Every year as the new year begins, I use a random generator online to pick a saint for the year. The idea is to have a saint to learn about and maybe turn to in the days ahead.
Some years, I’ve been matched with a saint I already knew. Often, though, it’s a saint I know less about, which is always an adventure. This year, I was matched with St. John Vianney.
I knew St. John Vianney was a patron of priests, but I didn’t know much else. I learned a little more about his life, read some of his better-known quotes, considered what the year ahead might have in store for me with him as a possible intercessor, and then he moved to the back of my mind.
But St. John Vianney kept popping up. Throughout the year, I would come across mentions in unexpected places – in articles and churches, in social media posts and in other ways. At my son’s high school graduation at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, we just happened to end up in a pew next to St. John Vianney’s side altar.
This summer, I was digging through pictures from our first adoption trip to China, and I found photos of a large sign outside a Catholic church we visited in Guangzhou. A picture of St. John Vianney was prominently displayed on the sign, along with information about the Year for Priests, which Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed from June 2009 through June 2010. I didn’t remember taking that photo. I barely remembered the Year for Priests, which was held on the 150th anniversary of St. John Vianney’s death. But there it was, with St. John Vianney in photos I had taken with my new toddler by my side.
Maybe God had connected me to St. John Vianney before I even noticed. I was struck by how saints might be accompanying us from heaven even when we’re not aware. Perhaps St. John Vianney had been interceding for us already. Or maybe God had simply been leaving breadcrumbs along the way in hopes that one day I would find they were helping lead me closer to him.
We are all connected in this one incredible communion of saints. Together, we are part of an extraordinary tapestry of lives and stories, all joined in faith on this journey. Whether we are on earth, purgatory or heaven, we are all part of the Body of Christ.
As much as the enormity of that can be mind-blowing, it can also be incredibly comforting. There’s not much we encounter that a saint has not already experienced. They know the struggles and joys, the hopes and dreams, of everyday life. They know that some days it is easy to feel God’s presence and others you can feel alone. And they can – and do – pray for us on life’s journey as we strive to achieve heaven.
During the month of November, we celebrate the saints who have attained heaven, and we pray for the souls who may still be on their way. As St. John Vianney himself would remind us, we are not alone.
“We ought to ask the Blessed Virgin, the angels and the saints to pray for us that we may receive the good God as worthily as it is possible for us to receive him,” he said.
So, we pray. And, may we be ready to encounter saint friends – those who are familiar and those who are new to us – as we continue on our journey toward heaven.
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