Recently, I went to a Treasures of the Church Exposition at the local Catholic Church. After an interesting lecture, we were allowed to actually touch 164 relics of the church associated with various Saints and the Holy Family.
We were supposed to find our personal Saint. Being a Baptist, none of the Saints "spoke" to me as the lecturing Father said they might, but I did find two that appealed to me.
First, Saint Ignatius of Antioch. I liked that he was a writer, and I loved the sound of his name. Ignatius. It rolls off my tongue. His feast is October 17. He was a convert from paganism and succeeded St. Peter as the bishop of the church at Antioch, Syria. He was the first writer to use the term "Catholic Church" and wrote a series of encouraging letters to churches while on a long journey to Rome as a captive. In Rome, he was thrown to wild animals around 107. (As you read the information card that was by each relic, you learned that only a handful of the Saints died of natural causes. The vast majority of them died in terrible and often horribly creative ways at the hands of various rulers and empires.)
St. Ignatius is quoted as saying, "No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire."
The second saint I found is St. Lucy. We'll talk about her when "L" comes up, and I liked her not because of her name, but because she is the patron saint of authors and writers. Even as a Baptist, I think having a patron saint for my writing is a good thing.
If you'd like to learn more about these relics, visit the Treasures of the Church website.
I like that as a baptist you still attend catholic lectures. That shows a very open mind and love of learning.
ReplyDeleteI don't know a lot about saints but I've always had a special fondness for Francis of Assisi.
Here from the A-Z blog challenge. Enjoying meeting new people and sampling blogs. Have fun with the rest of the alphabet!
ReplyDeleteI like Saint Francis, too, Taryn. I'd like to have a statue of that gentle saint in my backyard.
ReplyDeleteCaryn, thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteCaryn, I would have stopped by your blog, too, but the link only leads me to The Wives of Lucifer, which doesn't seem to have any posts. :(
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