I'm taking a blogging break to soak up our sweet Lily Grace (and, let's be honest, to keep my head above water through this beautiful newborn chaos), so I asked some of my married friends to contribute in my absence. Over the next few weeks, they'll be taking over to chat about wedding planning, bridal beauty and style, and sharing stories about their newlywed days.
For today, I asked these ladies if there's a saint who's taken on a particular significance in their marriage and family lives, and about the stories behind them.
A favorite saint of mine is St. Helen of the Cross. Family legend says that I am a direct descendant of her. I don't know how accurate that is, but I figure that she better be a special saint just in case --I figure St. Helen will claim me as family if I claim her, and who better to have as a patron saint than someone you are (at least in theory) related to! - Jenn
Within the past year, Our Lady Undoer of Knots has become a special patron in our marriage. My husband and I struggled for a time with infertility. This weighed heavily on both of our hearts, especially with each passing month and each negative pregnancy test. I knew of the devotion Pope Francis has to Our Lady Undoer of Knots, but I did not know much about the story behind the image or anything like that. I did, however, know I had always been drawn to the image for the silly reason that I love to crochet, and I just imaged the ribbon in her hands as yarn. My mother one day recommended that Chris and I pray to Our Lady Undoer of Knots for our infertility. We learned more about the devotion to her, as well as the history of her image, and then began a novena to her, praying that she would undo any physical knots in our bodies preventing us from getting pregnant. We went to our doctor and were prepared to begin blood work and other tests. The cycle after we finished the novena we found out we were pregnant. I attribute this pregnancy to her intercessory prayers and continue to pray to her for a healthy baby and delivery. - Tiffany
Saint Dominic is our family patron; we chose him before we were married. I spent a year in a Dominican convent and had a special relationship with him, and we are both planning to become Dominican tertiaries in the near future. We have a big picture of Dominican saints in our living room, the first thing you see when you walk in. - Rachel
St. Thérèse! It is hard to pick a moment or a reason, she's always been a huge intercessor for both my husband and I, long before we met and throughout our entire relationship. We knew from the day we got engaged that if we ever had a daughter, Thérèse would be somewhere in her name to honor this holy woman! - Amanda
My husband and I are both converts, and my relationship with the saints has grown quite a bit over the past nine years since my conversion. My birthday is on St. Joseph's feast day, so he's definitely a saint we ask for intercession from. Another favorite is St. Margaret of Scotland, whom I actually found out about before my conversion because I wrote a history paper on her husband. He's a slightly obscure Scottish king whom nobody has written books about, so I had to research him by reading about his wife (ironic for the Middle Ages!) and his English contemporaries. Anyway, he and Margaret were known for praying together. Other saints we like include St. Gerard, St. Briget of Sweden, and St. Josemaria Escriva. - Bonnie
We don't really have a particular patron saint, but we are honoring a few of our favorites by naming our kids after them: Seraphia (another name for St. Veronica), Cecilia, and Sebastian. - Sheena
We were married on the vigil of the Feast of the Holy Family, in a church named for St. Joseph. On our first anniversary, we attended Mass at another church named for St. Joseph, thousands of miles away from where we were married. We had every intention of making it happen again on our second anniversary, but the weather was terrible that day and we weren't super comfortable driving 30 minutes away to attend Mass in the storm. Hopefully we can get back on track for our third anniversary this year! I guess I got side tracked there. The Feast of the Holy Family speaks to me because of the aforementioned details, but also because I feel called for us to imitate the holy family in our home, the domestic church. I long for raising a family with Alex, and recognize the family is the root of Christianity in our society. It all starts at home. - Lauren
St. Patrick, patron saint of Evangelization. Our friend Danielle sent us saints that she had picked for us to be our special saint for the year, and, well, Patrick stuck! We also always ask for St. Francis and St. Joseph to intercede for us because the are the patrons of the school our kids have attended. - Andi
What about you? I'd love to hear about the saints you and your love have a special devotion to! And, if you missed 'em the first time around, a few past posts on my own favorite saints, and a sweet way to incorporate your devotions into your wedding:
Why, thanks to St. Therese, I said no the first time Andrew asked me out, and why I'm happy about it
EmoticonEmoticon