Here’s Why you Should Assemble A Saint Squad
Let’s face it: we all love a good friend squad. The Avengers, the fellowship from Lord of the Rings, and the six friends from Friends have all held degrees of popularity among fans – and for good reason! The idea of having a group of people who have your back and whose backs you have in turn is really appealing in a world where isolation is an increasing problem. Friendship is a valuable part of life, and having a solid group of friends is a precious, precious thing.
There’s a deeper level to why we love friend squads, too. We were made by God for community! This goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden where we see God look at Adam in his loneliness and pronounce that it’s not good for humans to be alone (and thus along came Eve). Further along in the New Testament, St. Paul addresses in his first letter to the Corinthians what’s termed the Mystical Body of Christ:
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:12-13)
We were so made for community that God desires to gather us all into one Church, into one Body of Christ. It’s incredible! As Catholics, we believe that the Mystical Body of Christ includes not only the members of the Church on earth, but also those in Purgatory and the saints in Heaven, too!
I hope you have a wonderful community of people who love you and who have your back. No matter what your circumstances are, though, we can always look to the saints in Heaven to have our backs. They are so happy to be our friends, and they will sincerely and constantly intercede for us in all that we go through in life.
Avengers – I mean, Saints – Assemble!
Here at the Hildegard Collective, we assembled our own saint squad of friends who’ve all shown up in different ways and made it clear to us that they want to intercede for the efforts of the Collective and all those who encounter or participate in it: St. Hildegard von Bingen, St. Cecilia, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Alphonsus Liguori. Their intercession has been invaluable over the last few years as we’ve worked tirelessly to bring together faith & music based content to serve our fellow musicians.
In my own personal life, I have my own squad of saints who have shown up for me at different points in my life and who I turn to for intercession when I need extra prayers: St. Cecilia (my namesake), St. Anthony of Padua, St. Margaret of Clitherow (my confirmation saint), St. Hildegard von Bingen, St. Zelie, Pope St. John Paul II, Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, Bl. Carlo Acutis, and St. Therese. These saints have interceded for me, and I know they’re cheering me on as I try to run the good race, as St. Paul puts it.
But it’s not just in my personal life that I’ve found the intercession of these saints helpful. As a musician, there have been many situations when I’ve been so glad to be able to think of one or two of these saints off the top of my head. When I compose music, I’ve found the intercession of St. Hildegard, Pope St. John Paul II, and the Blessed Mother to be remarkably helpful. If I have a writer’s (composer’s?) block, St. Anthony of Padua comes to the rescue. Before performances, especially ones that feel particularly nerve-racking, I ask St. Cecilia for her intercession. There are so many different situations and scenarios that come up where I’m so grateful to have a short list of saints at the tip of my tongue to ask for intercession!
How to assemble your own saint squad
You might already have a short list of saints at the ready to call upon for aid, but if you don’t and want to put one together, here are three questions I recommend asking yourself:
Are there any saints I relate to or feel especially close to?
Are there any saints who have made their presence known to me (i.e. “randomly” popping up several times within a short amount of time, etc.)
Who are the patron saints of music/musical saints?
#1 and #2 are questions that you have to answer on your own, but I can give you some helpful hints for #3!
St. Cecilia – patron saint of musicians
St. Hildegard von Bingen – composer, musician
Bl. Dina Belanger – music educator
St. Ephrem – hymn composer
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – conservatory-trained pianist
St. Maria Crescenta Höss – singer
St. Peter Claver – choir director (in addition to being a missionary priest!)
St. Alphonsus Liguori – composer, harpsichordist
Bl. Carlo Acutis – self-taught saxophonist
This list just scratches the surface of musical saints, but it’s a pretty solid list to get you started. For more reading on musical saints, here’s a great article from Aleteia that features many more.
When you sit down to assemble your saint squad, I recommend doing this during a time of prayer. Entrust this to Jesus and ask Him to help you form your circle of saint friends. He knows which of His saints He wants you to get to know! I also recommend writing down your list, whether it’s in a journal, a Google doc, or the notes app on your phone.
I’ve got a saint squad. Now what?
Now that you’ve assembled a saint squad, here are a few suggestions for developing, deepening, and maintaining your relationship with them:
Ask for their intercession in the practice room, before rehearsals, before difficult conversations, before performances, before teaching, before working with a patient, before a recording session, for your colleagues/students/teachers, for your career, etc. Don’t forget to thank them for their intercession, too!
Take the time to get to know them! Read about their lives, and if they’ve left any writings behind, check out what they’ve written. Friendship is a two way street, after all; and it’s important to get to know the saints, too!
Look to their example as role models. The saints are our older brothers and sisters in Christ. They’ve already run the good race and fought the good fight. Because of this, the lives and witnesses of the saints can be so encouraging on our own journeys of holiness.
To close on that last note, I want to share a quote from St. Josemaria Escriva that touches on why the saints are such a good and necessary example for us:
“Let us turn to the example of the saints. They were people like us, flesh and bone, with failings and weaknesses, who managed to conquer and master themselves for the love of God. Let us consider their lives and, like bees who distill precious nectar from each flower, we shall learn from their struggles.”
If they can make it to Heaven, we can make it, too.
Happy Solemnity of All Saints, friends. May the lives of the saints inspire us to give glory to God in all that we do, and may their intercession help us grow ever closer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
