Prayer changes things

One of my favourite family stories is about my grandfather, John William Barratt. As a young man in a chapel prayer meeting he was heard to pray "O Lord, send me a wife but please make it Alice Barratt". His prayer was answered and those two became one of the most formative influences on my young life.

Last Sunday the Telegraph had an interesting article from contemporary Catholicism:

Pray for a special Valentine, says Church
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:20am GMT 11/02/2007

Forget speed-dating and lonely-hearts columns. The Roman Catholic Church has come up with a more reliable way of finding love on Valentine's Day: pray to St Raphael, the little-known patron saint of "happy meetings".

The Church, concerned by a 30 per cent drop in Catholic weddings in England and Wales in the past decade, is offering single people the chance to seek divine intervention by the saint, described as a "heavenly helper famed for his match-making prowess".

It has set up a website that includes tips for people trying to find "a good and virtuous spouse" and a prayer to St Raphael that has to be said for nine consecutive days from Wednesday.

While the spiritual match-making service is being offered to all singles, the Church is particularly hoping that the facility will aid Catholics who are finding it increasingly difficult to meet a spouse.

The number of Catholic weddings fell from 15,552 in 1996 to 10,953 in 2005.

Ann-Marie Lohan, 38, of south London is single and is planning to pray to St Raphael in the hope of finding love as she says it has become virtually impossible to find a Catholic husband.

"Women greatly outnumber the men in church," she said. "As patron saint of Catholic singles, St Raphael has certainly got his work cut out these days."

Praying to a saint might seem like a rather desperate course of action for those wondering where their next rose or box of chocolates is coming from, but the Catholic Church teaches that there is a strong link between the earthly and spiritual realms. They believe that saints can intercede on their behalf.

The Rt Rev Ambrose Griffiths, Bishop Emeritus of Hexham and Newcastle, acknowledged that people may be sceptical, but urged them to give St Raphael the benefit of the doubt.

"We are alerting people to a dimension of life that most people tend to overlook," he said. "We are not just physical beings, but we are spiritual as well."

However, Bishop Griffiths, who is also chairman of Catholic Youth Services, warned people against praying to St Raphael in search of sexual gratification.

"Prayer should not be used as a tool for people to find someone to jump into bed with. True love is much deeper than that."

Visitors to the site at www.life4seekers.co.uk are greeted by a virtual host, dressed in a pin-stripe suit, telling them to be optimistic in their search for love.

"Are you looking for a soulmate?" he asks.

"There are many reasons to be hopeful. Why not seek the help of a heavenly helper who is famed for his match-making prowess."

St Raphael is credited with helping a biblical marriage between Tobias and Sarah. Sarah's previous seven husbands had all died on their wedding night.

Neil Hughes, a 24-year-old physics graduate, has been single for a year and welcomes the Church's offer of help.

"It might sound like a crazy idea, but I believe that prayer is an important way of seeking guidance in life," he said.

"I'll be praying to St Raphael. It definitely beats trying to find your partner by getting drunk in a nightclub."

Lesley Pippett, the Catholic Church's "agony aunt", gives tips to singles that include appreciating that only a small part of a relationship is based on sex.

"Far more important is whether or not you have overall compatibility and accept each other without wanting to change one another," she says.

Prayer to St Raphael
"You were sent by God to guide young Tobias in choosing a good and virtuous spouse. Please help me in this important choice which will affect my whole future."

St Raphael is one of the three archangels, along with Gabriel and Michael. He appears only in the Book of Tobit in Roman Catholic bibles. He is known as the patron saint of "happy meetings"
In the Catholic Church, St Raphael's feast day is celebrated on Oct 24.