New Year, new saint for Catholic homes

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David and Paulie Scherer played with toy cars in the hallway near the family shrine to St. Joseph whom they have adopted as their patron saint for the 2012 year.

Start off the new year with a new friend. Maybe a new friend who’s very old. Maybe a friend in high places.

A sort of trend has started recently, prompted in part by several Catholic blogs on the Internet — adopt a saint.

Families are picking out a patron saint to guide them and accompany them through the new year. It’s easy, it’s educational, it’s spiritual and it’s a fun way to incorporate your Catholic faith into your everyday family life and teach your children the reality of the communion of saints, those who have died and are in heaven eager to help us with their prayers and intercessions.

“I think this is a neat way to honor the saints,” explained Tara Scherer, a member of St. Gerard Majella Parish in Kirkwood and mother of two preschool sons, Paulie and David. “At this stage of our lives, I feel it’s difficult to bring religion into daily life with kids our age. We pray, but they aren’t really in school and have no connections. This is a home-based family devotion we can do within our own family.”

Scherer learned about the practice of adopting a patron saint for the year from the blog catholicicing.com and discussed it with her husband, Paul. “My husband suggested St. Joseph, and I thought that was a good idea. St. Joseph is the patron saint of families and I’m glad my husband came up with this saint, and the father aspect, it also honors my husband. And with two boys, it’s nice to have a man saint.”

Taking a tip from the catholicicing blog about making a sacred place in the home for the family’s saint, the Scherers set up a table in their entrance with a statue of St. Joseph. “We’ll celebrate his feast day in March, we can make a St. Joseph Altar. Everytime we say grace, we say ‘St. Joseph, pray for us.’”

Their son, Paulie, age 4, loves his own books of the saints. “He’s kind of joined in on the ‘St. Joseph, pray for us’ and I think he really likes to hear the stories,” Scherer said. “David’s 2. I think he might be able to recognize St. Joseph’s picture or statue now.”

Scherer said her oldest son “also gets that St. Joseph is Jesus’ daddy. And I’ve heard the term ‘adoptive father’ of Jesus for Joseph, which is kind of a neat connection,” since Paulie is adopted.

She said the Catholic bloggers advise using the “adopt-a-saint” project to learn more about the saints and become closer to them. “Each year choose a new one, and challenge yourself to be more like the saints. It’s like a New Year’s resolution to focus your family on your faith.”

Scherer added, “I have always been moved by the community of saints. Everytime they sing the Litany of the Saints, I just cry. It is just powerful to me to think of all these men and women praying for us.”

Some tips from Catholic Bloggers:

catholicicing.com and totustuusfamily.blogspot.com

• Get a statue of your saint (it doesn’t have to be expensive) and put it in a prominent place in your home (try not to bury it, please)

• Post information about your saint on the refrigerator and other places you look at daily

• Get a medal and prayer card of your saint

• Celebrate your saint’s feast day

• Make crafts and do activities with your children relating to your saint

• Emulate your saint throughout the year