Do the saints play a part in your religion?

[edgewalker]

Hello All,

I am curious if in your blending of beliefs if saints play a part in what you believe or practice. I am not Catholic, but lately I have felt very drawn to reading about and incorporating some saints into my life. I would love to hear others views.

 

[Sylvan]

Its quite interesting to find this post at the top, as I had come in to this DIR to ask the exact same question. I am a magician and pagan, and am feeling drawn to work with St. Cyprian of Antioch, who is widely revered as a patron of magicians in South and Latin America. One of the side effects of this work is that I find myself using repetitions of the All Father to bring myself into a trance state conductive to speaking with him. This is something deeply ingrained from my childhood presbyterianism, and has a powerful resonance. I am hoping he will help me to unpack some of the misgivings and anger I have toward christianity and its attendant egregoric influences, and maybe help me with some other things.

I am a big fan of St. Expedite too. I have never asked him to help me with anything but I have heard he was dependable. I love this story about him, although there is proof he was honored far before that date:

Many stories commonly circulated about the saint's origin say the cultus of Expeditus began when a package marked expedite arrived with unidentified relics or statues. The recipients assumed that the statuary or relics belonged to a Saint Expeditus, and so veneration began. One of these stories is set in 1781, when a case containing the relics of a saint who was formerly buried in the Denfert-Rochereau catacombs of Paris arrived at a convent in the city. The senders had written expedite on the case, to ensure fast delivery of the remains. The nuns assumed that "Expedite" was the name of a martyr, prayed for his intercession, and when their prayers were answered, veneration spread rapidly through France and on to other Roman Catholic countries.

 

[NoHateJustLove]

I converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 2005 and am currently questioning and looking at joining the UU. I know that no matter where I end up I will always pray to the Blessed Mother Mary. She is very important to my faith life.

 

[Gaura Priya]

Wow, this is old!

I don't think the saints would mind that you invoke their presences. After all, they are in a dimension of remembrance, and their personages can help bring in an atmosphere of divine presence.

The veneration of saints and holy personalities have existed in many, if not all religions, from the Baha'i Faith, to Shiite Islam, to Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican Christianity.

I personally have been holding onto images of Saint Kateri in my purse, as a reminder that she was my Confirmation Saint and thus 'watching over me from Heaven.' I was inspired by her story, and being that she is the patron saint of ecology and the environment, as well as Aboriginal, she just drew me to her personage!

 

[Vinayaka]

Which saints. In Tamil Saivism there are the 63 Nayanar saints. Probably some other religions have saints too.

 

[chinu]

Do the saints play a part in your religion?

To me religion means re-union with; from where we all started the journey of life in the beganing, or the nick name is god.

@ who is said to be true saint ?
The one who has the true ability to reunite any soul, it doesn't matter how sinful is that soul, But to reunite any soul depends on the capriciousness of such saint.
Such saints can also be said as equal to god.

On the other hand such saint also plays the role of true spiritual teacher to guide the true seeker of truth on this earth too.

 

[lilithu]

Unitarian Universalist culture, at least in the U.S., is pretty WASPy. Not only no saints but no iconography in general. But in my personal practice I interact with saints, devas, buddhas and pusas (bodhisattvas). So... sounds good to me! The more the merrier. At any rate, very few UUs would tell you that you "can't" and those who would have no authority to do so.

 

[Gaura Priya]

Unitarian Universalist culture, at least in the U.S., is pretty WASPy. Not only no saints but no iconography in general. But in my personal practice I interact with saints, devas, buddhas and pusas (bodhisattvas). So... sounds good to me! The more the merrier. At any rate, very few UUs would tell you that you "can't" and those who would have no authority to do so.

Maybe I should put some pictures framed of Emerson, Hosea Ballou, Thoreau, Channing, Lotta Hitschmanova, etc. all around the sanctuary with little votary candles beside each of them. XD Just to give it a little 'Orthodox Church twist' to the propagators and prophets of Unitarian Universalism!

 

[shivadas]

Yeah, Saints in Ajah Dharma are Gurus, Buddhas, and teachers.
The Saint erases the Ego, and allows his actions to come directly from God.

 

[Sylvan]

I venerate Sun Ra as an artist ancestor-saint.

[youtube]djBKQNVj5Cc[/youtube]

 

[Desert Snake]

Actually no, but that's more of a matter of circumstance than anything.