From The Washington Post-
The other day, a colleague wished me luck on my upcoming “Patron Saint Festival.” He was joking, of course. He was referring to Labor Day.
It’s true, Labor Day is a busy time for labor secretaries. But my friend’s comment got me thinking.
I was raised with saints. I always thought it strange that our large, Hispanic-American family belonged to Saint Louis of France parish in La Puente, Calif. Whenever my mother misplaced something--her address book, eye glasses or house keys--she would immediately ask Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of lost things, to intercede. Saint Anthony never failed her.
My father had an even more personal relationship with a saint. In the 1920s, Rafael Guizar Valencia was known as Mexico’s “Bishop of the Poor.” He cared for the wounded and dying during the Mexican Revolution. But he also baptized my dad, gave him his first communion, confirmed him and sponsored his attendance to seminary school in Mexico City. He was canonized a saint by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. When my father died earlier this year, Saint Rafael’s picture was on his mass card.
More here-
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/remembering-the-legacy-of-saint-frances-perkins-this-labor-day/2012/09/01/fdba103e-f462-11e1-adc6-87dfa8eff430_blog.html
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