September 1--St. Giles, Hermit

There are some saints who were very popular long ago, but not so much anymore. One of these is St. Giles. St. Giles was venerated as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, saints who were invoked against diseases. They included St. Barbara against fever and sudden death, St. Blaise against throat ailments, St. Christopher against the plague, St. Denis against headaches, and St. Vitus against epilepsy. St. Giles was invoked against both plague and epilepsy, but also against mental illness and nightmares.

St. Giles was a Greek hermit who founded an abbey on the southern coast of France along the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. According to one story, he was a hermit who had a red deer as a companion. When hunters shot an arrow at the deer it wounded St. Giles instead. Thus, he is also patron saint of cripples. His monastery followed the Rule of St. Benedict and he died in the eighth century, having a reputation for holiness and miracles. Travelers on the pilgrimage would stop at the abbey to visit his relics.

Nowadays, we have medicine when we are sick. We visit doctors, who are much more common today than in the days of St. Giles. God has blessed modern humanity with men and women dedicated to curing diseases and injuries. For that, we should be grateful. We should take advantage of medical personnel for physical and mental illnesses but let us not forget the illnesses of the soul that harm us: addiction, spiritual poverty, loneliness, fear, anxiety, desperation, and sin. These illnesses need more than a physician. God has also blessed us with intercessors, saints who pray on our behalf, for help from spiritual maladies. St. Giles is also the patron for a good confession. Take the hint! He can help us move to God.

March 24--St. Catherine of Genoa, Holy Woman

Confession is good for the soul!  This is absolutely true and today's saint demonstrates even more the benefits and power of the confessional.  St. Catherine of Genoa married at the age of 16 and spent ten years in a difficult marriage.  One day she went to confession and experience God's love for her.  This led her to receiving communion daily, which was extremely rare in those days, and service in a hospital.  Her husband, being changed from his ways, joined her in serving in the hospital.  Because his spending had left them without money, they lived and served together in the hospital for another 24 years until he died.  He had become a third order Franciscan.  She continued to serve there until her death in 1510.

It was confession that turned St. Catherine's life around.  During Lent it is good for us to remember that Jesus is calling us to repentance.  We may not need to turn 180 degrees to come back to Jesus, but we are always in need of metanoia, which means to change one's life.  Priests love to help penitents to amend their lives so that they may experience God's mercy.  Sometimes people are afraid of confession because it has been a long time.  Sometimes they are afraid because of what the "priest might think."  Confessors want us to be reconciled to God, others, and even ourselves.  We hear in the song "Hosea" that God is calling to us:  "Come back to me, with all your heart.  Don't let fear keep us apart.  Long have I waited for your coming home to me and living deeply our new life."  Have a soul-changing experience as St. Catherine did.

August 21--St. Pius X, Pope

The first pope to be declared a saint in the 20th century was also the first pope elected in the 20th century, Pope St. Pius X.  He came from peasant stock, which was unusual among papal candidates.  He accomplished many things as pope:  he lowered the age for first reception of Communion and Penance to the age of reason; began Catholic Action, an organization for the laity to be involved in service to the community; condemned the heresy of Modernism, which asserted that dogma could evolve over time; codified canon (Church) law; encouraged frequent reception of the sacraments; and led a holy life worthy of example.

What can we hope to follow from such a saint?  Undoubtedly, his humility.  He knew who he was and was respectful of his origins from poor peasant parents.  That did not limit his abilities or his responsibilities to respond to the opportunities that God set before him.  He led the People of God to live lives of greater holiness by the frequent reception of the sacraments.  He changed the practice of receiving Communion from about the age of 13 or 14 to about seven so we could receive Jesus earlier and more often.  Attendance at daily Mass became more common.  

Humility is knowing who we are.  We are children of God and the way we grow in our identity as children of God is by coming closer to God, especially in the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion.  So let us humbly follow the example of Pope St. Pius X by frequently going to Confession and receiving the Eucharist.

September 23—St. Pius of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), Priest & Religious

Padre Pio is one of the more amazing saints of the 20^th century.  He levitated when he was in intense prayer; he bilocated, that is, he could be in two far separated places at about the same time; he had the gift of prophecy; he could read hearts; he could bring about conversions.  However, he is most famous for the gift of the stigmata, the wounds of Christ visible on his hands, feet, and side. 

Padre Pio received much acclamation and much criticism for these spiritual gifts.  But he only wanted to love God and bring about the salvation of souls.  He would spend hours each day in the confessional listening to words of sorrow; challenging those who needed to express true penitence; forgiving with the words of absolution:  “God the father of mercies through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins through the ministry of the church.  May God give you pardon and peace and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

We are called to forgive and be forgiven:  “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  We are called to the confessional so that the priest, who is our spiritual doctor, may bring us to spiritual health through the sacrament.  Some say that we don’t need a priest; God forgives us anyway.  The purpose of the priest is to help us, not judge us.  The priest is “in the person of Christ” forgiving us in the name of God as Jesus said to his apostles:  “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (Jn. 20:23).  Who, in suffering in serious illness or injury, would refuse to go to a doctor?  Why do we refuse to go to Christ’s doctors, his priests?  Padre Pio gave his life to bring about salvation for others.  Every priest shares in that desire.  When was the last time you went to confession?