The Patronage of St. Teresa

Since St. Teresa of Calcutta has only been a saint for a couple years, I was wondering if she had been designated as the official patron of anything, yet. I found one article saying she is the Patron Saint for Doubters and another saying that the Vatican declared her the Patron Saint of Calcutta.

Did you ever wonder who gets to decide which saints are the patrons of which causes? St. Teresa’s story made me ask that question.

Here’s what I found:”Recently, the popes have named patron saints but patrons can be chosen by other individuals or groups as well. Patron saints are often chosen today because an interest, talent, or event in their lives overlaps with the special area.” (cited here) I suppose that means that, technically, any of us can decide a particular saint should be the patron of our favorite cause. Well I guess it can’t be quite that easy, but I did find another interesting development with respect to St. Teresa’s patronage.

On the weekend of her canonization, the Catholic Company posted a question to their followers on Facebook: “What causes do you think Mother Teresa should be named the patron saint of, and why?” (article describing it is here,) They received 600 comments on the thread and distilled the list of suggestions down to 136 unique proposals!

As I examine their list, it begins the way you might expect with the obvious ones: the poor, the homeless, the suffering, the marginalized, the disenfranchised, the lost and forgotten of society …clearly I could go on and on. Reading the suggestions for her patronage might even tell you more about who Mother Teresa was than reading any biography of her. You start to get a picture of who she was, as a person.

That led me to an interesting question. In as much as patronage is assigned to describe the interests, experiences, and actions of the person who has been named a saint, I wonder what kind of list would be created about me if those who know me were asked to describe my interests, experiences, and actions. What kind of picture would that paint of my life? Would I be proud of that list?

What an interesting way to examine our own lives. It causes me to think about the ways that I interact with people, and it forces me to consider the way I set my priorities in life. Really, I think it is an examination of character.

That reminds me of one of my favorite Matthew Kelly quotes. It is in his book, Perfectly Yourself, but I also ran across it during a daily meditation from his organization‘s Best Lent Ever program this year. It goes like this:

“Thoughts create actions. Actions create habits. Habits create character. And your character is your destiny.”

I want this on a poster! What a powerful life lesson. If we could teach this concept to young people, we could change the future.

How have you thought about the importance of character? What would people say if asked to nominate you for patronage of something? Would your list be what you want it to be? What little things can we adjust in our lives each day to make our lists what we want.

Lord, we are so grateful for the example of Mother Teresa in our lives. Thank you for giving us such a role model. Please guide us to learn from the example of her faith and obedience to Your call. Help us find ways to live in service of Your mission to spread Your grace and love to one another.