Note: If joining “Saintly Influencers” for the first time today, please read the footnote, explaining its context, purpose, and aim.
The Age of Modernity, considered in the history of the Church as well as the secular culture, began in the middle of the seventeenth century (i.e., the 1600s). In many areas of European life and culture, this was an age of seismic change. The philosophical works of Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, and René Descartes germinated in English and French coffee houses and produced the full flowering of the Enlightenment. The century-long religious and political conflict in Europe was brought to a tenuous conclusion by the Peace of Westphalia in 1649, only to have religion relegated to “the private sphere.” Artistic and architectural works bore opulent characteristics, iconized by King Louis XIV’s Versailles Palace.
As in previous ages, God provided saintly influencers who spoke into these cultural developments, and they are voices that still speak to us today. Because there was so much rapid cultural development, and because there were so many influential voices, it has been nearly impossible to choose only a handful of saintly influencers. Instead, it has been necessary to group these saints into broad themes that worked in response to the developments of the modern age. Two themes and trends have been essential to the response: mysticism and devotion, on the one hand, and education, on the other.
Among the mystics, the first saintly influencer was Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690). A little more than a year after her profession of religious vows in the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (commonly known as “the Visitation sisters”), this young French nun experienced several mystical visions in which Our Lord called her to spread greater devotion to His Sacred Heart. Recounting the second vision, Sr. Margaret Mary wrote that Jesus’ “eager desire” was to draw individuals “back from the road to perdition, along which Satan is driving them in countless numbers.” That desire, she continued, “induced Him to manifest His Heart to men with all the treasures of love, mercy, grace, sanctification, and salvation that It contains.” After these visions, St. Margaret Mary became the Apostle of the Sacred Heart, encouraging disciples of the Lord to engage in making reparation for the lack of charity in the world. Specifically, she encouraged the devotion of Eucharistic Adoration on the first Friday of each month, which happens at many parishes around the world and in our country (p. 69-71).
Three other young French women were mystics who have deeply influenced modern Catholic culture. Sr. Catherine Labouré (1806-1876) experienced two apparitions of the Blessed Mother in Paris in 1830 in which Mary warned of great calamities and evils that would befall France. The solution, Labouré communicated, was to come to the altar of Jesus and pray for an abundance of graces for the world. Beyond the promise of abundant grace to combat evil, Mary directed the stamping of the Miraculous Medal, which so many Catholics wear as a sign of their devotion to Mary and their ongoing intercession for a world in need.
Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879), a teenage visionary to whom Mary appeared at a grotto at Lourdes, was another influential mystic. Several years after the apparitions, Bernadette reflected and prayed: “O loving Mother, help your child resemble you in everything and in every way. In a word, grant that I may be a child according to your heart and the heart of your dear Son.” These requests were granted as Bernadette experienced intense suffering throughout her thirty-five years on earth, which she united to the crucified Lord. Jesus and His mother also provided a healing balm for Bernadette, specifically in the miraculous healing waters that sprang from the earth. St. Bernadette’s influence continues through the dissemination of the message that suffering united to Jesus has redemptive value for individuals and for the whole world; and through the dissemination of the miraculous spring water around the globe. Her story is also influential because she was the subject of an Academy Award-winning movie in 1943: The Song of Bernadette.
Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897) is the final mystic of this age. Her saintly life has captivated Catholics throughout the last century, particularly because of her “little way.” That is, she is best known for teaching that a person attains real spiritual greatness by doing simple actions with the fullest measure of charity he or she can muster. In St. Thérèse, countless Catholics in the last 125 years have sought holiness by offering small, mundane actions—from physical sufferings to housework to manual labor—for God’s greater glory. In fact, her influence is so widespread that she occupies a place among the most popular Confirmation saints, particularly among young Catholic ladies.
In the realm of education, there have been multiple saints who still influence our culture. Two of the most significant of these are Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (1651-1719) and John Bosco (1815-1888). The former, a Frenchman, is the founder of the Institute of the Brothers of Christian Schools (FSC), which still operates secondary schools and colleges/universities with a noticeable presence in some major American cities. La Salle wrote theological treatises to teach teachers, and works aimed at building structure for, and cultivating manners in, young men so they could function and flourish in later social interaction. It seems that every successive educator-saint relied, at least in part, on the paradigm La Salle laid out. The latter was the founder of the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales in Turin, Italy, which ministered to young males who had been exploited and abandoned because of the second industrial revolution in Europe. That work inspired Bosco to develop the Preventive System of education, based on the three pillars of reason, religion, and loving-kindness. Essentially, Bosco trained teachers that successful formation was based on relationship-building and servant leadership, a system that still proves effective in Catholic schools to this very day.
In the United States, though, it is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) whose life and work has been most influential. After being widowed, and then becoming Catholic, she diligently responded to God’s call to provide education in the Catholic Faith for those who could not otherwise access it. After the establishment of the first school in 1810, and the founding of a religious community, Seton’s work—and her intercession after death—laid the foundation for the system of Catholic schools that now exists across this country. Over more than two centuries, countless millions of Americans have received formation and education from early-childhood to post-graduate levels. In fact, that school system was declared the second miracle necessary for her canonization by Pope Paul VI in 1975.
St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890) is a final educator-saint whose cultural influence is ongoing and growing. After a lengthy quest—and much to the consternation of the leadership of the Anglican Church—Newman entered the Catholic Church in 1845. Some of the loftiest and most satisfying theological works in the English language resulted from his search, and from his defense against the ire of Anglican leaders. As an educator, one of his greatest works was The Idea of a University. The principles identified therein are readily visible in the great Catholic university of the United States, which seek to operate—in the formulation of St. John Paul the Great—from the heart of the Church (ex corde ecclesiae). Newman’s theological clarity is so luminous and relevant in our age that he has recently been named a Doctor of the Church—the second from the English-speaking world.
A final saintly influencer from the modern age is Blessed Pope Pius IX (1792-1878). His influence is felt, first, because of his promulgation of Ineffabilis Deus, in 1854, which officially defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. This dogmatic teaching would be certified, so to speak, less than four years later when Our Lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes. When the young visionary asked the beautiful woman’s name, the reply was simply, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” In our own country, this declaration was influential because the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (December 8) is our national patronal feast day, which means it is always a national celebration for Catholics.
Perhaps even more culturally important were Pius IX’s efforts to pastor Catholics through modernity. First, in 1864, he published The Syllabus of Errors, which contained eighty statements that synthesized the Church’s understanding of and relation to modern errors such as liberalism, pantheism, naturalism, absolute rationalism, and socialism. Finally, Pius IX was responsible for convening the First Vatican Council, which provided a robust definition of the symbiotic relationship of Faith and Reason; and which defined papal infallibility. Both these definitive statements provided the standards by which philosophers, scientists, theologians, and apologists have operated for more than 150 years.
As western culture changed drastically during the modern period, clearly, the Lord provided knowledgeable, wise, and devoted saints to influence the Church and the world. Their teachings and their witnesses have been profound, equipping later generations to share and spread the truth and love of Jesus in religious and secular settings. These are the influential voices that need to echo frequently through our mouths and our actions.
[1] Learning about the lives of holy men and women is a common and helpful spiritual practice. But while we might take some time to consider saints in their historical contexts, it’s easy to look past the ways their lives and actions influence our own present culture. Saints are made within specific cultural, historical circumstances and, just as importantly, they have borne deep impact on this current age of history.
Thus, this series seeks to identify the saints from the history of our Church who have borne the greatest influence on our present culture, that is, the way we think about and experience the Christian life in our current era, and in our segment of geography (i.e., the West and, in particular, the United States). This series delineates Christian history into eight ages: the Apostolic Age (A.D. 35-100); the Early Patristic Age (A.D. 100-480); the Later Patristic Age (A.D. 480-800); the Age of Early Christendom (A.D. 800-1200); the Age of Later Christendom (A.D. 1200-1400); the Renaissance and Baroque Age (A.D. 1400-1660); the Modern Age (A.D. 1660-1900); and the Post-Modern Age (the twentieth century). Each essay within this series will examine a handful of saints who sought and found holiness within their historical epochs and who, in turn, have borne an outsized influence on the ways Catholic-Christians in the third millennium understand and live the Catholic Faith. These few in each essay are chosen from among many, many other saints whose influence could be included in this series as well.
The great hope is that learning these influences gives us inspiration and stamina as we seek to answer the call to holiness in the world and the culture of the twenty-first century.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
