National Blog Post, Saint edition

Today I'm thankful for a hymn that not only touches my children, but still touches my heart. All Saint's Day remains an important part of my spirituality, because our traditions teach that each and every one of us is a saint of God.

Saint comes to us from the Latin sanctus, meaning holy (by way of old French seint). When I say that each of us is a saint, it means that we recognize that through the baptism, we become holy and part of God. How wonderful it is for children to hear this song, and know that they are Saints as well...not just in training, but following the right for Jesus' sake.

(the 12 yo in me snickers that the author's name is Lesbia. I know. Grow up)

I Sing a Song of the Saints of God

I sing a song of the saints of God,
Patient and brave and true,
Who toiled and fought and lived and died
For the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor,
And one was a queen,
And one was a shepherdess on the green:
They were all of them saints of God--and I mean,
God helping, to be one too.

They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,
And his love made them strong;
And they followed the right, for Jesus' sake,
The whole of their good lives long.
And one was a soldier,
And one was a priest,
And one was slain by a fierce wild beast:
And there's not any reason--no, not the least,
Why I shouldn't be one too.

They lived not only in ages past,
There are hundreds of thousands still,
The world is bright with the joyous saints
Who love to do Jesus' will.
You can meet them in school, or
In lanes, or at sea,
In church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea,
For the saints of God are just folk like me,
And I mean to be one too.