I have particularly fond attachments to several great male saints. “My boys” as I call them truly embody masculine virtues; they include the patron saints for my first and middle names (i.e., Joseph and Patrick). Of course, Jesus’ foster father and the patron saint of Ireland need little introduction!
I also frequently ask St. Michael the Archangel to have my back: to “defend us in battle….[against] Satan and all evil spirits.” We live in spiritually tumultuous times!
St. John the Baptist
Like Jesus, I had a cousin named John who seemed fearless and who died at about the age of thirty. Though Johnny did not partake of locusts and wild honey, he was my hero. Jesus’ cousin was imprisoned for speaking against Herod’s illicit relationship with his brother’s widow. After Herod and some other dirty old men had his lover’s daughter dance for them, the daughter asked for the head of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was murdered because he had defended authentic marriage/family. He is most definitely one of “my boys”!
The English Martyr Thomases
King Henry II wanted his buddy Thomas Becket as archbishop, wrongly assuming it would be easy to manipulate him. Legend has it that, when their friendship went south, Henry asked aloud, “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?” Henry’s men had reportedly taken this as an order, and they went off and murdered Becket in his cathedral. Four centuries later, in that same England, Lord Chancellor Thomas More incurred King Henry VIII’s wrath, getting beheaded for failing to acquiesce to the king’s wish to put aside his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Saint Thomas Becket and Saint Thomas More, come on down!
Blessed Pier Giorgio and My Relatives
Though not yet canonized, “Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati was a good-looking, cigar-smoking, pool-playing prankster who served the poor, loved his friends, and suffered a broken heart.” Pier Giorgio’s crypt is in the same cathedral as the Shroud of Turin! In 2015, during a pilgrimage, my wife and I got lost while looking for Pier Giorgio’s birthplace and some Turin gelato! Pier Giorgio makes the “my boys” cut!
Also in the not canonized category (never likely to be canonized) go my own father (Paddy) and my father-in-law (Chuck). Paddy and Chuck distinguished themselves with their love for God and family, as well as their everyday holiness. Pier Giorgio, Paddy, and Chuck, welcome!
Pope St. John Paul II
When Pope St. John Paul II passed away in 2005, I felt as though I had lost my earthly father for a second time! Among his invaluable teachings is Evangelium Vitae, a monumental encyclical on human life. From September 5, 1979 to November 28, 1984, 129 of his general audiences focused on leading us to better appreciate God’s magnificent plan for marriage, family, and human sexuality (i.e., his Theology of the Body).
From 1971 to 1981 a radical Jesuit “served” in the U.S. House of Representatives shamefully, and repeatedly promoting legal abortion. Robert Drinan, SJ, was ordered to leave Congress early in Pope St. John Paul’s pontificate.
With his deep appreciation for the sanctity of human life and of marriage/family/human sexuality, as well as his history of getting scandalous situations corrected, I cannot fathom that St. John Paul II would have tolerated the sophomoric clericalism of James Martin, SJ. Yet this Jesuit college alumnus must unfortunately acknowledge that St. John Paul II stopped short of suppressing the Jesuit order for a second time in their history. Acknowledging that Jesus Christ Himself was the only perfect man, St. John Paul II still makes the “my boys” cut!
An Extraordinary Priest
Deaf people who rely on American Sign Language probably constitute 0.2% of the population. Kudos go to Father Michael Depcik, who is himself deaf and who regularly posts homilies in American Sign Language. (Unfortunately, these videos do not have a voice translation.) Kudos also to my own Archdiocese of Philadelphia for its pastoral services to the deaf.
We should always remember that deaf children overwhelmingly have hearing parents and that deaf adults overwhelmingly have hearing offspring. Hence, it is not just unique communication needs that present a pastoral challenge but also unique places in families. In addition to signing priests and signing pastoral workers, sign language interpreters are needed. With few parishes to meet their needs, it is sadly not surprising that few signing deaf Catholics are seen at Mass. That brings me to the final member of “my boys.”
St. Francis de Sales
Saint Francis de Sales is remembered as the patron saint for deaf people, having shown great concern about conveying the faith to a single deaf person (cf, Father Thomas Dailey, OSFS, EWTN Live, 4/6/11, 37:38 to 40:04). Though resources are very numbers driven, we must never disregard the unique value of each and every human being made in the image and likeness of God. We must always be ready to go in search of the single lost sheep. St. Francis de Sales, come on down!
The Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales is January 24.
12 thoughts on “St. Francis de Sales and My Favorite Male Saints”
I am so happy you included one of my most favorite male role models – Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. I have come to know and love him, and I so much wish I had known him in life. He is the kind of Catholic I want to be.
May I add my good St. Francis of Assisi to your list? He is frequently characterized as being a rather wimpy, flighty flower child, and nothing could be further from the truth. The most important things in his life were to imitate Jesus as much as possible, obedience and loyalty to the Church, and serving the Church and others with great joy. When I professed as lay Franciscan, I picked St. Francis as my profession patron saint because I feel close to him and, in addition to Blessed Pier Giorgio, I want to be like him.
I will also say, that although the Jesuits seem to have come down in the world a bit in terms of their faithful obedience to the God and the Church, other fine modern Jesuits, such as Fr. Willie Doyle, SJ are stellar examples of exemplary Catholic manhood. May the Jesuits return to the promise and potential of holiness in imitation of the Jesuits who came before them!
This is an excellent article! Thank you, Mr. Tevington! – Susan, TOF
Thank you for your kind words. It is sad how the great St Francis of Assisi gets so misrepresented! God bless you!
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Really neat article
Thanks Todd!
P.S. I just went back for another look at your own articles (
https://catholicstand.com/author/todd-michael-federici/), particularly the two part “The Joseph and Francis Evangelization Excuse,” which is packed with insights! Magnificent.
I may have painted with “too broad a brush” about the Jesuits. Founder Ignatius Loyola, early Jesuit Francis Xavier, and 20th Century Jesuits like John Ford, Mitch Pacwa, and Robert Spitzer are/were great and holy men. Tragically, the Jesuit legacy is also tarred by men like Robert Drinan, who wore his Roman collar while promoting legal abortion!
How do you reconcile admiration for JPII with his friendship, promotion, and protection of Marcial Maciel?
I will not pretend to be familiar with Marcial Maciel and his apparently appalling and deceptive life – or with the supposedly willful negligence you seem to infer by St Pope JP II.
How do we reconcile the three time denial of Christ by the original occupant of the chair of Peter with Peter’s subsequent life?
One of the biggest casualties of our times is widespread loss of appreciation for repentance and redemption. Each of us will one day need to give an accounting of our lives. I hope to be among those throwing myself at the mercy of the court!
Oh, I agree with that. It just seems a bit unfair if you look at the probabilities (which are on my mind after Bob’s article). Maciel was reported to the Vatican repeatedly over decades for sexual abuse of children and more. The reports were all ignored until Benedict (Ratzinger) gets effective control when JPII is incapacitated on his death bed. Benedict then actually puts punitive restrictions on Maciel. And if we didn’t already know Benedict was comfortable covering some things up, the German investigation released last week makes it pretty clear. Benedict covered up for abusive priests, but Maciel went too far even for Benedict. But not for JPII.
Redemption is great, but I don’t have admiration for Hitler with the assumption that he repented before death. In terms of admiration, we have to make judgements based on what evidence we have. Evidence shows that JPII – along with his contemporary Polish primates – facilitated some massive evils. You’re willing to overlook the evil of child sexual abuse for JPII, but willing to condemn Fathers Martin and Drinan. It seems a bit biased to offer redemption for the person who you like politically/doctrinally, but not for those you disagree with politically/doctrinally.
“You’re willing to overlook the evil of child sexual abuse for JPII, but willing to condemn Fathers Martin and Drinan. It seems a bit biased to offer redemption for the person who you like politically/doctrinally, but not for those you disagree with politically/doctrinally.”
I am absolutely NOT willing to “overlook the evil of child sexual abuse for” anyone. Nor am I capable of offering condemnation or redemption for anyone – that’s up to God. I absolutely believe in the possibility of repentance and redemption for anyone.
Father Drinan (I suspect that you are not old enough to remember him) OPENLY promoted legal abortion in his decade-long-tenure in the U.S. Congress. Because of his egregious actions and scandal (A generation of similar Catholic politicians has followed him.), I believe he and his situation merited public excommunication (cf, Canon 915).
I confess that I am making a judgment with regard to Father Martin, based on things he has said and not said. Though he claims to be in sync with Church teaching, he shows no evidence of support that marriage is EXCLUSIVELY the lifelong, indisolubile, open to life bond between one man and one woman. I believe that he is promoting confusion.
As I said previously, I do not recall the particulars of Marcial Marciel. Though you seem confident that St Pope JP II was guilty of negligence, he was never charged with “the evil of child sexual abuse” nor did he say that such was a good thing. In his words, he promoted the sacredness of each and every person.
Thank you for a most informative post! I still don’t understand why the Jesuits are so maligned but I guess more research is required.