All you holy men and women, pra-ay for us

I drove across town alone in the car Wednesday morning and switched on Catholic radio.

I tuned into the middle of a brief biography of St. Charles Borromeo, the saint of the day. And when his story was finished I instinctively said: "St. Charles Borromeo, pray for us."

Then also instinctively, I sang the line: "St. Charles Borromeo, pra-ay for us."

In the spirit of the new month of November -- a month of saints and holy souls -- I switched off the radio and began singing my own personal litany of saints.

I started with some of the heavy-weights, renowned for their intercession before God, such as our Blessed Mother, St. Joseph and the apostles. I also asked for prayers from the the saints I'm named after -- and those my relatives are named after -- the saints we adopted at birth, Baptism and Confirmation.

Then I turned to a few personal favorites, some of my go-to saints in prayer, such as St. Alphonsus Ligouri and St. Philip Neri. That list also would include any Carmelite saint (my older brothers and sisters in Christ because I'm a lay Carmelite). Among the Carmelite greats would be St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross ( Edith Stein), St. Elizabeth of the Trinity and St. Titus Brandsma.

Of course, St. Columbkille would be in my personal litany of saints, as well as patron saints of former parishes and schools. And I couldn't forget St. Cecilia, patron saint of the archdiocese.

Also, I owe some partiality to St. Anthony, who helps me almost daily as I'm looking for lost items, and St. Jude, patron saint of seemingly hopeless cases, like me.

I went on and on thinking of saints to pray to, until I sang and prayed my way home that morning. Once home, it was hard to stop. I enjoyed the challenge of thinking of as many saints as possible, and the little tune was stuck in my head. So I just kept praying until my thoughts drifted toward the busy work of the day.

The beautiful thing about many of our Catholic prayers and traditions is that they can be adapted to suit us personally. I enjoy remembering and turning toward our friends in Heaven. And in prayerful hope I await the day I can meet them there and join them in praise of our Lord.

"All you holy men and women, pra-ay for us!"

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.

Remember Poor Souls

Nearly every day during my regular commuting I drive by a certain roadside memorial.

It has a couple of worn wooden crosses and piles of blue, pink and yellow artificial flowers. Because of the abundance of flowers, I can tell that the person who is memorialized is certainly loved. The flowers are replaced regularly, but they still fade because of the weather and heavy traffic that rushes by just a few feet away.

Every time I pass by, I think about the young woman who died at that spot. I remember details from newspaper accounts. She was a pedestrian who was hit by a vehicle whose driver never stopped to help. The driver later turned himself in to police, but now two families suffer from the mistakes he made that night.

The woman had a boyfriend. She started walking home after the two had a fight, so she was alone when she died on that dark stretch of road. A day or two after the woman's death, I tried to contact her family. I stopped by her house, but no one was home. I was sort of relieved, because it's difficult to talk to people whose grief is so fresh.

Nearly every day I am reminded of that woman and all those who still suffer because of her sudden, premature death. And every time I think about her, I pray for her, those touched by that incident -- and all the souls of the dead. Her memorial has become part of my regular route, and my prayers for her and others have become part of my regular routine.

November, the month when we traditionally pray for the souls of the departed, is upon us. Please remember to pray for them this month and all through the year. We never want to leave them abandoned, without our prayers.

Inspired by this Year of Faith we will be posting columns like this from Susan Szalewski about exploring and/or deepening our faith. Watch for it on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.