I’m Friends With a Saint

I’m friends with a saint. She understands me, she guides me, she prays for me, and she consoles me in times of hardships and temptation. She is always there at my beckoning call. She always escorts me back to God. I’m friends with a saint.

Saints are one of the most beautiful, yet sometimes, most underused and misunderstood aspects of the Catholic Church. Those outside the church find it odd that we hold certain people in such high regard, and that we even pray to them. I get asked that by my non-Catholic friends all the time. Even when I attempt to explain it, they still have a hard time grasping it. They don’t understand why we would pray to anything else but God. But here’s the thing. These saints are in our corner, they are rooting for us. They are our friends in heaven who can listen to us, and pray with us. They can help send our intentions out to the Good Lord. We always ask our friends and family members to pray for us. Why not ask for the intercession of those who lived such holy lives and are so close to God? There is real power in that.

Yes, the saints lived holy lives. They dedicated their lives to serving the Lord and helping those in poverty. Many of them also performed and witnessed miracles. Sounds intimidating right? It shouldn’t. It shouldn’t because the majority of them started off as people like you and me. Many started off with serious sin in their life, or didn’t even know Christ. Think of St.Paul. He would persecute and murder Christians! Yet, he found his way. St.Peter started off as a regular fisherman. Once a disciple, and Jesus’ closest confidant, he still denied him. Yet, he held the keys to the church. The stories of the saints throughout the ages show that no matter what circumstances you were once in, you can still be worthy to God. And we aren’t called to be these well-known saints. We can be our own mini saints in our communities. We don’t have to perform miracles. We just have to LOVE. These saints should inspire to continue to grow in our faith, now matter the circumstance. That, is powerful. 

So, back to my friend. I met my friend a little over a year ago when I was beginning my classes to finish my Confirmation. I was wanting to find a saint that I could take the name of. I didn’t want just any saint though. I didn’t want to choose a saint just because they were very well-known. Sure, that is great, but I deeply wanted to find someone that I could spend my life with, and someone who would understand me. I started my research by browsing through books on my kindle library. I just typed in saints and away I went. I thought that this could take hours. I would read the brief synopsis on the saint and see if he or she would spark my interest. I found one titled: “From Sex-Addict to Saint, Saint Margaret of Cortona”. I found that very interesting to say the least. And not only that, the book was free! It was a win-win for me. 

 

It didn’t take long for me to realize that this was the saint for me. The similarities between me and this woman could not have been a mere coincidence. God had wanted me to choose her. She would help me on my journey in faith. 

Here’s a brief story of Margaret:

Margaret was born in Laviano, Tuscany. At the age of seven, her mother died, and soon after her father remarried. Her and her stepmother never got along. Because of this, Margaret moved out at a young age. For a long time, Margaret spent her time pleasing men’s sexual desires. She then met and lived with a man named Arsenio, a Lord’s son. They fell in love, but could never marry for Margaret was this man’s mistress. She bore him a son, and he had promised her that someday they would marry. That day never came. Margaret found Arsenio’s body brutally murdered. This tragedy brought Margaret to prayer and penance. She and her son tried to return to her father and step-mother. Because of her reputation, her step-mother thought she brought shame to the family and refused to let her live there. That brought Margaret to the Franciscan friars of Cortona. She then, devoted her entire life to penance. She even had her face beaten so that it would scar, and no man would ever look lustfully at her again. One time in prayer, Margaret had heard the Lord ask her, “what is your wish poor little one?” She told him, “I neither seek nor wish for anything but You, my Lord Jesus.” Margaret was canonized on May 16, 1728.

 Margaret and I both lost a parent at the age of seven. We both struggled with our remaining parent to remarry, and we both moved out at a young age. (I was welcomed back months later thankfully). While I wasn’t a prostitute or sex addict, I did engage in premarital sex with several boyfriends, and struggled a lot when it came to lust. There was no doubt in my mind that not only was she the name I wanted to take after, but she was someone that I wanted to befriend for the rest of my life. 

I have taken my dignity back and have decided to save myself for my future husband. There are times where that is difficult. In those times, I am blessed to have a saint as a friend who knows what its like, and will pray for me. That is the beauty of saints. They are your lifelong friends. I’m friends with a saint. Who is your saintly friend?