Saints Meme

I found this over at La Mamma's place, and decided that I really wanted to play too, under the "anyone else who reads this" proviso!

The rules for this one (it's pretty laid back, as memes go...)
1. Answer the questions! You can give a reason for the answer if you like.
2. As for tagging people, you tag as many as you want or as little...minimum of one. There's no obligation to play.
3. Last of all, have fun!

1. First Saint you "met"?
When I returned to the Church, I had a very "Protestant" view of Our Lady and the saints, basically due to my post-Vatican II catechesis. I reluctantly accepted that Our Lady was worth petitioning on account of no nice Jewish boy doesn't listen to his mother. But the first saint I really "met" was St. Jude. After an unfinished and half-hearted novena, he fixed the NHS waiting list for me. You can read more about it (and him) in a previous post.

2. Favourite Saint(s)?
Our Lady goes without saying, though I do have my favourite titles for her. More about them some other time. And then I have a particular affection for and devotion to St. Jude (especially when desperate, or driving), St. Anne Line, St. Joseph (especially when tracking down a parking space), St. Bernadette, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Philomena, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Mary Magdalene (she got a very bad press because of the Da Vinci Code, but it was hardly her fault!), St. Martha, St. John Fisher, St. Thomas More, St. Francis de Sales, St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, St. John Vianney, St. Irenaeus, St. Peter, St. Josémaria, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Cecilia, St. Juan Diego Cuahtlatoatzin...

3. Patron saint for the year?
I was allocated St. Peter Chrysologus, and to my shame I haven't really bothered to look into him much (yet.)

4. Favourite book by a saint?
Aaarghhh. Difficult choice. True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort probably comes out tops, with The Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus coming in a close second and Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales squeaking in third.

5. Saint book you are reading now?
I'm using the Introduction to the Devout Life as an aid to meditation, though I'm not actually reading it at the moment. And I have a few other books on the go at the moment...

6. Favourite film of a saint?
I have two, but I'm not really cheating: Bernadette, by Jean Delannoy, starring Sydney Penny, and The Passion of Bernadette, also by Jean Delannoy (it's really a continuation of the story!)

7. Favourite Autobiography/Biography of a saint?
Bernadette of Lourdes by Réné Laurentin.

8. Favourite novel/book by a saint?
Already answered in Question 4.

9. Saint (besides your favourites) you'd want to meet?
I think I'd want to meet St. Thérèse of Lisieux. I've had real problems with her autobiography, Story of a Soul, as it too cloyingly sweet for my taste. St. Bernadette was rather more ascerbic, I think, and much more to my liking. However, if I met St. Thérèse in person, I might understand her better, and so develop a devotion to her...

10. Saint you look to for help?
All of them, at different times, according to specific circumstances.

11.Favourite saint quote?
"My Lords, I am accused of harbouring a Catholic priest. So far am I from repenting that I would I could have harboured a thousand." (St. Anne Line, on the scaffold, 1601)

12. Favourite Holy Card?
Ummmm... no, sorry, don't have one. I like most of them.

13. Favourite story of a saint?
Lots... but if I had to pin it down...
St. Teresa of Avila was travelling to various convents to sort them out. On one such journey, in really foul weather, the wheel of the cart broke off, tipping everything into the mud. St. Teresa remonstrated with Our Lord. "Lord," she said, "Why do you have to make life so difficult?" Jesus replied, "Teresa, this is how I treat my friends." "Yes, Lord," she retorted, "That's why you have so few of them."

14. If you could go anywhere on a pilgrimage to a saint's homeland, where would it be?
I already visit Lourdes (St. Bernadette's home.) I suppose if I had the chance to go anywhere, it would have to be the Holy Land, as several of my favourites are there: St. Jude, St. Martha, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Joseph, St. Peter...

15. Any Blesseds or Venerables that you would like to become canonized?
Venerable Luiz de Granada (he wrote The Sinner's Guide, and was a favourite of St. Teresa of Avila.)

And now I tag Mark, Ma Beck, Tomas, Jay, Joanna (if she's not too busy to play), Joe, Esther and Rita.