DEVOTION TO OTHER SAINTS
Exactly how many saints are there?
There are over 10,000 named saints and beati from history, the Roman Martyology and Orthodox sources, but no definitive "head count".
How does the Church choose saints? Canonization, the process the Church uses to name a saint, has only been used since the tenth century. For hundreds of years, starting with the first martyrs of the early Church, saints were chosen by public acclaim. Though this was a more democratic way to recognize saints, some saints' stories were distorted by legend and some never existed. Gradually, the bishops and finally the Vatican took over authority for approving saints.
In 1983, Pope John Paul II made sweeping changes in the canonization procedure. The process begins after the death of a Catholic whom people regard as holy. Often, the process starts many years after death in order give perspective on the candidate. The local bishop investigates the candidate's life and writings for heroic virtue (or martyrdom) and orthodoxy of doctrine. Then a panel of theologians at the Vatican evaluates the candidate. After approval by the panel and cardinals of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the pope proclaims the candidate "venerable."
The next step, beatification, requires evidence of one miracle (except in the case of martyrs). Since miracles are considered proof that the person is in heaven and can intercede for us, the miracle must take place after the candidate's death and as a result of a specific petition to the candidate. When the pope proclaims the candidate beatified or "blessed," the person can be venerated by a particular region or group of people with whom the person holds special importance.
Only after one more miracle will the pope canonize the saint (this includes martyrs as well). The title of saint tells us that the person lived a holy life, is in heaven, and is to be honored by the universal Church. Canonization does not "make" a person a saint; it recognizes what God has already done.
Though canonization is infallible and irrevocable, it takes a long time and a lot of effort. So while every person who is canonized is a saint, not every holy person has been canonized. You have probably known many "saints" in your life, and you are called by God to be one yourself.
When did the Church start honoring saints? By the year 100 A.D., Christians were honoring other Christians who had died, and asking for their intercession. Many people think that honoring saints was something the Church set up later, but it was part of Christianity from the very beginning. As a matter of fact, this practice came from a long-standing tradition in the Jewish faith of honoring prophets and holy people with shrines. The first saints were martyrs, people who had given up their lives for the Faith in the persecution of Christians.
Is keeping statues or pictures of saints idolatry? Look at the pictures of your loved ones in your wallet or around your home or office. Why do you keep these particular pictures? You might answer that you carry those pictures to remind you of people you love, to help you feel that they're close to you when you're not together, or to share with people you meet. But you probably didn't say you worshipped them. Those are some of the same reasons we have statues and pictures of saints. Seeing a statue of Saint Therese of Lisieux who lost her mother when she was a child might make us feel less alone when we are grieving. A picture of Saint Francis of Assisi might remind us of how much he loved God's creation and make us more aware of our environment.
Do Catholics pray to saints? We pray with saints, not to them. Have you ever asked anyone to pray for you when you were having a hard time? Why did you choose to ask that person?
You may have chosen someone you could trust, or someone who understood your problem, or someone who was close to God. Those are all reasons we ask saints to pray for us in times of trouble.
Since saints led holy lives and are close to God in heaven, we feel that their prayers are particularly effective. Often we ask particular saints to pray for us if we feel they have a particular interest in our problem. For example, many people ask Saint Monica to pray for them if they have trouble with unanswered prayers, because Monica prayed for twenty years for her son to be converted. Finally her prayers were answered in a way she never dreamed of -- her son, Augustine, became a canonized saint and a Doctor of the Church.
What is a patron saint? Patron saints are chosen as special protectors or guardians over areas of life. These areas can include occupations, illnesses, churches, countries, causes -- anything that is important to us. The earliest records show that people and churches were named after apostles and martyrs as early as the fourth century. Recently, the popes have named patron saints but patrons can be chosen by other individuals or groups as well. Patron saints are often chosen today because an interest, talent, or event in their lives overlaps with the special area. For example, Francis of Assisi loved nature and so he is patron of ecologists. Francis de Sales was a writer and so he is patron of journalists and writers. Clare of Assisi was named patron of television because one Christmas when she was too ill to leave her bed she saw and heard Christmas Mass -- even though it was taking place miles away. Angels can also be named as patron saints.A patron saint can help us when we follow the example of that saint's life and when we ask for that saint's intercessory prayers to God.
Is there a Feast day for every day of the year? The official Roman calendar of feast days for celebration by the Universal Church (in other words, all over the world) does not have a saint's feast day every day. The Church chooses saints to be celebrated worldwide very carefully -- they must have a strong message for the Church as a whole. That doesn't mean that other saints are somehow less holy -- although some of the saints that have been dropped were legendary and there is little evidence they existed.
Religious orders, countries, localities, and individuals are free to celebrate the feast days of saints not listed on the universal calendar but which have some importance to them. And there are indeed feast days for saints every day of the year. As a matter of fact there are at least three saints for almost every day.
Butler's Lives of the Saints has the most complete listing of saints' feast days I have found, though I advise care in choosing the edition. Recent changes have been made to the calendar that would affect feast days.
"Whatever happened to St. Christopher? Is he still a saint?" Before the 1969 reform of the Roman calendar, Christopher was listed as a martyr who died under Decius. Nothing else is known about him. There are several legends about him including the one in which he was crossing a river when a child asked to be carried across. When Christopher put the child on his shoulders he found the child was unbelievably heavy. The child, according to the legend, was Christ carrying the weight of the whole world. This was what made Christopher patron saint of travelers. His former feast day is July 25.
Before the formal canonization process began in the fifteenth century, many saints were proclaimed by popular approval. This was a much faster process but unfortunately many of the saints so named were based on legends, pagan mythology, or even other religions -- for example, the story of the Buddha traveled west to Europe and he was "converted" into a Catholic saint! In 1969, the Church took a long look at all the saints on its calendar to see if there was historical evidence that that saint existed and lived a life of holiness. In taking that long look, the Church discovered that there was little proof that many "saints", including some very popular ones, ever lived. Christopher was one of the names that was determined to have a basis mostly in legend. Therefore Christopher (and others) were dropped from the universal calendar.
Some saints were considered so legendary that their cult was completely repressed (including St. Ursula). Christopher's cult was not suppressed but it is confined to local calendars (those for a diocese, country, or so forth).
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POWERFUL NOVENA TO ST. JOSEPH
St. Joseph, the foster father of Our Lord and a model for all fathers has a sort of “birthday” coming up on March 19th when we celebrate The Solemnity of St. Joseph, also popularly known as St. Joseph’s Day. In Boston’s North End and throughout many Italian-American communities it takes on the feeling of a big party with parades, processions, and other kinds of celebrations. These particular celebrations stem from giving thanks to St. Joseph’s intercession for avoiding a famine in Sicily and they are a testament to his powerful intercession.
While Joseph doesn’t say a lot in the Bible, he is rightly called the Patron of the Universal Church for his life, love and protection of both Mary and Our Lord. Pope Leo XIII, in observing how Joseph acted as a husband and father, reflected on this great saint:
The Blessed Patriarch looks upon the multitude of Christians who make up the Church as confided specially to his trust – this limitless family spread over the earth, over which, because he is the spouse of Mary and the Father of Jesus Christ he holds, as it were, a paternal authority. It is, then, natural and worthy that as the Blessed Joseph ministered to all the needs of the family at Nazareth and girt it about with his protection, he should now cover with the cloak of his heavenly patronage and defend the Church of Jesus Christ.
With his solemnity quickly approaching, it is customary to being to pray the St. Joseph Novena beginning on March 10th, which happens to be tomorrow. This powerful prayer ranks right up there with the St. Jude novena in answering some seemingly unanswerable prayers. In my own life, I’ve seen it at work.
St. Joseph and Me This story, my own, is one of many stories of when God provided a small miracle through the intercession of St. Joseph. While it is my own story, you, my dear reader, share in it.
In 2013 I was having one of the roughest years of my life. The year started with a painful infection that put me out of work for several weeks and I had a cancer scare on top of that. That led to me being fired from one job and working a bunch of temporary roles until I found a permanent job with a small startup that also let me go a few months later due to dwindling sales. In August of 2013, I was out of money, quickly running out of food, and had to sell my guitar to pay bills and put gas in the car. My electricity was shut off and only by borrowing funds and begging did I get it turned back on.
There’s no other way to say it: I was desperate and felt abandoned by God.
My final act, after too many rejections, was to pray a novena to St. Joseph. I had prayed it before for minor things like doing well in school and getting into grad school. This time, I was praying for what felt like a miracle to me. I needed work, and I needed it fast.
The first day of the Novena I had two interviews and prayed it faithfully every morning as I continued to look for work. The very ninth day of the novena I got a call with a job offer with just enough compensation to start paying my rent again. As you will likely gather, that job was with Sophia Institute Press to oversee Catholic Exchange, and I can’t tell you how much I’ve given thanks to God for hearing me and St. Joseph and putting me in this position. I think of my time here as a work to bring glory to God and I especially thank St. Joseph for having the heart of a father enough to not just get me another job but to allow me to be in a place where I get to make a difference in the Church and the World.
If you’ve been blessed by CE at all, you owe St. Joseph the gratitude for putting me here and reminding me why I work the long hours.
Ways to Use This Novena If you’d like to start the novena tomorrow, I encourage you to think of some great need for yourself or others. I can’t guarantee that you will get the exact answer you want, but St. Joseph is there to listen like a patient father and to intercede for you to God, the greatest of Fathers.
If you don’t have a pressing need, I have one idea. Tomorrow morning, when you start the novena, ask St. Joseph to remember and intercede for the Middle Eastern Christians who are being martyred and oppressed by ISIS. They, our brothers and sisters in Christ, are suffering in ways we can’t imagine. Now, if you will join me, is the time to pray to St. Joseph, that Patron of the Universal Church, to quickly bring relief and to fortify their resolve. Imagine if the many of you who read these words begin to pray this powerful novena for those who have so little to count on. We may not be able to go there ourselves, but we can give a few minutes in the morning to ask and pray for help.
Also, as Lent is a time to give alms, consider giving to a charity that is over in the Middle East helping our brothers and sisters. One such organization is the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, but there are several others.
Through the intercession of St. Joseph, may we reflect his tender heart and go about to save lives and souls.
The Novena Say this prayer every morning for nine days.
O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.
O Saint Joseph, assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.
O Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. Amen
O Saint Joseph, hear my prayers and obtain my petitions. O Saint Joseph, pray for me. (Mention your intention)
The Power of the St. Joseph Novena (8:37) Download
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Links to other sites with numerous novenas
Novenas are very popular and traditional methods of Catholic prayer. Novena is derived from the Latin "novem", meaning nine. A novena is when a series of private or public prayer to obtain special graces, to implore special favors, or to make special petitions. The prayers are given for nine days straight for the special intention. The novena is offered as a sacrifice to God. God sees a novena as a sign of devotion especially when the person saying the novena asks for a specific reason. There are many novenas to choose from to different saints.
Novenas can be made in public such as in a chapel or church or private in your own home. It takes only a few minutes a day to complete the prayers of the day.
- January: Our Lady of Good Success; St. John Bosco; St. Francis De Sales
- February: Holy Family; Our Lady of Lourdes;
- March: St. Joseph; Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; St. Francis Xavier Novena of Grace;
- April: The Devine Mercy; St. Peregrine
- May: Holy Spirit; Our Lady of Fatima; Our Lady of Hope; Pentecost; Corpus Christi
- June: Sacred Heart of Jesus; Holy Trinity; Our Lady of Perpetual Help; St. Anthony of Padua
- July: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel; St. Benedict; St. Anne/St. Joachim; St. John Vianney Novena
- August: Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- September: Exultation of the Holy Cross; St. Michael the Archangel; Our Lady of Sorrows; St. Theresa the Little Flower
- October: Our Lady of the Holy Rosary; St. Francis of Assisi; St. Jude-(Difficult Situations)
- November: Holy Souls in Purgatory
- December: Immaculate Conception; Our Lady of Guadalupe
- LIST OF LINKS TO OTHER SAINTS:
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Our Lady of Sorrows-Sanctity of Life
St. Francis Xavier Novena of Grace
St. Michael and the Archangels
Other Links:
Treasury of 101 Catholic Novenas
Prayers, Novenas, Litanies, and Chaplets
LINKS TO NOVENAS TO SAINT JOSEPH, SAINT ANN, ST. JUDE, ST. ANTHONY, ST. THERESE, PADRE PIO, ST. CLAIR, ST. FRANCIS, ST. FRANCIS XAVIER:
- Prayer to Saint Joseph
- Novena Prayer to Saint Joseph
- Saint Ann, Mother of Mary-9 Days Novena Prayer
- Novena Prayer to Saint Judas Thaddeus
- Saint Anthony of Padua -13 Days Novena Prayer
- Prayer to Saint Anthony of Padua
- Unfailing Prayer to Saint Anthony of Padua
- Saint Therese-9 Days Novena Prayer
- Novena Prayer to Saint Therese of the Child Jesus
- Prayer to Padre Pio
- Prayer to Saint Clare of Assisi
- Novena Prayer to Saint Francis of Assisi
- Miraculous Novena Prayer of Grace to Saint F
Other Novena and Prayer Links:
God the Father:
- God the Father Everyday Prayer
- God the Father - 9 Days Novena Prayer
- Thanksgiving Prayer
- Holy Octave of Consecration to God Our Father Prayer
The Holy Trinity:
- Holy Trinity Novena Prayer
- Daily Prayer to the Most Holy Trinity
- Holy Trinity Miracle Prayer for the Sick
- Holy Trinity-9 Days Novena Prayer
- Glory to the Holy Trinity Prayer
The Holy Spirit:
- Prayer to the Holy Spirit
- 9 Days Novena Prayer to God the Holy Spirit
- Prayer to God the Holy Spirit
- Prayer of Consecration to the Holy Spirit
Our Lord Jesus Christ:
- Novena Prayer of Confidence to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Efficacious Novena Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Promises of the Sacred Heart
- Prayer to the Black Nazarene
- Novena Prayer to the Black Nazarene
- Ascension Novena Prayer
- The Chaplet of Divine Mercy Prayer
- Novena Prayer to the Divine Mercy
- Novena Prayer in Honor of the Holy Face of Jesus
- Amazing Picture That Heals
- Novena Prayer to Christ the King
- Novena Prayer to the Infant Jesus of Prague
- Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary
Miraculous Prayers:
- The Miracle Prayer
- The Secret of Happiness
- Teach Me, Jesus
- Jesus, Help Me!
- Make a W.I.S.H. and Expect Miracles
- The Novena Prayer Never Known to Fail
- Prayer for Impossible Requests
- Holy Trinity Miracle Prayer for the Sick
- Unfailing Prayer to Saint Anthony of Padua
- Miraculous Novena Prayer of Grace to Saint Francis Xavier
Blessed Sacrament:
- Prayer to the Blessed Sacrament
- Prayer to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
- Litany Prayer of the Most Blessed Sacrament
- Litany Prayer in Reparation to Our Lord in the Eucharist
Mother Mary:
- Novena Prayer to Our Mother of Perpetual Help
- Our Mother of Perpetual Help-9 Days Novena Prayer
- Our Mother of Perpetual Help-9 Days Novena Prayer 2
- Novena Prayer to Mary Mother of GOD
- Assumption Novena Prayer
- Novena Prayer of the Miraculous Medal
- Prayer to Our Lady Of The Holy Rosary
- What is the Rosary?
- How to Pray the Rosary
- Mysteries of the Rosary
- Our Lady of Lourdes-9 Days Novena Prayer
- Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes
- Our Lady Of Mount Carmel 9 Days Novena Prayer
- Novena Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary 1
- Novena Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary 2
- Miraculous Novena Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Our Lady of Penafrancia 9 Days Novena Prayer
- Prayer to Our Lady of Fatima
- The Third Secret of Fatima Revealed!
- The 15 Promises of Our Lady
- Salve Regina Prayer
Archangels:
Seasonal:
- Christmas Novena Prayer
- Novena Prayer to the Holy Family
- Lenten Novena and Lenten Prayer
- The New Way of the Cross
- Easter Novena Prayer
- Prayer to the Souls in Purgatory
- Prosperity Prayer
- New Year's Prayer
- A Simple New Year's Prayer
- Panalangin Para sa mga Pari
- Panalangin Para sa Pagdiriwang ng Taon ng Dalawang Puso