Friends
Saints are the friends of God; also they are Our friends.
The Church, teaches that anyone who goes to heaven is a Saint; these unnamed Saints make up the greater number of those with God in Heaven; we remember them on All Saints Day (2nd November); indeed, some we have known in this life may now be among the Saints in Heaven.
The official Saints of the Church are persons who have lived lives worthy of recognition, honour and are an inspiration to us. The Saints were as human as us with their own weaknesses, but the grace of God they were able to overcome their failings. Since the 12th Century the Pope alone can declare a person to be an ‘official’ Saint of the Church; he does so after a process we know as canonization.
You can see that we share with God many friends.
Each of us has special friends, who are with God in heaven. So I have selected a friend for each month, who means something special to me.
October 15th St Teresa of Jesus (Avila)
(Virgin, Religious & Doctor of the Church and Patron of headache sufferers)
The sixteenth century when Teresa lived was a time of change: Luther started the Protestant Reformation, while Columbus discovered the New World.
Teresa was very much a child of her times, for she did not have an easy life as both a reformer of the Church and as a mystic. She was condemned by many of her contemporaries and even referred to the Inquisition, but her most severe critic was herself; as a teenager she was convinced she was a horrible sinner.
With her contemporary St John of the Cross-, she realised that the Carmelite Order in Spain of that time was ‘not fit for purpose’. Many in the Carmelite Order, who enjoyed their easy, slack life, did not welcome their efforts at reform. However, they persevered and are attributed with the foundation of the Discalced Carmelite Order.
A short passage from Teresa’s copious writing is my reason for choosing Saint Teresa of Avila as my friend for October:
“Let nothing disturb you, nothing make you afraid: all things pass, God remains.
Be patient, and you will attain your heart’s desire.
With God your own, you cannot lack, God Suffices.”
(St Teresa’s Bookmark)
November 3rd St Martin de Porres
(Religious and Patron of Race Relations)
Martin de Porres, the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a young free Negro slave was born in Lima in 1579. He grew up in poverty and at the age of ten his mother placed him with a barber/surgeon; this gave Martin great joy as it enabled him to help his neighbour while earning a living.
At an early age Martin spent many hours of the night praying while whipping himself three times for his own failings and for the conversion of pagans and sinners.
At 15 he was received as a servant into the Dominican convent in Lima, as he proved himself he rose to be almoner. Martin entered the Dominican Order as a tertiary. It was years later that his piety led to his superiors dropping the racial prohibition to his admission to the friars and he was made a full Dominican lay brother.
There are many stories of miracles attributed to Martin during his lifetime together with the ability to bilocate.
A story that appeals to me especially is that a beggar covered with ulcers and almost naked stretched out his hand to Martin, who saw Christ in him and took him to his own bed. One of the brethren considered he had gone to far in his charity and reproved him. Martin is said to have replied: “Compassion my dear Brother, is preferable to cleanliness. Reflect that with a little soap I can easily clean my bed covers, but even with a torrent of tears I would never wash from my soul the stain that my harshness towards the unfortunate would create.”
Having been received into the Church in Africa, the story of this mixed-race saint always appealed to me; I named my son after him. So St Martin de Porres is my friend for November.
‘Father of all, you led Saint Martin de Porres along the path of lowliness to heavenly glory. Grant that we may follow his splendid example on earth and so come to be glorified with him in heaven. This we ask of You through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit on God forever and ever. Amen.’
December 29th St Thomas Becket
(Bishop & Martyr and Patron of the Secular Clergy)
Born in London, Thomas beginning starting aged 10 received in civil and canon law first at Merton Priory then in Paris, Bologna and Auxerre.
On his return to England he came to the notice of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, who made him Archdeacon of Canterbury. Theobald recommended Thomas to King Henry II, who in 1155 appointed him Lord Chancellor.
As Chancellor Thomas enforced the king’s wishes, which included doing away with the special privileges of the clergy.
In 1162, Thomas succeeded Archbishop Theobald; King Henry believed his appointee would continue to diminish the power of the Church in England; in this the King was to be disappointed as Thomas stood-up for the special rights of the clergy.
Frustrated the sick king cursed Thomas and four knights believing that Henry wanted Thomas dead set off for Canterbury where they arrived on December 29th 1170 and martyred him in Canterbury Cathedral.
Thomas Becket played an important part in the early years following my reception into the Church. In Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) during the late 1950s I directed and played the part of Thomas in T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral in an open-air amphitheatre. A few years later I did the same in a seminary in South Africa, where I had the privilege of delivering Thomas’s last Christmas sermon to the Southern African Bishops’ Conference.
December 29th used to be the feast of Thomas Becket in the Church’s Calendar for England, now it is only an Optional Memorial! Still, Thomas is my special friend for December.
‘Almighty God, you enabled Saint Thomas Becket to lay down his life with undaunted spirit for the rights of your Church. Let his prayer help us to deny ourselves for Christ in this life, and so find our true life in Heaven We make our Prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit one God without end. Amen’
Footnote
I feel sure each of you has your own special friends among the Saints. The above are my special friends for October to December and I recommend them to you.
Tony Turner
