Trying to sell your house these days can feel as pointless and protracted as Britney Spears’ custody battle; there seems to be no point, and there seems to be no end. Britney has been able to tie up her case, but what about you? Well, I have an idea for you…
From Reno to Charlotte to Milwaukee, people have started talking about Joe. Not a steaming cup of coffee, but St. Joseph, who was the earthly father of Jesus and a carpenter by trade, now considered the patron saint of home and family in the Catholic Church.
Folklore and tradition allege that burying a St. Joseph statue on a seller’s land will expedite the sale of the home. The practice seems to have begun with a nun who, in the 16th century, buried a St. Joseph medallion and prayed over it, seeking the saint’s intercession before God on the nuns’ behalf to procure land for their new convent. And it’s a tradition that has been creating a buzz online and getting national media attention over the past several years.
Rub a saint’s face in the dirt and get what you want
And there just might be some other applications, too. Ex-husband living too close by? Have neighbors you don’t like? Or maybe there’s a gorgeous property you’ve been eyeing for months and the owners refuse to put it on the market. Sneak over under cover of darkness and carefully plant a St. Joseph statue in their yards and you could be rid of them forever! Maybe someone could bury one under the rose garden at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and see what happens! As was noted in a customer testimonial on a Saint Joseph website, “I don’t need a statue; I need a Democrat in the White House.”
And what if you’re not superstitious or religious, but wouldn’t mind selling your house a little faster? Well, take the advice of one real estate agent from Fredericksburg, Texas: “I firmly believe in the power of St. Joseph, [but] it also helps to make sure it is priced right, clean, and show ready.”
It would probably be better to bury a saint of patience or financial prudence in your backyard, or maybe a statue of a real estate guru. Somebody should start marketing statues of the guy who’s made all the money off this tradition – Phil Cates, founder of St. Joseph Statue in Modesto, CA. After all, he is obviously blessed in the area of selling things for a profit. I bet he could intercede to God on my behalf. Or maybe as one blog commenter suggested, we should just bury our real estate agents.
Bury a statue of St Joseph? Millions of people have done that before
Over a million St. Joseph Home Selling Kits are sold each year, so somebody sure is buying into the tradition. But is it superstition or faith? From a religious standpoint, if the statue
serves as a physical reminder of the homeowner’s faith in God to provide for their financial needs, then it is faith. If the statue is buried in the yard and never thought of again like spontaneously buying a lottery ticket while filling your tank, that would be superstition. And if God and St. Joseph are not thanked profusely when the house sells, or if the poor fellow is left buried in the yard to get muddy and frozen and forgotten – well then that’s just plain mean.
So what do you actually get in a St Joseph Home Selling Kit? Well, some retailers sell the statue, complemented by the following: a small 3-4” St Joseph Statue, Special Prayer Card, protective storage bag, burial instructions, and sometimes a prayer guide or history pamphlet. Now you can even buy those kits with two saints included. Totally Catholic.com claims that…” We…now have five other versions available, including our new “Miraculous Double Novena St. Joseph/St. Jude house selling kit” for that house that is especially hard to sell!” (St. Jude is the Patron Saint of the lost cause.) Apparently one holy saint isn’t always good enough.
What’s the price for one of those house selling statues?
Typical statues and home-selling kits seem to sell online for anywhere from $1.75 to $25.00 online, with the majority being between $8 and $13. If you would rather read a book than surf the web, check out Stephen J. Binz’s 2003 paperback titled St. Joseph, My Real Estate Agent: Why the Patron Saint of Home Life is the Patron Saint of Home-Selling.
Now if they would just come up with a saint for selling your car…
– Kirstie Parker
Why do people bury a statue of a Saint in their garden? How could it be nice to a real Saint to bury a statue of him in the ground? These questions came to me when I was looking in to the old tradition to bury a statue of St Joseph when you want to sell your house.
To be honest, I was first a little bit confused when my friend told me that he sold his house thanks to a statue of Saint Joseph. Like any other normal person my first response was “Heh?”.
Then he told me that he had wanted to sell his house for a few months but no one showed any interest.
I know he didn’t want to wait with the sale, because he had already found a new house he wanted to move to, if he just could get his own sold. That was when he (in his turn) was recommended to try to bury a statue of Saint Joseph by his for sale sign; he told me that he felt a little strange burying it, but he also said that (even if he didn’t in any way expected the result I am about to tell you) he had known many people that had put their faith in god and succeeded, and that history is full of those stories, so why wouldn’t he give it a try?
So, he bought a statue of Saint Joseph, read the instructions, read his prayers and said that after the ritual was done he felt relief and he really knew that soon he was about to sell his house.
1 week later there was a old couple looking at the house, they said they was very pleased with it, but wanted some time to think it over. What a blessing, 3 days later another prospective buyer came and offered 15% more than the old couple! To make a long story short, the older couple also decided that this was the house of their dreams, so the bidding started and when it was over the house was sold for almost 30% more than my friend had asked for!
Now he was religious before, but his faith in the Saints and St Joseph have surely increased, and the St Joseph statue he buried followed him to his new home, and can be seen over the fireplace in the living room. Does he credit the sale to St Joseph? For sure, it helped him to get the faith he needed in himself to make the sale. And he did.
Worried about the mortgage crisis? Do balloon payments and rising interest rates have you down? Don’t turn to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac for comfort. Relief from your high payments can come from a higher, divine source.
Saint Joseph the Betrothed, patron saint of craftsmen, carpenters and… mortgage brokers can help relieve you of your home and its hihg monthly payments. But how do you get the world’s most famous step-father to work for you?
Ancient tradition (circa 1972) holds that burying a statue of Saint Joseph in the yard of your house will make it sell faster that oceanfront property in Arizona that is on the housing market. Burying a statue? It sounds a bit fishy but this is a tried and true, tested ritual.
In 1995 Maureen Williams relocated from Los Angeles to Savannah, Georgia. She left her 3 bedroom Craftsman in the capable hands of her friend and real estate agent. After 2 months the home still hadn’t sold and Maureen was going broke keeping up with the payments. Desperate, she FedExed a plastic Saint Joseph, a shovel, and the promise of a bonus to her broker. While the agent was outside digging the hole under the For Sale sign a Catholiv priest new to the area was walking by. He saw the sign, the statue and offered full price on the spot.
Some say the practice began when a group of nuns looking for a new convent buried a medal of Saint Joseph asking him to intercede. Others say it was German carpenters who started burying the statues around the homes they build hoping they would sell quickly.
Whatever the origins of the tradition, it can’t hurt to ask for a little help from a man who trained a world-renowned carpenter. Here’s how to get Saint Joe working for you if you have your house on the market
Once the hole is about 12 inches deep place St Joseph in the hole. Againt, there is some debate over his position, though most say he should be placed upside-down (apparently he’ll try harder to get out this way) facing the house. Don’t have him face the street unless you want your neighbours to move.
3. Once your house has sold leave instructions for the new owners to dig up the statue, clean it off and display it prominently on the mantelpiece. Include a shovel and a treasure map in the purchase price.
With Saint Joseph on your side your housing crunch woes will be a thing of the past. Now if we could just get him to finish the basement, remodel the bathroom and fix the squek in the front door.
– Geoff Nail
Do you have a problem with losing items around your home? Lots of people are frustrated all the time at losing small household object, important papers, toys, games, clothing and other items that seems to just disappear. If you are constantly losing items that you can never find having a statue of St. Anthony in your home and praying to St. Anthony of Padua might help you find all those lost items. St. Anthony of Padua is a much loved Catholic saint that is said to help people locate all of their lost items if they ask for help.
It’s a Catholic tradition to pray to St. Anthony of Padua for the return of lost items, no matter how big or small. So whether you’re looking for your wallet with lots of money in it or your child’s favorite bear praying to St. Anthony can help. You might even have prayed to St. Anthony in the past to help you find items that you had lost. Lots of Catholic children are taught to pray to St. Anthony to help them find items that have been lost, but St. Anthony can do more than help you find items that you have lost, he can also help find people or bring people that you love that have been gone for a long time back home.
St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost items but he is also the patron saint of travelers and lost people, so if you are waiting for a loved one to return home from military service, or a long business trip, or to come home after a long absence of any kind then keeping a statue of St. Anthony in the house and offering prayers each day can help bring your loved ones home safely and quickly. If someone that you love is heading off for a military deployment, or going on an overseas journey, or even going to college in another state you can give your loved one a blessed medal or statue of St. Anthony to take with them and pray that St. Anthony will bring your loved one back home safe.
St. Anthony of Padua was born in Portugal and lived during the early 1200s. He came from a rich family in Portugal. Because his family was wealthy he was very well educated. His family wanted him to be a nobleman and to continue the family name and standing but he was called very early to God and he chose to become a Franciscan monk instead. He was sent to Morocco to do missionary work and intended to stay in Morocco but he became seriously ill and was sent instead to Padua, where he became known as a very eloquent speaker.
Because of speaking ability and education St. Anthony become a very popular local leader in Padua. The local people trusted him and he was loved by everyone. Legends say that when St. Anthony died the entire city mourned him and children cried for days.
St. Anthony of Padua is one of the most beloved of all Catholic saints. Thousands of Catholics keep statues and medals of St. Anthony in their homes and pray to St. Anthony whenever they have lost something. The most common prayer used to ask for St. Anthony’s help with finding a lost object is:” St. Anthony, St. Anthony please come around; something is lost and cannot be found.”
Even if you’re not Catholic St. Anthony can help you find lost items or help bring your loved ones back to you. Try it for yourself and see. Place a statue of St. Anthony somewhere prominent in your home and ask St. Anthony each day to help you find a lost item or to bring your loved ones home safely and chances are good that you will quickly find the item or that you will hear from your loved one.
Heidi T Wolfang
Have you ever heard of the custom of taking a St. Christopher’s medal with you on a trip? Or maybe you’ve gotten into a cab or a rental car and found a statue of St. Christopher on the dashboard? That’s because St. Christopher is the patron saint of travelers, among other things, and travelers all over the world carry a medal or a small statue of St. Christopher to keep them safe from harm and to make sure that they get safely home again. It might seem like a superstition, but if you ask your friends and family you’ll probably be surprised at how many of them carry a St. Christopher’s medal or a small statue of St. Christopher tucked into a jacket pocket or a suitcase on trips. Both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church venerate St. Christopher although each religion has its own feast day for the saint. The historical record says that Christopher was martyred in the third century AD under the Roman emperor Decius. There are not many well known historical facts about St. Christopher except that he did exist and he did die as a martyr under Decius.
St. Christopher is also one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, which are a group of 14 early saints that are often prayed to as a group for healing from serious illnesses or other serious problems. Praying to these 14 saints is supposed to be more effective than praying to other saints and these 14 are thought to have a stronger connection to God than some other saints. The veneration of these 14 saints started in Germany during the time of the Plague when the people felt like they needed much stronger intercession from the saints in order to keep them and their families safe from illness. Where did the tradition of praying to St. Christopher come from? There are several different sources for this particular Catholic tradition.
There isn’t a whole lot known about St. Christopher because he is one of the oldest recognized Catholic saints and at the time he lived not much of his history was written down. One of the sources says that at one point St. Christopher carried a small but extremely heavy child over a swollen river and that child was actually Jesus, testing St. Christopher. In this particular story because he helped the child travel across the river and watched out for the child he came to be known as the person that travelers would pray to in order to stay safe when they were on a journey. In another version of the origin of praying to St. Christopher to stay safe when far from home comes from the story that St. Christopher traveled to Rome during the period when Christians were being martyred and spent time there comforting those about to die. The local king tried to get Christopher to worship his pagan gods and offered him wealth and beautiful women. Christopher converted the women to Christianity and they were also martyred, as was Christopher himself. The head of St. Christopher along with holy relics from his life were thought to have great power and nations fought over the right to keep them in order to protect their countries. One legend says that the head of Christopher, blessed St. Christopher medals and other relics were taken to the Croatian island of Rab during a siege by the Norman army.
As soon as the relics and medals were placed on the walls surrounding the city the winds began to change and the entire Norman fleet was blown off course and back out to sea. This just strengthened the idea that praying to St. Christopher can help keep you safe. Still to this day it’s quite common for travelers to wear a St. Christopher’s medal when traveling or to carry a small statue of St. Christopher with them. If you know someone that is going on a trip soon or if you are planning a trip you should get a few blessed St. Christopher’s medals or a small plastic St. Christopher statue that can fit into a coat pocket or suitcase to help keep you or your loved ones safe on the trip.
Jim B. Davis
Are you stressed out? Do you go through your days just trying to manage the stress from all the commitments that you have? Driving the kids to school and activities, going to work, making it to the grocery store in time to pick up something for dinner, cleaning the house, making the doctors appointments and so on are all tasks that people deal with everyday that can cause a lot of stress. Many people could use more peace in their lives because they never get a chance to really sit down, relax, and spend some quality time with their loved ones. But finding a way to get that peace seems impossible sometimes. Today people are busy all the time and the stress of dealing with jobs, families, long commutes, money problems, high gas prices and other problems mean that most people never really take the time to sit down and relax. The constant stresses of modern life can cause a lot of serious illnesses. Heart disease, high blood pressure, and even diseases like diabetes can be caused by stress. Other chronic disease like Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can also be caused by stress.
Doctors tell patients all the time that cutting down on the stress in their lives can make them healthier and help them live longer. So how can busy people get rid of some of the daily stress that they haves? You can get rid of stress and find some peace in your life by praying to St. Francis of Assisi regularly. Keeping a statue of St. Francis of Assisi in the house and taking just five minutes a day to sit quietly and reflect on the lessons that St. Francis taught and to pray for guidance and peace can be a great way to get rid of stress and focus on the things in life that are really important. When you first get up in the morning start your day with a prayer to St. Francis of Assisi in order to put yourself in a peaceful frame of mind all day. Or, if you need to get rid of some stress when you get home sit quietly, light a candle by the statue of St. Francis of Assisi and repeat St. Francis’ peace prayer until you feel calmer and more at peace. St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals and the environment because he lived in harmony with both.
St. Francis came from a wealthy merchant family and he spent the early years of his life living a life of luxury helping his father with the family business. He joined the military and while on a military deployment he was captured and spent a year as a prisoner of war. During that time he started to delve more deeply into religion but it wasn’t until after his release and a serious illness that he had a real spiritual awakening. He went on a religious pilgrimage to Rome, where he had a vision. After his vision he felt an even stronger connection to God but seemed to flounder and didn’t really know how he was meant to serve God. The answer came in the form of a sermon from the Book of Matthew that changed St. Francis’ life.
He took literally the sermon’s admonition to go forth without so much as a staff or shoes and decided that a live of extreme poverty was the key to finding closeness with God. He rejected all physical comforts and began living among nature and the animals, forming a deep relationship with both. He founded a monastic order, the Fransiscan monks, who believed in living the way that he did and in demonstrating the virtues of poverty and charity. St. Francis had a deep love of the natural world and of animals, and his peaceful nature and strong connection to God make him the perfect saint to pray to when you need to be reminded of your connection to God and to the natural world.
Take a few minutes and each and pray to St. Francis and you’ll notice that you start to feel happier, more peaceful, and more connected to God and to nature. Today it we have named hospitals and schools after the saint.
Jim Davis
Do you know someone that is suffering from cancer?
Pray to St Peregrine, the Patron Saint of Cancer Patients If you have a loved one that is suffering from a serious illness like cancer, AIDS, or any other life threatening disease or if you yourself are suffering from a serious disease you should pray to St. Peregrine, the patron saint of the seriously ill. People who have serious illnesses have found that diet, exercise, medical treatment and prayer can all help heal the illness or at least bring some peace and comfort.
The holistic approach of using diet, exercise, and prayer as well as medical treatment has in the past healed people that doctors said were likely to die from their illnesses. More than once a patient with an illness that was supposed to be terminal has walked out of a hospital completely free of disease after medical treatment, nutritional support, and a lot of prayer. Even medical professionals acknowledge that prayer can be a large part of someone’s recovery even from a serious illness like cancer.
Prayer has a powerful healing effect, and appealing to St. Peregrine to help with a serious illness can be very effective because St. Peregrine himself suffered from cancer. St. Peregrine was born into a small town in northern Italy that was not at all friendly to the Christian church in the mid 1200’s. In fact, when a priest came to the town to say Mass and to try and talk to the people in the town about Christ and the Church they booed and laughed at the priest and eventually ran him out of town. St. Peregrine was the ringleader of one group that was jeering the priest and actually punched the priest in the nose.
The priest didn’t hit Peregrine back but forgave him instead and St. Peregrine felt so guilty that he apologized to the priest and became more interested in the Church. After learning more about the Church and Christ from the priest he began to pray more often. Once during his prayers he saw a vision of Mary, who told him that he needed to make a pilgrimage to Siena. While he was on this pilgrimage to Siena he felt called to join a group of local monks, the Servites, or the Servants of Mary. The priest that he went to in order to join the monastery was the same priest that he punched in the nose and that had helped him find his way to the Church. He spent the rest of his time at the monastery doing special penance for his sins. One of the penances that he had to do was that he could never sit unless he absolutely had to. If he didn’t have to sit he would stand. After thirty years of mostly standing he developed serious leg problems that led to cancer in his leg. The cancer became so bad that doctors were going to amputate his foot in order to save his life. The night before the amputation was to take place St. Peregrine dragged himself to the foot of the crucifix in the church at the monastery and collapsed, praying to God for forgiveness. Just before he passed out he had a vision of Christ touching his foot and healing him. In the morning when he woke up he was completely cured, the cancer in his foot has been miraculously healed.
Because of St. Peregrine’s experiences with cancer he is the patron saint of all those that are afflicted with serious illness. Keeping a statue of St. Peregrine in the house and praying a few minutes each day for someone that you know that has cancer, AIDS or any other serious illness is a wonderful way to help and support that person. You never know when a miracle might happen. When someone you love is diagnosed with a serious illness stop by to see them with a statue or medal of St. Peregrine and a big hug. Tell them the story of St. Peregrine and offer to pray with them to St. Peregrine to intercede for them with God. Just the simple act of praying with your loved one can help them feel better and feel like they are not alone. Prayer can bring comfort and peace as well as healing.
Eric Mark
Are you having trouble dealing with a serious illness? Does someone in your family or a friend or neighbor have a serious illness? Praying to St. Bernadette can help you and your loved ones find peace and might even help heal your illness. St. Bernadette of Lourdes is one of the most beloved Catholic saints and her story is very unusual.
Bernadette was the oldest of nine children born to poor parents in rural France in the late 1800s. The family was so poor that the five children that lived past infancy and her parents shared one room in a tiny dwelling. The children had no education and could not even read or write their own names. When Bernadette was 14 she claimed to have seen a vision of a lady in a grotto outside the town of Lourdes. She would go on to see this apparition 18 times. In the early visions the lady never told Bernadette who she was but the townspeople who had heard of Bernadette’s visions knew the lady was the Virgin Mary. The second to last time that the lady appeared to Bernadette she told Bernadette that she was the Immaculate Conception.
The townspeople of Lourdes at first did not believe Bernadette when she told them the story of her visions and thought that she might be suffering from some type of mental illness. When Bernadette described the woman that she had seen as having a white dress with a blue girdle and golden roses for feet the townspeople began to take her more seriously. During one of the visions the lady told Bernadette that she needed to tell the local priest to build a church on the spot where the woman appeared. But when Bernadette went to the priest he did not believe her and demanded that the lady perform a miracle to prove who she was. The priest told her that the lady should make a rose bush near the grotto bloom and flower out of season to prove who she was.
But instead the woman told Bernadette to drink the water that was near the grotto and eat the plants. At that time there was no spring or water near the grotto but Bernadette dug down through the earth with her hands and found water, and a few days later a spring flowed at the site of the grotto where the lady appeared. The water from this spring has been said to have special healing properties and more than 60 miraculous cures caused when people drank the water from the Lourdes spring were investigated by the Church and medical doctors who could find no other explanation for the cures.
Even though the lady never appeared to Bernadette again she lived a very religious life, joining a convent and living as a nun. She spent most of her time in prayer and serving others. She only learned to read and write at a very basic level yet when she wrote her memoirs late in her life her writing was perfect which led some people to say that her memoirs were divinely inspired. When St. Bernadette died her body didn’t decompose even though it had not been embalmed. Church elders dug up her body after 10 years of lying in a damp grave and there was no decomposition. They then dug the body up again after 15 years and still there was no decomposition. The church elders put her body display in a special glass coffin so that others could witness the miracle. Her body is still on display in the Church of Nevers and still has not decayed or shown any signs of decomposition.
St. Bernadette is the patron saint of the sick because of the healing properties of the spring at Lourdes. If you or someone you love is dealing with a major illness then you should pray to St. Bernadette and keep a statue of her in your home. Ask for her help and you never know how she might help you. Many people keep a vial of water from the Lourdes spring next to a statue of St. Bernadette and pray for help dealing with serious illnesses.
Jim Francis
Do you have willful children? Are you constantly upset because your children disobey you and make bad choices without taking any advice? If you’re at your wit’s end with your kids and you’re worried about what will happen to them and what types of choices they will make later in life you’re not alone. Keep a statue of St. Monica in your home and pray to her for guidance and support if you are having problems controlling wild children or children that act out and make bad decisions. Saint Monica knows a thing or two about dealing with difficult children. St. Monica of Hippo was the mother of St. Augustine. St. Augustine grew up to become a famous theologian and philosopher whose works are still read today and taught in philosophy and religious studies classes around the world. But St. Augustine started out as a problem child that caused a lot of worry and stress for St. Monica.
St. Monica was raised in a Christian home but she was married at a young age to a Pagan man that was much older than her and had a reputation as a strict disciplinarian who also had several adulterous affairs. St. Monica stayed true to her Christian faith and raised her son to be a Christian. St. Augustine had a good education and St. Monica hoped that he would become a successful family man. But St. Augustine began to act out and become committed to living a very unhealthy lifestyle full of excess. He drank to excess, lived with a woman he wasn’t married to, and indulged in every whim or excess that he could think of.
Distraught over her son’s behavior and poor choices she sent him to a bishop that she hoped would make him see the error of his ways but St. Augustine seemed more determined than ever to live a life of debauchery. The bishop told St. Monica that she should continue praying for her son and not to give up on him. Saint Monica did keep asking God to help her son realize his mistakes and eventually her prayers were answered. St. Augustine, after realizing that the lifestyle he was living was harmful to his health, his spirit and his relationship with God became a new man and turned his back on his old lifestyle. Through the years St. Augustine’s faith didn’t waver and he became one the most eloquent and most read theologians in history.
So if you have children that are making poor choices, abusing drugs or alcohol, or are disrespectful and disobedient and you can’t seem to reach them don’t give up. Follow Saint Monica’s example and begin praying as hard you can for your children. Keeping a statue of St. Monica in your home and praying to her for help with your children will help you find the strength that you need to continue believing that your children will eventually figure out what they are doing wrong and start to make the right choices and live healthy, productive lives.
It’s not always easy to continue believing that your children can change, but when it seems like it’s just too hard and you’re tempted to give up on your kids pray to St. Monica and find inspiration in her story. It wasn’t easy for her to watch her son throw his life away making bad choices but because she never gave up on him and continued to ask for God’s help eventually her son straightened his life out and became a devout man who used his gifts and talents to help others and is still respected around the world as a philosopher and a writer.
Prayer is a mysterious thing, and often your prayers might not get answered in the way that you think they should. But keep praying for your children, and ask St. Monica for her help because even if it doesn’t seem to be helping it might be putting things in motion that will eventually lead your child to realize the error of his or her ways. If you have a friend or neighbor that is having trouble with their children buy that friend or neighbor a statue of St. Monica and tell your friend or neighbor how St. Monica never gave up on her son. Maybe that will be enough to inspire them not to give up on their children.
Erica Meyer
Famously referred to as St. Benedict of Nursia, this saint came from a rather eminent kindred that lived in Rome and had everything a boy had in his time. No one could have guessed that this well off, humble and reclusive character would get drawn to the monastic life that he chose to live. He lived to be a selfless monk and preached humility, selflessness, balance and moderation. He encouraged others by setting an example and created a movement that saw him create a monastery that remains famous to date; the Monte Cassin.
St. Benedict’s influence
He chose this path at such an early age when his age mates were busy trying to get suitors to settle with, choosing the life that was illustrated ever so vividly by the gospel. Through help from a monk, Romanus of Subiaco, he was able to not only live but show how you can live a life centered on Christ or a Christocentric life as he called it. Though most of the monastery residents found his ways too strict, they could not help admire his desire and commitment to his life of sanctity. There was an attempt on his life once by the monks when they put some poison in the wine, and when he got to bless it, the cup shattered. On another occasion, they tried poisoning the bread and soon after he blessed it, a raven flew in and took it away.
He then moved away to go and expand his monastery into thirteen communities, and handpicked the heads of each, choosing to live in the thirteenth with a select few. St. Benedict’s name depicts ‘blessing’ and he is said to have been a blessing to all faithful as he led by example, overcoming all trials, afflictions and despair, and coming out victorious. He was ever full of compassion, even for his detractors, urging all to refrain from all that is selfish, indifferent and ungodly.
This could only be achieved if one chose to detach themselves from all worldly things and focus on eternal happiness; one that Christ would bless us with at the end of time. He implored his followers to pray for others as he did for them and taught and showed love, mercy and service to all. His journey towards religious perfection is what many Christians admire in him and pray for his intercession since he experienced it first hand.
Christians all over the world pray to him to seek mediation to Christ and His Mother Mary to protect them from imminent physical danger, courage to work in hostile environments and also mercy and love to the people who discriminate against them. St. Benedict is famed for establishing the rules of living in a monastery, how a Christian should imitate the life of Christ and also how to run a monastery efficiently. Perhaps his most memorable piece is the Opus Dei, which is about the work of God. His huge veneration comes from the exemplary life he lived, a life centered on Christ who will bring us all together to eternal life.
Edward B. Colm