It was St. Anthony’s feast day the other day, and as I passed a church glowing with candles and filled with the fragrance of frankincense, I found myself pondering — “How far can saints take me?”

It’s a curious question. Because if you ask some folks, they’ll tell you quite confidently — “Anywhere! I once prayed to St. Jude for a lost job and got it back. Then prayed to St. Anthony for my lost glasses, and found them… on my head!” Miraculous indeed. And then there’s St. Valentine, who despite being single for centuries, still takes people all the way to the altar. Or court. Depending on how the relationship pans out.

But back to the question. How far can saints take you?

Let me tell you, saints are not travel agents. They don’t promise “direct flights to Heaven” with stopovers for miracles and in-flight blessings. No, saints were, and are, something far more profound — signposts. Yes, those weather-beaten boards on life’s highway that say: “This way to grace, via humility and faith.”

Now, I know we live in a world where we love to outsource everything. Groceries? Swiggy. Transport? Uber. Faith? “Hello, St. Joseph, I need parking!” But the saints — they never asked for franchises. They simply said, “Here’s how I walked the walk. You can too… but you’ll need strong shoes and stronger surrender.”

You see, the strength of a saint was never their muscles or miracles they did. In fact, most of them were pretty hopeless by worldly standards. Take St. Francis — gave up riches to hug lepers. Or Mother Teresa — didn’t start by healing nations, just by picking up one dying man from the street.

Their power? Utter, unreasonable, sometimes even uncomfortable, surrender to God.

Which, let’s face it, is not exactly what one loves to hear.

We don’t want to hear them say, “I’m not the strong guy, I just leaned on One with strength!”

And that’s the part of saints we often forget in all our feasting and festivities. We love the stories of their miracles — limbs healed, storms calmed, mothers-in-law healed. But do we pause to celebrate the brokenness they bore before the power came? The loneliness? The ridicule? The constant falling and rising and trusting again?

Because that’s where the saints take us — not to themselves, but through themselves. They don’t hold our hand and fly us to heaven like celestial Uber drivers. They say, “Follow me, as I followed Him.” And then they step aside.

So yes, light the candles. But when you say, “Pray for us,” remember — the saints don’t want to replace a direct faith in God; they want to awaken it. They remind us that God needs surrender.

How far can saints take you?

To the end of themselves- straight to the feet of God…!

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