Have you read or watched any of the
Divergent series? If you haven’t, the tale is set in a dystopian society that
attempts to segregate people into factions according to personality traits and
desires. Sometimes, I wish that we could possess the traits of our patron
saints just by merit of their patronage. For example, my patron saint is St.
Francis of Assisi. Sweet! I should be able to live a simple life, rather
unattached to material possessions, loving the poor and virtually an animal
magnet (Noah 2.0), just because I am part of the brother Francis clan.
Unfortunately, I have a long ways to go to be fully accepting of a humble
lifestyle, and let’s be honest, I’m hesitant around puppies bigger than my
sock. Fortunately, we still have the great example of our patron saints and the
hope of their intercessory prayer!
Our
team is also fortunate to have patron saints, namely St. Vitalis of Gaza and
St. Mary of Egypt. They are not exactly the most well-known individuals in the
canon of saints, though I’m sure they have a wonderful positioning in heaven. I
was surprised they were chosen for us. Surely, there was a reason for their particular
selection. After research, I found there was a correlation between the two.
Both of their lives testified to the beauty and importance of purity in our
lives, albeit in a different manner.
St.
Vitalis of Gaza (died c. 625 AD) was a hermit that would use his wages as a
labourer to hire prostitutes, offering them a night away from the job that took
away their dignity, and instead offered them food and taught them about their
great worth as beautiful women in God’s eyes. St. Vitalis was martyred by a Christian
man who misunderstood his goings towards the brothel. At the funeral, many
women came and testified to how the saint’s loving actions had enabled them to reform
their lives.
On the other hand, St. Mary of Egypt (344 –
421) decided at one point to tempt the pilgrims heading towards Jerusalem with
impure acts. From records it seems she almost treated it as a game. Upon trying
to enter the church of the Holy Sepulchre, her heart did not allow her to proceed,
feeling the brokenness within herself. She then gazed upon an icon of the Virgin
Mary (Theotokos the mother of God)
and felt great remorse and decided to live a life apart from worldly things and
of penitence.
It
is vividly clear during retreats, by the questions posed to us and the
interactions of students between each other, that there is confusion on how and
why we should strive to uphold the dignity of our bodies and purity of our
relationships. It is close to our hearts that we share the good news to
the youth we encounter, that God loves
us and wishes for us to experience the beauty of His plan for us. We too
struggle and have struggled with these truths in our lives. But it is in our
testimonies that we witness to the youth about the precipice of a self-indulgent
culture and the freedom of breathing in the breeze of choosing chastity.
“Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Mt 5:8
…and
there can be no sweeter sight than to see God.
St.
Vitalis of Gaza,
Pray
for us
St.
Mary of Egypt,
Please pray for us
-Francis Nowak
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