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“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us…” Hebrews 12:1
One of the many beauties of the Catholic church is her belief in the Communion of Saints, this great “cloud of witnesses.” We all - the church militant, church triumphant, and church suffering - are a part of the Body of Christ. November is an especially good month to call this to mind, as it is dedicated to the Souls in Purgatory.
The Church chooses to remember and honor the Church Triumphant, as well. In fact, we have a solemnity dedicated to this on November 1, All Saints Day. Together, as a church, we call to mind and honor all those saints that have gone before us and are in Heaven. Some of them, of course, are well known. Who hasn’t heard of Saint Catherine of Siena? Or of St. Therese of Lisieux?
There are others, of course. Other men and women who have attained the beatific vision are in Heaven now, though we may not know their names. And still others whom the Church has remembered specifically, but may have fallen out of our more recent memory. Are you familiar with St. Dorothy of Caesarea? St. Gemma Galgani?
Join us, then, as Heart of Mary Women’s Fellowship prays a month long Litany of Saints. We’ll go back to the early days of the Church and take a look at the greatest of all saints, Mary. We’ll meet women from our more “modern” era, too, like St. Josephine Bakhita, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, and St. Teresa of Calcutta.
Our hope is that you not only deepen your relationship with some of your older friends, but that you’ll come to know and love and seek the intercession of some new friends, too.
Reflection 1: Do you have a “go to” saint whose intercession you rely on? Who is it?
Reflection 2: Is there a virtue that you are especially lacking in? Do you ask the intercession of the saint who had a reputation for displaying that particular virtue in heroic measures?
Act: If you don’t already have a particular “friend in heaven,” ask God to send you one. Be on the look out for the little ways in which this prayer will be answered.
Bonus: Pray the Litany of Saints
