On the Square Today

In her latest On the Square column , Elizabeth Scalia shares what she’s learned from the saints:

In the Office of Readings for today, Saint Bernard instructs: “The saints want us to be with them, and we are indifferent. The souls of the just await us, and we ignore them . . . We should not only want to be with the saints, we should also hope to possess their happiness.”

I can only agree. Opening up to my patron has been deeply rewarding and sometimes confounding. As 2010 drew to a close, though determined to maintain my friendship with Saint Philip, I nevertheless prayed for a new patron and was rewarded with Saint Catherine of Siena, who has for most of this year intimidated me into stupid silence. Lately, though, I have begun to glean her workings in my heart and life; she is more subtle than Philip, but a thorough teacher.