As I befriend more and more of them (in my very limited, earthy way...and the only way that I know how), I am beginning to notice similiar traits among them.
They pray unceasingly for us. My God, do they love us! They want nothing else but to bring us closer to the beloved God with whom they are wholeheartedly in love. And they are pursuing us.
The saints work joyfully and constantly for the fulfillment of God's will. They are His handmaids and His loyal servants. They desire to spend their eternity bringing God's goodness to the earth by their powerful intercessory prayer -- because nothing delights their heart more.
They guide, protect, attune our ears to God's voice, lead by example, and watch over us. I feel them looking down upon me, anticipating my next step and arranging the angels to catch me as I fall. They feel like guardian angels to me, only they are most definitely human -- and perhaps, I suspect, they conduct themselves at the Throne of God, doing his bidding by way of intercessory prayer, rather than literally being among us, as the angels are. Or at least, that is my feeling, most of the time.
And I have learned (by way of feeling with my heart) something else about them. They are such generous individuals that they will help us even when we do not invoke them -- and even if they are never acknolwedged. They will intercede for us simply because they love us and mostly because they LOVE God.
Very recently had I an experience with St. Therese the Little Flower, where she just jumped immediately into my life, bearing gifts that my Heaven Father wanted to give me. I had no idea that she had invested herself so deeply in me during this particular trial, but indeed she had. And God brought her to me as a messenger of the beautiful news of His divine plan. I was really amazed.
Lastly, the saints are exceedingly humble. So, so very many of their prayers are not acknowledged, due to our forgetfulness and perhaps also due to our slight question of their existence (or at least our question of their personal interest in us), given that we cannot see the saints with earthly eyes and have certainly never met them in person.
So often they do not receive credit (or at least not enough) for having spent long vigils before Almighty God on His throne, begging Him on our behalf.
I wonder, sometimes, if the saints commend themselves to our individual lives by investing themselves permanently in the fulfillment of God's will for our lives by way of constant interaction with us, whether we are aware of this or not.
For instance, I can easily imagine my beloved St. Philomena, pleading something like this to God (for I feel quite certain she has already done it):
"Almighty God and Father, Your Divine Will is all that I want. Help me to bring Your Holy Will upon the life of Lisa. Your Divine Will has perfect timing in all things, which means that every moment of time has a special plan by You which is your Perfect Will. If you will permit me to care for Lisa's spirituality and guard her path to You, I will have the honorable work of removing obstacles that stand in the way of Your Will for every moment of Lisa's life. Please give me the chance, Lord, to wrap my life around hers, that she may better walk toward You. With this privilege, I will have the joy of bringing about your Divine Will in yet one more human life that affects the universe for all eternity. I am prepared for the responsibility. Please give me the joy of this work."
I think Our God says YES whenever a saint asks that of Him. :)
So, in all this, I have noticed another attribute about God. He absolutely and consistently prefers to bestow His gifts to His beloved (that's me and you) by way of other people whom He loves. He will use saints and not-yet-saints to be His loving Hands which bring graces into our lives.
Yes, THAT is how loving and how humble Almighty God is. He works great things through the littlest of souls, always standing behind them but letting them have the joy of giving, and He does this, amazingly, all for His glory. Somehow, our God manages to have majesty and also humility, with neither trait being compromised due to the presence of the other.
All this beauty is, no doubt, because God Himself is Love.
