SEASON OF SAINTS- HALF THE YEAR

 

The Liturgical year starts with Advent, leading us to Christmas and the feasts of Christ that follow.  Then we have Lent, culminating in Easter, followed by the Ascension and Pentecost.  This takes almost half a year to complete. We then enter into what is called “Ordinary Time”, but for me it is anything but ordinary. If anything it can be called the SEASON OF SAINTS.

There are more than 10,000 saints recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, though the names and histories of some of these holy men and women have been lost to history. And how many more we have not nor ever will hear about. The saints of the church are a diverse group of people with varied and interesting stories.

Saints are the heroes and heroines of our Catholic faith. They dedicated their lives to serving God and spreading His message of salvation. We have the martyrs (as we have said in past Blogs- more are martyred today then in Roman times).  We have priests and religious and more and more we have lay people. 

 The holy saints serve as examples for us all, showing us how to lead a more spiritual life in communion with Jesus Christ. They remind us  that this life will come to an end, and only what was done for Jesus will have a lasting reward.

Each saint’s story is a fascinating one. They lived at different times in different places throughout history, but they all shared a love of God that has been meticulously documented through the teachings of the Church.

 As we celebrate them in the non-so-ordinary time, they remind us that we too are called to be saints, no matter what profession or state in life we find ourselves in.

The saints show us the way to follow Christ and it is up to us to follow in their footsteps. This is why I love researching new holy people to present.

Art: Nikola Saric (Serbian)