The spiritual life is made up of many seasons. You’ll experience seasons when you can’t wait to get to prayer and periods when you have to force yourself to keep showing up. You’ll have days when you feel the warmth of God’s love fill your whole being and days when it seems he couldn’t be further away.

There is one motto you can adopt that will see you through all these seasons: “Just keep showing up.”

This attitude is on vivid display in the life of Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. When Paris was under attack by Attila the Hun, many of the inhabitants fled. But Saint Genevieve kept showing up to her daily prayer and duties in the city, going even deeper into prayer and work. Others were inspired by her example, and did the same.

Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, Saint Genevieve and the people of Paris persevered through Attila’s invasion, and after the city had been sacked, she led the effort to rebuild it. She didn’t run. She kept showing up to prayer and receiving the strength she needed to persevere.

Our prayer life is subject to many invasions, whether they be our own thoughts, other people’s demands on our time, or long periods of feeling distant from God. The secret to persevering through these invasions is to just keep showing up. Like Saint Genevieve, just keep showing up to prayer and letting God work in you and through you.

Just keep showing up. When things get hard, don’t run away from prayer. Lean into it even more. If you want God to do extraordinary things in and through you, persevere in prayer.

Patron Saint of: Paris

Symbols: A Candle and a Loaf of Bread

Feast Day: January 3

Feast Day Shared by: St. Anterus, St. Joseph Mary Tomasi, and St. Telesphore