NOV. 1, 2015 JOURNEY WITH THE SAINTS

Today, the Catholic world celebrates All Saints' Day. We pause from our daily routine to honor the Communion of Saints who play an important
 role in our lives. The saints who are our "intercessors" in heaven are an integral part of our Catholic tradition since its its beginnings. So, I have a set of  favorite ones to whom I entrust my innermost desires for help and fulfillment.

The many years of travel have enriched my life with invaluable information and appreciation of the peoples who inhabit the earth. I have rubbed shoulders with highly esteemed members of the diplomatic corps in international forums in Geneva, London, Tokyo,etc., have conversed with farmers in the rice fields of Thailand and have walked side-by-side with waist-down-only dressed women of Papua New Guinea. Barefoot and completely covered with a long black wrap, I have joined members of Islam inside the Dome of the Rock down to see the huge marble-like rock on which Abraham laid Isaac to be sacrificed. I have stood before the Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona, Spain enveloped with breathtaking awe no structure I have seen can equal in grandeur and style and have been mystified at the foot of the majestic Pyramids of Giza, Egypt.

True, I have climbed up, on foot, both the Tower of London and the Dome of Sacre Couer in Paris and have enjoyed the trolley ride  up the Eiffel Tower and the one to the hallowed grounds of Masada in Israel. I remember my strong legs then leading me back and forth the hazardous Bridge of the River Kwai in Thailand/Burma and the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco during its 75th Anniversary in the 1900's. And not to be forgotten were the reception committees that met me at the airports of countries of site conferences which sometimes included ambassadors who have become my friends and the stark contrast of the surge of a crowd of beggars that greeted me outside the airport of Dacca, Bangladesh. Another milestone in my travels was the tour through the magnificent intricately embellished artwork which represent the penultimate of the ingenuity of men in the walls, ceilings and furniture of Versailles, considered the most beautiful palace in the world and the heart-rending walk through the grim bunkers and gas chambers which killed millions of people during World War II in Auschiwtz, Poland.

But through all those encounters, my journey to the Shrines of Saints had been the most impressive and rewarding. This is so because the saints, their lives and work, specially of my favorites, are   fully integrated within the fabric of my Catholic Faith. Among the ones I have visited are the ff:

1.  St. Bernadette
          The incorrupt body of St. Bernadette lies in the Convent of St. Gildard in Nevers, France. After having been entombed for 35 years, her remains were exhumed and found "intact." It was re-buried and when exhumed again after 30 years, her body remained incorrupt and thence put on a reliquary in the chapel where she still lies today.

2.   St. Vincent de Paul
          The incorrupt body of St. Vincent de Paul lies high above the altar of the Mission Lazarite Church on Rue de Sevres, Paris. He was so well-known and loved during his time because of his philanthropic work so that when he died, the cortege passed through almost all streets in Paris and later enthroned in his mission church. He was never buried.

3.   St. Catherine Laboure
          The incorrupt body of St. Catherine Laboure with her blue eyes open lies at the chapel of the Motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity in Paris. While still a novitiate, our Blessed Mother appeared to her several times and instructed her re the medal which has become known as the Miraculous Medal.

4.   St. Jean Vianney
          The incorrupt body of St. Jean Vianney lies in the high altar of the church of Ars, France. He struggled in his studies and was ordained priest without the faculty of hearing confessions. When he was granted the privilege, he stayed in the confessional from 9 to 12 hours a day. People all over Europe came to him for confession and is now known as the Patron Saint of Priests.

5.   St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
          The incorrupt body of St. Margaret Mary is on the side wall of the Visitation Chapel in Paray-le-Monial, France. Jesus appeared to her several times and showed His heart thirsty for the love of men. She worked for the start of the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Holy Hour. Through her initial effort, the Sacre Couer (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) was built in Montmartre, Paris, centuries later.

6.   St. Claude de Colombiere
          Just around the corner of the Visitation Chapel in Paray-le-Monial is the Church of St. Claude de Colombiere, the Jesuit priest who helped propagate the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Church history records that there was so much opposition and controversy surrounding the institution of the Sacred Heart devotion by St. Margaret Mary. The incorrupt right arm of St. Claude de Colombiere is in a reliquary.

7.    St. Francis of Assisi
          The bones of St. Francis are entombed in the basement of the basilica named after him in Assisi, Italy. I sat there so disturbed by the question, " Why is St. Francis who is well-known by both Catholics and non-Catholics alike, who founded the Franciscan Order and who suffered the Stigmata (five wounds of Christ) in his body not among the Incorruptibles? "

8.    St. Clare of Assisi
          The incorrupt body of St. Clare is in the Basilica of Santa Chiara at the far end of the hill in Assisi. She abandoned her noble birth to follow the spirituality of St. Francis and founded the Community of Poor Clares at San Damiano where the miracle of the "hot cross buns" happened.

9.    St. Padre Pio of Pietrelchina
          Forty years after his death in 1968, the body of St. Padre Pio was exhumed and found to be "incorrupt." The Church allowed public veneration for a whole year in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy before being entombed again for another 30 years. Seeing him like one who had just died minus the "stigmata" which he bore for 50 years will forever be etched in my memory. The priests present during his last hours attested that on breathing his last, the wounds on his body disappeared instantly without leaving a mark.  

10.   St. Anthony of Padua
          Though born in Lisbon, Portugal in the 12th Century, St. Anthony is as popular today as he was during his time because of the many miracles attributed to him. Hence, he is called the "Miracle Worker." His tomb is in the magnificent multi-domed Basilica of St. Anthony in Padova, Italy where he spent most of his priestly life. He was a prominent preacher and his incorrupt tongue which appears to be moist is in a reliquary. 

11.   St. Faustina
          "The Apostle of Mercy" is the title given to St. Faustina to whom Jesus entrusted the devotion to His Divine Mercy in Warsaw, Poland. Aside from the visit to the chapel where Jesus visited St. Faustina, I had the privilege of stepping inside the house of the family of the saint who had been entrusted the Devotion to Jesus' Divine Mercy.


12.   St. Maximilian Kolbe
          He is the saint referred to as "The Martyr Saint of Auschwitz" because while imprisoned in the concentration camp of the infamous Auschwitz, he volunteered to die in place of another prisoner. He was among the ten prisoners sent to the "starvation bunker." When I saw the bunker where he died, goosebumps all over me took some time to wear off as I continued to see the gas chambers and barracks of the camp where reportedly 6 million Jews were killed in World War II - 1939 - 1945.