The Easter Vigil will be this Saturday evening, April 4. Over
several months I have been helping our parish RCIA candidates to prepare for
celebrating the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion for the
first time. One person has still not chosen a patron saint as is customary and,
of course, that poses the question of, “Why does one need a patron saint?”
We
talked about having a friend who is with God and who can be a patron, a helper
as we deal with the issues in life. That led to the group raising all the
special and usual patronages: St. Jude for impossible causes, St.
Joseph for selling your house, St. Monica when you
want your children to embrace their faith.
But afterwards, for myself I came to wonder “Who do I pray to?” I love St. Dorothy, but need other voices to
intercede for me too.
What seems right for me is to ask the Holy Spirit and all
those who love me to help me. The
insight to address my prayer in this way was my Ash Wednesday grace I guess
because I really meant what I was asking for – a change in my self, not
something exterior. If you are like me, sometimes you pray for the grace to do
something, but your whole self is not really “into it”. This feels like I am
calling upon the whole Cloud of Witnesses to stand for me – in support and also
to hold me to the task ahead. I think I’ll be paying more attention to the
naming of Saints in the Litany at Easter Vigil this Saturday, because they are
likely paying attention to me too.
Sr. Dorothy Schuette, OSB
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