What is a Saint?
In the Catholic Church, the saints are ordinary people like you and me who made it to heaven. They’ve done nothing that you and I cannot do, if we persevere in following Jesus Christ and living our lives according to His teaching.
Catholic devotion to the saints is nothing more than respect and admiration for the memory of the deceased heroes of the Church. We honor them as men and women of heroic virtue who can serve as our role models. They were no more perfect than are we; but, at the end of their lives – and hopefully, ours – they received from Our Lord his words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
We also ask the saints to intercede for us. Have you ever asked anyone to pray for you when you were having a hard time? That is how Catholics “pray to” the saints – we pray with saints, not to them. As the Letter of James says, “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.”
Well-known saints like those below often are remembered in a special way on particular days during the year.
January – February – March – April – May – June
July – August – September – October – November – December
This Weeks Saints
December 21
St. Peter Canisius
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Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 22
St. Flavian of Aquapendente
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December 23
St. John of Kanty
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December 24
Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
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December 25
Christmas Day
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December 26
St. Stephen
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December 27
St. John the Apostle
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December 21
St. Peter Canisius
Peter Canisius was educated in Cologne, Germany, studying art, civil law and theology; he earned his master’s degree at the age of 19. After attending a retreat held by Blessed Peter Faber, he joined the Jesuit order in 1543. He taught at the University of Cologne, was appointed bishop of Augsburg, and traveled and worked with his spiritual director, Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
He began teaching theology and preaching in Germany in 1549, and, although he became rector of his university, he continued to work in hospitals and prisons. He led the Counter-Reformation in Germany and his work led to the return of Catholicism to Germany. He wrote a catechism in defense of the Catholic faith that went through 200 editions during his life, and was translated into 12 languages.
Peter excelled as a preacher and often worked with children, teaching them and hearing their confessions. He traveled widely, but while in Switzerland, he received a message from the city’s patron, Saint Nicholas of Myra, that he should stop travelling, and he spent the rest of his life there, teaching, preaching, editing books and working to support the Catholic press. His advice was sought by Saint Francis de Sales, and by his friend Saint Charles Borromeo. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.
“Better that only a few Catholics should be left, staunch and sincere in their religion, than that they should, remaining many, desire as it were, to be in collusion with the Church’s enemies and in conformity with the open foes of our faith.”
St. Peter Canisius
December 23
St. John of Canty
Patron saint of Poland and Lithuania, also called John of Kanti or John of Kenty. He was born in Kanti, Poland, and was ordained after studies at the University of Cracow. John was appointed a lecturer on Scriptures and was a popular preacher and parish priest for a few years before returning to his university position. Jealous associates presented a false charge against him and, unable to speak in his own defense, he was stripped of his university position. He was sent in disgrace to a parish in Bohemia as an associate pastor.
Resenting the outsider, the parishioners were hostile the former professor. For years he acted in an exemplary fashion toward his flock. He showed real concern for them and interest in their problems, never allowing himself to become angry or impatient. After eight years, when he was exonerated and allowed to return to the university in Cracow, the parish was genuinely sorrowful to lose their pastor.
For the rest of his life, he served as a professor of scripture in Cracow, well loved by both his students and the residents of the town. Famous for his austerities and care for the poor, he was canonized in 1767 and was declared a patron of Poland and Lithuania by Pope Clement XII (r. 1730-1740) in 1737.
“Fight all error, but do it with good humor, patience, kindness, and love. Harshness will damage your own soul and spoil the best cause.”
St John Kanty
December 26
St. Stephen, Martyr
St. Stephen (1st. c.) was one of the Church’s first deacons in Jerusalem and an eloquent preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. According to Sacred Scripture he was “a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost” and “full of grace and fortitude.” The account of his martyrdom is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. After boldly preaching against the Jewish leaders for their rejection of the promised Messiah, he was accused of blasphemy and stoned to death by an angry mob. The man who would later become St. Paul the Apostle, while he was persecuting the Church before his conversion, was among the mob as an approving witness. St. Stephen’s name comes from the Greek word meaning ‘crown,’ fitting as he was the first Christian to earn the martyr’s crown.