Claire Ellendson of St. Mark in St. Paul offers some faith-filled fodder for All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day and beyond.
Her podcast, “Dead Friend Saints,” consists of carefully researched and prayerfully considered stories of saints and saints-in-the-making, Ellendson told Patrick Conley, host of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show on Relevant Radio 1330 AM, for an episode to premiere at 9 p.m. Oct. 22.
Claire Ellendson
Certainly, the podcast extolls each saint’s virtues, but the stories also try to explain their challenges, human failings and struggles, and “how Jesus came into their brokenness and healed them,” Ellendson said.
Finding their individualism — passions and character traits — can be tricky when little is known about a saint, but there also is the historical context of each life, coupled with what they are a patron of, when their feast day is celebrated and how they met their end, she said.
“It has been profoundly consoling to me, just in my personal life,” to know the ways God enters their lives, Ellendson said.
Some saints are easier for her to relate to than others, she said. Every other podcast now has a special guest, who can relay information about saints who are important to them, and how they seek intercession of the saints in trying to do God’s will, she said.
Knowing saints’ stories also helps her realize that Jesus is not calling her to be a “cookie cutter form of what Christ might be,” Ellendson said. Jesus wants everyone to be completely themselves while being purified of sin, she said.
Choosing which saint to research and talk about at any one time often is the result of praying for the intercession of multiple saints while going through requests, spotting an upcoming feast day or receiving a holy card, she said.
“When I open my eyes, it seems to find its place,” she said.
To learn more about Ellendson’s podcasts, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic” and visit her website at deadfriendsaints.com. The Catholic Spirit wrote about Ellendson and her ministry.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews about 2,400 pumpkins for sale on the front lawn of Our Lady of Peace School in south Minneapolis, and a pilgrimage walk for racial reconciliation planned Nov. 6 in Minneapolis from Ascension to the Basilica of St. Mary. The show also airs on Relevant Radio at 9 p.m. Oct. 23 and 2 p.m. Oct. 24.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at:
soundcloud.com/PracticingCatholic
tinyurl.com/PracticingCatholic (Spotify)
Recent Comments