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
June 8
St. Mariam Threresia Chiramel
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Pentecost Sunday
June 9
St. Ephrem
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June 10
Martyrs of the Hulks of Rochefort
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June 11
St. Barnabas
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June 12
Blessed Maria Candida of the Eucharist
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June 13
St. Anthony of Padua
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June 14
Elisha the Prophet
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June 9
St. Ephrem the Syrian
St. Ephrem was a 4th century teacher and deacon, who argued against the heresy of Arius through his hymns and poetry, in sermon and in song. He was honored as a Doctor of the Church in 1920, and is sometimes called “the Harp of the Spirit”. He is the only Syriac Christian recognized as a Doctor of the Church.
Born in the year 306 in Nisibis, Mesopotamia, perhaps as the son of a pagan priest, he was baptized as a young man and became famous as a teacher in his native city. When the Christian emperor had to cede Nisibis to the Persians, Ephrem fled to Edessa to escape persecution, along with many other Christians. He is credited with attracting great glory to the biblical school there. He was ordained a deacon but declined becoming a priest. Ephrem was said to have avoided presbyteral consecration by feigning madness!
At that time Edessa was a city that was home to a wide range of Christian believers, including heretical sects like the Arians, Marcionites, and Gnostics, as well as Jewish and pagan believers. Ephrem became a staunch defender of orthodox Christianity. He used contemporary philosophy, science, art, and music as tools to uphold the Nicene faith. It is surprising to read that he wrote hymns and poems against the heretics of his day. He would take the popular songs of the heretical groups and using their melodies, compose beautiful hymns embodying orthodox doctrine. Ephrem became one of the first to introduce song into the Church’s public worship as a means of instruction for the faithful. His many hymns have earned him the title “Harp of the Holy Spirit.”
He had a prolific pen, and his writings best illumine his holiness. Although he was not a man of great scholarship, his works reflect deep insight and knowledge of the Scriptures. In writing about the mysteries of humanity’s redemption, Ephrem reveals a realistic and humanly sympathetic spirit and a great devotion to the humanity of Jesus. It is said that his poetic account of the Last Judgment inspired Dante. He wrote over 3 million lines of poetry. Ephrem preferred a simple, austere life, living in a small cave overlooking the city of Edessa. It was here that he died around 373.
“Forget not the Holy Spirit at the moment of your enlightenment;
St. Ephrem the Syrian
He is ready to mark your soul with His seal….He will give you the heavenly and divine seal which makes the devil tremble;
He will arm you for the fight; He will give you strength.”
June 13
St. Anthony of Padua
“We are formed by environment and grace, by politics and prayer, by church and conscience. All God’s creatures conspire to teach us as well. We stumble. We stutter. We rise. We are lifted.”
St. Anthony of Padua
Saint Anthony was born Fernando Martins in Lisbon, Portugal. At the age of 15, he decided to join the Augustinians in Lisbon, giving up a future of wealth and power to be a servant of God. Later, Fernando received permission to enter the Franciscan Order, where he took the religious name “Anthony.” His intention was to preach to the Moors in Africa, but when he became ill in Morocco, he was sent home to Italy. His ship was blown off course and landed in Sicily; Anthony went to a small hermitage in Tuscany to recover.
Sometime later, at a mass where no one was prepared to speak, Anthony’s superior asked him to deliver the homily. Hesitantly he accepted the task. His sermon was eloquent and insightful, and astounded those present, who expected an unprepared speech from this unknown friar. News of this reached Francis of Assisi, who recognized him as a great man of prayer and theology. Francis entrusted the studies of his friars to Anthony.
Anthony recorded many of his thoughts and insights in a book of the psalms. When a novice stole the book, Anthony prayed for the return of the missing book. Not only was the book returned, but the novice repented and returned to the order! Even today, he is asked to make intercession for the recovery of lost articles.
Once, when Anthony attempted to preach the Gospel to heretics who would not listen to him, he went out and preached his message to the fish, for the glory of God, the delight of the angels, and the easing of his own heart. When critics saw the fish begin to gather, they realized they should also listen to what Anthony had to say.
After he led the friars in northern Italy for three years, in the spring of 1231, Anthony withdrew to a friary at Camposampiero where he prayed and prepared for death. On June 13, he became very ill and asked to be taken back to Padua, where he died after receiving the last sacraments. He was canonized less than a year later and named a Doctor of the Church in 1946.