The Next Time Your Work Seems Hard, Think of - No - Pray to This Guy

The next time your work is hard, you might think of this guy. You might even pray for his intercession. Maybe not to relieve you of the difficulty - although there's nothing wrong with that. But you might pray that rather than complain about the job, or what's making it hard at this time, you can swiftly both offer up your pain and/or discomfort and/or anxiety, or whatever thoughts and feelings you might have that weigh heavily on your mind, body, heart and soul.

And when you manage to recollect yourself and remember to offer this up, consider offering all for the reparation for sin - your own, and the sins of others - and/or for the suffering souls in Purgatory. If for them, the ideal intention is that your own suffering can somehow shorten theirs, and help to "speed up" their cleansing, and thus their ultimate entry into Heaven 

You might also remember that what's transpiring is God's Will. Either God has actively willed that this hard patch unfold, or He has permitted whatever persons or circumstances that have caused the difficulty to have their way. Either way, it's His Will (active of permissive) for you in this place, at this moment in time. And, as such, we all should understand that when we pray "Thy Will be done" in the Our Father, it includes things that we really wish we didn't have to have happen to us.

But back to this guy - a canonized saint, by the way - who can serve as the spark to help us be properly recollected and to respond as a Catholic man at work, seeking to sanctify his work, such that it serves the purpose of advancing the salvation of his soul. His name is Nicholas Owen. You may already know of him. 

He was a skilled craftsman who used his craft to build hiding places in homes for priests during the years when Catholic priests were declared enemies of the English crown, who were forbidden from saying Mass, whose very existence was considered and affront to the state, punishable by death. A search for "Penal Laws" should give you a good head start. Imagine the danger involved in pursuing his craft. Imagine putting yourself in danger like this for years and years.

(If you're not familiar with what transpired in England as a result of Henry VIII's separating himself from Rome, it's important that you get up to speed on this. We need to know our history. And we in the United States, with the heritage of British law, culture, and society serving as a foundation for our country's government, should be thoroughly knowledgeable about not only the fact of the Protestant revolt against our Holy Catholic Church, but the particulars of this shattering tearing away from Rome. Indeed, it's the only way you'll understand why this man was in such serious and immediate danger.)

So skilled was he, that some of his hiding places were found centuries after he built them.

At one point, he was taken into custody and tortured because of his association with a priest - who was captured. He endured his torture and his tormentors decided he was just some guy who happened to be servant of that priest. And having endured this torture, you might think he reconsidered putting himself constantly in harms way. But he went right back to building hiding placed.

And lest the thought occur that his well-known skills must have brought him a hefty fee for his efforts, he apparently would not accept payment beyond the necessities of life while engaged in a project. Upon finishing, he would go on to the next project.

Personally, a perusal of my work history could turn up no hard patch (and I've had some doozies) or any stretch of anxiety that even approaches what this man must have experienced. And yet he didn't back down or slacken his efforts until he was finally arrested again. This time, the authorities had figured out who he was: the guy who constructed those hidden safe havens for the priests they so despised.

And this time, the torture was conducted until he died at the hands of his tormentors, having not disclosed a single hiding place.

He was canonized by Paul VI along with other English martyrs who bravely kept their faith in the face of deadly persecution by the English Crown, conducted under those Penal Laws.

St. Nicholas Owen, please pray for us Catholic Men at Work. Pray that God grant us the grace to pursue our duties daily in a spirit of penance for our sins; to offer up any and all difficulties, temptations, and suffering that may come our way in the course of our daily labor; that we learn to turn to our Heavenly Father for the strength we need to overcome any anxiety, pain, or fear that may accompany these these difficulties, temptations, and suffering; that despite whatever hardship may come to us from our work, we persist in working for the greater glory of God, the welfare of our family, and the common good.