Catholic Caucus: Patron

5 April A.D. 2002 | father_elijah

[father_elijah]

The Catholic Caucus of Freepers are in need of our own patron saint. We seem to be quickly developing into something of an apostolate of our own. So I think we should take time to post our ideas about who our patron saint(s) should be for our work here on FreeRepublic.

[Cap'n Crunch]

Your welcome. St. Michael is my patron, so I'm a bit biased. :0)

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

A mission statement? May I add an educational aspect to this also? Sometimes my memory isn't so good at remembering the fundamentals taught way back when. There have been a few posts where I have relearned forgotten things and even new things about the Church. This can be helpful for the cradle Catholics as well as the Catholic-curious.

[redhead]

St. Teresa of Avila
St. Joseph
Venerable Solaus Casey
St. Michael the Archangel

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

This may be the link (Reuters?/Messina, Italy): Padre Pio

[drstevej]

Father Guido Sarducci -- A Free Spirit....

[ELS]

Thank you. I submit as a possible patron saint the Angelic and Common Doctor St. Thomas Aquinas. His teaching can provide an infrastructure for fending off false attacks on the Catholic Church, being a clear Catholic voice in any conservative discussion, and to presenting the truth about the Lord and Holy Mother Church.

Here is a brief excerpt from an essay on Aquinas in the Seminaries:

For three decades now an infected seminary system has been sedulously vilifying the Angelic Doctor. To their mind, for good reason. Most theologians know well that this Common Doctor is the thick steel wall protecting the Faith against the seepage of Modernity. Tear it down, and the Faith is fatally exposed. That's not hyperbole, it's the Magisterium. After citing six hundred years of Pontifical praise for St. Thomas, Leo XIII concludes a section of Aeterni Patris with: " . . . while to these judgments of great Pontiffs on Thomas Aquinas comes the crowning testimony of Innocent VI: ‘His teaching above that of others . . . enjoys such an elegance of phraseology, a method of statement, a truth of proposition, that those who hold to it are never found swerving from the path of truth, and he who dares assail it will always be suspected of error.'" (Aeterni Patris, #16) As an intriguing aside the same encyclical reveals, "For it has come to light that there were not lacking among the leaders of heretical sects some who openly declared that, if the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas were only taken away, they could easily battle with all Catholic teachers, gain the victory, and abolish the Church. A vain hope indeed, but no vain testimony." Thirty years of priestly deprivation of St. Thomas give ringing confirmation to these Leonine monita.

An interesting bit of trivia from a little farther down which certainly appies to the Internet as a form of mass communication:

What a shock to the Canadian bishops when they asked Dr. Marshall McLuhan how they could better understand the modern communications revolution. He promptly responded, "Read St. Thomas Aquinas' De Spiritualibus Creaturis."

And from the final paragraph (the author speaks of priests because the essay is about seminaries, but it can apply to laity as well):

Priests must begin to lean their head upon the wisdom of St. Thomas as he so often leaned his head on the tabernacle. God gives man priests to guard the walls of the Sacred City of the Church. But they stand strong only when carrying the weaponry of Aquinas. If not, the City falls.

[Cap'n Crunch]

I remember it was the BBC. Just can't remember where I saw the story. It was in Messina though, now that I read this story. The BBC showed a picture of the statue and the church.

I can sure understand why that holy priest is crying. Thanks for the picture, it cheered me right up.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

BBC on Padre Pio statue

[Cap'n Crunch]

I live very close by his parents, his father just passed away last week. I've occasionally seen him around town.

[Cap'n Crunch]

That's the one! It's probably too early for the tests to have been completed. Quite an awesome God we serve.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Did you ever notice this rather curious similarity?

[history_matters]

Thank you for your thoughtful post.

[pegleg]

Saint John Chrysostom. A treasure of the Church. If we could all be so dynamic and eloquent, many souls would come to know the TRUTH!

[Cap'n Crunch]

huh, how about that? Your right, rather curious indeed.

[Romulus]

Nothing curious about it. Hollywood understands the power of image, and it helps itself as it pleases. Star Wars is full of derivative images and themes.

[ELS]

You're welcome.

I was looking through my saints calendar and planner which has a listing of patron saints. Here are some pertinent listings:

Action, Catholic	Francis of Assisi, Paul
Apologists	Catherine of Alexandria,Justin Martyr, Thomas Aquinas
Apostolate, lay	Paul
Battle	Michael the Archangel
Catechists, Catechumens	Robert Bellarmine, Charles Borromeo
Editors	John Bosco, Francis de Sales
Education, public	Martin de Porres
Eloquence, sacred	John Chrysostom
Librarians, libraries	Catherine of Alexandria, Jerome
Preaching	John Chrysostom
Press	Edmund Campion
Press, Catholic	Francis de Sales
Teachers	John Baptist de la Salle, Gregory the Great
Writers	Francis de Sales

[american colleen]

A bump for your wonderful thread... thanks for keeping us all on the same page! Nothing like some of the great Saints to keep us all together and in the right frame of mind, especially in these days.

[father_elijah]

I want to express my deep affection for all of the Catholics on Free Republic. All of you have been a blessing to me in so many ways. Over the last few years my duties have been reduced because of my age, but I have still tried to serve in that area which is my greatest passion -- the fate of Sudanese Christians in the Sudan and scattered across northern Africa, Spain and Italy. I have been very blessed by an oilman from Texas who gave me this computer and arranged for the internet connections no matter where I must go. God bless Gregory -- who will not let me use his surname.

On another note, this Sunday is my birthday -- as young Brother Solanus tells me, I will be ancient. So on Mercy Sunday, please remember to pray for the Christians of the Sudan. And please say a prayer for me too. God bless!

[pax_et_bonum]

ping

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Happy Birthday in advance Father!!!