I was talking with Fr. Daniel last week about concluding my long-running series of articles on the lives of the saints and we agreed on me finishing up this Pentecost, letting him begin writing articles as the Church returns to Ordinary Time. That means I have 2 weeks left! I wanted to do some sort of recap of the many saints that we have gotten to know, covering every century, dozens of countries, every possible state of life and a huge number of circumstances, particular virtues, age-ranges, and interests. How possibly to summarize?
What about comparing them all to Christ, in particular the characteristics that Christ not only exemplifies perfectly for all of us, but also calls us to? Drum-roll please … Here are only some of the saints we covered (turns out, you cannot fit all 200 or so into two of these articles…), situated within the beatitude they particularly exemplify. You might consider going down the list, simply saying “pray for us”, or “help me to be humble” (or whatever virtue they exemplify), as a prayer to each one.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
- St. Joseph of Arimathea (+1st century, Judea, Roman Empire) – Wealthy man who gave up his own tomb for Jesus, showing spiritual detachment from material possessions
- St. Celestine V (+1296, Fumo, Italy) – Pope who abdicated the papacy, choosing humility over worldly power
- St. Joseph of Leonessa (+1612, Amatrice, Italy) – Capuchin friar who lived in radical poverty while serving the poor
- St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (+1719, Rouen, France) – Founded schools for poor children, living simply despite noble birth
- St. John Vianney (+1859, Ars-sur-Formans, France) – Simple parish priest who lived in poverty and humility, becoming the patron of parish priests
- St. Andre Bessette (+1937, Montreal, Canada) – Humble brother known as the “Miracle Man of Montreal”
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted
- St. Columbanus (+615, Bobbio, Italy) – Irish monk who mourned the spiritual state of Europe, finding comfort in missionary work
- St. Lidwina (+1433, Schiedam, Netherlands) – Mystic who offered her sufferings for the conversion of sinners
- St. John of Canty (+1473, Kraków, Poland) – Polish priest who mourned for sinners and found comfort in prayer
- St. Faustina Kowalska (+1938, Kraków, Poland) – Experienced profound spiritual suffering and mourning for sinners, comforted by private revelations of Divine Mercy
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth
- St. Joseph (+1st century, Nazareth, Roman Judea) – Silent, humble foster father of Jesus who accepted God’s will without question
- St. Linus (+76, Rome, Roman Empire) – Second pope who served with quiet humility
- St. Clement of Rome (+99, Rome, Roman Empire) – Third pope known for his gentle pastoral approach
- St. Hilary of Poitiers (+368, Poitiers, France) – Doctor of the Church known for his gentle defense of orthodoxy
- St. Casimir (+1484, Grodno, Grand Duchy of Lithuania) – Polish prince who chose prayer and gentleness over worldly power
- St. Francis Xavier Seelos (+1867, New Orleans, USA) – Gentle Redemptorist priest known for his pastoral care
- St. Padre Pio (+1968, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy) – Despite his mystical gifts, remained humble and gentle with penitents
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied
- St. Justin Martyr (+165, Rome, Roman Empire) – Philosopher who sought truth and defended Christian doctrine
- St. Jerome (+420, Bethlehem, Palestine) – Sought scriptural truth through biblical scholarship and translation
- St. Anselm (+1109, Canterbury, England) – Sought to understand faith through reason in his theological works
- St. Thomas Becket (+1170, Canterbury, England) – Archbishop who died defending the Church’s rights against royal power
- St. Thomas Aquinas (+1274, Fossanova, Italy) – Pursued truth and righteousness through theological scholarship
- St. Albert the Great (+1280, Cologne, Germany) – Dominican scholar who sought truth in natural philosophy and theology
- St. John Henry Newman (+1890, Birmingham, England) – Sought religious truth throughout his life, converting from Anglicanism to Catholicism
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy
- St. Martin I (+655, Chersonesus, Crimea) – Pope who showed mercy even while being persecuted by the emperor
- St. John of God (+1550, Granada, Spain) – Founded hospitals and showed extraordinary mercy to the sick and poor
- St. Camillus de Lellis (+1614, Rome, Italy) – Cared for plague victims and reformed hospital care
- St. Joseph Cafasso (+1860, Turin, Italy) – Prison chaplain who showed mercy to condemned criminals
- St. Don Bosco (+1888, Turin, Italy) – Showed mercy to street children and juvenile delinquents, introducing them to Jesus and real Christian friendship
- St. Maximilian Kolbe (+1941, Auschwitz, Poland) – Showed ultimate mercy by giving his life for a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz
- St. Alberto Hurtado (+1952, Santiago, Chile) – Chilean Jesuit who devoted his life to helping the poor and homeless
– Fr. Dominic is sad to not even fit all the saints he had researched, and there are thousands more beyond that! My first stop in researching them was always: https://www.catholic.org/saints/sofd.php