Who is the Patron Saint of Your Work?
You should designate a patron saint - or saints if you prefer - for your work. This applies whether you own your own business or work for someone else.
You don't have to go with those saints who are already designated patron saints for particular kinds of work. For example St Matthew has been considered patron saint of accountants and financial advisers of all sorts. (Remember, he was a tax collector, so I guess that's the connection.) But you can name anyone you want, preferably someone with whom you have some sort of relationship.
What? You don't have a relationship with any saints? C'mon. You certainly have a relationship with Our Lady, right? She's a saint, even though we don't really think of her that way. Being, among other things, the Mother of God, and Queen of Heaven, we kind of think of her as above all the saints - and indeed she is. But she was born a human being, just like the rest of us, and being now gloriously assumed into Heaven, we know - as it is with all those who have died and are now in Heaven - that, by definition she's a saint.
But besides Our Blessed Mother, there must be some saints that you have some special devotion to, or attachment to. A simple, easy example might be Saint Francis of Assisi. Who, after all, doesn't know something about him? And to know him is to love him, right? So there, you've got a relationship with Saint Francis.
For your business, you can certainly choose St Francis, but maybe there's some other saint who, in some way, connects to your work more directly or specifically. It's worth thinking about this, because once you designate a saint as your special patron to help you in your work, you can call on them, beg their intercession, or just share your thoughts with them as a friend, someone you can count on to at least listen to you.
I've got a couple of saints I designated a while back. Truth be told, I don't call on them or talk to them as much as I can or should, but I'm getting better at it. And I've found that, especially on those days or in those circumstances when you're on your own - or at least feel like you are - in that big bad world out there, it really helps to be able to pause and pray or just talk to your special saint.
And the more you learn about their lives - especially the struggles they faced in their lives - you'll see it's easy to connect them with your work and the particular issues you're facing right now.
OK, so if you must know, my saints are St Ignatius Loyola and St Joan of Arc. We don't have time to get into specifics right now, but over time, I've grown to know them better and, yes, to love them. My connection with St Ignatius goes back to my days being educated in Jesuit schools (yes, I eventually survived that experience with my faith intact, by the grace of God!). As for St Joan, I was always fascinated with her since I was a little kid, but grew to really appreciate her much more deeply by reading Mark Twain's book about her.
(Mark Twain? Yes, you'd be shocked at how good his book about St Joan really is. I can highly recommend it. Again, no time for details right now, but maybe some day...)
OK, so think about this and get a patron saint for your work.
You don't have to go with those saints who are already designated patron saints for particular kinds of work. For example St Matthew has been considered patron saint of accountants and financial advisers of all sorts. (Remember, he was a tax collector, so I guess that's the connection.) But you can name anyone you want, preferably someone with whom you have some sort of relationship.
What? You don't have a relationship with any saints? C'mon. You certainly have a relationship with Our Lady, right? She's a saint, even though we don't really think of her that way. Being, among other things, the Mother of God, and Queen of Heaven, we kind of think of her as above all the saints - and indeed she is. But she was born a human being, just like the rest of us, and being now gloriously assumed into Heaven, we know - as it is with all those who have died and are now in Heaven - that, by definition she's a saint.
But besides Our Blessed Mother, there must be some saints that you have some special devotion to, or attachment to. A simple, easy example might be Saint Francis of Assisi. Who, after all, doesn't know something about him? And to know him is to love him, right? So there, you've got a relationship with Saint Francis.
For your business, you can certainly choose St Francis, but maybe there's some other saint who, in some way, connects to your work more directly or specifically. It's worth thinking about this, because once you designate a saint as your special patron to help you in your work, you can call on them, beg their intercession, or just share your thoughts with them as a friend, someone you can count on to at least listen to you.
I've got a couple of saints I designated a while back. Truth be told, I don't call on them or talk to them as much as I can or should, but I'm getting better at it. And I've found that, especially on those days or in those circumstances when you're on your own - or at least feel like you are - in that big bad world out there, it really helps to be able to pause and pray or just talk to your special saint.
And the more you learn about their lives - especially the struggles they faced in their lives - you'll see it's easy to connect them with your work and the particular issues you're facing right now.
OK, so if you must know, my saints are St Ignatius Loyola and St Joan of Arc. We don't have time to get into specifics right now, but over time, I've grown to know them better and, yes, to love them. My connection with St Ignatius goes back to my days being educated in Jesuit schools (yes, I eventually survived that experience with my faith intact, by the grace of God!). As for St Joan, I was always fascinated with her since I was a little kid, but grew to really appreciate her much more deeply by reading Mark Twain's book about her.
(Mark Twain? Yes, you'd be shocked at how good his book about St Joan really is. I can highly recommend it. Again, no time for details right now, but maybe some day...)
OK, so think about this and get a patron saint for your work.
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