New article on patron saints at CatholicMom.com

sanctanomina CatholicMom.com writer,

My October column is up over at CatholicMom.com! Finding your patron saint (or being found). Please hop on over and comment — I’d love to hear your thoughts/perspectives/experiences!

catholicmom2-10.21.15
It never ceases to be a thrill to see my name in print. 🙂

11 thoughts on “New article on patron saints at CatholicMom.com”

  1. Wonderful article! I love thinking about patron saints! For mine, I’ve always gone with who I’ve felt I had the strongest connection with, which is St. Francis and Clare of Assisi 🙂 As much as I love my confirmation name and saint (Zita), I’m still a little disappointed that I didn’t choose the name Clare instead.

    I’m not even 100% sure why I’ve felt a connection to St. Francis and St. Clare. I think maybe with Clare it might be that my godmother is named Claire, so when I was little, she got me some stuff of St. Clare. St. Francis just touched me when I was 15, and I’ve been praying to him ever since.

    For me, I think patron saints are an important thing to find on your own as you grow in your faith, instead of only taking on your name saint (which, I think it’s 100% cool to take on your name saint if you happen to feel a connection with them). I’ve also always just had a personal affinity for learning about all the saints and learning as much as I can about them, they all have such wonderful stories!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. Love the article, Kate. So much great info to connect us to saints – I agree with it all. I find that at different times I increase my interest/devotion to different new saints due to a patronal need, a family or historical connection, etc. For example a few years ago felt drawn to learn more about and read the writings of St. Alphonsus, because the hospital where I was born was named for him. Love him!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. Great article! Thank you for touching on those without a patron saint in their name. My first name is not a saint name. My middle name is a Marian name but it’s shared by all the women of my mom’s family. I love having a connection to the Blessed Virgin but it never felt like I had a uniquely mine patron saint. I wished that I had a first name with my own saint like my siblings had instead of just being Irish like my mom. I tried to connect with other C saints like St. Clare and St. Colette but none really stood out. My dad is Swedish Lutheran and in Swedish culture, St. Lucia has special signifance and saint day celebration. As a kid, I loved St. Lucia day which we celebrated in our home as traditional as we could. I liked the idea of bringing light in darkness and I took St. Lucia as my confirmation name. When I was a college student, St. Catherine of Alexandria was my patron. I called on her many times before finals. : ) In my professional career, I have taken on St. Joan when I needed courage. As a mom, I’ve recently begun praying to the brand new saints Louis and Zelie Martin. Then again, now that I understand motherhood by living it, I have circled back to our Blessed Mother Mary. When I’ve rocked an infant in the middle of the night, I’ve felt her presence. So, maybe my mom was right when she picked out my name because she left me with the option to pick my patron saint based upon who I needed in that stage of my life but made sure I always had Mary with me.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  4. “…evidence of nudges from heaven.” Love your wording!
    This is such a fun topic! There have been definite occasions (even miraculous) when a certain saint was
    “brought” to me, by the Grace of God. These connections leave an eternal impression, and a profound sense of gratitude is a great part of its wake.
    A very precious old and dear Friend of mine says, “There’s a thin veil that separates us.” (from those who have passed and gone on to eternal rest) I have embraced her thought for many years but I now see it more as that there is no veil at all…we just have to look through spiritual “eyes” and hear with spiritual “ears.” This subject of “patron” saints and connections, to me, is all part of that “here and there is here” way of thinking!
    So fun!

    (Love the name Grace, Grace!)

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

Leave a comment