Monday, July 16, 2012

The Power of the Church Triumphant

As a member of the Church Militant and part of the Mystical Body of Christ one of my greatest blessings is the access I have to the Church Triumphant. And I use it daily. The canonization process of the Catholic Church is very rigorous and the saints are living models of holiness for us. I stress living because they are not dead at all. On the contrary, they are more alive than we are and encompassed by the glory of God.

Everything and everyone can be a stepping stone to God and the saints are the most powerful intercessors of all. Knowing that, I turn to them for help in my daily life, especially in the area of faults, family life and spiritual progression. They love when we ask for their intercession and we can be assured that they are pleading our cause before the throne of God. 

I enjoy reading about saints and how often our prayers are answered through their intercession. Having a close relationship with the "great cloud of witnesses" who have gone before me is a very important aspect of my spiritual life and I pray the Litany of the Saints quite often. Plus, I have my "favorites" and  each has a charge over certain areas of my life; I am not one to refuse a gift that the Church has placed in my lap. 

Here is a quick breakdown of some of saints that "work" with me:

~ St. Faustina has charge of my blog, my own intercessory prayers for others, my understanding of         justice and mercy and other areas.
~ St Pio is my "spiritual father" and is in charge of my spiritual life and progress, along with my patron,
   St Teresa of Avila
~ St. Joseph is in charge of family unity and family matters
~ St. Bernadette is in charge of my growth in humility
~ St Benedict and St. Gemma help with spiritual battles (though I often call on the whole lot of them for this task)
~ Blessed Kateri and St. Tarcisius are in charge of certain areas of my childhood that pop up from time to time. They were my favorite saints as a child.
~ St. Peter and the other apostles have charge over keeping my feet firmly in the Faith.
~ St. Paul has charge over my spiritual gifts and my weaknesses (the thorns in my side)
~ St Dymphna over my propensity toward anxiety
~ St. Therese is in charge of saving a spot on God's lap for me (grin)

The list could go on forever but I'll stop here...lol. I thought I'd post this because I often wonder why people settle for vague "spiritual guides" when God has placed so many holy men and women as models and helpers for those of us still on earth. It's truly a great gift and blessing from the Lord!

And Our Lady?

She is my mother and I am her daughter. This spiritual motherhood is by God's design. Every single word that Jesus spoke on the Cross has infinite meaning because God is eternal.

"Behold thy mother."
                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm very interested in hearing about the saints and their place in the lives of others. I pray with the saints and also use the Saint Calender to ask assistance on a daily basis. I would like to hear how other people incorporate The Church Triumphant into their spiritual lives. Anyone want to share their stories? You can leave a comment on my blog or a link to your post about this subject if you are interested in this too. Thanks!






22 comments:

  1. Thanx for this post Mary.

    Most often I pray to Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Also the Holy Spirit. Recently I've added St Charbel and also the Archangel Raphael the Healer. When my Faith is weak I ask St Peter for help.

    I tend to keep away from St Paul as he might thump me one!

    St Anthony is often good when I've lost something. That is if he's not busy trying to find something else more important.

    God bless.

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  2. Hi Victor,
    You know my thoughts on St. Charbel! Thanks again for the link.

    I pray to the Holy Spirit every day too. God is everything and all the gifts of the saints come from Him.

    Oh, is St. Paul the reason I get so many thumps? Lol (I can write lol again now that you know what it means! I laughed when I read the comments on the abbreviations at your site.)

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  3. St Paul has always been a strict type of Saint. Especially when you read all his epistles.

    I suppose it's because he is a convert. It's like someone who stops smoking; they're always the ones who go on about the dangers of smoking.

    St Paul is a bit like that. I'm sure he means well though. I wonder what Jesus must think of him. I know the early Jews had some difficulties with him. At one stage he preached for so long that someone fell asleep on a window ledge and fell out of the window.

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  4. I pray this prayer almost every day:
    Michael, Michael, of the morning,
    Fresh chord of Heaven adorning,
    Keep me safe today
    And in time of temptation,
    Drive the devil away.

    I started praying it after I read the amazing story associated with it.
    I copied it to my blog:
    http://mehewitt.blogspot.com/2012/07/in-1950-young-wounded-marine-wrote-to.html

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  5. Mary, for me the Blessed Mother comes first. Then I love St. Benedict and wear his medal. St. Anthony comes through when I'm looking for something. My guardian angel helps me a lot. Then there's St. Teresa of Avila, St. Faustina, and a bunch of other saints I think of and love, although I may not ask for favors from them. St. Joseph is in charge of providing for us. I feel like I'm a member of a large and loving family. They all know I love them even if I am no consciously thinking of them, and I know they love me. Oh, and I have to say St. Barbara has always been my model. She is the patroness of artillerymen and I count on her when I'm battling falsehood in the Faith. (Shooting a volley over the bow of the haters of the Church.)

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  6. Mary,
    Great post! You know how much I love the saints. Since I would probably end up leaving a post-sized comment on this, I've decided to write an actual post. I'll be sure to link back to this post.

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  7. This is a really nice post Mary.

    Our Lady: when I need to see a certain person or situation as God sees that person or situation: Her help is immediate.

    My Guardian Angel(s): well, I go to the him/them for help with everything it seems. They have saved my life several times.

    St. Joseph: helped me find a husband; happy death.

    St. Margaret Mary Alocoque: I ask her to help me bear wrongs patiently. She means the most to me right now.

    Bl. Solanus Casey: I pray to him for courage because I need a lot of it.

    The Child Jesus: I say the 9 hour novena for anyone I know who is dying that they may have salvation.

    The Little Flower: To help me with being overly sensitive.

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  8. Mary,

    Our Lady, St. Joseph, St. Therese and Padre Pio have been our faithful protectors, so far.

    I was actually wondering if there's a patron saint especially for people like me and Victor but I'm afraid I might be looking in the wrong direction:-/

    Great post, Mary - it's very inspiring!

    God bless:-)

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  9. Hey!! I just noticed that Victor's picking on converts, again!

    Mary, can you please let him know that we can hear him over here?

    ;-)

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  10. Mary, I love this post! I especially love how you call the Blessed Mother your "Beautiful One!" You are so sweet!

    I just sent a post in to Catholicmom.com about obedience to the Magisterium of the Church and in it I listed several suggestions of saints to pray to for intercession if you struggle to accept the teachings of the Church. It will be posted at the end of this month.

    My personal favorites are St. Margaret Mary and St. Claude de la Columbierre, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal and St. John the Evangelist.

    Thanks for your wonderful blog!

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  11. One of the reasons I love praying the Office is that it incorporates all the saint's Feast Days, so I am able to pray through them all year.

    My favorite? St. John of the Cross.
    Also: St. Therese who is my patron, St. Teresa of Avila (got to love a saint who is as scatterbrained yet in love with the Lord as me!). I have a soft spot for the Carmelite Saints : )

    It goes without saying: Our Blessed Mother and St. Michael.

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  12. Victor,
    Yeah, he is rather strict, isn't he? Just don't sit in your window seat for a little while, okay?
    I love his zeal!

    I wouldn't worry too much about St. Peter thumping you. After reading Vicky's comment I know where the thumps will be coming from!

    So, is it safe to say LOL yet? Don't worry, you can be assured that I won't throw in the ROF in front of it after reading your post.

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  13. Hi Madeleine,
    I love poem/prayers! Thanks for sharing this little gem and the link.

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  14. Hi Barb,
    I love your comment "I feel like I'm a member of a large and loving family."

    So true! That's how I feel too. I asked the Lord to "bare my soul" before all of heaven so that my brothers and sisters there could understand how much help I needed and so that I could better help others too. This was a few years back and sins and faults I am not aware of have been becoming more obvious to me since then. I know the Lord does this anyway but the process seems to have sped up (at least it seems that this is the case).

    After my Morning Offering I pray the Guardian Angel Prayer and frequently ask for his help during the course of the day.

    I didn't know what St. Barbara was patron of and you've lined her intercession up nicely!

    Great post on the St. Benedict medal by the way!

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  15. Hi Vicky,
    Yeah, you are looking in the wrong direction since I have the same tendency!

    Still, my brother poked me at my niece's wedding and I was able to stifle my giggles. He notices every mistake I make! And I was dumb enough to sit right next to him ;) At least he didn't waggle his eyebrows at me - I would have been a goner for sure.

    I warned Victor so feel free to "thump" him.

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  16. Hi Karin,
    I do know how much you love the saints :) I'm looking forward to reading your post!

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  17. Hi Monica,
    Great list! St. Margaret Mary is another favorite of mine. Blessed Solanus Casey for courage? Thanks for the tip!

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  18. Hi Anne,
    I had a feeling St. Margaret Mary was a favorite of yours. I wonder why?

    Just kidding! I know why!

    I'm looking forward to reading your post at Catholicmom.com. Faithfulness to the Magisterium of the Church is critical in these days when so many odd forms of "pop" Christianity mixed with other religions have cropped up. Especially dangerous is the mixture of Catholicism with the occult. It leaves millions confused and it's one of the reasons I wrote this post and linked to solid Catholic sites.

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  19. Hi Theresa,
    Praying the Office is one thing that I don't do but wish I did. Eventually, maybe?

    Gee, I wonder how I knew you had a soft spot for Carmelite saints? Lol.

    I love the fact that St. Teresa was scatterbrained too (and in love with the Lord). I wonder if she suffered from insomnia? I think I can answer that!

    (Sitting in my PJ's with a cup of coffee in front of me.)

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  20. Mary what a great post. You have more "people" in heaven than I do! St. PIo is my spiritual director, too which makes you my spiritual sister. I ask St. Anne for my homeschool needs and St. Daniel for everything else. In "Direction for Our Times" (volume 7 I think) where the saints speak, St. Daniel said we can ask him for graces of just about anything and he will deliver --so I take him up on that even though I don't know much about him. I'm going to add more saints to my list following your example and maybe make a post of it. Thanks!

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  21. Hi Anabelle,
    And St. Pio takes good care of his spiritual children! Padre Pio is a particular favorite of mine - I like his blunt way of "speaking" in his letters and exhortations. I need this right now which is probably why I'm drawn to Archbishop Fenelon's works too.

    Your post on St. Benedict was wonderful and I look forward to reading your future posts.

    Actually, my "list" was much longer than this but I didn't want to bore everyone to death...lol.

    PS Victor (LOL means laughing out loud! I'm spending too much time with young people BTW)

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  22. Mary, I don't know that
    Bl. Solanus Casey is particularly known for help with courage. It's just what I ask him to help me with. His intercession has healed many people. He was known to be "simple" and had a hard time in seminary, but was ordained a priest but given only simple duties such as being a doorman. He consoled many who came to the door with his simple wisdom and insights.

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