Three of Catholicism’s best-loved saints and two others, less well-known, but who paid for their fidelity with their life.
October 1
St. Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)
When this twenty-four-year-old sister died in a convent in Northern France after much physical suffering, hardly anyone in her community thought of her as exceptional. The superior, who had read the autobiographical account Therese had written under obedience, decided to print a thousand copies of it and pass them around. Several nuns complained, “Who will want to read it?” That book went on to become one of the best-read books of the twentieth century. By 1905—a mere eight years after her death—there were about five hundred letters a day to the Lisieux convent from people who had received favours through her intercession. When some outsiders spoke of proposing her cause for canonization, there were murmurs again, “There was nothing special about her.”
Therese did not see herself as special. She saw her call to holiness as a “Little Way”—a way of complete trust in God and loving surrender to God’s love. In an insight that gave her great enthusiasm and brought meaning to the dull routine of convent life, she wrote, “I have discovered my vocation. At the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love.”
To be love. Isn’t that what each of us is called to be? No wonder Therese of Lisieux is known and loved all around the world. In addition to being canonized (in record time!), she has been declared a Doctor of the Church.
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OCTOBER 4
St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)
God has his ways. At a time when economic power in Europe was shifting from the landed gentry to the new merchant class, God called the pleasure-loving son of a rich merchant to teach the church the beauty of poverty.
People loved, and still love, this poor man. Thousands of young men joined the Order he started. Little did he know when he heard God’s voice to “build my church,” that he was being asked not simply to repair an old church building, but to renew the Catholic church. He shunned ecclesiastical titles and pomp, and did not even become a priest.
He hardly wrote or held office. He wanted the Gospel to be the rule book for his friars. He suffered much from the Stigmata, which was one more sign of his Christ-like life. He died young.
Today, there are hundreds of religious orders who call themselves “Franciscan.” The Poverello (The Little Poor Man) of Assisi continues to inspire and challenge. Precisely when the pull of power and money becomes a fascination for many, God seems to raise up some unlikely person to show the rest of us what is truly essential and life-giving. For the answers to our hearts’ deepest longings are not found in wealth and power, titles and positions, but in living the Gospel in all its urgent simplicity. No wonder the present Pope, another Francis in name and life-style, has captured the attention of the world.
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OCTOBER 15
St Teresa of Avila (1515-82)
She was intelligent, unconventional, practical and charming. When she wrote down her powerful religious experiences, Church authorities could not accept a woman who dared to write and teach.
Capable of deep human love, organization and writing, she was, above all, a genuine lover of God—a God who was very real for her, and with whom she felt free to be herself.
Her first four decades were neither very focussed nor fervent. Then one day, passing in front of a statue of Jesus, she experienced a powerful love for him, with the conviction that she was ready to do anything He asked.
Living in a traditional convent, and disappointed with its spiritual mediocrity and worldliness, she saw the need for reform. She faced stiff opposition in this, just as a younger friend and admirer of hers, St. John of the Cross, did from his friars (who, among other things, imprisoned him).
Teresa was declared a Doctor of the Church. She is acclaimed as a mystical writer whose appeals goes well beyond the confines of Christianity. Edith Stein, in her atheistic adolescence, was changed when she read Teresa’s writings—and became a Catholic.
Faced with opposition from outside and inside the church, travelling in discomfort, struggling to give wise guidance to her sisters, Teresa found serenity and inner strength in the One she loved and trusted. Her summary of that core belief is well known:
“Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing upset you. The one who has God, has everything. God alone is enough.”
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October 20
Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko (1947-84)
Physically frail, but strong in character, young Jerzy grew up in Communist Poland. He was ridiculed by his companions for wanting to join the seminary. During his compulsory military training, when he refused to crush his rosary with his heal, he was beaten up and kept in solitary confinement. For not removing the medal around his neck, he was made to stand for hours in the freezing rain.
As a young priest, he volunteered to say Mass for the striking workers. The police kept track of his activities and called him thirteen times for interrogation.
Once, while imprisoned with hardened criminals, he spent a whole night talking to a murderer, who ended up making his confession to Fr Jerzy.
Since he spoke openly and drew large crowds, the Communist regime decided to get rid of him. A group from the military caught him while he was travelling, beat him up, stuffed him in the car boot, took him out again, thrashed him beyond recognition, tied him up, attached weights to his body and drowned him. He was thirty-seven when he died.
In his last public talk, given on October 19, 1984, Fr Jerzy had said: “In order to defeat evil with good, in order to preserve the dignity of man, one must not use violence. It is the person who has failed to win on the strength of his heart and his reason, who tries to win by force…Let us pray that we be free from fear and intimidation, but above all from the lusts for revenge and violence.”
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October 25
St. Edmund Campion (1540-81)
A brilliant young scholar at Oxford University, he was also a powerful orator. He seemed cut out for a great career—in the world or in the church. But his studies convinced him of the truth of the Catholic faith. Becoming a Catholic would mean the end of good career and possibly the loss of one’s life.
Campion went to France, became a Catholic, and proceeded to join the Society of Jesus. He was then sent to England—a very dangerous mission. He wrote about the faith, and friends published his writing in book form, which made him the most famous Catholic in England—someone the government wanted to eliminate.
Campion was arrested and tortured. He was called before the Queen, whom he had seen at Oxford. As a student, he had given a speech in her honour. She promised to free him from jail, if he would become a Protestant minister. He refused. He was sent back to jail, and later executed. His trial was a sham, and the charges trumped up. A genius, gifted with a charming personality and great writing and speaking skills, Campion put his faith first, and paid for his fidelity with his life.
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