Patron Saint of 2018

Back in 2016, I talked about how some Catholic families use a tradition of selecting a saint to be your patron or patroness for the year.  At that time, I was given St. Walburga.  I didn't do this in 2017, because (and I suppose this is a little silly), I was worried about "replacing" her.  That's like saying you can only have one friend, and will never make new ones.  So, this year, I decided to try again and add a new saintly friend to my circle.

I was secretly hoping for St. Joseph or St. Theresa of Avila.  But, the Good Lord knows what is best for me, and after some thoughtful prayer and reflection, I selected my saint.  (I use a Saint Name Generator, which you can find here if you're interested).  And once again, I was gifted with a new saintly friend...whom I have never heard of before!

So, Brothers and Sisters, please allow me to introduce you to my patroness of the year: St. Radegunde (not to be confused with St. Randegund, since it appears that even though they have the same feast day, they were apparently different??)

A little about my new patroness: St. Radegunde is the patroness of difficult marriages, loss of parents, weavers, scabies, fever, leprosy, drowning, scabs, ulcers, and potters.  She was born as a princess, daughter of a pagan king in what is now Germany.  Her father was murdered by his brother, who was in turn killed by the invading kings Theodoric of Austrasia and Clotaire I of Neustria.  Radegunde was taken prisoner and eventually married Clotaire.  She founded hospitals and cared for the sick, including lepers.  It was only when Clotaire killed her brother that Radegunde left the courts and became a nun.  During this time, she founded a monastery and lived out the rest of her days there.  She also secured a piece of the true cross for that monastery.  To read more about Radegunde, follow this link here.  

I'm excited to see what lessons I can learn from St. Radegunde in 2018.  And as for the rest of you, I pray that God will bless you and keep you, and that he will help you to grow in your faith each and every day.  Have a wonderful new year, everyone!  God bless!