St. Stephen, pray for us!

Most people are familiar with the Catholic practice of associating patron saints with particular activities or types of work. We have patron saints that range from advertisers to firefighters to waitresses.
The practice of patron saints developed in part out of the awareness that we are all called to be holy, that we are all called to be saints, no matter what type of work we do. So whether you are a bread baker or a hairdresser, it is possible to be a saint.
Patron saints remind us that all of the work we do, no matter how simple, can become an opportunity to grow closer to Christ. No wonder, then, that there are patron saints for almost every type of work.
Some of the patrons we have were chosen with a bit of irony, which brings us to the patron saint of the work being done on our school building this summer: St. Stephen, who was the first Christian martyr and was stoned to death for witnessing to Jesus. St. Stephen is the patron saint of bricklayers and stonemasons - chosen as such because of the way in which he died. St. Stephen, pray for us!