As a Catholic and according to my interpretation of Saints, they were the most faithful people that God place on earth. However, they were place earth for me and other believer we should take those Saints live's experience, holy behavior and put in perspective that those people were human beings who portrayed and lived a Christ like behavior. My Spiritual guess is to assume, God's thought was to send those Saint on Earth to be an inspiration to us, to prove the live those Saints lived, we can live too or somewhat close to their traits.
I read about several, but one specific Saint that drew my attention was St. Therese. She is the youngest of all Saints in the Catholic faith. She was born in 1873 and was the youngest of nine children. Her mother died when she was only 4yrs. She was only 24years old when she died on September 30, 1897. Being place on earth for such a short period of time and the tremendous amount of Faith she should in God is amazing to me. At the age of of 14yrs old, St. Therese join the convent. The question on hand is, at 14year, how many young people including myself had God, Faith and being Spiritually Holy on their mine? Majority if not all teen don't go or don't want to go to church much less to join a convent which is basically being married to God. This take Strong Faith and devotion to do what she have done and what really amase me is, how young she was. St. Therese suffered from a severe illness which doctors couldn't diagnose. It affected her bones, liver and gets massive head aches. At the age of 9 she was admitted in the hospital for the illness with no cure because doctors was unable to diagnose. This amazing young 9year old child understand and knew Gods love that she prayed and ask God to deliver her. She kept her Faith in God and one day she looked up at a picture of Mary at her bed side and prayed. immediately she was cured. St Therese described her life as " a little way of spiritual childhood". What I am fascinated with about her is she lived each day with unshakable confidence in God despite how young she was.
On May 17,1925 she was canonized by Pope Pius XI and had she lived she would have been 52years. In 1997, St therese was declared a Doctor of the church by Pope John Paul II and she also has been acclaimed the greatest Saint of Modern times.
What drew me to her, as i said before, is how young she was and proclaimed so much faith and great intimacy with God. Where she lived a hidden life of prayer , Again, so amazingly so young. Her story makes my faith seems as if I am not trying. It encourages me to become more intimate with God, to keep faith no matter what.
http://www.littleflower.org/
