And we’re back for the second part of this little favorite Saints collab.  I have learned so many amazing things about our friends, the saints, through these two posts and hope you have as well. These women are truly sharing their hearts and souls and opening up about the good that these holy people have done for them.  It is truly inspiring.

So without further ado, here are the last three stories!  Thank you so much to Jacque, Jamie, and Sky for sharing their hearts!

Jacque Anderson | @jacque.anderson

When I was 18 years old and a freshman at Franciscan University of Steubenville, I decided I didn’t want to be Catholic anymore.  I was struggling with severe anxiety, depressions, my body image, and eating issues, among other trials.  I didn’t want anything to do with God.  I felt alienated from His love and doubted if He even existed.  As time went on at Franciscan University, I began to find friends and mentors who loved God and their Catholic faith and inspired me to pursue a relationship with God again.  However, I still struggled greatly with prayer and growing close to Jesus.

During the summer of 2017, a friend gifted me with a Rosary bracelet. I wore the bracelet everywhere and grasped onto it when waves of anxiety or depression hit me, repeating Hail Mary’s my head as I tried to cling to sanity. It was in these desperate moments that Our Blessed Mother gently carved a place in my heart. I began calling here “Mama” or “Mom” in my head when thinking of her (which I had thought was weird before haha!).

My senior year at Franciscan, I felt Mary calling me to join Totus Tuus, Maria household, which means Totally Yours, Mary, St. John Paul II’s motto for his papacy.

As a part of that household, I consecrated myself to Jesus through Mary using Louis de Monfort’s model for Marian consecration. During consecration, a fiery, passionate, and deep love for Jesus was ignited in my heart. I had never felt His love for me so strongly. All I wanted was to be in the presence of the Eucharist. I often found myself weeping before the Eucharist, overcome by His love for me and my love for Him. And I know that is because of Our Blessed Mother. Her main goal is to bring us to Jesus and bring Jesus to us, just as she brought Him to the world in her womb when she said “Yes” to God in humble service. Mary is my mother, she is your mother, and she longs to bring us to her Son. The only person I love more than my sweet Mama is Jesus, and that is exactly how she wants it.

Jamie Sal | @jamieesal

My favorite Saint is St. Joan of Arc, St. Joan showed me a unconventional role of a women in relation to my understanding in Gods creation of us. In today’s day and time women are being told to be two opposite things, if they don’t meet the expectations of both ends of the spectrum they are shamed.

Saints like St. Joan give a clear example of what a true women of God should be. As a young girl I struggled with the meaning behind the word feminism, I had conflicting feelings and felt very lost. St. Joan was feminine in nature, quiet, and small but God choice her in a time period where the thought of women having rights was unconceivable.

He chose her to lead an army of men, end the hundred year war, and do it all before she turned twenty. She faced opposition from everyone, her parents, the government, and the church. But following the will of God, a farm girl changed the course of history. She helped shape my understanding of who I am as a woman and how God loves me. Traditional mother or fierce warrior as long as it is the will of God.

Sky Ortigas | @skyortigasdefault

A Filipino.  A Missionary.  Young, Migrant, Martyr.  Accompanied the Jesuit Fr. Diego de San Vitores to the Mariana Islands in Guam, Pedro became a young catechist who offered his life to serve the natives.  Together with Fr. Diego, many were converted.  The one that caused them their lives is when Fr. Diego baptized the chieftain’s daughter.  Attacked by the angry father, Pedro could have run and hide, but then he opted to stay with the half-blind Fr. Diego.  A faithful friend and companion he was.  Both bodies were thrown into the river and were never recovered.

St. Pedro keeps on inspiring me on my missionary work.  After working as a full time missionary in Africa, I am now working as a media missionary.  He inspires me to do excellently wherever I am being placed by the Lord.

When it comes to family, especially with my younger brother, I would always pray and ask for intercession from St. Pedro.  I don’t know why, but there are times when my brother is experiencing or struggling with something, I would just pray to St. Pedro and somehow, I found that my brother is alright.  This saint is always my go-to when it comes to praying for my brother.

As well as for mission work, this Saint is one of the saints that I pray and ask help.

Have a beautiful Saturday!

Maddy