 their giftedness is something of which we are capable It is good to read the lives of the Saints, but I have to be clear that many existing hagiographies are simply not appealing, written with flowery descriptions that present the saint as perfect in every conceivable way. Other than the Blessed Virgin Mary (and Jesus), there are no perfect human beings and thus, no perfect saints. Everyone has weaknesses and is prone to sin, but what sets the saints apart is how well they have worked at combatting their weaknesses, and simultaneously, how well they have grown in virtue. When a hagiography presents a saint as perfect and almost too good to be true, they become difficult to relate to. This type of writing can lead to discouragement since sainthood is presented as almost impossible to attain, and it can influence us to believe that somehow these people were born to be holy and we were not. We cannot live up to what seems impossible. Accurate hagiography, however, does appeal to the reader since these accounts portray what is possible. We can see that the struggles with weakness of the holy are not unlike our own; similarly, we can see that their giftedness is something of which we are capable. These works provide the evidence of how a particular saint grew into their call to holiness, something definitely attainable and which therefore can ignite our response to God in pursuing our own path to holiness. We are all called to holiness, and therefore well written hagiographies can offer a pathway to that end.*  obstacles can be overcome with total trust in God Scripture is also a good place to discover what it means to be holy. We will find that despite their great deeds, some of the ‘heroes’ were quite broken and had what we could characterize as debilitating faults. These people loved God and desired to do His will, but sometimes they really mucked things up due to their human weakness. Others were called into ministries to which they never aspired, excelling even at the cost of suffering because they came to trust in the power and promises of God through an intimate relationship with Him. All that said, the Scriptural figures who tried to serve the Lord can be revered for the good they did; their failings can teach us not to seek our own council, but to turn to God always, and their strengths can show us that obstacles can be overcome with love and total trust in God.**  struggles do not diminish sanctity We can read about any saint in the two thousand years of Christian history and see that in addition to their wisdom and perhaps even the power of their prayer, they also made mistakes, struggling with personal areas of weakness and quite visible flaws. Some had incredible conversions which taught them to overcome their greatest weaknesses with the help of grace; others seemed to be drawn to holiness from an early age, yet also had issues to overcome. They all teach us that struggles do not diminish sanctity: as they relied on God their understanding grew concerning their weaknesses, as well as in the ways God worked within their hearts. They grew so much that they continually made a response of selfless love to God, giving witness to the power of grace; their love enabled them to supersede even their greatest weakness or sinful tendency. This is a sign of hope that we, too, can grow in holiness since these stories reveal that God does not choose His special servants based on perfection, but on something He alone sees within their hearts.  how would your hagiography read? As an exercise, imagine if someone were to write about you after your death. How would your spiritual biography or hagiography read? How would your hagiography read if you wrote it about yourself? And most importantly: how would your hagiography read if God were to write it? These are questions we all should reflect and pray upon; if we are honest this exercise will reveal our attachments and our weaknesses, yes, but it would also reveal how grace has already worked within us, how we utilize that grace to overcome our weaknesses, and how beautifully we have already used our gifts. Our hagiography will not be generally negative unless we focus only on weaknesses and refuse to see our own goodness. With thorough, balanced reflection under the guidance of the Holy Spirit we will see both our goodness and the areas that are in need of growth. I suspect we will be surprised by what we discover. Of course, we all have a lot of work to do, but it would be fallacious to think that we have not already shared the wealth of our gifts through service and witness to others, along with the desire to love God better, even if we find that we need to grow in some areas.  we must never stop praying The important point is that we must always pray to discern our call to truly follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit so that we continually respond to God’s desires for us. Similarly, it is essential that we are aware of our greatest points of vulnerability to temptation so that we can build up spiritual defenses against them as well as to grow in virtue. We must never stop praying to come to know and love God better, to receive from Him all He wants to offer, and for spiritual strength and protection against all the forces that want to thwart our growth in holiness. If we work at this every day, our hagiography will end in Heaven with Jesus saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant…. Come share your master’s joy.” (Matthew 25:21)  may we call upon the saints May we be inspired by the lives of the saints! May we call upon the saints to help us grow in holiness as they did! And may we turn to the Lord for the graces we need that we may make a loving return to Him for all His goodness and mercy! Let us meet in the Heart of Jesus! Peace!
©Michele L. Catanese * The root of the word hagiography is from the Greek word hagi meaning "of a saint, saintly, holy; from Greek hagios "sacred, devoted to the gods" (of things), "holy, pure" (of persons), in Ecclesiastical Greek,’ "a saint.’” https://www.etymonline.com/word/hagiography ** For example in the Old Testament Abram (Abraham) had a tendency to interpret what God said by taking matters into his own hands, such as when God promised him an heir. (He lied about his relationship with Sarai twice, first in Genesis 12:10 ff, then in Genesis 20; and he ‘used’ Hagar for an heir in Gen.16.) David became envious of another man’s wife and then tried to cover up his deed with worse sins. His behaviors also led to disastrous problems with his sons. Through his need to attain many wives, Solomon fell into the worship of false gods which led to the demise of Israel. In the New Testament we see that the apostles had their many weaknesses. Peter not only denied Jesus, but even after he was leader of the Christian church, he struggled at times. The best example was when he acted hypocritically in siding with the Jewish converts during the Council of Jerusalem, having recently acted completely contrary to his argument with some Gentiles. (Acts 15) St. Paul had a wonderful conversion, but even after that he grappled with a fiery temper, such as when he refused Mark in accompanying him because on the previous voyage the young man had left due to homesickness. His decision and a subsequent argument led to estrangement from his friend Barnabas for many years. (Acts 15:36-41). Images: 1. Icon; All Saints. 2. My photo; Mensa Christi, at the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in Tabgha, Israel. (Tabgha is southwest of Capernaum.) 3. Painting; St. Jerome, Penitent, by Caravaggio (1606). St. Jerome struggled with his temper all his life, even though he was a holy, prayerful man. (Remember that he translated the entire Bible from Greek into Latin; that is, he gave us the Vulgate.) 4. My photo; hagiographies on my bookshelf. 5. Icon; Christ All Merciful, by Fr. William Hart McNichols. You can purchase a copy of this in one of many different mediums at fineartamerica.com/featured/christ-all-merciful-022-william-hart-mcnichols.html 6. My photo; pilgrims in prayer procession at Lourdes, France. Note: In compliance with GDPR rules, I wish to make it clear that I do not gather any information on any of my readers at any time. Comments are closed.
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