One of my favourite Saints who I attribute to my coming back to believe in God is St. Stanislaus Kostka. He is a popular Saint, but not as widely known of as certain others, such as St. Francis, St. Augustine or more modern day ones such as St. Faustina.
St. Stanislaus died at the tender age of eighteen, so he hadn't written books, been a teacher in theology or worked his way up the hierarchy of Catholicism to be anyone viewed as important, such as a Bishop. In fact, he was only a novice in the Society of Jesus for one-year before his death, so finding information and devotional items is quite rare. It doesn't make him any less significant however; he is a beloved Saint of the Catholic Church.
In my childhood as I prepared to receive the Sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation (in my family parish we usually undertook the two Sacraments together) I chose to study St. Stanislaus. Originally I chose him because I would take on his name as my Confirmation name, and I thought it was a nice yet different name.
After surviving a car-accident nine-years ago - and finding faith in God once again - I would utilise my time with learning more about this Saint whom I learnt of in my childhood. I had forgotten pretty much everything I had once learned during my years away from spirituality and rejection of the church. All just teenage rebellion, trying to "find myself".
St. Stanislaus basically helped me get back into the faith I was bought up with, as opposed to going to another religion for guidance. I would read about his life, his death, and the certain things that he is a Patron Saint for. I would get very interested in him, firstly because I was at the time nineteen; he died at age eighteen, as well as learning of him being Patron Saint "against broken bones".
In my nineteen years of life, I had never broken or fractured a bone in my body, except for in the car-accident, breaking my spine. Other than that, even now, I haven't broken or fractured a bone since. This was all getting very exciting! I had studied about him in my younger days, thus his name was added to my own birth-name, but after reading he was patron against broken bones, I started to call him "My Patron Saint" once again. I have ever since!
Call it "coincidence" or true spiritual help. I myself don't believe much in coincidences - I believe in God, and through St. Stanislaus Kostka, He was inviting me back to His Church. As I grew in spirituality, I would often look for books or medallions of St. Stanislaus, but to no avail. With the power of the internet these days, however, I was able to find some items for him from international shops. Nothing that significant, but I now own a small prayer card of him, which came with its own medal to put on a chain around ones neck.
He was the first Saint I ever studied, and through his intercession to God, I believe is the reason I am still walking and not in a wheelchair. Thank-you, St. Stanislaus! Help me to become more like you, loving God everyday, through devotion to Our Lady: Queen of Heaven!
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