Moneybags (such an unlikely nom de plume) over at A Catholic Life is performing an unusual service for his readers. He has oodles of saints names in a hat (whether literal or figurative I don't know) and is willing to draw a name for requesters as sort of a patron-of-the-year. I have been notified that my chosen saint, or the one who chose me, is St. Louis Bertrand. I wasn't familiar with him before, but what an intriguing person he was!

Like me, he experienced charismatic gifts, had a childhood "unattended by any of the prodigies that frequently forcast heroic sanctity," and was called to serve God in the New World. Unlike me, he was "grave, apparently without any sense of humour, yet withal possessed of a gentle and sweet disposition that greatly endeared him to those with whom he came in contact." A Dominican, he lacked most of the scholastic and preaching gifts characteristic of most of his peers, yet his quiet holiness distinguished him and led him into opportunities for great leadership, gifted evangelism and self-forgetful service.

I can learn a lot from this holy man.

2 comments

1. Matthew on 7:17 AM

   Thank you for writing this post, Rosalind. I'm so glad you enjoy your saint. May everyone with special 2006 patron saints grow in holiness.
   
   Thanks for visiting my blog.

    
2. TS on 9:44 AM

   Moneybags does have to be the most unlikely handle in St. Blogdom. Someone else referred to him as a she, so his/her sex is unclear to me.