All Saints Day

Growing up in a small catholic village in Vietnam, I learned about children saints from the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco. One that mainly stuck in my memory is Blessed Laura Vicuna. I remembered the sisters celebrating her feast day with a play about her life. I particularly remembered the beautiful white night dress the girl that played Laura wore and the beautiful bun she was wearing. 

I don’t remember any other details besides that she died in a beautiful white dress with well-kept hair. Quite glamorous for a saint. I resented my mother a little because she gave my two older sisters remarkable patron saints like St. Mary Mazzarello and St. Maria Goretti. I would have enjoyed Laura Vicuna as my patron saint. While researching this post, I discovered that Laura was Beautified in 1988. It would have been impossible because my baptism occurred in 1983, five years prior. I’ve resented my mother for over 30 years because of my lack of knowledge about the young girl. She died a remarkable death to save her mother from sin.

My mom chose Mary for me and her feast day is August 15th. Which is Esther’s birthday; she was born weighing 8lb 15oz. What are the chances?

I enjoy learning about child saints because childhood has beauty and innocence. They are generous in giving love. The most beautiful part of me is a broken 8-year-old child. My trauma marked me at that age, although I didn’t experience a physical death like these saints. I did experience spiritual trauma. A fallen state where mortality reveals death and suffering exists in my world. I desire to remain innocent, trusting, and generous. It does cause me a great deal of pain at man's hands. It’s the life of a witness where tears water the ground under my feet for flowers to bloom and fruit to grow.

The sufferings and hardships in my life brought me to meet Jesus and find God; It would be a complete waste of my life not to desire to die a saint. I pray that God continues to abundantly guide my feet to preserve this child and open heaven’s door when I arrive.

Image: BI Laura Vicuña.