Summer with the Saints
Trips to the local library were frequent when I was a kid since we lived 3 minutes away. And after every trip, you can be sure my sister and I left with a sizeable stack of The Magic Tree House, The Babysitters Club, and Nancy Drew books. One day though, when I was in about 3rd grade, my mom brought home something a little different. She brought back a book about the Saints. I knew about the saints of course, as iconography of the Saints was everywhere at both my church and my Catholic elementary school, and you can be sure whenever something was missing in my house a prayer to St. Anthony would be said and before we left for vacation we would always pray to St. Christopher. However, this book was the first time I was actually learning about the lives of the saints, not just hearing their names or seeing their pictures. I eagerly read about all the Saints in this book, such as St. Rose of Lima, St. Sebastian, and St. Joan of Arc. I was so entranced by it that when Christmas came around, whether because I asked for it or due to my parents’ knowledge of me, it was under the tree. This way, I could easily go back to these holy men and women who were equivalent to superheroes.
My desire to learn about the saints, and my collection of books, continued to grow throughout the rest of elementary school and middle school, although I have to admit I wasn’t always the most mature with my hobby. I clearly remember that during the 6th grade Christmas party, I regaled all the girls sitting at my table with how St. Agatha got her breasts cut off. I don’t know why I thought that was going to make me seem cool. However, after my confirmation in 8th grade when I choose my confirmation saint, St. Bartolomea Capitanio, I stopped thinking about the saints. Sure, once in a while I’d check to see whose feast day it was, but that was about it.
Recently though, two things happened that had me once again wanting to read about, learn from, and pray with the Saints. The first was that Claire. my friend and fellow household member, told me that she thought I would like this book she was reading, My Sisters the Saints by Colleen Carroll Campbell. The second thing that happened was that I was chosen to co-lead the Penn Newman Catholic Community Online Summer Book Club. When I was trying to think of an interesting book to choose, I remembered one book sitting on my Mom’s bookshelf that she read with a Church book club and really enjoyed, and after talking with my co-leader, we agreed upon that. The book was My Life With the Saints by Father James Martin.
I highly recommend both books, but My Life With the Saints was especially profound for me because it reminded me why I used to love reading about the Saints so much. It offers a fresh perspective on familiar saints, Father Martin’s own testimony about different times in his life and the relationship he had with a saint during that time, and the importance of Saints in our lives. As Father Martin writes, "Without a doubt, that's the most important aspect of the saints to me: they teach me about being who I am. Each of the saints has been, to quote John XXII, 'holy in a different way.' Each was placed in a different situation and time. Each had a different personality and dealt with life differently. And each related to God a little differently" (Martin 361), and that "I feel their friendship too. The more I get to know them, the more I feel that these men and women who enjoy life with God are pulling for me, that they are on my side, that they want me to succeed in the Christian life..." (Martin 376).
I know that my journey learning about the Saints isn’t over even with book club being finished and the final pages in My Sisters the Saints and My Life with the Saints turned. I already have a list of saints I want to dig deeper into their stories and lesson, such as St. Teresa of Avila and St. Peter. And, although I have read and will read about faithful and incredible Saints, the most important thing to remember from them is that we are all called to holiness, and my call and your call to holiness is not by being like St. Bartolomea or St. Anthony, but rather by being ourselves. As Father Martin states, "Problems arise when we begin to believe that we have to be someone else to be holy. We try to use someone else's map to heaven when God has already planted in our soul all the directions we need" (Martin 388). I know though that the Saints will be there when I need directions, lose focus on the destination, or just need some motivation to keep going, and that’s invaluable to me.
