How the Saints Pray: Letting God into the Mess of Our Lives | Lisa Lickona

Saints | St. Patrick | St. Therese of Lisieux | Padre Pio | Surrender | Love | Contemplative Prayer | Everyday Holiness | Catholic Spirituality | ChristHow do the saints pray? How do they face suffering? What can we learn about God by entering into their lives? And what might it mean for us to become saints?In this episode, Lisa Lickona shares what she has discovered after years of studying and writing about the saints. Contrary to the popular image of saints as flawless spiritual heroes, their lives reveal something far more human, and far more hopeful. Holiness is not about perfection or extraordinary effort. It is about letting God enter the ordinary, and often messy, realities of our lives. It is a path of self-abandonment, trust, and surrender. Drawing on the lives of St. Patrick, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Takashi Nagai, and Dorothy Day — and on her own journey with the saints — Lisa shows how the saints find joy even in the face of tremendous suffering, and how they become instruments of God's love and peace in the world.What emerges is not a distant ideal of holiness, but a way of being that is at once deeply human and deeply open to God. A way that does not deny suffering, but transforms it, revealing a peace and joy at the heart of life itself. This conversation is an invitation to the way of the saints.  About Lisa Lickona: Lisa Lickona is a nationally recognized Catholic writer, speaker, and theologian who has spent years entering deeply into the lives of the saints. Her reflections on the saints appeared daily in Magnificat for eight years. She currently writes on sanctity for Seatonshine.com and serves as a consultant on the lives of the saints for Relevant Radio. She holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology and is an assistant professor of systematic and spiritual theology at St. Bernard’s School of Theology & Ministry in Rochester, New York. Lisa is also a spiritual director, offering monthly half-day retreats on the saints at St. Bernard’s, as well as longer retreats for women in the Finger Lakes region, where she has lived with her family for over twenty years.Lisa Lickona: https://www.lisalickona.com/ Lisa’s articles on Sanctity: https://setonshrine.org/author/lisa-lickonasetonshrine-org/Lisa’s faculty page at St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry: https://www.stbernards.edu/faculty/lisa-lickona-s-t-lTimestamps 00:00 Welcome to a Conversation about the Lives of Saints00:38 The Story of Takashi Nagai: In the Heart of Devastation with Incredible Joy10:41 Saints: Olympians in Trust, Self-Abandonment, and Surrender15:35 God is Love17:59 Prayer is Allowing Ourselves to Be Loved by God23:23 The Journey of Studying Saints: Holiness is the Fullness of Humanity34:01 Let Go of Wanting to Become a Saint to Become a Saint39:11 Finding Joy in the midst of Suffering54:27 Seeing Ourselves Through the Eyes of Love01:01:39 Love is the Starting Point, Not a Reward at the End01:05:58 Heresy: False Voices in the Mind01:16:31 Detachment: Love and Letting Go01:24:41 Dark Night of the Soul: When the Old has Gone and the New is Not Yet01:36:40 The Non-Linear Path to Holiness01:43:57 The Little Way of Everyday Life01:48:23 Studying the Lives of the Saints and Connecting withLisa01:54:16"Loved" Music: Ben Bigelow (https://www.youtube.com/@BenBigelow3)