St Seraphina

Seraphina’s family called her Fina. They had once been rich, but difficult times had made them poor. Fina was very generous, even as a child. She knew that not everyone had as much to eat as she did and so she would save half her dinner and give it to someone that was poorer than her. During the day she would sew and spin wool to help her family and at night she spent time praying. When Fina was still young she got very sick. The sickness paralyzed her, which meant she couldn’t move her muscles anymore. For 6 years she lay on wooden planks, because she didn’t want to be too comfortable. She was in lots of pain, but instead of complaining, Fina would think about Jesus’ pain, when he died for us on the cross. She prayed that her suffering be joined to his. Someone told Fina about St. Gregory the Great and how he suffered a lot in his life, so she began to ask him to pray for her that she would grow closer to God through her suffering. One day St. Gregory appeared to her in a vision and told her that soon she would be in heaven with God where there would be no suffering anymore. On March 12, St. Gregory’s Feast Day at that time, St. Gregory took Fina home to heaven.