A Coffee Klatch

Over on Substack, one of the people I read (and enjoy) is LAURA ERCOLINO who has a page called Come to the Garden.

In a piece about Blessed Carlo Acutis ("Heavenly Warrior on the Battlefield of the Internet") she wrote about some advice her spiritual director gave her six years ago when she was struggling with prayer.

"He began teaching me about the communion of saints and how we have an army of heavenly friends ready and willing to help us in all our needs. He suggested I transform my night prayer into a tea party with the saints and simply relax as I imagined myself sitting with saints such as Mother Mary, St. Rita and St. Monica, Maria Goretti, Felicity and Perpetua, and of course St. Therese. I was to invite them to be with me, to pray for me and to carry all that burdened me which I did not have the strength to carry or even to speak of in my own prayers. My tea parties with the saints became a source of comfort, peace, and strength for me in a time of intense suffering and chaos. The invitation list grew and grew as I began researching and longing to know more about the lives of the saints, especially those whose stories related to mine. I began to imagine our tea parties were no longer in my little kitchen but in a banquet hall!"

While the whole piece, like many of hers, is good - go read her - I found that particular passage inspiring. 

Of course, in my case, it would not be a tea party. It would be a coffee klatch.

I have been wanting to learn and read more about the saints - the ones with whom I'm familiar (I can always learn more), but also some new ones. This year I've already read biographies of St. John Cardinal Newman and St. Thomas More, and I plan to read Sigrid Undset's biography of St. Catherine of Siena, but I hope to add more biographies.

The coffee klatch would add another layer. 

So whom would I start with?

Being a Secular Franciscan, St. Francis of Assisi would be an obvious choice. I would love to pray with him and get his advice as I try to live as a Franciscan. And I'd offer him some coffee and treats and tell him maybe he's not treating Brother Ass (his body) with the respect it's due.

I'd also want to invite St. Maximilian Kolbe, another Franciscan, and a writer and publisher. I think we'd have a lot to talk about, and I could pray with him about my own efforts to write as a Franciscan should write.

I'd invite another writer and Secular Franciscan, St. Thomas More, one of my favorite saints and one of my heroes. I'd love to talk about his courage and struggle with the conflict between faith and politics. Moreover, he'd add so much humor and clever comments. He could help to keep me focusing on the eternal rather than the temporal.

St. Joseph would also get an invite. I'd ask him about being a father to Jesus, the sacrifices he made, and his faith. An added plus is that I'd finally hear him talk; in the Bible he's never quoted.

The final man I'd start with would be someone who's not yet been canonized but is in the way, Blessed Solanus Casey. He is my Franciscan patron. I admire his humility and dedication to serving the poor and the hurting; I could learn so much from him. I'd also ask him to play his violin!  

On the female side, I'd start with St. Bridget of Sweden. She was a mystic and a Secular Franciscan. Her 12 Year Prayers on the Passion and her prayers on the Seven Sorrows of Mary are part of my daily prayer life. I suspect she and St. Thomas More would have some wonderful things to say about dealing with corruption in politics and in the Church.

Another person who could add some depth and insights to the discussions would be St. Edith Stein. Both being victims of Nazi violence, she and St. Maximilian would have some things in common, and I'm sure she and St. Thomas More would plumb spiritual and philosophical depths I could only dream of following. 

Imagine the discussions, the insights, the prayers such a gathering would produce.

But since such a gathering would only be in my imagination, I would reflect on their gifts and the ways they faithfully served the Lord, and I would ask for their prayers in my own flawed spiritual efforts.

Down the road I might invite a few more guests. St. Augustine? St. Joan of Arc? Venerable Matt Talbot? St. John Bosco? St. Drogo (the Patron Saint of Coffee)?

The possibilities are endless. 

And as a prelude, time to make a cup of coffee!

Pax et bonum