What is the spiritual significance of a patron saint?
score:7
What is the spiritual significance of a patron saint?
The spiritual significance of having a patron saint is quite simple. We have a saint in heaven to, as one can say, have as a heavenly friend that will pray for us, our work and our spiritual needs.
The Church encourages us to develop spiritual friendships with those saints more closely united to us and known as Patron Saints. The reason why certain saints become patron saints of particular persons, associations or countries.
Apart from having a group of faithful that invoke a particular saint for for a particular cause, there are no official rules or norms in order to establish a certain Catholic saint the patron saint of something in particular.
In other words, the faithful remain free to add more “patronages” to particular saints as their own particular devotion, needs or circumstances deem it necessary.
On very, very rare occasions, the Holy See will name someone a patron saint for of certain cause or people. This actually happened to St. Thomas More:
On 31 October 2000 Pope John Paul II declared More "the heavenly Patron of Statesmen and Politicians". More is the patron of the German Catholic youth organisation Katholische Junge Gemeinde. - Thomas More
Catholic piety and Church teaching go hand in hand here.
There is no particular manner or special way to talk with our friends in heaven. The Church leaves it to our personal preferences in regards to our piety devotions with the saints. We are free to develop our friendship with those saints close to our hearts.
On another note saying novenas towards the saints is very powerful. There are literally hundreds of novenas. One of my favourites is the Novena of Grace in Honour of Saint Francis Xavier. The Novena of Grace is quite famous.
Yet another form of devotional prayer to the saints comes in the form of litanies!
On a personal note: There is no patron saint for recycling or those involved in recycling. I do a lot of recycling, but for years I did not have a patron saint for it. Then one day, I came across the following article: Relic of St Clement found in trash settles into Westminster Cathedral. Ever since that day, Pope St. Clement became my patron saint when I am recycling. There are no rules or norms forbidding my choice in patron saint!
More post
- 📝 Do any Christians incorporate hallucinogens into their practices?
- 📝 The word "raised" in Romans 9:17-18 and Exodus 9:16?
- 📝 What does being Born Again mean per Catholic teaching?
- 📝 What is an overview of interpretations of "all Israel will be saved" in Romans 11:26? (Catholic/Protestant overview)
- 📝 What is "intercession" and what kinds of "intercessory prayer" are there?
- 📝 Did Casting Crowns ever say why they chose their name?
- 📝 What religious significance is there in marriage for Catholics and Protestants?
- 📝 Is there a special name for the day between Easter and Good Friday?
- 📝 How does the Reformed tradition understand Philippians 2:6-9 as it regards the Hypostatic Union?
- 📝 Did Jerome’s doctrine of Mariology affect his translation?
- 📝 Is Isaiah telling about the antichrist?
- 📝 Are there involuntary Catholics?
- 📝 Does "all have sinned" (Rom. 3:23, 5:12) include every single human being?
- 📝 What is the Arminian view of God's providence?
- 📝 Did any Apostolic or Ante-Nicene Fathers believe that Jesus was a created being?
- 📝 Any traditional Vigil celebration on Holy Thursday?
- 📝 When did Jesus preach from inside a building?
- 📝 Trying to understand the footnotes in the documents of the Vatican II council
- 📝 When did the Latin Catholic Church begin to generally require fasting only one hour prior to the Eucharist?
- 📝 Did the virgin Mary worship Jesus?
- 📝 Can indirection bring us closer to Christ?
- 📝 How should other churches respond to a pastor and congregation who live contrary to the Gospel?
- 📝 Old Testament Evidence of the Hypostatic Union
- 📝 What statistics are there on the age of conversions?
- 📝 Why do Indian Christian women wear head coverings?
- 📝 What is the origin of the story of the angel Raphael and the boy Tobias?
- 📝 What's the biblical basis for Abraham, David, etc. to be raised in the first resurrection?
- 📝 Why doesn't the Catholic Church give indulgences to everybody, regardless of their works?
- 📝 What are the differences/distinctive between the Anglican and Episcopal churches?
- 📝 What prophesies are people alluding to when they say "look at the Middle East"?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What is the spiritual significance of a patron saint?
- 📝 What is the spiritual significance of swearing on a Bible among the various churches and denominations?
- 📝 What are the criteria for a saint becoming the Patron saint of something in the Catholic Church?
- 📝 What is the significance of Jesus seeing Nathanael under the fig tree?
- 📝 What is the significance of Noah, after the flood, getting drunk and cursing his son who saw him Naked?
- 📝 What is the significance of "seventy times seven"?
- 📝 What is the significance of taking hold of the horns of the altar?
- 📝 What is the significance of water from Jesus' side?
- 📝 What is the significance of the inverted pentagram symbols on the LDS Temple in Salt Lake City?
- 📝 What is the significance of the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden?
- 📝 According to Protestant trinitarians, what is the significance of the father-son relationship between God and Christ?
- 📝 What is the theological significance of the label "Christian", according to evangelicals?
- 📝 What is the significance of the burning bush?
- 📝 According to Protestantism, what is the significance of Jesus and the Mount of Transfiguration?
- 📝 What is the significance of Jesus' baptism for a theology of baptism?
- 📝 How did Isidore of Seville become the patron saint of the Internet and computer programmers?
- 📝 What is the significance of the three distinct aspects of the temptation of Eve in the garden?
- 📝 What is the significance of the three different gifts (gold, frankincense and myrrh) given to Jesus by the Magi after his birth?
- 📝 When Jesus gave Peter his name (rock) what is the significance that he then said upon a ‘different’ kind of rock he would build his church?
- 📝 What is the significance of a double cross?
- 📝 What is the significance of priest breaking the bread (Host) in a Catholic mass?
- 📝 What is the significance of changing the names of Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah?
- 📝 What is the LDS Church's position on spiritual gifts
- 📝 What is the significance of position of fingers in Jesus' hand as shown in his images?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for seeing Saint Peter at the gates of heaven?
- 📝 What is the significance of the four laws given to early Christians who were not ethnically Jews?
- 📝 What is the significance of one-third in Revelation?
- 📝 Why is Mary Magdalene the patron saint of hairdressers?
- 📝 What exactly is the purpose of a Patron Saint?
- 📝 What is the significance of Palm branches?