Who's your favorite Saint?

[Dorothea]

Hey, brothers and sisters, do you have a favorite, special Saint, and if so, why is he/she special to you? Do you have more than one?

 

[ArmyMatt]

I must confess I have more than one, especially being in the military.

but my top would have to be St John of Damascus, since he was a real polymath.

 

[Dorothea]

I must confess I have more than one, especially being in the military.

but my top would have to be St John of Damascus, since he was a real polymath.

Cool! It's one of those questions when no answer is wrong. They're ALL right.

Saint Isaac the Syrian's my favorite. Anytime I've read his writings, this image of him sitting in heaven while writing it comes to mind because his writing is so other worldly. It's amazing.

 

[rusmeister]

Super hard. I have a bunch. It’s mostly a matter of who I turn to a lot. On the road, I always say a prayer to St Nicholas and St Christopher. I ask the Theotokos to pray for a safe and peaceful life for me and my family in Russia. St Xenia, for petition about employment, to be able to feed my family. St Seraphim, to help me to pray. St Panteleimon, for the serious health issues we and our relatives face, especially my mother. St Stephanie, because she is a prominent icon under Christ’s in our living room, so she’s always there.

 

[Dorothea]

Super hard. I have a bunch. It’s mostly a matter of who I turn to a lot. On the road, I always say a prayer to St Nicholas and St Christopher. I ask the Theotokos to pray for a safe and peaceful life for me and my family in Russia. St Xenia, for petition about employment, to be able to feed my family. St Seraphim, to help me to pray. St Panteleimon, for the serious health issues we and our relatives face, especially my mother. St Stephanie, because she is a prominent icon under Christ’s in our living room, so she’s always there.

That's brilliant, Rus. Yes, that makes a lot of sense. The ones I petition most often are the Theotokos, St. John of San Fran (he's been the saint I've gone to for Christopher's medical problems and healing mostly throughout his childhood), and St. Isaac on occasion. I've actually been trying for the past few years to gain a closer relationship to the Panagia. I'd really like that. Although she hasn't been canonized a saint, I also sometimes ask Mother Gavrilia for her prayers in certain circumstances.

 

[prodromos]

Mary the Theotokos is at the top of the list, naturally, then we have St Menas, St Xenia of St Petersburg, St Demetrios the Myrrh streamer, St Arsenios the Cappadocian, St Paisios, St Porphyrios, St Catherine, St John Maximovich, ...
The list goes on.

 

[Dorothea]

Mary the Theotokos is at the top of the list, naturally, then we have St Menas, St Xenia of St Petersburg, St Demetrios the Myrrh streamer, St Arsenios the Cappadocian, St Paisios, St Porphyrios, St Catherine, St John Maximovich, ...
The list goes on.

Great! Are they petitioned each for a different need or help?

 

[ArmyMatt]

and for some odd reason, I really like St Raphael of Brooklyn and have no idea why.

 

[Mink61]

Hey, brothers and sisters, do you have a favorite, special Saint, and if so, why is he/she special to you? Do you have more than one?

I have two. St. Jude and St. Anthony. Both Saints have helped me tremendously, even in situations that I thought were 'hopeless'.

True story--

Back in the 1980's, I was having some difficulties at work. It looked like, I might even get fired. I found a short Novena to St. Jude in the newspaper, and even though I wasn't much of a practicing Catholic, I figured I'd try the Novena, anyway. So, I prayed...for 8 days.

On the 8th day, I watched the Danny Thomas Telethon, trying to raise money for St. Jude's Hospital. Have no idea why, since I never watched it before. But something about it 'moved' me. I sat down, and wrote out a check for $50, sending it to St. Jude's Hospital. I barely had the money to do this. While writing the check, I started crying and said, "You know what, Lord? All those prayers I've been saying, give them to the kids at St. Jude's. Give them to those who really need them. Forget about me. I can always start praying all over again."

The next day, I marched into Human Resources at my job. I have no idea where I got this "calm strength" from, but I told them, very matter-of-factly, that we either had to solve this issue, or go to court." Within the hour, the problem was SOLVED.

...And, as for that $50 that I didn't think I could spare...I found that I actually had an 'extra' $100...AFTER I wrote the check. I did all the math...went through my check register...It was as if *poof*! The money was THERE.

St. Jude has been my 'go to' Saint ever since that day. And he has NOT let me down.

As for St. Anthony well...I don't want to make this post too long, lol! But let's just say that, I had been looking for something that I needed for several hours. I had never called on St. Anthony before, but as I was searching, I had a thought that said, "ASK him!" So, I did. And while searching, I made a promise to him...

...and found the missing item within 10 seconds, after I made that promise. It wasn't so much that I found the item, it was more like how I found it. It was like my hand was 'guided' to a certain spot, while I was thinking, "Why would I even look HERE?" And yet...there 'it' was!

 

[SingularityOne]

St. Silouan, St. Porphyrios, St. Xenia, St. Nicholai Velemerovic, St. Paisios, St. John of Krondstat, St. Maximos the Confessor, St. John of Tobolsk, St. John of Shanghai, and St. Nicholas of Myra.

 

[Dorothea]

and for some odd reason, I really like St Raphael of Brooklyn and have no idea why.

Oh! Well, maybe it'll be revealed to you at some point.

 

[Dorothea]

St. Silouan, St. Porphyrios, St. Xenia, St. Nicholai Velemerovic, St. Paisios, St. John of Krondstat, St. Maximos the Confessor, St. John of Tobolsk, St. John of Shanghai, and St. Nicholas of Myra.

Awesome! I should add St. Paisios, too. I remember reading the life of St. Silouan. Great book and Saint! Have a book by St. Nicholai too. And St. John of Krondstat! Read the life of St. Porphyrios too. So many!

 

[Dorothea]

I have two. St. Jude and St. Anthony. Both Saints have helped me tremendously, even in situations that I thought were 'hopeless'.

True story--

Back in the 1980's, I was having some difficulties at work. It looked like, I might even get fired. I found a short Novena to St. Jude in the newspaper, and even though I wasn't much of a practicing Catholic, I figured I'd try the Novena, anyway. So, I prayed...for 8 days.

On the 8th day, I watched the Danny Thomas Telethon, trying to raise money for St. Jude's Hospital. Have no idea why, since I never watched it before. But something about it 'moved' me. I sat down, and wrote out a check for $50, sending it to St. Jude's Hospital. I barely had the money to do this. While writing the check, I started crying and said, "You know what, Lord? All those prayers I've been saying, give them to the kids at St. Jude's. Give them to those who really need them. Forget about me. I can always start praying all over again."

The next day, I marched into Human Resources at my job. I have no idea where I got this "calm strength" from, but I told them, very matter-of-factly, that we either had to solve this issue, or go to court." Within the hour, the problem was SOLVED.

...And, as for that $50 that I didn't think I could spare...I found that I actually had an 'extra' $100...AFTER I wrote the check. I did all the math...went through my check register...It was as if *poof*! The money was THERE.

St. Jude has been my 'go to' Saint ever since that day. And he has NOT let me down.

As for St. Anthony well...I don't want to make this post too long, lol! But let's just say that, I had been looking for something that I needed for several hours. I had never called on St. Anthony before, but as I was searching, I had a thought that said, "ASK him!" So, I did. And while searching, I made a promise to him...

...and found the missing item within 10 seconds, after I made that promise. It wasn't so much that I found the item, it was more like how I found it. It was like my hand was 'guided' to a certain spot, while I was thinking, "Why would I even look HERE?" And yet...there 'it' was!

Nice!

 

[ArmyMatt]

Oh! Well, maybe it'll be revealed to you at some point.

oh, I am sure

 

[SingularityOne]

Awesome! I should add St. Paisios, too. I remember reading the life of St. Silouan. Great book and Saint! Have a book by St. Nicholai too. And St. John of Krondstat! Read the life of St. Porphyrios too. So many!

Glory to God in His Saints!

 

[ArmyMatt]

Glory to God in His Saints!

amen!

 

[Light of the East]

I must confess I have more than one, especially being in the military.

but my top would have to be St John of Damascus, since he was a real polymath.

I agree. The more I learn about the lives of St. Herman of Alaska, St. John of Shanghai, and the many other saints who led virtuous lives, built the Church, and were miracle workers, it's hard to have a favorite.

 

[ArmyMatt]

I agree. The more I learn about the lives of St. Herman of Alaska, St. John of Shanghai, and the many other saints who led virtuous lives, built the Church, and were miracle workers, it's hard to have a favorite.

amen

 

[Dorothea]

There's a book on the saints from the start (OT era) to present. It's for children, and I still got it. Both Nicholas and I wanted the book because of the awesome illustrations and timeline of the saints! And there are quite a few listed that I've not heard of, and each one has his/her story in this book! I will take a picture and see if I can post the one page with the timeline. The book is called 101 Orthodox Saints. Took a closer picture of a portion of some of the saints so you might be able to see better. And sorry that it's side ways!

 

[E.C.]

St Constantine the Great. He knew his place in life as an emperor and despite that lead as much a Christian life as he could. More importantly, he unified the Empire and got the Church together to figure out if Arianism was a heresy or not. I think we need more unifying figures.

St Patrick has a special place. The Roman Catholic church and school I attended as a kid were both named after him. He's very much a Western saint, yet still Orthodox. I'd also argue that he's an honorary American saint

Lastly, I'd have to say maybe St Tikhon, Apostle of America. Similar to St Constantine, he too was a unifying figure and he worked to make Orthodoxy accessible to Americans. I've also been gravitating towards the late Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas of blessed memory. I can't wait for the day he's glorified.