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Today is the start of our Lenten journey. On our foreheads we wear ashes, a sign that we are made of dust and to dust we shall return. Such an outward sign conveys a message that words do not.
The life of a hermit living in the desert strikes many people as mysterious, if not inexplicable. Yet this is what Saint Hilarion, and many others, sought and hoped for and, in some cases, fought for. They teach the value of solitude and prayer to our noisy and busy world.
Saint Paul of the Cross dedicated his life to the memory of Christ’s passion and death. Known as the Passionists, the Congregation of the Passion that he founded is committed to preaching the good news of Christ crucified, and to caring for the poor. The Passionists take a fourth vow to promote the Passion of Jesus.
Saint Luke is known to us primarily as the author of the Gospel that bears his name, and Acts of the Apostles. Actually two volumes of one work, Saint Luke instructs and inspires us with his beautiful treatment of the words and deeds of Jesus and of the early Church. We are blessed by his writings.
On his journey to Rome to face his death in the Circus Maximus, Saint Ignatius of Antioch visited and wrote to many of the churches along the way. These letters have become a valuable source of instruction as well as a source of information about the early days of the Church.
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, like Pope Francis, spent her life reminding people of God’s Mercy. She will forever be associated with devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the symbol of Christ’s love. Many people follow her in prayer to the Sacred Heart on the first Friday of every month.
Saint Teresa of Avila lived before and during the Council of Trent. Having experienced the Reformation, she felt a need for reform, but took things in a different direction than the Protestants. Teresa set an example for present day reformers.
