Friendship, as has been said, consists in a full commitment of the will to another person with a view to that person's good.
-Pope Saint John Paul II
Friendships feed our souls in a very particular way. During these times of social distancing, fall out from a global pandemic, and the ensuring separation we've experienced from our friends and family, we have a special place to turn to for friendship.
The holy women of our Catholic Faith: the Saints, the venerables, the servants of God. We have reason to believe through the Church's guidance that these multitude of unique, relatable, remarkable women are worshipping before the throne of God, taking our intentions before Him. They want us to join them in Heaven, after all.
The Saints, Our Friends
We've assembled a grouping of a dozen women who fit this description, lived in the last century or so, and span all walks of life from vocation to nearly every continent, to a plethora of challenges they faced. Eleven are lay women!
The complete discussion of their lives and reflections on how they lived the Works of Mercy out is available in our Misericordia study.
Let's get to know our heavenly friends better and allow a beautiful friendship (or friendships!) to blossom.
Find more companionship with our sister Saints
and be inspired by their Works of Mercy in Misericordia!
Blessed Victoria Rasoamanarivo
Victoria was born in 1848 in the capital city of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Her grandfather was the prime minister as was her brother. She was baptized Catholic at fifteen despite her family objecting.
From her position of authority and power, she worked tirelessly to keep the Church alive as Protestantism took hold in Madagascar throughout her lifetime. She kept schools and churches open, comforted the persecuted Catholics throughout the country, and worked hard to reinstate the missionaries who had been ejected. They came back to minister to their 21,000 faithful! She spent countless hours a day in prayer and passed away in 1894.
Her staunch support of, and then ultimately success in bringing back, missionary priests shows the depth of devotion to her fellow suffering Catholics. May we comfort and act as we are able to bring joy to the sorrowful!
Friends with Saints Series // Victoria Rasoamanarivo #BISBlog //Click to tweet
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Blessed Victoria Rasoamanarivo , pray for us!
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