Personal Saints: Who are Yours?

When I was a girl I had a neighborhood friend whose family was Catholic. Her stories about her church fascinated me. The Gothic-style building had high stone arches and richly colored stained glass windows, there were candles and incense, and church members sang nearly the entire service. Having been raised in a fairly spartan protestant environment whose churches were strictly utilitarian and where services consisted of long sermons and little music, her version of church sounded wonderful.

However, it seemed to me that the best thing of all was her church's numerous saints. There was a saint for every occasion, occupation and time of year. I reasoned that if people were supposed to pray to God for help, the more superior beings we had for praying to, the more help we'd get.

In the Catholic calendar, November 1 is All Saints' Day. Probably not coincidentally it falls during the same cluster of days as Halloween (or its Celtic ancestor Samhain) and the Mexican Day of the Dead - all days for observing loved ones or special people who've passed on.

Many years later another Catholic friend told me that in her mind, saints represent certain specific energies or aspects of God, and she could call on whichever aspect she most needed at the moment. Another friend says she has her own collection of personal saints, some of whom aren't part of any church or religious organization at all.

For me this last idea rings a bell. I too have a large group of people - friends, family members, teachers, mentors or even strangers - who have been saints to me at some point, by helping or inspiring. Some of these are people I know well, such as the instructor of the improv class I took at the local community college several years ago. Others I've never met, such as the authors Cheryl Richardson and Thomas Moore. and a few are historical figures such as Gandhi.

Who are your personal saints? Who has continuously been there for you, helped you out of tight spots, taught you something important or served as a guide? November is a good time to thank them for their gifts.

Thank you, Marge, Janice, Marsha, Mary Helen, Catherine, Bill, Tricia, Karen, Kifleab, Bashir, Loan Le, Tim, Marci, Trisha, Chris, Joye, Margie, Laura, Eva Mae, Arline, Rick, Jo, Jared and all the rest of you - you're too numerous to name.