My Patron Saint for 2024 — Blessed Frederic Ozanam

Frederic Ozanam
founder of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society

Choosing a special patron saint for a new year is an old custom that has found favor again in some spots. You can choose a saint who interests you or it can be a name drawn from a hat of potential saints (one is really leaning on divine inspiration at that point) or picked at random (try the saint's name generator). The idea is that one is being directed (with help) to become more aware of specific areas in life where special guidance might be necessary. 

I've done this, off and on, since 2006 and had every sort of saint from Vitus to Francis Xavier to Justina to J.R.R. Tolkien (not a saint, I know, but a devout Catholic whose writing I focused on that year).  The new Church year begins with Advent next Sunday so I have been giving some thought to who I'll be spending the year with.

This year I was intending to choose Saint Vincent de Paul. Looking him up on his saint day I was fascinated by the breadth of experiences he'd had, up to and including being kidnapped by pirates. However, Frederic Ozanam stepped in and nudged me into realizing that he's already influencing my life in small ways that make a big difference. First of all, I joined the Saint Vincent de Paul Society (SVdP) in May and began hearing about him. I didn't care much, to be truthful, because I didn't know much about any of the people associated with the society. And no one could seem to do more than relate a few quick stories of his life. I asked about books and no one knew of any. 

So I continued in careless ignorance until I was coming up with spiritual material for the team couples in a Beyond Cana retreat that we were helping get started. I was surprised to come across him in 30 Days with Married Saints which gave me a nice insight into his home life. More recently a fellow attendee at the Ozanam Orientation for SVdP brought up a collection of Ozanam's letters. I was really interested in how to get a copy and she pulled it out of her backpack, saying, "So you're the one I brought this for!" 

Reading the letters I've been struck by his gentle ways of giving advice, taking criticism, and his boundless enthusiasm. I began considering how I could act similarly since I have a tendency to rush in, all guns blazing. Truly, this description from the Catholic Encyclopedia has come across to me: During his life he was an active member and a zealous propagator of the society. With all his zeal, he was, however, tolerant. 

Reader, that's when I chose him for 2024! We got about a month's head start but that's what it took to make me sit up and pay attention. I'm looking forward to his guidance in the next year.