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Often God will allow a severe trial to afflict us or someone we love. It isn’t always easy to bear and the reasons why God permits such suffering are not immediately known. However, one thing is for certain, God wants us to turn to him during these intense trials and rely on his providential care to help relieve our suffering.
One way to invoke God’s aid is to do so through the intercession of the saints. These holy men and women are there with God in heaven and can present our desperate case to God in a way that touches his heart. Many of these saints have been proven to be powerful intercessors, securing miraculous healings and interventions that can change a person’s life forever.
While we are not guaranteed a miracle every time we pray to the saints, they will secure an answer from God to our supplications and relay it to us. We may not always like the answer, but God will always use these saints as instruments of his love and mercy.
Here are four powerful saints who are well-known intercessors for four desperate situations: cancer, troubled marriages, unemployment and all other hopeless causes!
Cancer
One saint who is known for his powerful intercession and healing of those suffering from cancer is St. Peregrine. An Italian saint from the 14th century, Peregrine suffered from a cancerous infection in his leg, which was miraculously healed during his lifetime. After his death Peregrine became known as the Patron of Cancer Patients and countless miracles have been attributed with his intercession.
O great St. Peregrine, you have been called “The Mighty,” “The Wonder-Worker,” because of the numerous miracles which you have obtained from God for those who have had recourse to you. For so many years you bore in your own flesh this cancerous disease that destroys the very fiber of our being, and who had recourse to the source of all grace when the power of man could do no more. You were favored with the vision of Jesus coming down from His Cross to heal your affliction. Ask of God and Our Lady, the cure of the sick whom we entrust to you.(Pause here and silently recall the names of those for whom you are praying)Aided in this way by your powerful intercession, we shall sing to God, now and for all eternity, a song of gratitude for His great goodness and mercy.Amen.
Click on the link below to progress to the next saint.
Troubled marriages
Five hundred years before Henry VIII, there was a king of England who strove to follow the laws of the Catholic Church and is now known as St. Edward the Confessor. Edward eventually married Edith, the daughter of Godwine, the Earl of Essex and the most powerful of the English earls at the time. Many historians believe Edith was a tough woman and at times bad-tempered. Edward is often invoked by those who have difficult marriages or are separated.
Most glorious St. Edward,you showed your devotion to God
with patience, gentleness and generosity. Like you, may I serve to strengthen the Kingdom of God
through patient prayer and charity.
Speak on my behalf for my petition which seems so impossible from my position.
(Here mention your request ).Confident in your intercession, I place this cause in your hands.Amen.
Unemployment
During the 16th century, St. Cajetan was a lawyer and then a priest. He ministered to the poor and founded a bank that was aimed at helping them, offering them alternative loans than those who were trying to take advantage of them. The bank would eventually become the Bank of Naples.
O glorious St. Cajetan, you studied to be a lawyer, but when you felt that the Lord was calling you to his service, you abandoned everything and became a priest. You excelled in virtues, shunning all material rewards for your labor, helping the many unemployed people of your time. You provided loans without interest and you attracted a lot of benefactors who donated to your resources so that you could go on with your activities. Look on us with mercy. We wish to find employment that could help us and our families live with dignity. Listen to our petitions, dear saint; you, who could easily give up the food on your table for the needy, bring our petitions to Jesus (here make your request). Amen.
All hopeless cases
One of the original 12 Apostles, Jude was often forgotten throughout history because of his name. In Latin his name is “Judas,” but he is not the same person as Judas Iscariot. People were afraid of praying to him in case they invoked the wrong “Judas.” For this reason, he is the patron saint of all impossible causes and is widely known for countless miracles that have occurred through his intercession.
Most holy Apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of difficult cases, of things almost despaired of, Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone.Intercede with God for me that He bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly –(make your request here)– and that I may praise God with you and all the saints forever. I promise, O Blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor granted me by God and to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you.Amen.
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Feeling alone and depressed? Pray this prayer to St. Jude for hope
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4 Saints of impossible causes, and prayers to them
And today we celebrate...