The Season of Saints
October is the season of saints. It begins and ends with a celebration of sainthood and the call to holiness.
St. Therese of Lisieux brings in the month with the feast day of this Doctor of the Church on Oct. 1. St. Francis of Assisi is celebrated Oct. 4, followed by a long parade of saints’ feasts culminating on Nov. 1 with the feast of All Saints.
Saints, essentially, are friends of God. This is a point Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., makes most eloquently in his new book, The Call to Sainthood. In it, Fr. Rosica points out how we can all be saints and we don’t have to be super human to do so. Fr. Rosica urges us all to look at the lives of the saints as models for our own lives. “In the midst of conflict, hostility, suffering and martyrdom, they remained hopeful, strong and joyful,” he writes.
We are reminded this month that saints are not something out of the ancient past. On the eve of October, Pope Francis and the College of Cardinals decided that the Church would canonize Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII next April, offering two very different but equally inspiring models for sainthood in our times.
Novalis has already commemorated Pope John Paul II with my own small book of the same name, offering his life as a portal into holiness. Early next year we will publish Walking with Pope John XXIII, a personal devotion booklet to allow you, our readers, a glimpse into the simple wisdom of this very holy man.
In a way, all of the books and resources we publish are about making saints. Not that our books will make you holy. That is between you and the Lord. Yet we can help you by drawing from the Church’s rich and glorious traditions to show you how Christ has revealed Himself and his teachings to us through the ages. Even today, he speaks to us in our own language, touching our own needs, helping us do the little things well that all contribute to bringing us closer to God.
-Joseph Sinasac, Publishing Director
