Last week, we reported that St. Anthony of Padua has once again been chosen as our favorite saint. In a poll of several hundred Tablet readers, the preacher from Italy who is known to help people find lost items was the top vote-getter, garnering one in every five nods.
While St. Anthony was the clear favorite, several other saints deserve mention for the number of ballots on which they were named. St. Therese the Little Flower was second choice, receiving a mention on 11 percent of the nominations. She was followed by St. Joseph at nine percent and St. Francis of Assisi and St. Jude with seven percent each.
Generations of Catholics have admired St. Therese, called the “Little Flower,” who died at the age of 24, after having lived as a cloistered Carmelite for less than 10 years.
Therese was known for her “Little Way” of spirituality and her reliance on small daily sacrifices instead of great deeds as a way of finding holiness in ordinary lives.
The impact of her “The Story of a Soul,” a collection of autobiographical manuscripts, turned her into one of the greatest saints to be canonized in the 20th century. Pope Pius XI beatified her in 1923, and she was canonized in 1925.
Answers to prayers to St. Therese sometimes are accompanied by roses, as attested to by several of those who nominated her in our poll.
“St. Therese sends down blessings, her ‘roses,’” said Jeannette Newman of Our Lady of the Snows parish, North Floral Park. “One day I needed a blessing and prayed to her. Later in the day, a friend, who knew nothing about St. Therese, left an actual rose in my mail box. She gave me the rose, but I really felt that St. Therese was moving through her.”
“Roses are St. Therese’s sign that God is listening and will respond,” wrote Margaret Sweeney of St. Ephrem’s parish, Dyker Heights.
St. Joseph’s appeal was summed up by reader Monica Ramcharan of American Martyrs parish, Bayside: “He is the model of fatherhood…He protected the Holy Family at all times. It was his presence in the home that holiness was nurtured which enhanced Jesus’ spiritual life.”
Joe Galante of St. Luke’s, Whitestone, adds, “I’ve always prayed and looked up to St. Joseph. He was the father I always wanted to be. We celebrate St. Joseph with a beautiful altar in our home on his feast day.”
St. Francis of Assisi is noted for his reform of religious life and has become known as a patron of animals because of his love of and ability to commune with nature.
A U.S. postage stamp was once minted to honor St. Francis. The wording read: “Everybody’s Saint.”
Odalea Rodrigues, who lives in Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Astoria, told us, “I love St. Francisco for his love of the Holy Infant Jesus, for his humility, his love for the poor, the old and sick people, and his love of the animals.”
St. Jude is popular because his intercession is sought in the most impossible of cases. Ellen Cichlar of Our Lady of Hope, Middle Village, wrote, “He is the saint for hopeless situations. I have found that to be true in my life. He helped me get through difficult times.”
Ironically, the top-five popular saints are the same five who topped the poll in 1999. But back then, the order of finish was a little different. At that time, the order of finish behind St. Anthony was St. Jude, St. Joseph, St. Therese and St. Francis.
