Saints for the Week: Big Hearts, Big Faith, and Little Ways
The Church gives us a beautiful group of saints to celebrate this week. And what I love about the Church calendar is that the saints are not all the same. Some were scholars, some missionaries, some contemplatives, and some simply tried to love God faithfully in the ordinary things of everyday life.
This week we meet St. Jerome, St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, and the Holy Guardian Angels.
📖 September 30 — St. Jerome
St. Jerome was a priest, biblical scholar, and one of the great lovers of Sacred Scripture. He is best known for translating the Bible into Latin, producing what became known as the Vulgate.
Jerome had a reputation for being brilliant—and also for having a rather strong personality! He could be passionate, outspoken, and occasionally not the easiest person to disagree with. In other words, he was a saint who was very human!
But underneath all of that was a deep love for God's Word.
St. Jerome reminds us that the Bible is not simply an old book sitting on a shelf collecting dust. It is God's Word speaking to us today.
Maybe St. Jerome's feast is a good opportunity to open the Bible again. And if your Bible has a little dust on it, don't worry—St. Jerome would probably understand!
🌹 October 1 — St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus
The very next day we celebrate St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, the Little Flower.
Thérèse lived only 24 years, entered the Carmelite convent when she was very young, and never travelled around the world preaching to thousands of people. Yet she became one of the most beloved saints in the Church and was declared a Doctor of the Church.
Her great discovery was what she called her “little way.”
Thérèse understood that holiness does not necessarily mean doing spectacular things. It means doing ordinary things with extraordinary love.
A smile. A kind word. Patience with someone who is difficult. Doing a small task without complaining. Praying for someone who may never know that you prayed for them.
Sometimes we think we need to do something great for God. Thérèse reminds us: Love God greatly in the little things.
Perhaps holiness is closer than we think. It may be hiding in the kitchen, at work, in the classroom, in the parish hall—or even in the parking lot!
👼 October 2 — The Holy Guardian Angels
And then, on Friday, we celebrate the Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels.
The Church teaches that each of us has a guardian angel, given by God to accompany and assist us on our journey.
Think about that for a moment: God has not left us alone.
Our guardian angel is not there to do our homework, find our lost keys, or make sure we don't get a speeding ticket! But our guardian angel accompanies us, protects us according to God's providence, and helps lead us toward what is good.
Jesus reminds us that the angels of little ones continually behold the face of the Father in heaven.
Perhaps this Friday we should take a moment to thank God for the guardian angel He has given us—and remember that our lives are surrounded by God's care in ways we don't always see.
Three Saints, Three Lessons
This week gives us three beautiful reminders:
St. Jerome: Know God's Word.
St. Thérèse: Love God in the little things.
The Guardian Angels: Remember that you are never alone.
That sounds like a pretty good spiritual plan for one week!
So let us ask these saints and our guardian angels to pray for us, protect us, and help us become a little more like Jesus—one Bible page, one small act of love, and one faithful step at a time.
St. Jerome, pray for us.
St. Thérèse, pray for us.
Holy Guardian Angels, pray for us!
