Saints for a Post Modern Society
Lives of the Recently Canonized Provide Distinct Role Models
Mar 10, 2009
Morris West’s 1959 novel The Devil’s Advocate brings together an assortment of everyday people in southern Italy, all with ties to the man being investigated by the “devil's advocate,” a Vatican monsignor whose job it is to find reasons why Giacomo Nerone should not be canonized.
Although West’s novel explores human nature and mankind’s deepest weaknesses, the book also highlights the nature of sainthood, an affirmation and declaration as old as the Catholic Church.
Modern and Post Modern Saints as Faith Role Models
When Pope John Paul II canonized Edith Stein on October 11, 1998, he called to remembrance the life of an exceptional woman, “one of the most significant German women of our century,” according to Josephine Koeppel, O.C.D. Born Jewish, Edith Stein became the assistant to Edmund Husserl, the founder of Phenomenology. Possessing a brilliant mind, Stein converted to Catholicism and ultimately became a Carmelite nun.
As the Nazis consolidated power and began the process of isolating and persecuting Jews, even those in mixed marriages or converts to Christianity, Edith Stein’s order moved her to a community in Holland.
Once war broke out in 1939, the Germans swept into Holland, following their policies aimed at eliminating all of Europe’s Jews. When the Dutch Catholic Church protested the removal of Jewish children from parochial schools, the Nazis rounded up all Catholics with Jewish backgrounds. Edith Stein was taken to Auschwitz where she died on August 9, 1942.
Another victim of the Nazis was the Polish priest Maximilian Kolbe. Kolbe, a Franciscan priest and friar, was canonized October 10, 1982 by Pope John Paul II.
Imprisoned at Auschwitz Concentration Camp, he volunteered to take the place of another inmate, Franciszek Gajowniczek, who was one of ten men selected for starvation in retaliation for an escapee from the barracks. Father Kolbe took the man’s place, knowing Gajowniczek had a family. Gajowniczek was at the canonization ceremony in 1982.
An expedited process toward canonization affects the cause of Mother Teresa, a highly exceptional woman whose love and caring for the least members of society inspired many to charity and community service. Her work in Calcutta is well documented.
Her own personal faith journey is a testament to the still on-going “dark night of the soul,” when the realities of man’s evil and inhumane nature is tested against the sublime power of a living and loving God. As a role model, Mother Teresa demonstrated, even in confessing her doubts before her death, she was just like all humans that seek daily to follow and love God. Her doubts were her greatest strengths.
Saints of the Twenty-First Century
In October 2009, Pope Benedict XVI will canonize Father Damien, missionary to the lepers of Molokai in the Hawaiian Islands.
Father Damien gave his life to serve those people shunned by their own families. Forced to live in leper colonies, these unfortunates represented an existence of utter isolation and poverty.
Eventually contracting the disease, Father Damien died April 15, 1889. Kathryn Hulme’s 1956 novel, The Nun’s Story may have alluded to Father Damien in the character of Father Vermeuhlen.
Although, historically, canonization was often very political, as with the canonization of St. Joan of Arc, modern and post-modern “saints” provide examples of both strengths and weaknesses that were used by God in order to demonstrate his glory and victory over sin and disbelief.
The miracles attributed to these saints further attest to their ongoing ministry and remind all believers that the lives of the saints, above all, are a reflection of how we should all conduct ourselves in everyday life.
Sources:
- Edith Stein Life In A Jewish Family 1891-1916: An Autobiography Josephine Koeppel, O.C.D., translator, (ICS Publications, 1986) Published as part of The Collected Works of Edith Stein: Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross Discalced Carmelite.
- Author’s lecture notes.
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