SAINTS
Patron
DAYS OF GLORY
Fullness of Joy in His Presence
The Church invites us to see the intercession of the saints
as a divine help in our earthly pilgrimage.
Different saints are used by God in manifold ways
to give us particular graces.
As we journey towards our
Eucharistic Congress, “Days of Glory”,
we want to implore the heavenly assistance of the saints.
In particular, we are adopting some saints
as our patrons for the Congress week to help us
with different areas of the Eucharistic mystery in our lives.
SAINTS
Patron
La Divina Pastora
We place the Eucharistic Congress week under the special protection and intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of La Divina Pastora, Mary Mother of the Divine Shepherd Jesus. Catholics trace the devotion to La Divina to a statue whose origin dates to the Capuchin Catholic order which came to Trinidad through Venezuela in the mid-18th century, and whose special patroness was proclaimed to be La Divina Pastora by Pope Pius VI in 1795. Given the special place La Divina Pastora has in our local Catholic history we turn to her to help us guide our whole Congress week. May she bring us close to her son Jesus in the Eucharist. There, let us drink at the fountain of all grace.
La Divina Pastora, pray for us!
Blessed Carlos Acustis
This young Italian soon to be saint is our Patron for the Eucharistic devotion of the youth of our Archdiocese. Blessed Carlos died in 2005 at the young age of 15 from cancer. He faced the darkness of his disease with joy and hope. His secret was Christ in the Eucharist. From a young age he had profound devotion to the Holy Eucharist. He always found in the Holy Mass and Eucharistic Adoration his strength and his highway to heaven. He is often quoted for saying: “the more we receive the Eucharist, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.” His love for Jesus grew strong in the presence of the Holy Eucharist. He understood well the effects of the Eucharistic Jesus when he said: “when we face the sun we get a tan … but when we stand before Jesus in the Eucharist we become saints.” May Blessed Carlos help the youth of our diocese to experience the profound renewal of mind and heart that is born from devotion to the Eucharistic Lord.
Blessed Carlos Acutis, pray for us!
St. Pascal Baylon
This Spanish mystic and saint was proclaimed the patron saint of Eucharistic congresses and societies in 1897 by Pope Leo XIII. As a result we implore his heavenly help for the fruitfulness and success of our Eucharistic Congress. Known as the seraph of the Eucharist St. Pascal learned his devotion to the Holy Eucharist from his parents as a young boy. As a Franciscan lay brother his devotion to the Holy Mass was always felt by those around him. He was also often found in the chapel prostrate before the Eucharistic Lord in much of his free time. St. Pascal's Eucharistic devotion also overflowed into his many written reflections on the Blessed Sacrament. He is often quoted as saying “God is as really present in the consecrated Host as he is in the glory of heaven.”
St. Pascal Baylon, pray for us!
St. Martin de Porres
St. Martin de Porres is known to be the wonder-worker of Lima, Peru. The Holy Spirit dwelt powerfully in this Dominican lay brother. Many experienced miraculous healings through his prayers and ministry. One of the great miracles in Martin’s own life was his tremendous service and love to the poor and the broken. There were two secrets to Martin’s great love. The first secret of Martin’s life was his devotion to our Blessed Mother through the Holy Rosary. Through the Holy Rosary Martin contemplated the mysteries of Jesus’ life which inspired him to live like Christ. The second secret was his powerful love of the Holy Eucharist. It is said that he spent eight hours a day in prayer before the Eucharistic Jesus. It is from this time of adoration that St. Martin grew in strength and joy to become the apostle of charity towards the poor and abandoned in Lima. His many hours given to Jesus were in fact the secret of his life given to so many. As one of our patrons for our Eucharistic Congress, we implore his heavenly assistance to help us find the face of Jesus in the Eucharist and in the face of the poor.
St. Martin de Porres, pray for us!
St. Charbel
Considered as the flower of Lebanon, St. Charbel was a hermit known for his profound Eucharistic love. The Eucharist was literally the centre of his life, and everything else revolved around it. He spent many hours a day in adoration of the Eucharistic Lord. He prayed incessantly for souls to be saved. His union with Christ was so profound that other hermits would see him levitating in prayer before the tabernacle. His witness of a life dedicated to prayer and penance speaks to the primacy of Christ in all our Christian lives. Our patron St. Charbel spent many hours preparing for Mass and in thanksgiving after Mass. As a result, we implore him in a special way to help us all prepare more worthily for Mass and to learn to spend time in thanksgiving in the Church after Mass has ended. May he help us fix our eyes on the Eucharistic Jesus as the source and summit of our faith.
St. Charbel, pray for us!
St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
This saint needs no introduction. Her radical commitment to follow Christ captured the world's attention. She would be the first to say that the secret of her day was Holy Mass and Eucharistic Adoration. When the ministry of the sisters got busier, she decided to increase their time of daily Eucharistic Adoration. St. Mother Teresa once said "I know I would not be able to work one week if it were not for that continual force coming from Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament." One of the goals of this congress is to inspire us to deeper intimacy with Jesus in the Eucharist. May we hear the thirst of the Eucharistic Jesus for our love. St. Mother Teresa says "On the Cross Jesus said ‘I thirst’. From the Blessed Sacrament Jesus continues to say to each of us ‘I thirst’. He thirsts for our personal love, our intimacy, our union with Him in the Blessed Sacrament." Let us invoke the intercession of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta to help our Congress give birth to a revival of intimacy with Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration in our Archdiocese of Port of Spain.
St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!
"Let us adore Jesus in our hearts,
who spent 30 years out of 33 in silence;
who began his public life by spending 40 days in silence;
who often retired alone to spend the night on a mountain in silence.
He who spoke with authority, now spends his earthly life in silence.
Let us adore Jesus in the eucharistic silence."
St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta.