Saints remind us that we don’t need to be perfect to be worthy of heaven

Do we deserve the eternal life promised by paradise?

The most remarkable thing about saints is that they were simply humans. And no different from an ordinary person, they chose which life they wished to live. In the end, they favored the path that leads to a heroic and virtuous life.

This All Saints’ Day, we celebrate those who have reached and entered heaven. But we do not celebrate their purity nor their impeccable life. Instead, we are reminded that those whom we seek guidance from were once humans too.

Saint Augustine of Hippo | Patron saint of brewers

“Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you.”

Written in the book he authored, Confessions, are paragraphs of the life he once lived during his teenage years, filled with rebellion and profane pursuits. He lived like any human who sought worldly pleasures. He partied, indulged himself in illicit affairs, struggled deeply with his faith as a Catholic, and even fathered a child outside of marriage.

After years of succumbing to his sins, he found his way back through writing countless works and was recognized as Doctor of the Church.

Saint Olga of Kyiv | Patron saint of converts and widows

Saint Olga was a widowed pagan who buried her enemies alive. She sought revenge for her husband, who had died at the hands of the Drevlians tribe. Yet after her conversion to Christianity, she dedicated her power and wealth to spread the Gospel, feeding the poor, and built churches for everyone.

Saint Mary of Egypt | Patron saint of penitents

For 17 years, she led a life engaged in sexual pleasures. She never accepted money from the men she slept with, and was driven from passion for such desires like a flame she couldn’t put out. But when a force repelled her from entering the church, she made a promise that changed her ways forever. A promise to renounce the world if she was let in.

She crossed the Jordan River and chose the life of a hermit for 47 years to atone and find herself across the vast desert.

Saint Pelagia of Antioch | Patron saint of actresses

She had once lived a life of immense luxury, and her beauty was revered by those who knew her. Saint Pelagia possessed fame, wealth, everything that the world could offer. Yet the power of Bishop Nonnus’ sermon moved her onto a path of repentance; she lived as a hermit, isolated from the rest of the world, and pledged her life to pray until her passing.

Saint Peter the Apostle | Patron saint of fishermen, net makers, and ship builders

His name echoes as one of the pillars of Christianity as the first pope and one of the twelve apostles chosen by God to spread his Gospel.

But once he had denied knowing the Lord three times. After the Lord’s resurrection, he atoned for his denial and established Catholic churches across countless cities and helped spread the word of God as he traveled around the Mediterranean.

We are worthy of heaven

In the end, they are alive through every prayer we choose to pray, when we utter their names, pleading for their everlasting guidance.

There are still countless saints who made mistakes throughout their lifetime. But saints exist to remind us that they are not revered because they’re flawless, but rather because of their love for God, which prevailed, stronger than their love for sin, pride, and worldly pleasures.

We all have a choice in which path to take. Because the greatest miracle lies not in being perfect but rather in proving that we are not what we did, because we are who we choose to become.

We pray not to be perfect, but to be forgiven.

And humans are still worthy of heaven despite the unheavenly world.