The Wisdom of the Saints: An Anthology, by Jill Haak Adels. Oxford University Press. 1989.

Covering over two thousand years of Church history, this unique anthology presents hundreds of aphoristic sayings from the writings and recorded works of both famous and obscure saints. Ranging from the polished literary statements of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists, to the cry of the martyr on the scaffold, these quotations treat a wide variety of themes such as joy, death, faith, hope, folly, and much more.

The volume includes diary notations, lists of personal resolutions, naive remarks of saintly children who have foreseen their own destiny, and the half-legendary utterances of early miracle-working saints of Ireland and the misty northern forests. It offers the wisdom of European, African, and Japanese saints, as well as an appendix of biographical sketches. Despite the diversity of the individuals represented--hermits and Popes, the urbane and the uncouth, the sensible and the passionately foolish--this book uncovers a degree of harmony of thought among all of the saints included here. By bringing the saints to life, this collection reminds us that they were real people--not a group of museum figures carved in marble--with a range of temperaments and personalities.

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St. Didacus (1400 - 63) November 7

Didacus is living proof that God "chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27).

As a young man in Spain, Didacus joined the Secular Franciscan Order and lived for some time as a hermit. After Didacus became a Franciscan brother, he developed a reputation for great insight into God's ways. His penances were heroic. He was so generous with the poor that the friars sometimes grew uneasy about his charity.

Didacus volunteered for the missions in the Canary Islands and labored there energetically and profitably. He was also the superior of a friary there.

In 1450 he was sent to Rome to attend the canonization of St. Bernardine of Siena. When many friars gathered for that celebration fell sick, Didacus stayed in Rome for three months to nurse them. After he returned to Spain, he pursued a life of contemplation full-time. He showed the friars the wisdom of God's ways.

As he was dying, Didacus looked at a crucifix and said: "O faithful wood, O precious nails! You have borne an exceedingly sweet burden, for you have been judged worthy to bear the Lord and King of heaven" (Marion A. Habig, O.F.M., The Franciscan Book of Saints, p. 834).

San Diego, California, is named for this Franciscan, who was canonized in 1588.