Youthful Heroes

Henry and I finished our set of saint dolls.  We enjoyed the process so much that we wanted to paint more.  I never knew this would be so calming.  It is really a cleansing experience to meditate on the lives of the saints and pray for the same virtues in my life.  God please hear my plea for grace to be a good wife and mom!

So...I found some wooden pegs that are about half the size of the ones we obtained for this project.  They make the perfect size for the youthful saints I want my children to learn about and aspire to live like.  There are a lot of bad "heroes" in today's world.  I would love for my children to learn to be more at peace and full of the grace that can be obtained from living a life with God.

Here are a few of the saints we found and a little about their lives:

St. Dymphna...Patron of those suffering for nervous and mental afflictions...her father became mentally unstable when his wife died.  He waned to replace his wife with his 15-year old daughter and when she refused he drew his sword and struck off her head.  Dymphna received the crown of martyrdom in defense of her purity about the year 620.




St Olivia of Palermo...in the 9th century, she was only 13 years old when Muslims raided her village.  They allowed her to live in a cave until they found out she was converting the Muslims to the true faith through miraculous cures.  She was tortured and martyred for the faith.

Blessed Imelda...This patroness of fervent first communion lived during the 1300s.  She had piety beyond her years and begged to receive the Eucharist at an early age but was refused her request.  When she was 11 years old, she was living with a group of nuns and once again asked to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.  One day after Mass, she was so focused on the Tabernacle that the nuns left her in prayer.  A nun went back to check on her and found a sacred host floating above Imelda's head.  She quickly called a priest who administered the sacrament to Imelda.  It is said that she was in such ecstasy from the experience that she died a happy death at that moment.

St. Dominic Savio...born in the 1840's, his only desire was not to commit a sin.  He was given the special grace to love the Lord without doubt and helped other boys to feel the same way.  Dominic is the patron saint of choir boys (He was said to have sung like an angel.) and of the falsely accused (once accused of being disobedient and did not tell on the ones who had committed the act.).  He died from an illness without fear and joy in his heart to meet the Lord.


St. Maria Goretti...a youth in the late 1800s...she remained true to her vow of purity even when a young boy from her village tried to compromise her vow.  He stabbed her to death...she lived for several hours after the attack but insisted on forgiving him of his sin.  She was very concerned for his soul and begged her family and others around her deathbed to help him to know the true faith so he could be with her in paradise.  She was only 11 years old at the time of her death.  Her attacker did convert and asked for forgiveness...he lived out his life at a monastery.

St Agatha..at a very young age she dedicated herself to the service of God.  She refused marriage and the suitor turned her in as a Christian.  She was sent to prison and forced to work in a brothel...when this did not cause her to change her mind, she was tortured.  She died in the year 251 and she is the protector against the outbreak of fire and the patroness of bellmakers (Both of these due to her assistance during the eruption of Mt Etna during her imprisonment.).

Sts. Jacinta and Francisco Marto...two of the children from Fatima who witnessed the Marian apparitions (in 1917).  The visions they received were later witnessed by thousands of people; however, the children struggled with those in authority questioning their resolve to tell of these visions.  This brother and sister pair died within a year of each other due to disease (foretold to them in their visions).  Their cousin Lucia lived for several years after their deaths (dying in 2005) and held many secret messages that have now all been revealed.

St Tarsicius...from the early Church history (third century), he was carrying the Eucharist to prisoners when he was attacked.  He refused to allow the Eucharist to be taken.  He is the patron saint of altar servers and first communicants.

There are many other youthful saints and I hope to make more of these dolls to share the youthful example of grace given to those of us at all ages of life.

SIDE NOTE:

While I was painting these youthful saints, Henry decided to paint hobbits and a dwarf from the Lord of the Rings.  He also painted the fifth doctor on the fly when he heard his uncle was coming to visit!  He is having a lot of fun.