03 December 2005

Partners in Crime

As we celebrate the Memorial of St. Francis Xavier and pray for our brothers and sisters who serve the Church as missionaries, we stop to consider how we can participate in their work. St. Francis, known for the great numbers of people he baptized, is rightly hailed as a patron of missionaries. How many people, however, know with whom he shares this patronage? St. Therese of Lisieux, the cloistered Carmelite, is also a patron of missionaries. Although she never left Carmel to travel as a missionary, by her prayers and sacrifices on behalf of missionaries -- and priests, in particular, -- St. Therese shares the title, patron saint of missionaries, with St. Francis Xavier. Sometime around the 1950's it was suggested that the Rosary could be prayed in a special way for missionary work. Click here for more information on the mission rosary. Today, as we beg the harvest master to send laborers into his vineyard, let us also beg the harvest master to inspire men and women to pray for those who labor.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome to St. Blog's Parish! I found your site on the recently listed list.

I am a convert, not even a year old. A neophyte. The Holy Spirit brings new knowledge to me daily.

Today, your post on St. FX and St. ToL taught me of their common titles. Thank you.

I have thoroughly enjoyed being Catholic. It is --- heavenly in every sense of that word. Ah, the Mass! Who knew; certainly, not me when I was an ignorant heathen.

God bless you.

In God's Light,
Peace
http://peacepilgrim.fotopages.com/

Anonymous said...

I got one of these rosaries while teaching in Ireland this past summer. Now I know what the colour coding is all about. I think there is a map of Africa behind the cross, and a picture of St. Daniel Comboni on the medal.
Good job on your blog.