Saints of the Household

"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."

— Luke 1:46-47 (KJV)

When the angel Gabriel came to a young woman in Nazareth, she answered with the most consequential yes in human history: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.' Through her, the Word became flesh. Christian households remember her as the Theotokos — the God-bearer — and as the first disciple.

"Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him."

— Matthew 1:24 (KJV)

Carpenter, husband, and earthly father to our Lord. Joseph is the quiet saint — he speaks no recorded word in the gospels. His life is given in obedient action: he protects, he provides, he flees to Egypt and returns, he teaches his trade to a young Jesus. He is the patron of working households.

"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

— John 1:29 (KJV)

The forerunner. Clothed in camel's hair, eating locusts and wild honey, John called Israel to repentance at the Jordan. When he saw Christ approaching, he pointed and spoke the words that have echoed through every liturgy since. 'He must increase, but I must decrease' — the calling of every saint after him.

"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

— Matthew 16:16 (KJV)

Simon the fisherman, called by Christ from his nets, given the name Peter — the Rock. He confessed Christ first; he denied Christ three times; he was forgiven by the lake at sunrise. The keys of the kingdom were placed in his hands. He carried the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome, and was the first to open the door of faith to the Gentiles.

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

— Philippians 1:21 (KJV)

A Pharisee who pursued the early Church until Christ met him on the road to Damascus and turned his whole life around in a single moment of light. From that day Paul traversed the Roman world — Antioch, Corinth, Ephesus, Athens, Rome — planting churches and writing letters that still teach the household of faith today.

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God."

— 1 John 4:7 (KJV)

The disciple whom Jesus loved. John leaned upon the Lord's breast at the last supper, stood at the foot of the cross, and ran to the empty tomb. In his old age at Ephesus he wrote the fourth gospel and three letters of love. Tradition says his last words, repeated again and again, were: 'Little children, love one another.'

"Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master."

— John 20:16 (KJV)

She followed Christ from Galilee, stood at the cross when others had fled, and came to the tomb in the dawn. The first witness of the resurrection. The Lord called her by name in the garden, and she became the apostle to the apostles, sent to tell the others that he was alive.

"Lord, lay not this sin to their charge."

— Acts 7:60 (KJV)

A deacon of the early Church, full of faith and the Holy Spirit. When called before the council, he preached the long story of Israel and of Christ. He saw heaven opened, and at the end of his life he forgave those who took it. His prayer for his persecutors was heard in the soul of a young Saul, who would later become Paul.

"For to me to live is Christ."

— Philippians 1:21 (KJV)

Bishop of the church at Antioch, where the followers of Christ were first called Christians. On the long journey to Rome at the end of his life, he wrote letters to seven churches — letters that still teach us how the early Church understood the Eucharist, the bishop, and the unity of the faithful.

"Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."

— Revelation 2:10 (KJV)

A disciple of John the Evangelist, bishop of Smyrna for many decades. When asked at the end of his life to curse Christ, he answered: 'Eighty and six years have I served him, and he never did me any injury; how then can I blaspheme my King who has saved me?' He is a living bridge between the apostles and the early Church.

"If God be for us, who can be against us?"

— Romans 8:31 (KJV)

Born in Roman Britain, taken to Ireland as a captive when he was sixteen, he learned to pray in the cold and the loneliness. After escape and return home, he heard the voice of Ireland calling him back. He went, and brought the gospel to the people who had once enslaved him. The Lorica — the breastplate of Patrick — still prays Christ before, behind, above, beneath, and all around.

"Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee."

— Psalm 73:25 (KJV)

A brilliant young North African who lived first for himself and the praise of others. The prayers of his mother Monica followed him to Italy. In a garden in Milan he heard a child singing 'Take and read' — opened the Bible at Romans, and his life turned. He became bishop of Hippo and gave the Church the Confessions, the City of God, and a theology of grace that has shaped Christianity ever since.

"Pray without ceasing."

— 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV)

The patient mother of Augustine. She prayed for her son for many years while he wandered far from Christ. A bishop once said to her: 'The son of such tears shall never perish.' She lived to see his conversion. She is the patroness of mothers who pray, and of every household waiting on the slow mercy of God.

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."

— Hebrews 13:8 (KJV)

Bishop of Alexandria, defender of the full divinity of Christ at the Council of Nicaea. When the empire turned against the Nicene faith, Athanasius stood almost alone — 'Athanasius against the world.' He was exiled five times and returned five times. The Nicene Creed we recite today carries his witness.

"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

— Matthew 25:40 (KJV)

Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. He gave away his inheritance, built a hospital and a complex of buildings for the poor that the people called the New City. The liturgy that bears his name is still prayed in the Eastern churches. His sister Macrina and his brother Gregory of Nyssa were saints too — one holy household out of which a generation of theology grew.

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."

— John 1:14 (KJV)

The Theologian — one of only three saints the Eastern Church gives this title to. Friend of Basil from their student days in Athens. Briefly archbishop of Constantinople, where his sermons on the Trinity in a tiny chapel called the Anastasis filled with crowds. His preaching shaped how Christians have spoken of the Trinity ever since.

"In every thing give thanks."

— 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV)

John the Golden-Mouth, archbishop of Constantinople, the greatest preacher of the early Church. He preached on the gospels and on Paul with such fire and clarity that crowds still read his sermons sixteen centuries later. He famously said that thanksgiving is the answer to almost every sorrow: 'Glory to God for all things.'

"His delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."

— Psalm 1:2 (KJV)

Father of Western monasticism. He withdrew to a cave at Subiaco, then founded the great monastery at Monte Cassino. His Rule — a balanced, gentle, practical guide to a life of prayer and work — has shaped Christian community life for fifteen hundred years. 'Ora et labora' — pray and work.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

— Matthew 5:3 (KJV)

Son of a wealthy merchant who walked away from his inheritance to embrace Lady Poverty. He preached to sparrows, made peace between cities, and built up an order whose name simply meant Little Brothers. His Canticle of the Sun — praising God through Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind, Sister Water — gave creation a voice in worship.

"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life."

— Psalm 27:4 (KJV)

A young noblewoman of Assisi who heard Francis preach and slipped out of her parents' house on Palm Sunday to follow him. She founded a community of women — the Poor Clares — known for radical simplicity, contemplation, and joy. She is the saint of clear vision.

"It is more blessed to give than to receive."

— Acts 20:35 (KJV)

Bishop of Myra. Famous already in his own lifetime for secret generosity to the poor — the story of three bags of gold tossed through a window to provide dowries for three girls is the seed of every Saint Nicholas story since. Patron of children, of sailors, and of every household that gives in secret.

"I am the light of the world."

— John 8:12 (KJV)

A young woman of Syracuse whose name means light. Her feast falls in the deep darkness of December, near the longest night of the year. In Scandinavia, on her morning, the eldest daughter of each household traditionally brings coffee and saffron buns to her parents wearing a crown of candles — light carried into the dark.

"Put on the whole armour of God."

— Ephesians 6:11 (KJV)

A soldier from Cappadocia who refused to deny his faith. The medieval story of George and the dragon is a parable — the dragon is whatever stalks the city, the maiden is the people, the saint is Christ working through his servant. England, Russia, Ethiopia, Georgia all claim him as patron.

"If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor."

— Matthew 19:21 (KJV)

Father of the desert monks. He heard that gospel verse read aloud one morning in church and took it literally, walking out into the Egyptian desert at age twenty. For decades he prayed and fought spiritual battles in silence. He drew thousands after him, and the desert tradition that begins with him still nourishes the Coptic and Orthodox churches today.

"But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part."

— Luke 10:42 (KJV)

Older sister of Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa. She formed a household-monastery on her family estate where women lived a life of prayer and learning. Her brother Gregory wrote her last conversation — On the Soul and the Resurrection — as one of the most beautiful Christian texts of the ancient world.

"How sweet are thy words unto my taste!"

— Psalm 119:103 (KJV)

A monk of Jarrow in northern England who spent his whole life in the same monastery, writing. His Ecclesiastical History of the English People is the founding work of English history. He died translating the Gospel of John into English for his brothers — his last words, dictated to a young scribe, were 'It is finished.'

"When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek."

— Psalm 27:8 (KJV)

Italian by birth, archbishop of Canterbury, theologian and contemplative. His method — fides quaerens intellectum, 'faith seeking understanding' — became a foundation for medieval theology. His Proslogion is at once an argument for the existence of God and a prayer to him: 'Teach my heart where and how to seek thee.'

"Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD."

— Psalm 150:6 (KJV)

Visionary, composer, healer, abbess on the Rhine. She wrote theology, music of soaring antiphons, and the first natural-history text by a woman in Europe. Her phrase 'viriditas' — the green-life of all things — held creation and creation's God together in a single song.

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness."

— Galatians 5:22 (KJV)

Bishop of Geneva in a time of bitter division. He went on foot to villages no one else would visit. His Introduction to the Devout Life taught — for the first time in a popular way — that holiness was not only for monks and nuns but for ordinary households, ordinary husbands and wives, ordinary working days. The patron of gentle speech.

"Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

— Matthew 18:3 (KJV)

A young woman who entered the Carmelite convent at Lisieux at fifteen and died at twenty-four. Her Little Way — doing every small thing with great love — has carried more souls than great theology. She promised that after her death she would let fall a shower of roses upon the earth. People still receive them.