Saints: Life & Times

Introduction

The Hospitality of Abraham, also known as The Trinity by Andrei Rublev. Photo courtesy of Olga's Gallery; used with permission of copyright owner.

Welcome to ”Miracles and Dishmops: The Life and Times of the Saints.” Perhaps that title needs some explanation. “Miracles” represents the supernatural aspect of their work and experience that shows their closeness to God. “Dishmops” refers to the humble, everyday chores and care for others which characterized the lives of all the saints. Not all saints worked miracles, had visions or locutions, levitated, bi-located, etc.; but all loved God with their whole hearts, whole souls, whole minds, and whole strength, and their neighbor even more than themselves. Their concern for us continues.

A saint is anyone who lives the holiness of Christ which is available through the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. This life finds its expression in spiritual and corporal works of mercy. It’s moral direction comes from the Ten Commandments and the Six Precepts of the Church. By canonizing specific men and women, i.e., “by solemnly proclaiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God’s grace,” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. 828) the Church offers us their example, their writings and their intercession. The saints tell us that holiness is possible, that God is close to us and that we have humble friends in high places. They know the problems we face, the worries we have, the difficulties that try us and our temptations and falls because they have had them, too. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23)

Each saint is unique, just as each of us is unique, yet they are joined to us through the mystical body of Christ. They and the countless other souls who have reached Heaven comprise the Church Triumphant. We are the Church Militant and those being purified in Purgatory are the Church Suffering, Because of our mystical bond, the Church Triumphant is able to assist us, and both of us are able to help the Church Suffering.

In this part of the course, we will explore Old Testament holiness and the first 500 years of the Church: the Promise to Adam, the Covenant with Noah, the Covenant with Abraham and our connection to him, and the effect Christ had on his contemporaries. We will then look at the Early Martyrs, examine the mind sets and circumstances of their times which prompted persecutions, and highlight the first martyr and the one who could poke fun at his own execution. Lesson Three introduces two vocations which flourished in the early Church and are gaining widespread recognition and enthusiastic novices today: Consecrated Virgins and Consecrated Widows. Two examples are the virgin Cecilia, who sang in her heart to Christ alone, and the widow Judith who defeated an army and saved ancient Israel before Christ was born. The last lesson will talk about the beginnings of monasticism, starting with those valiant men of old, the Desert Fathers, and their lives of joy and deprivation, and progressing through the Rule Givers, who safeguarded the spiritual development of their novices with balance and orderliness: St. Pachomius, the father of Cenobatic Monasticism; St. Basil the Great, whose influence extended from the Balkans to the Euphrates; and St. Benedict of Nursia, whose rule laid the foundation of all western monasticism. In future parts we will discuss fathers and doctors of the Church, the great missionaries, Christendom in the middle ages, mystics and mysticism, the hidden life, 20th century experiences, and some pointers on how to become a saint yourself.

I hope you enjoy our trip through time and space, and find some blessed soul who would love to be your patron saint. –Marjorie Tautkus

Lessons

Click here to see course syllabus