Scottish Catholic Observer

We’ll start you off with St Margaret, Queen of Scotland. She was a living example of the lay apostolate through her personal holiness, concern for the Church and devotion to the common good. Scotland wouldn’t have been the same without her.

Strong in Faith

St Josemaría Escrivá – every Catholic should read The Way.

Chris McLaughlin

Hugh of Lincoln—my name is Hugh. [Editor’s note: Hugh of Lincoln (1135/1140 – London, 16 November 1200) was, at the time of the Reformation, the best-known English saint after Thomas Becket. As one of the premier bishops of the Kingdom of England Hugh more than once accepted the role of diplomat to France for Richard and then for King John in 1199, a trip that ruined his health. He was Canonised by Pope Honorius III on 17 February 1220 and is the patron saint of sick children, sick people, shoemakers and swans.]

Aodh Gallchobhair

Blessed Columba Marmion—he was born in Ireland but became abbot of a Benedictine monastery in Belgium. He wrote some wonderful books on the spiritual life.

Aidan Michael Cook

St Joseph of Cupertino is a good one for those of us still in education—the patron saint of bad students. He got me out of a jam once.

Chris McLaughlin

St Gianna: My daughter has chosen her as her Confirmation Saint. I told her how she was a mother who gave up her life so that her daughter could have life—the selfless love of a mother. Will pray to her daily now.

Kirsteen Mosson

SHE is not Blessed (yet), but the Venerable Margaret Sinclair inspired devotion. This Poor Clares nun (born in Edinburgh, Scotland 1900: died London, England 1925), was declared Venerable by Pope Paul VI on February 6 1978.  The National Shrine of the Venerable Margaret Sinclair’s short and simple life is located within St Patrick’s Church, Old Town, Edinburgh.

THE SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

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A holy life responds with love to God’s call

By Aidan Michael Cook

The variety of Canonised saints reminds us that we are all called to sanctity. Indeed, the feast of All Saints is, as its name suggests, about honouring all the saints, not just those who have been officially recognised as saints by the Church through Canonisation.

Even All Souls’ Day is a reminder that we are all called to holiness and to the eternal bliss of heaven. It is a day of prayer for the dead so that they might reach heaven sooner. Conversion is a lifelong process, and even then many of us need a bit longer, and so we say ‘thank God for purgatory!’

No matter what our state of life and particular vocation, we are all called to be saints. Among the saints mentioned in the discussion, for example, St Margaret (right) was a wife, mother and queen, St Hugh was a bishop, and Blessed Columba Marmion was a monk. But all conformed their lives to Christ in such a way as to live lives of virtue and charity, in obedience to God’s Will.

The heroic virtue of the Canonised saints can sometimes make us feel entirely inadequate and incapable of reaching such heights. While it is true that we all rely on God’s grace, we can be sure that He will give us all we need to live a holy life, even if in this life we do not reach the perfection of the great saints. We should admit our faults and failings, but also recognise that with God’s help we can overcome them, if we work hard enough.

There are many saints who lived and died outside the public eye, and so without the acclamation and affirmation of Canonisation. These saints are no less holy, and are perhaps the true anonymous Christians. Some lived all their lives in virtue, while others lived a lifelong struggle, but won.

The point of living a holy life is not in order to become a Canonised saint, but rather to respond with love to God’s call. We are called to store our treasure in heaven not on earth, and so the aim is not Canonisation here below, but rather to be inscribed in the Book of Life, and that is something that we can all achieve.

As the Year of Faith draws to a close, and with it a year that has brought a series of unsettling events in the Scottish Church, we do well to remember that Faith is a gift we are called to use to bring ourselves and others closer to God. An everyday life lived with virtue and love is a great treasure.

So let us draw inspiration from the lives of our favourite saints to live lives worthy of our calling and of the great gifts we have received, and to persevere to the end so that we might one day be among those remembered on that great feast of all the saints.

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