Too many to number!

I am sure that each one of us has a favorite saint. Each one of us has a patron saint or saints. I have a number of favorite saints, one I just added to my list - St. Martin de Porres. Last night I finished reading his biography and I am overwhelmed by his holiness and by the way God used him for healing, feeding the poor etc. . His story is an amazing one!

Most well-known saints have their own feast days. But the saints in Heaven are numerous - most of them unknown to us and known only to God. Tomorrow, November 1, we celebrate THEIR feast day. We gather them all together and give glory to God for ALL SAINTS! That number probably includes some of our relatives, our ancestors, our acquaintances, priests and Sisters we have known. They were all ages when they died; one young woman recently beatified - Clare Luce Badana - was only 19 when she died of cancer. http://www.romereports.com/palio/Chiara-Luce-Badano-to-be-Beatified-Just-19-Years-After-Her-Death-english-2803.html

These men and women are alive - they are in Heaven in the company of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are in communion with us. The Church calls that mystery "the Communion of Saints." They have God's ear so let us rejoice tomorrow that these heavenly friends of ours have made it to Heaven. Ask them to pray for us so that we make it there too!

The above art work is part of a tapestry depicting the saints which hangs in the Cathedral of the Angels in Los Angeles, Calif. Click on this link for a story about the tapestry. http://www.olacathedral.org/