[Popular author of many book about saints, Bert Ghezzi, suggests
spending Advent
season the with four holy people, including Venerable Matt Talbot. Such visibility of Matt to a wider audience is a
positive sign for the possibility of identifying a miracle
attributed to him and his eventual
beatification.]
Spending this Advent season with the Saints!
By Bert Ghezzi!
OSV Newsweekly
December 02, 2012
Advent prepares us for Jesus’ coming at Christmas and for his coming into our lives afresh. And no one knows how to get ready to welcome Christ better than the saints. They express their love for him by putting him first in their hearts. They make room for him by clearing out the clutter of sins and faults. The saints pursue holiness by embracing the Lord’s teaching and
lifestyle. They respond to his graces by practicing spiritual disciplines like prayer, Scripture study, fasting and almsgiving. And the saints express their love for God by reaching out to others with the Good News. They especially dedicate themselves to caring for the poor and marginalized.
Advent prepares us for Jesus’ coming at Christmas and for his coming into our lives afresh. And no one knows how to get ready to welcome Christ better than the saints. They express their love for him by putting him first in their hearts. They make room for him by clearing out the clutter of sins and faults. The saints pursue holiness by embracing the Lord’s teaching and
lifestyle. They respond to his graces by practicing spiritual disciplines like prayer, Scripture study, fasting and almsgiving. And the saints express their love for God by reaching out to others with the Good News. They especially dedicate themselves to caring for the poor and marginalized.
So let’s make the most of this Advent and spend it with four representative
saints, imitating the
ways that they opened their hearts to Jesus.
St. Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)
We are attracted to St. Therese because she was an ordinary person. Raised
in a faithful Catholic family, she was doted on by her father, teased by her
sisters and suffered the pain of loss. Her youth was troubled by her mother’s death and by two sisters
entering the convent. But on Christmas 1887, Therese experienced a conversion
that released her depression. “Love filled my heart, I forgot myself, and
henceforth I was happy,” she said.
The next year, when Therese was only 15, the
bishop allowed her to join the Carmelite convent at Lisieux. She wanted to
become a missionary and a martyr, but soon realized that neither option was open
to a cloistered nun. So she sought the Holy Spirit for another way to serve the
Lord. Reflecting on Scripture, Therese learned to do the loving thing in every
situation, which she discovered was the fuel that fired the faith of martyrs and
saints. Doing the least of actions for love became the secret of her “little
way.”
What does a 19th century nun have to do with us? Juggling the duties of
family, work or school, navigating freeways and keeping up with the digital
world, we don’t have much time for pursuing holiness, do we? But that’s where Therese sets the example for us.
Her simplicity shows us that we, too, can be holy.
Venerable Matt Talbot (1856-1925)
For 16 years, Venerable Matt Talbot was a daily drunk. Then one day, an
unanticipated conversion transformed him and he became a model penitent.
As a child of a poor family in Dublin, Matt had to forgo school for a job.
After a year of basic education, he started working for a wine seller. And Matt
started drinking heavily at the early age of 12.
His father beat him and made him change jobs—but nothing could stop Matt’s
habit. He said that when he was intoxicated, he occasionally thought about the
Blessed Mother and prayed an
off-handed Hail Mary. Matt speculated later that she had something to do
with his conversion.
One day in 1884 everything suddenly changed. Matt had been out of work
several days and expected his buddies to take him drinking. When they snubbed
him, he made a decision that transformed his life.
When he arrived at home, his mother said, “You’re home early, Matt, and
you’re sober!” He replied, “Yes, mother, I am and I’m going to take the pledge.”
The next day he went to confession and took the sobriety pledge for three
months.
But Matt extended the three months into 41 years. In 1891, Matt found
community support by joining the Franciscan Third Order. He lived to rest of his
life quietly, working and praying. Pope Paul VI declared him venerable in
1975.
At a time when addictions to alcohol, other drugs and pornography are
running rampant, Matt Talbot stands as an exemplar of the ways to freedom and
holiness.
Blessed Anne Mary Taigi (1769-1837)
A model woman, Blessed Anne Mary managed a large household in Rome for
nearly five decades. She handled finances with little money, patiently cared for
a difficult extended family and entertained a constant stream of guests. She did
all this full of faith and good cheer.
At age 21, Anne Mary married Domenico Taigi, a servant in a Roman palace.
They had seven children, two of whom died at childbirth. Early in her marriage
Anne Mary experienced a religious conversion. She simplified her life, initiating practices of prayer and
self-denial that she pursued the rest of her life.
Anne Mary took the spiritual lead in her family. The day began with morning
prayer and Mass and ended with reading lives of the saints and praying the
Rosary.
The Taigis had little of their own, but she always found ways of providing
for those who had less. She also took in her hard to-get-along with parents and
her widowed daughter, Sophie, with her six children.
Domenico’s violent temper often disrupted the family. But Anne Mary was
always able to calm him and restore peaceful relationships.
In his old age, Domenico gave this touching tribute to his wife: “With her
wonderful tact she was able to maintain a heavenly peace in our home. And that
even though we were a large household full of people with very different
temperaments.“I often came home tired, moody and cross, but she always succeeded
in soothing and cheering me. And due to her, I corrected some of my faults. If I were a young man
and could search the whole world to find such a wife, it would be vain. I
believe that God has received her into heaven because of her great virtue. And I hope that she will pray for me
and our family.”
We may imagine that becoming a saint requires heroics like founding a
religious order or converting an aboriginal tribe. But Blessed Anne Mary shows
us that the daily faithful care of a family requires more than enough heroism to
make us holy.
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925)
Blessed Pope John Paul II celebrated Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati as a man
of the Beatitudes.
Athletic and strong, he devoted himself to the weak and malformed. He was
wealthy, but he lived in poverty so he could give everything to the poor. He was
gregarious, but a lover of solitude.
He was rambunctious, the life of every party, and a practical joker, but at
prayer he was solemn, reflective and quiet.
As a teenager, Pier Giorgio made friends of the poor in Turin’s back
streets and gave them whatever he had– his money, his shoes, his overcoat.
“Jesus comes to me every morning in holy Communion,” he replied to a friend who
asked why the hovels did not repulse him. “I repay him in my very small way by
visiting the poor. The house may be sordid, but I am going to Christ.”
Pier Giorgio saw the need for social change to relieve the causes of
poverty. At the university he decided to major in mechanical engineering to that he
would work with miners, who were especially disadvantaged. He was a leader in
student political organizations and actively opposed Mussolini and the
Fascists.
At the same time, he was the organizer of student parties, games and ski
trips to the Alps, where he would lead his friends in prayer. Afterward, they
relaxed and enjoyed food, wine, cigars and songs.
Blessed Pier Giorgio has become the hero of contemporary young Catholics.
They recognize his high Christian ideals, still held while pursuing the same
pleasures that they enjoy. They
gravitate to this handsome and charming saint who delighted in reciting the
poetry of Dante, praying the Rosary in a booming voice and spending a night in
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
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