladder own more wealth than the entire bottom half. This disparity of income, caused by the suppression of wages and the negligible tax payments of the wealthy, causes terrible poverty.

The work of the people at the bottom of the pyramid creates the value in a company, which is monetized and shoved up the ladder to the corporate overlords.

Elon Musk and others in the right wing call poor people "the parasite class," when it is he and Trump and others like them that CAUSE the poverty to begin with. 

I worked for decades and put money into Social Security. I do not feel much like a "parasite."

To be clear, my entire income is Social Security, with the exception of some television residuals from work I did 40 some odd years ago. I am on a Medicaid waiver because of my disabilities. It is possible that I will lose most of my medical care and benefits if this bill is enacted into law.

The depraved and foul behavior of Trump and many of his Republican enablers is completely unlike the holy families that we are discussing in this blog post.

In one, now famous, interview, Trump was asked if he had ever ask for forgiveness from God and he said he had not because he does not need it.

This is not a humble king who is self-effacing, polite, generous to the poor, obedient to The Church and The Faith. Trump is a vile dictator who cares about nothing but his own extravagant ego and his pleasures.

While Musk has been savaging our government agencies, Trump has been playing golf. In less than a month in office, Trump's golf habit has cost the American people more than 10 MILLION DOLLARS. Our wealthy overseers only care about money being "wasted" on the poor but they zealously guard the income streams leading to their enjoyments.

Nero fiddled while Rome burned. 

A distressingly large group of generic Christians and even Catholics constantly make excuses for him, despite the growing list of examples of his complete moral bankruptcy. I can't write about all of it or else I will be here all night.

The excuse I hear most often is that King David was also a sinful man and God thought HE was ok, which is a ridiculous comparison.

There is a HUGE difference between a man who believes in the commandments of Christ and tries his best to meet them but fails - and the man who asserts the OPPOSITE values to those of Christ and succeeds in his efforts to achieve those evil ends. The first man is a fallible human being, and the second man is in league with Satan.

At any rate, we all have a choice, regardless of our family background and advantages or lack thereof. Today's saint followed in the footsteps of her sainted father and she actually accomplished a lot in her lifetime.

The last time she saw her father, she was but 11 years old. I imagine her waving fondly goodbye to her father and two brothers as they rode off on a pilgrimage, leaving her behind with the Abbess of a double monastery. Her father died while on pilgrimage, a year after he left, and Walburga remained in the monastery, becoming a nun, and spending 26 years with those holy women, becoming extremely well educated in the process.

She helped her brothers Willibald and Winibald to evangelize the pagan Germans, along with boniface, who was her uncle. One brother died, and she took over his monastery. Then the other died and she took over his as well.

She was an extremely gifted and pious woman who led both men and women in religious life, worked as an evangelist, wrote books about the holy souls of her two brothers, and is credited with a number of miracles.

I have a lot of reading left to do about this really interesting saint, and I will come back later, God willing, to add to this.

I pray for you all, as I hope you pray for me.

Silver Rose

Post Script: Please remember that all my writing is protected by legal copyright and none of it may be reproduced anywhere else for any reason without my specific written permission. Just because you can see it here on the internet does not mean you have any right to use it.

SAINT LUCY, PATRON SAINT OF THE BLIND - DECEMBER 13 - HOW TO GET TO KNOW THE SAINTS

 

Saint Lucy

Patroness of the Blind

Feast day December 13

This article is a personal account of some of what has been involved in getting to know my favorite saints, many of whom are my ancestors and holy cousins, aunts and uncles of one degree or another. 

I was initially guided on this road by extensive reading of the contemplative practices of the mystics of the Catholic Church, such as Saint Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, Jane de Chantal, Francis de Sales, Thomas Merton, and others of that ilk.

My ancestors range from Saint Olga of Kyiv, my 34th great grandmother, and the patron saint of converts, to Saint Margaret of Scotland, an English Plantagenet princess married to King Malcolm of Scotland, who is my 29th great grandmother and the patron saint of large families. There are something like 2 dozen of my relatives in heaven who are saints of the Catholic Church (as well as the Orthodox, in many cases.)

There are also a number of saints I consider my friends. It is quite a crowd!

Part of the reason that I am so fond of the saints is that I have no close family. My natal family was very small. Most have died. There are a very small number of remaining people, who have been cruel toward me, one of whom conspired with others to write me out of my father's will after he got dementia, then came back for a second bite of the apple in a stunningly cynical legal move that was calculated to push me into a corner and prevent me from claiming the inheritance my father had continually promised me throughout his life. 

The only people who loved me were my father and my grandmother, and they are long gone. In response to these circumstances, I have turned to my relatives in Heaven.

"Though my father and mother forsake me,

the Lord will receive me." Psalm 27:10

I also enjoy the company of many sainted friends that I have grown to love. The initial attraction sometimes has to do with the saint having been a hermit for at least part of their time on earth, and I look to them for guidance and example in how to lead that life. It warms me to understand how many of them there are! It's an extreme type of spiritual life, but yet there are many Catholics throughout history who have gone into the isolated, quiet places to pray in secret to the Lord in Heaven who rewards us in secret.

Later, some of these hermits attract other spiritual aspirants, and a community forms. Sometimes, the religious authorities, recognizing their holiness, would make them a bishop or the abbess of their own convent, and these people move from the hermit state to the cenobitic life. But there is something about spending some time in the hermit life that is an incredible help to the establishment of the spiritual aspirant in their relationship with the Divine.

As a side note to readers: even if you can only spend a dedicated weekend, or a week or two in a solitary setting, especially at a retreat center, monastery or convent, it will feed your spiritual appetites in a way that will stay with you forever. I promise. These experiences build upon one another. You will look back upon them with gratitude. And this is the perfect atmosphere in which to begin your contemplative journey with the saints.

Saint Lucy is one of my sainted friends in heaven upon whom I lay the task of interceding for me with the Lord so that I do not lose any more of my vision than I already have. I am functionally blind in my left eye and struggling to retain the vision in my right eye. At the present time, I have to get monthly injections into my right eye. After the 3-month period of getting these shots, the retina specialists will take photographs of the inside of my eye to determine if the shots have been able to stop the leakage of blood into my eyes by the invading blood vessels due to macular degeneration.

In celebration of the feast day of Saint Lucy, the patron saint of blindness, I am hereby giving an accounting of my personal experiences of the contemplative life, in connection with the establishment and maintenance of relationships with my favorite saints, of whom Lucy is one!

In the many years in which I have been disabled, I have accumulated a host of saints around me. This isn't a turn of phrase or mystical fancy. When you call upon anyone in the vast Heavenly Court, they respond to you in direct proportion to how much and how often you call upon them, in conjunction with the general state of grace in which you live.

Keep in mind that the deeper types of contemplative prayer will not typically include words or visuals. The consolations and atmosphere are different, but communing with the saints is a lovely phase that sets the stage for the mind before it enters into communion with the Holy Spirit.

Saint Lucy's feast day presents a very good opportunity for me to talk a bit about how I have made friends with the saints in Heaven.

In order to start the process of getting to know a saint, especially an obscure one, the first thing I typically do is some preliminary reading about the saint and get to know her a bit. The internet is a wonderful resource. A simple Google search for articles about the saint, as well as a trip through YouTube to check for educational videos, are both good resources. (Just check to make sure that the provider of the information is legitimately Catholic and not some cosmic poo-poo person who is selling crystal healings, "reiki sessions" or something like that!)

I usually find a prayer or two about that saint that has an official imprimatur, then I will light some candles and incense at my shrine, dim the other lights in the house, turn off the phone, use the sacramentals I have on hand, such as holy water, and begin.

Recently, I have started using some of Father Chad Ripperger's prayers from  his book of "Deliverance Prayers for the Laity." First, I will pray a version of his Invocation to the Entire Heavenly Court in order to sweep the decks of any lingering malevolent spirits, calling upon the entire heavenly court.

If you do not have the time to recite this entire prayer, then I recommend you pray any St. Michael prayer that you typically pray, something which is very easy to find on the internet and in many standard prayer books that you may have around the house.

Also, the short prayer to your Guardian Angel can be used at this juncture, instead of or in addition to the Invocation to the Entire Heavenly Court.

Invocation to the Entire Heavenly Court

O glorious queen of Heaven and earth, 

Virgin most powerful, thou who has the

power to crush the head of the ancient

serpent with thy heel, come and exercise

this power flowing from the grace of 

thine Immaculate Conception. 

Shield us under the mantle of thy purity

and love, draw us into the sweet abode

of thy heart, and annihilate and render

impotent the forces bent on destroying

us. Come most Sovereign Mistress of the

Holy Angels and Mistress of the Most

Holy Rosary, thou who from the very

beginning hast received from God the

power and the mission to crush the head

of Satan.

I humbly beseech thee, send forth thy

holy legions, that under thy command and

by thy power they may pursue the evil

spirits, encounter them on every side,

resist their bold attacks, and drive them

far from us, harming no one on the way, 

binding them immobile to the foot of the

cross, to be judged and sentenced by 

Jesus Christ, thy son, to be disposed of

by Him as He wills.

St. Joseph, patron of the Universal Church,

come to our aid in this great battle against

the forces of darkness, repel the attacks of

the Devil, and free me from whatever 

stronghold the enemy has upon my soul.

St. Michael, summon the entire Heavenly

court to engage their forces in this fierce

battle against the powers of Hell. Come, O

prince of Heaven, with thy mighty sword,

and thrust into Hell Satan and all the other 

evil spirits.

O Guardian Angels, guide and protect me/us.

Amen

You might also like to take advantage of one of the perimeter prayers which is very good protection when preparing your shrine for each period of meditation upon the saint, in which case I would recommend using the perimeter prayer as you are preparing the shrine, then begin with the Invocation to the Entire Heavenly Court.

Small book of St. Padre Pio's

prayers that I use almost daily

After the Invocation, I would then pray one of Saint Padre Pio's prayers to all the saints, as follows:

A Daily Prayer to the Saints

Dear beloved saint(s) ____(name)____

You are my friend(s) in Heaven.

You guide me, you help me, you are

there for me in my earthly journey.

As I live my life today, help me in my

daily activities and direct me spiritually,

so I can know and understand God's

plan for me.

Give me the grace and strength to assist

those in need. Help me to care for those

who need care.

Seek the Lord's blessings for me, so that

I may experience God's love and goodness

as you did, despite all the challenges and

obstacles in daily life.

Ask God to grant me the courage and

determination to always do what is right

for me, my family, and those closest to

me. Please hear my petitions and inter-

cede for my special intentions before our

Loving Lord.

_________(state your request_______

Amen.

This prayers is one for which I have made room in my daily schedule of prayers, in order that I may always keep in  mind my heavenly friends.

When making a special appeal to a particular saint, as we are discussing here, it also has a place in that cycle of prayers. At this point, after clearing away all negative attentions, gaining the assistance of the entire Heavenly Court, and addressing all the saints with Padre Pio's beautiful prayer, I would then pray the prayer to the specific saint with whom I am developing a relationship at the moment.

In today's case, it is Saint Lucy, whose prayer is as follows:

PRAYER TO SAINT LUCY:

Saint Lucy, you did not hide your light

under a basket, but let it shine for the whole 

world, for all the centuries to see. We may 

not suffer torture in our lives the way you 

did, but we are still called to let the light of 

our Christianity illumine our daily lives.

Please help us to have the courage to bring 

our Christianity into our work, our recreation, 

our relationships, our conversation - every 

corner of our day.

Amen

I then proceed with contemplation, by closing my eyes and meditating upon the day's saint. In the initial stages of appealing to any saint, there will be a very gradual movement toward one another. It can even take years before you are in regular communion with that saint, depending upon the state of your soul, how much time you put into this, and whether you are in a state of grace.

You know, the saints are simply people who lived on earth at one time and whose lives of faith were so exemplary that it has been determined that they are definitely in Heaven.  When asking for the saint's help in the form of intercessory prayers on your behalf, you are seeking them out in Heaven, where the entire Heavenly Court is spending all its time singing the praises of the Lord.

(Side note: Whenever I think of Heaven, I can almost hear the Heavenly Court singing the Lord's praises in the sweetest of notes! Can you imagine? What a blissful idea!)

You need to get the saints attention so that she may dedicate some of her prayers to your welfare, when she is joining in the prayers of the Heavenly Court.

I find that, in addition to the beauty of the words that you employ in your prayers, it helps to visualize Heaven as well.

IMAGINE HEAVEN

Reaching for Heaven

by Zulmaury Saavedra

at Unsplash

You might imagine, as I do, that you are walking upon the dazzling pavement of a heavily trafficked street paved with golden shimmering bricks or a glittering plaza, in a very big celestial city, with a crowd of sparkling beings gently moving about or swaying in place, their forms gracefully moving - with all of them lifting their voices to sweet celestial music and using beautiful gestures meant to glorify the Lord and participate in His beauty while the splendor of the Lord shines in and through everything. All the Saints are gathered around  the Lord who is at the center of it all, flanked by his Blessed Mother and the angels, and it is gorgeous. Personally, I hear bells throughout, but that's just me.

Obviously, the English language, and our own imaginations, cannot come anywhere near the glory of what goes on in Heaven, but we have to work with images and situations that are familiar to us until the door is opened for us and we experience a more closely representational vision of the Heavenly abode.

I may imagine that I enter Heaven and begin to walk its Heavenly illuminated streets, and then I see a shining person on the other side of the street or the plaza, walking on that other side, perhaps traveling in the opposite direction from me and I just see the back of their head.

Everyone and everything is full of light, and all their spiritual forms expand in time to the music they offer the Lord. In one way or another, they are all communicating with the Lord. Angels are flying in the sky. Saints are walking the illuminated structures. Everything is radiating a dazzling light!

This is the imagery that appeals to me, but you will find your own way through that supernatural place.

In the beginning, you may only have a fuzzy impression of what the saint looks like. It helps to call upon the iconography. Saint Lucy, for instance, today's special saint, is often represented holding a small plate or bowl containing her eyes that were plucked out of her head during her lifetime. [It is a gruesome image, I know, but she lived during the time of Diocletian, whom you may have heard of. He was a brutal man who was responsible for the torture and terrible deaths of many Christians of his era. He was emperor from 284 to 305 C.E.] One of the stories claims that Lucy plucked out her own eyes because a suitor became enamored of their beauty. Another tale claims that it was done to her in the middle of some torturous act.]

In order for you to get the attention of any particular holy person, you have to call upon her intently so that the saint, angel or even our Blessed Mother will hear you. This is how it is in the beginning of this spiritual practice when one has yet to make an intimate friendship with the saints by consistent, regular attention to them.

After the initial prayers, and you feel you have made contact with the saint, you will want to spend some time just communing with her in that holy place.

THE RELATIONSHIP GROWS

After the first introductions, the saints will start to listen for your call, knowing it will come. Then they will themselves draw closer, until finally they are living in your heart and you are in communion with them all the time. Once you have established a practice of communicating with them, your attachment to them, and they to you, can be instantaneous, in my experience.

Eventually, I have been on such intimate terms with the saints that I feel their presence within me throughout the day and can conjure up a conversation or companionship in a moment. 

This is especially true for the saints who are my actual ancestors, who I believe have been praying for me my entire life. I believe that they watched the birth and growth of all their various grandchildren, praying for them through the trials and tribulations of their lives, interceding for them with the Lord.

Saint Eahlswitha,

Wife of Saint King Alfred the Great

My 33rd Great Grandparents

Sometimes, in the quiet of a late evening, you will want to go to them in Heaven. At other times, during the day, when faced with the problems of life, you may need them right here in the earthly plane, in order to inspire and encourage you in whatever you face in your worldly life.

I will OFTEN ask myself, "what would this saint do if they were faced with a similar circumstance?" I find it very helpful to posit this question because I will often receive an answer fairly quickly.

GUARDIAN ANGELS

This process works well for your Guardian Angel also because this special angel, who has been tasked with caring for you since your birth, will actually feel thrilled that you are giving them some attention. Every time you call upon your Guardian Angel, you are allowing it to fulfill its entire purpose. Created solely to keep its eyes on you and help you, it can grow to feel cold and lonely despairing of ever truly pleasing God, if you don't give it any opportunity to help you.

Like all angels, each Guardian Angel is its own species of spiritual being. There is no other spiritual being made exactly like any one of these angels who is yours and yours alone. I have read some accounts in which it is claimed that your Guardian Angel looks exactly like the person for whom they were created.

So, if you are meditating on finding a saint in Heaven in order to obtain her intercession for your needs, and you come across an angel that looks exactly like you, don't be surprised.

Painting of cherubs by 

William-Adolphe Bouguereau

I would just say that it is probably a good idea to make sure that you first have a good relationship with your Guardian Angels before you start running around the spiritual realm, giving all sorts of attention to one saint or another, while ignoring your poor Guardian Angel and making it sad.

In fact, it will be much easier getting it to help you than some old saint, since you are your Guardian Angel's only job and responding to you is part of its duty.

I say "it" when I refer to angels because, in fact, they have no gender. While they sometimes come to earth and appear to us in some form that does, at times, appear to be human of a specific gender,  they have never been earthly beings. There is no marriage among angels and no angel babies being birthed. God creates angels out of His very holy will, so there is no necessity for them to be either male or female. On the other hand, God can do whatever he wishes, and if it really IS true that at least some of the Guardian Angels look like their charges, then it is possible that they appear to be either male or female without actually having a specific gender, per se. It's one of those mysteries.

While your Guardian Angel is a celestial being, the saints were and continue to be real people who have moved from the worldly to the heavenly realm.

DON'T ASK YOUR DEAD GRANNY TO PRAY FOR YOU.

Many people like to believe that everyone who has died is certainly in Heaven, but in the Catholic faith this is not strictly true. If a person does not die in a state of grace and has a lot of sins to clear up, they cannot enter Heaven. I believe this is why Jesus told us to "be ye perfect as thy Father in Heaven is perfect."

Many of our relatives will be in purgatory for some time, in order to clean up whatever sins were on their soul when they died. They need our attention also, and the best thing we can do for them is to pray for them to the Lord, make reparations for the sins left on their souls, and otherwise offer sacrifices for them, such as dedicating a period of fasting to them. Appealing to the saints and to the Guardian Angels of our loved ones who have died is also a very good idea. Their intercessory prayers can be helpful to your deceased relative.

It occurs to me that, at least for the devout among us, the pain of finding oneself in purgatory instead of Heaven might be so horrifying and painful that this moment alone might be enough to burn up our sins in an instant, sending us to Heaven quickly thereafter. I, for one, imagine I would go flying into Heaven singing prayers of gratitude for having escaped Hell and being let into Heaven at all.

When I see the Guardian Angels of the souls in purgatory, I imagine them downcast and sad, no longer able to help their charges except by praying to The Lord that they be released from purgatory.

The saints are deceased humans whom The Church has assured us are living in Heaven because of the unique spiritual character of their lives on earth. We can feel confident that these souls are able to intercede for us because we know they are in Heaven, while those in purgatory can not.

Purgatory is not Hell. It is a stopping place. It is not a gruesome and permanent place of torment, like Hell, but neither is it Heaven. The souls in purgatory cannot help us. They cannot even help themselves, except through the suffering of purgatory which purifies their souls. I have a strong suspicion that simply being unable to enter Heaven would be an awful suffering. I think I would yearn for Heaven so strongly that not being able to go there immediately would itself be an immense pain. 

When the soul has been purified sufficiently through suffering, the prayers of the faithful on earth, the intercession of the saints, and the grace of God, they are allowed to enter Heaven. It is pointless to ask your deceased Granny to help you out of a jam. We don't know, for certain, if Granny is in Heaven or not. She MAY be. We just don't know. But we DO know that the Saints are in Heaven, so it is best to save our appeals for those we know are in Heaven: the saints, the angels, our Blessed Mother, Jesus, and God the Father.

One thing we should remember is that the saints are humans. Our relationships with them are real relationships with real people who are living in Heaven. They have not been transformed into magical beings, nor are they angels, which many people incorrectly assume they have become. Angels are a different species. In fact, each angel is completely unique and is its OWN species entirely different from all others, but that is a different story entirely.

When building a relationship with the saints you are building a real relationship with a real person. It does not happen by magic, nor is it typically an instantaneous, effortless thing. If it does appear to be magical and instantaneous, you either have a remarkable imagination, or there is a demon chasing you and trying to trick you by appealing to your ego. 

I would take care to be sure and pray all the deliverance prayers at your disposal and clear the perimeter of your prayer space. Call in Saint Michael and your Guardian Angel to watch over you while you pray, and you should be alright. It's also a good idea to play Gregorian Chant in your home regularly.

If your experience is anything like mine, the more saints and angels you get to know in this way, the more you will be aware of the presence of a growing family of saints and angels who are with you all the time. In this way, the kingdom of Heaven is within you. The holy ones are with you. This is what I experience and what I hope for you as well.

DON'T MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT THAN IT HAS TO BE!

In order for this to happen, I believe you should be in a state of grace in your life, committed to living as sinless a life as what is possible for you. God is all good. Heaven is a place of purity, peace and perfection. Evil and sin are incompatible with deliberate sin. Accessing the Heavenly realm does not seem possible if one is in a sinful state.

So, if you are deliberately sinning and assuming that God will be alright with it, becoming familiar with the saints will be more difficult. Confession and reception of the Blessed Sacrament, use of all the sacramentals such as holy water and blessed salt, helps provide a fertile ground for the growth of divine relationship between you and the Holy Ones. That is my belief and experience.

Those of us under either private or formal vows will typically promise "poverty, chastity and obedience." Americans often have trouble following ANY of these vows, and that is exactly what makes our spiritual lives more difficult than they have to be.

With regard to poverty, many of us have no problem with that. We have no extra money and, in fact, do not have enough for what we consider to be our needs. If we DO find ourselves with excess belongings that do not have a place in our working lives or our state of life, there is usually no problem getting rid of these. Giving to the poor is something I have found very easy to do. We are surrounded with poor people, even those who are so poor they do not have even a home to live in! It's shameful, really, but that is a topic for another blog.

Chastity is the virtue that most Americans ignore completely. Because of this phase of modernism, American Catholics have changed the rules for themselves. I can tell you confidently, however, that anyone having sex outside a valid marriage is going to have problems with their prayer life. Tell yourself whatever you like. God did not change the rules. People did. And when people change God's rules, trouble ensues. It is just a fact.

Even the Hindus with whom I studied before getting baptized had very strong teachings about the necessity for the control of the sexual expression. Their reasoning is different, but the result is the same.

If you want to make progress in your spiritual life, get your physical life in order in this area, and I guarantee you that you will experience tremendous relief. The flood gates will open and the difficulties will lessen.

Likewise with regard to obedience. For lay people, obedience means first of all obedience to the rules of the Catholic faith. Get familiar with the Catechism. It's a huge book, I know, but the YouTube classes "Catechism in a Year" is a great place to start. There are also classes you can take at your parish.

Once again, the more in line is your behavior with the principles of The Faith, in all areas, the easier and more satisfying your prayer life is going to be.

ATMOSPHERE HELPS

In fact, whatever we can do to inspire ourselves in our surroundings, such as tending to an appealing and beautiful domestic Shrine and altar in our homes, can also be quite helpful to get us centered and concentrated on our spiritual practices, such as this one. 

Father Chad Ripperger, well known Catholic exorcist, tells us that Gregorian Chant chases away Satan and his demons. It hurts their ears to hear these holy sounds! In gathering the holy saints to yourself, you do not want to gain the attention of the fallen saints, so keep that in mind as well.

One day I will make a blog post about home shrines and the various items that can help you maintain your spiritual atmosphere and attitude.

Finally, I will add that getting to know the saints and developing relationships with them has been particularly beneficial for all phases of my life and my spiritual practices, especially since I discovered I am descended from some of these people. This is particularly helpful for me, since I do not have any living close family. The saints in Heaven, the angels, and our Blessed Mother and our Loving Lord have literally become my day-to-day family and they can become part of your intimate family also!

I hope this post is helpful to all of you. If you have any questions, feel free to write a comment or contact me on Facebook.

In the meantime -

God bless us all!

Silver Rose