The selection of a patron saint for a mission or parish is a very important process. Not only does it create a relationship of prayer between the community and the saint, it establishes the priorities and public image of the mission or parish.
Anglican Ordinariate parishes and communities in this Year of Faith select patron saints with the approval of the ordinary as a part of the New Evangelization, bringing the Word of God afresh to society. In this process the Toronto Anglican Use Sodality (TAUS) will become a mission parish under the patronage of one of the great saints in Anglican and Catholic patrimony.
Saints proposed as patron come from various backgrounds. One was a pre-Reformation English Catholic. St. Thomas More, when faced with the decision to renounce his allegiance to Rome proclaimed: "I am the king's good servant, but God's first." Others like St. Edmund Campion (an Anglican deacon) entered into full communion with Rome, was ordained a priest and then was later martyred for the Catholic faith as he sought to bring others into full communion with the Holy See.
We pray that all the saints will be with TAUS on Sunday as the sodality continues the process of becoming a mission parish under the patronage of a great saint and with the prayers of our Lady and all the saints.
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