All Saints Day
November 01, 2009
Did you grow up with saints as a kid?
I can remember that my mom always asked us to pray to St. Anthony when an item was lost. When safe travel was a concern, our prayers were directed to St. Christopher. St. Jude was the saint of choice when the situation was deemed a "lost cause." St. Patrick received our attention on his feast day. St. Nicholas was included in our Christamas education although we did not celebrate his feast day.
Four of the six Catholic elementary schools and parishes in our community were named after saints--St. Mary's, St. Anthony's, St. Joseph and St. Francis (The other two elementary schools were named Holy Spirit and Nativity). Our community also had four hospitals--three of which were named after saints--St. Luke's, St. John's and St. Ansgar (The other hospital simply being called Dakota). As a kid, I learned that certain professions had patron saints who could join us in praying for our intentions.
What do you know about the saints? Have you ever read about the lives, examples and inspirations of these holy men and women? Do you feel a connection to "the communion of saints" in your daily practice of your faith? Take a few minutes today--All Saints Day--and Google the names of saints. Recognize in their stories examples for us to apply to the struggles in our daily lives. JDH
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About Dr. Hardwick
Dr. Hardwick has been the Vice President for Student Life at Carroll since 2002. He brings to Carroll 20 years of experience working in higher education. Learn more about him!