Seeking Guidance From the Saints

Today is St. Andrew’s Day. While many people won’t think twice about this saint’s feast day, some (especially in places like Scotland where St. Andrew is the patron saint) celebrate and honor the life of St. Andrew with customary meals, rituals, and prayer. When I saw St. Andrew’s Day on my calendar, I thought about cooking a Scottish dinner (I can’t help but reminiscence about bland, hearty food every once and a while). And that got me thinking about saints and their feast days and why we seek guidance from and celebrate saints.

A saint can be briefly defined as someone who the Catholic Church (and sometimes others) recognizes formally as being exceptionally selfless and holy. Much like religion in general, patron saints can be wonderful guidance for believers. Their lives teach people lessons in being selfless and holy.

As I mentioned, people in Scotland celebrate St. Andrew as their patron saint. Details on how he got this honor are a bit sketchy, but somehow or another Andrew’s relics made it to Scotland and he is said to watch over the great northern lands. And year after year Scots celebrate their holy protector. Looking into what makes a saint a patron saint, I found that sometimes groups of people – nations, members of a certain occupation, churches, people with certain illnesses, etc. – chose saints to be special protectors or guardians. The saint these groups chose is often one who had a reputation or connections with the defining characteristic of the group. I think this is a pretty neat.

When I was confirmed into the Catholic Church, I chose Agnes as my confirmation saint. I didn’t know anything about Agnes when I decided to choose her, rather I chose her because I had a great-grandmother named Agnes and I liked the name. I found out she is the patron saint of young girls, which is fitting for confirmation since at the time I was still a young girl. Looking back, I don’t recall seeking guidance from St. Agnes on the subject of being confirmed in the Catholic Church, but as I read more and more about saints, I am ever more convinced that there is probably a saint for everyone seeking guidance in their lives.

I googled “patron saint of marketing,” and although the Catholic Online Saints database doesn’t list a specific saint of my profession, I did find St. Bernardine in another database. It is said that St. Bernardine’s preaching skills "were so great, and the conversions so numerous, that he has become associated with all areas of speaking, advertising, public relations, etc." There’s a prayer to St. Bernardine that asks for help choosing words of love over words of shame. I can get behind that for sure.

Have you ever set your shoe outside your door on December 5 and woken up on December 6 to find goodies in your shoe? December 6 is the feast day of St. Nicholas who was known for secret gift-giving and is a model for our more secular Santa Claus. Even if you’re not Catholic or Christian or any faith that recognizes saints as spiritual guiders, I bet you’ve asked for guidance or modeled your behavior on the actions of other genuinely good people. Do you give gifts to friends and family? Yes? Then in some small way you’ve modeled your life on the generosity of St. Nicholas. Whatever your faith, or lack of faith, try to find someone – be it a saint or just someone you truly admire – and follow their good example as a way to better yourself.