How Would a Deep, Intimate Devotion to the Catholic Saints Change Your Life
What would having a better relationship with the saints look like to you? While devotion to the Catholic saints is a standard part of Catholic spirituality, have you ever reflected on its purpose and meaning? How does your relationship with the saints benefit your spiritual life? Here are a few amazing benefits of having a devotion to the saints.
Not being isolated in your spiritual life
It’s a sad irony that even though the Catholic Church stresses the communal, covenantal nature of discipleship with Christ, most Catholics approach their spiritual life in isolation. The saints remind us that we are never alone. Their prayers support us in our efforts to strive for holiness. Their presence reminds us that we are not called to fight the good fight of faith alone.
The Catholic Saints Connect You to the Family of God
It can be difficult to find a balance between private devotion and community worship. The saints bridge that gap for us, reminding us even in our private prayer that we are members of the Family of God.
Having powerful intercessors praying for your salvation and sanctification
While the modern egalitarian in us likes to think that God hears everyone’s prayers equally, our faith tells us that the prayers of the righteous are more effective. The Saints have proven themselves righteous, and are indeed perfectly united to the Holy Trinity. Their prayers are therefore incredibly powerful. Ask the saints to pray that you will be saved and make it to Heaven and that you will grow in holiness. Those powerful prayers will support and fuel your question for holiness!
Better knowledge of the role models you want to emulate
One of the reasons the Church promotes the “cult” of the Catholic saints is to give us models of sanctity. An important part of having a devotion to a saint is to get to know that saint really, really well. That doesn’t mean knowing only about their miracles and expressions of sanctity, either. It also means knowing about their struggles, their weaknesses, and how grace transformed their hearts. The more you know about the saints you have a devotion to, the clearers will be the model you emulate in your own spiritual project.
More focus on your spiritual project – growing in holiness
Using the saints as our role models and enlisting their prayers as we strive for holiness also helps us to focus more on our spiritual project. It’s all too easy to get into a “stride” in our faith where we go through the motions of spirituality but don’t revisit our need for ongoing conversion. The model of the saints reminds us that we have a long way to go before we become the disciples that Jesus is calling us to be. The prayers of the saints then help to empower our efforts. So having a devotion to the saints can remind us to focus more on our spiritual project rather than coasting, making excuses for our lack of spiritual and moral progress, or thinking that we are somehow “good enough.”
Inspirational stories of how the grace of Jesus can transform our lives
Finally, our devotion to the saints can keep us from falling into despair or frustration when our spiritual lives aren’t going so well. Perhaps you fall back into sin, or you experience a period where prayer becomes difficult, or you are having trouble loving your family with the selfless love you are called to – the example of the Catholic saints can inspire us to rely on the grace of Jesus and to keep going. It doesn’t matter how sinful or weak you think you are, you can find a saint that shared your same struggles. Yet, Jesus was able to work with some very damaged individuals and create the beauty of holiness out of their lives. Remember that when we celebrate a saint, we are really celebrating what grace had sone in their lives. Part of that celebration is always the realization that grace can work the same changes in our own lives.
So what would your spiritual life be like if you had a deeper, more intimate devotion to the saints? What benefits can you think of? Please share them in the comments!