The Saints in My Family

Welcome to this my family home at Heartland Prairie.

We are a catholic family and practice our faith vividly. An important part of our religious practices involve saints. You may wonder what Saints are! The catholic church defines Saints as followed:

SAINTS:

are people whose lives were notable for holiness and heroic virtue. Through the process of beatification and canonization, the Church officially declares them saints. It means that these people are in heaven and may be publicly invoked for devotion.

Vatican II says that saints are those who are joined to Him "in sharing for ever a life that is divine and free from all decay" and "have found true life with God" (GS, n. 18); they "share in his life and glory" (AG, n. 2) and "share in his happiness" (GS, n. 21).

Invocations and Veneration of Saints,

A praiseworthy practice which dates not just to the earliest days of the Church, but even to the example of the Old Testament. The veneration of the saints, as an expression of the communion of all the saints, is chiefly effected within the context of the liturgy, although private devotions, study and respect are frequently found and heartily encouraged.

While always vigilant against abuse and superstition, the Church encourages the invocation of the saints in much the same way that one is encouraged to ask a skilled neighbor for help with a task. The saints, to be sure, do not perform their works willy-nilly or otherwise outside the plan of God's providence; rather, they join their highly meritorious prayers to ours and on our behalf. The invocation of the saints is an act of love both for the person of the saint and, ultimately, for the God Who created the saint and the petitioner alike.

For this reasons our family celebrates the Saint from each family member. If you want to find out about our family saints and their living counterparts just click on the names in the contents.

Want to find out if you have a saintly name? At you will find out more about saints.

Last Updated on June 09, 2006 by MONIKA ALVARADO