I
could use your help!
I am trying to think of saints and blesseds who fit the following 3 characteristics:
Please send me names and brief descriptions of which category they fit and why (see Leave a Reply below). Thanks!
I noticed that author Jane Knuth (Thrift Store Saints) asked a question about humility yesterday on the People for Others blog. In particular, she mentions the following quote from St. Vincent de Paul and then asks readers to share their understanding of the quote. The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from […]
This past year inspired many catechetical leaders to use their creativity to reach out in new ways to parishioners. One success story is Laura Soldner’s summer event, Saints and S’mores. Laura is the Coordinator of Family Formation (K–6) at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Parish in Monona, WI. She shares about the program in the following interview. Denise Gorss for Catechist’s Journey: What is Saints and S’mores? Laura Soldner: Saints and S’mores is a drop-in […]
What’s your favorite project to work on with students in your group? We asked this question on our Catholic Faith Formation Facebook page and received a variety of creative ideas. Today we’re highlighting one lesson called “Kindness Angels.” This lesson is ideal for the Advent season as an alternative to the Elf on the Shelf. It can also be used throughout the year for busy families who are looking to engage in a meaningful way. […]
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St. Dominic was an often-overlooked revolutionary. He and St. Francis broke open the monastic mold with itinerant, mendicant communities who went out to the people and lived on whatever they were given. Dominic is eclipsed by the personable figure of Francis but it was he who turned upside down the whole approach to evangelizing the people.
Dominic realized how ineffective the preaching of the day was. He saw that the bishop in elegant attire and sustained by an equally elegant retinue was irrelevant to poor people struggling to survive and attracted to the more appealing Catharists and their teaching.
Dominic set aside all that was his by virtue of being a canon of the cathedral and set out in bare feet, one robe, and a copy of the Gospel of St. Matthew. As others joined him, he became concerned that those who were to preach the Word be well-formed in the Word. He was the first to send his young companions to the secular universities in the large urban centers of the day so that they would be well-educated. Their studies were offset by lives of personal and communal prayer centered in the liturgy of the Church.
As the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) was formed, the friars changed the ways religious communities were governed. Instead of an abbot usually appointed for life by a bishop, the Dominicans elected their leaders from the membership and for a limited term; at the end of that term, the leader went back to being a regular member of the community. This was–and is–true for both the men’s and women’s communities that comprised the Order.
Dominic was unique for his time in joining the contemplative life with one of study, community and an active apostolate. Most of what we know comes from those who knew him and wrote about him, rather than from writings of his own. He was a very quiet revolutionary!
Thanks Judith! This is great background on St. Dominic!
Innovative Gospel presenters:
Bishop Sheen (though I don’t know a whole lot about him myself).
Movement starters:
Dorothy Day;
Ignatius of Loyola (He was a layman when he began, and had to go back to school as an adult to become “qualified” and be ordained.)
Thanks Deborah! Good suggestions!