Happy New Year!
I have no grand illusions that 2021 is going to be drastically different or less crazy than 2020, but I do have hope that this new year can still be full of blessings and ever draw my family nearer to the Lord.
One way our family tries to draw nearer to God at the start of each new year is to draw a saint name for each person in our family. We can call upon our special saint to intercede for us throughout the year, and try to learn more about that saint and strive to emulate their virtues. We had 2 families join us this year for a New Year's celebration, and they also drew saint names, so that was fun to share our tradition with them. We first learned of this tradition from the diary of St. Faustina because her convent had the beautiful tradition of drawing saint names each year.
Here is our list of saints for 2021:
Paul: St. Therese of Lisieux (I have to admit I'm a bit jealous that he got St. Therese because she is one of my favorite saints, but I'm glad my husband gets the opportunity to befriend her in a special way this year.)
Maria: St. Elizabeth of Portugal (This St. Elizabeth was the niece of the more famous St. Elizabeth of Hungary. She was a very pious queen who was given the nickname "Peacemaker" because she helped prevent a couple of wars within her family and miraculously kept peace in her marriage even though her husband was a shmuck---ie: unfaithful and had many illegitimate children. Legend says that her faithfulness and piety eventually brought about his conversion towards the end of his life. I can already tell she is more saintly than I'll ever be because I would have left the shmuck long before that! I am quite sure that I have drawn this saint before, so perhaps God knows I need her intercession... Maybe she will help me stop judging all the shmucks in this world and help bring about their conversion instead?) :) :) :)
Joseph: St. Ignatius of Loyola (This saint seems perfect for Joseph since both Joseph and Ignatius are goal-driven men who suffered injuries that slowed them down, changed their plans, and helped them grow in holiness. Ignatius wanted to be a renowned soldier but got so wounded in battle that he had to give up that dream and spent his recovery time reading about the saints. This eventually led him to his true calling of starting a religious order called the Society of Jesus. Joseph also suffered an injury his senior year of high school that drastically changed his plans, but God used it to help him grow in holiness. May St. Ignatius help Joseph to always keep his eyes fixed on Jesus and to trust that God's plans are always better than our own.)
Michael: St. Valerian (This saint was a very early martyr of the Church and may have been the husband of St. Cecelia. Legend says that St. Cecelia did not want to get married because she wanted to live a life of chastity, but her parents forced her betrothal to Valerian. On their wedding night, St. Cecelia told Valerian that God wanted her to remain a pure virgin and that God sent an angel to protect her virginity. Valerian asked to see the angel, but she told him he wouldn't be able to see it unless he became a Christian. So Valerian met with a priest who explained the Christian faith to him in such a powerful way that he asked to be baptized. He was then able to see the angel next to his pure wife and they both took a vow of chastity. A short time later they were both martyred, along with Valerian's brother Tiburtius. The head Roman executioner named Maximus was converted by the faith of these two martyr brothers, and he was martyred as well. I pray that St. Valerian helps Michael become stronger in his faith and able to bravely share his faith with others like Valerian did).
Dominic: St. Gabriel the Archangel (May this angelic saint, who is the great messenger from God in the Bible, help my son Dominic to be holy and to spread the message of the Gospel in our world that needs that message more than ever!)
Nathanael: St. Prisca (This is a saint that I had to research because I had never heard of her. She is one of the very early child martyrs of the church. She was likely born to a Christian family during the reign of Claudius II and bravely refused to renounce her Christianity as a teenager. One legend says that she was taken to the arena to be killed by lions, but the lions simply licked her feet. But sadly, they beheaded her after the failed assasination-by-lion-attempt. Legend tells us that after her martyrdom a giant eagle protected her body from scavengers until Christians came to give her a proper Christian burial. I pray that Nathanael learns to stand up for his Catholic faith in all circumstances just like St. Prisca.)
Isaiah: Joan of Arc (This young French peasant girl, who had visions of St. Michael, St. Margaret, and St. Catherine, who bravely went into battle as a teenager because she felt it was God's holy will, and who was unjustly condemned to death, is certainly going to be a powerful intercessor for our youngest son! Isaiah already has Joan's simple yet profound faith in God. May he become a saint like her and meet her face to face someday.)
Blessings on your New Year, and let me know if you want me to draw a saint name for you :)
Totus Tuus,
~Maria
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