Saints

SAINTS

 In my faith tradition November is the month when we celebrate the feast of All Saints and All Souls - so it is a time to remember and honor ALL those holy men and women (canonized saints or not) who have touched our world with goodness, grace, and light.  And of course, it is also a time when we celebrate one of my favorite American holidays - THANKSGIVING.


Some topics then to ponder this month - 

Saints - Holiness - Gratitude.

I grew up in Scotland, but spent most of my childhood summers on my grandparents' farm in Ireland - a country that is known as

 The Land of Saints and Scholars!

The word SAINT - comes from the Latin word - sanctus, meaning holy.

The word SCHOLAR - comes from the Latin - scholaris, meaning school - a place of education.

But I love to look at that word - education and consider its root -

ex -out of  and ducere - to lead.

So, education really means a leading out of  -

What?

 Well, I think it is a leading out of darkness into the light - exactly what happened during the DARK AGES, While the rest of Europe languished  after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Irish monks managed to keep the light of learning alive with their monastic schools.  For more enlightenment, read - How the Irish Saved Civilization by Michael Cahill.

Or, for children - the story of St. Columba - The Man Who Loved Books by Jean Fritz - What a title!!