Cribbed from Elizabeth:
The task is to name four of your favourite Saints, one who was well on the way to sanctity, is widely venerated already and very likely to be made a Saint in due course, and one who isn't yet publicly declared a saint but probably should be made a Saint.
My votes:
St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco
St. Sergius of Radonezh
St. Xenia of St. Petersburg
The Holy Royal Martyrs (that's seven saints, actually, but I love 'em all): Nicholas II, Alexandra, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei
Blessed:
Fr Seraphim Rose
Should be made a Saint :
Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain. One anecdote: He and his disciple Athanasios were standing in their cell praying, when suddenly the lamps started to sway as if stirred by a strong breeze, only there was no breeze. When they were done praying, Athanasios asked Paisios what that was all about. Paisios said, "Oh, the Holy Virgin likes to visit people on the Mountain [ie, Mount Athos] and see what they're up to." "And what did she see when she visited us?" "Why, she saw two idiots praying!" Anybody who can call himself an "idiot" when visited by the Holy Virgin gets my vote for sanctity. ;-)
Who would you choose ?
I tag Mimi, Philippa, and Catherine......... and anyone else who wants to play.
(And I must confess that I left in Fr. Seraphim, who was mentioned on Elizabeth's blog, only because I don't know of anyone else who's as widely venerated but not yet a saint. I'd appreciate hearing other people's nominations.)
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4 comments:
Meg,
At first pass, all the Saints I chose were Russian, or of Russian jurisdictions, which I thought was interesting. I am obviously very drawn to Russian-style Orthodox spirituality :-)
I like your choices ! One I should have put in was Fr Arseny, thinking about it after the event......abigail4
Errrgh, Father Arseny would have been an ideal choice!! Two things bother me about him, though: One, no one has ever painted an icon of him, and two, someone has actually referred to his story as fiction (which gains credence without an icon -- after all, this is a contemporary story, so *somebody* should have a photograph, especially since he was supposed to be a noted art historian). Otherwise, yes, I'd choose Fr. Arseny in place of Fr. Seraphim Rose.
Thanks for the tag Meg. I've been away from reading blogs. I'll post my thoughts right away.
Good choices all.
Thanks for the tag Meg, I have already posted it on my blog.
I REALLY had a difficult time to decide WHO to have as my top four... and I wish I had also included Fr. Arseny.
Regarding the lack of a photo of Fr. Arseny, considering the level of repression in the Soviet Union at the time, it is not surprising at all. . .
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