Good Life: Meditate on the details of beloved saints’ lives

We celebrate many popular saints’ feast days in October and November. Diving into details of their lives can console and inspire us on our own pilgrimages to Heaven. Let these saints’ examples guide your prayer life this fall.

Surrender your perfectionism to God

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: October 1 feast day

On a seaside vacation with her family, 12-year-old Thérèse Martin admired a pale blue ribbon she had tied in her hair. Terrified that this feeling offended God, she rushed to confession. While fear of offending God is virtuous, Thérèse’s was so intense that it made her physically ill. For help, she prayed to her four siblings in heaven, who had died young. “Soon my soul was flooded with the sweetest peace. I knew that I was loved, not only on earth but also in heaven,” she wrote in Story of a Soul. Do you struggle with perfectionism— in your faith life, your career, your home maintenance, or your vocation? Perfection does not earn God’s love; He already gives it to you freely. Let His love remind you that you are loved as you are, and grant you peace.

Saint Faustina Kowalska: October 5 feast day

“How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting Me off?”

Helena Kowalska stopped in her tracks when Jesus, stripped of His clothes and covered with the wounds of His crucifixion, appeared and spoke these words to her at a dance. She fled the festivities to seek solace in a cathedral. There, she heard Jesus tell her to enter a convent. She obeyed and became Sister Faustina. In the convent, Jesus revealed to her His message of Divine Mercy: His mercy and love wash away our darkest sins. What can God accomplish through your yes to Him?

Saint John Paul II: October 22 feast day

As he stood at his Vatican post on a cold Christmas Eve – his first away from family – Swiss Guard Andreas Widmer held back tears. He tried to compose himself because Pope John Paul II was about to pass by en route to Midnight Mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica. But the Holy Father stopped before Andreas: “You seem to be sad. Is this your first Christmas away from home?” When Andreas affirmed this, Pope John Paul II took his hand, looking at him as if nothing else existed. “Well, I thank you for the sacrifice you’re making for the Church,” he said. “I will pray for you tonight.” Who around you is suffering silently and could use your compassion?

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary: November 17 feast day

At 14, Princess Elizabeth of Hungary married Louis of Thuringia. It was a political alliance, but their marriage was loving and happy. He supported her desire to serve the poor when others criticized her. One day, as she carried bread to the hungry in her cloak, she encountered Louis and his courtiers, the latter of whom accused her of stealing from the palace. To prove his wife’s innocence, Louis asked her to open her cloak. It was filled with roses. Like Elizabeth and Louis, how can you show mercy and support the virtuous?

Presentation of Mary: November 21 feast day

The greatest of all the saints is our mother, Mary. When she was a child, tradition holds that her parents, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, presented her to God in the Temple. This feast is a beautiful opportunity to pray about the ways that Mary gave herself totally to God, and how we are called to do the same. As this feast and Thanksgiving approach, reflect on how God has provided for you this year and what you can give back to Him in gratitude.