St. Anthony of Padua is the other. He's my brave big brother who stoops kindly to listen to his pesky little sister.
Posted on 08/05/2008 10:34:13 AM PDT by NYer
Yes, that's true. St. Martha's confession of Christ is a very beautiful passage.
St. Anthony of Padua is the other. He's my brave big brother who stoops kindly to listen to his pesky little sister.
That was the first stanza of a hymn we used to sing in grammar school!
Refrain:
Beautiful Angel, my guardian so mild,
Tenderly guide me, for I am thy child.
Beautiful Angel, my guardian so mild,
Tenderly guide me, for I am thy child.
Verse 2
Angel so holy, whom God sends to me,
Sinful and lowly, my guardian to be,
Wilt thou not cherish the child of thy care?
Let me not perish, my trust is thy care!
What a beautiful song and prayer! Thank you so much for posting those to this thread.
You are absolutely right, Salvation! God is in total control. When it is our time to go home, nothing will impede that journey.
To 'know' your guardian angel, you must begin with the belief that one has been assigned to you. As freeper 'tax-chick' noted, some people assign names to their gurardian angels. Scripture tells us that we humans have all been given a name by God so I presume that is true for our guardian angels. There are some who ask their guardian angels to 'reveal' their names and claim to have understood them, in dreams. Their names and responsibilities are known to God. That's sufficient for me. I am just very grateful to acknowledge my angel, a constant companion on this journey through the darkness of life. At the end of the Chaplet to the Archangel Michael, there are a series of prayers to honor the 'Archangels', followed by an 'Our Father' in honor of "my own guardian angel". Considering all that their job entails, a simple prayer seems rather mediocre. Surely those who "light and guard" and "rule and guide", deserve much more.
As for your patron saint, it was the ancient tradition of the Catholic Church to name a child after a saint, at Baptism. Today, that naming convention seems to have slipped to the dustbin of antiquity, as parents go for the 'unique' and even 'invented' name, that will set their child apart from the others. Personally, I find this concept to be debilitating. Patron saints, like guardian angels, watch over those entrusted to their care. With my Confirmation students, I insist that they research and choose the name of a saint, albeit an arcane one from nearly 2000 years ago. Those saints then become their 'patron saints'.
So, in answer to your question, look at the name you were given at Baptism by your parents and then research that saint to learn more about them. What about the name you chose at Confirmation? Here is yet one more opportunity to gain some understanding of the saint whose name you chose. Failing that, you may 'adopt' a saint and make them your patron. I am very devoted to St. Francis of Assisi but do not bear his name. I carry it in my heart.
Ultimately, it's all up to you! Instead of watching tv, pick up a book on the saints, read through their life stories and find one whose personal life mirrors yours. All the saints are ready and willing to be there for us and help us through the difficult passages of life.
Did you ever figure out what you had done, to deserve this medicinal punishment that was inflicted on you?
I’ve told the story before but a little girl I know who was dying was laying in her mother’s arms just struggling to breath and all of a sudden she sat up and told her mother that they needed to pray. She insisted that they kneel and said that prayer just a few hours before she died.
Do you believe it was medicinal punishment for some infraction?
My son Bill was assigned to write a composition on the saint he was named for one year. “William” is the name of several saints, so we read about them in the Catholic Encyclopedia and discovered that the feast of St. William of Paris, a reform-minded Bishop of the late middle ages, is Bill’s birthday!
You are most welcome.
It is what appears to be punishment at the time, but was actually designed by God to help the person.
NYer's experience is a perfect example. At the time, you're asking, "Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this awful thing?" Only later do you find out why.
We were in an Italian restaurant and she saw his picture on the wall (he's the patron of innkeepers among others). She told the proprietor that he was her Confirmation saint, and he insisted on taking the picture off the wall and presenting it to her!! She was thrilled!
I was asking because (d) called it medicinal punishment.
Much confusion results from too-literal translations of Latin, plus of course the alterations in English from the 16th and 17th centuries to today.
Lots of material still being read today originated in Latin or back in the early days of Modern English (the Catholic Church has been around for awhile.)
We have a brief snack and than do scripture study for Sunday's Mass.
St. Michael the Archangel defend us in the day of battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray, and do thou oh prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen
I believe it was “medicinal” punishment for any number of past sins.
I believe it was “punishment” in the sense that “at the time,” it seemed like “a curse” or a “bad break.”
I believe it was “of God” because it saved her life.
God’s ways are not our ways. Angels are sentient beings far higher in intellect than we (they were given only one test: “friend or foe?”). That is straight from Frank Sheed’s “Theology and Sanity.”
Nuff said.
Mother, it is good to see your intelligence percolate this board.
Pax et bonum!
F
What a marvelous story! I will treasure that!
My patron was “Michael the Archangel.” My family was filled with police and never one was harmed. He is “POWER” (as Fr. Corapi would say in his stellar bass!). I pray to him daily the Leonine prayer.
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