November 1st is All Saints' Day. They must be all rejoicing in heaven. Everyone must be in the mood to intercede for prayer requests of the living mortals. But we forget to seek their intercession as we decide to remember instead our departed relatives on this day, hoping that they are all saints.
I wonder how many catholics know that the first saint to be canonized is St. Dismas, the thief to the right of Jesus when He was crucified. Dismas is the one who said : "Lord, remember me when You go to Paradise", to which Jesus responded: "Amen, amen, I say to thee, this day you will be with Me in Paradise".
Those were the words of canonization... and Dismas went to Paradise with Jesus Christ. He is the only saint canonized by Christ Himself, the others were done by the Pope. He is the only saint canonized instantly... others take hundreds of years. He is so close and so strong to Jesus Christ that his intercessions are almost always granted.
For instant help I always seek the intercession of St. Dismas and many times he didn't fail me. I had his image specially sculptured for me by Arturo Suarez but when I visited the Manila City Jail one time and noticed that the chapel named after him had no image of the saint. I donated mine.
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2 comments:
Thank you for the information on the first saint. I was curious this morning and was glad to find the anawer so easily found. Have a great day.
God bless
i like your take on this question of 1st saint. It's not the "official" line from the Catholic Church (that honor is given to St. Uldaric (Ulrich), canonized by Pope John XV). However, I agree with you that the first person invited to be with Jesus in Heaven for the life and faith he professed was Dismas.
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