Tomorrow is the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola in the Roman Catholic Church.
I often wish that we followed a similar practice of celebration in the Protestant Church. Having attended many Catholic masses in my time, I've heard lots of stories about saints, stories which connect the people of today's church with those of their tradition and history.
In the Methodist church to which I belonged for a long time, we heard at least a couple of sermons each year about John Wesley. So I do know about his heart being strangely warmed, and I know a bit about his mother, Susannah Wesley, and his brother Charles Wesley, famous in his own right as a hymn writer. When I went to the boarding school founded by evangelist D.L. Moody, we were all well versed in his life and thought.
But on the whole, we Protestants don't spend a lot of time dwelling upon our forefathers and foremothers in the faith.
Anyone who reads this blog knows that Ignatian spirituality has had a huge impact on me, and so it's a pleasure to honor his day, which just happens to come two days after my birthday!
I have another photo to post in a couple of days, but it's a surprise for someone elsewhere, so we'll have to wait. The one above is of the statue of Ignatius the Pilgrim at the Jesuit Center in Guelph, Ontario.
One of the strangest things in moving from Methodism to Catholicism was the seemingly infinitely complex system of Saints Feast Days. However as the years have gone by I have come to deeply appreciate these days and look forward to celebrating them as I do birthdays. It reminds me always that the Communion of Saints is composed of the living and the dead.
ReplyDeleteAnd so to you, Happy Feast Day.
I have felt the same way about not connecting our days to saints.
ReplyDelete