As the start of the new school year approaches, there is often excitement over the purchasing of brand-new school supplies. And, for some, this excitement continues over into new classes and teachers and topics to learn. If, for you, the excitement comes to a screeching halt after a half-excited, half-dreadful trip for new notebooks, you are in good company. One of the beautiful things about the cloud of saints that await us is their diversity. While some were brilliant scholars, there were many who were not. Some simply dreaded their learning environments, some were mocked for how they learned, some were friendless and lonely, some were far behind, and some just couldn’t seem to keep up with their classmates. Wherever you might fall on this spectrum, you may find a new friend in this list.

St. Bernadette was a notably slow learner, having reached the age of 14 without even being deemed intelligent enough to receive her first Holy Communion. She struggled to learn alongside her classmates, but it was this slowness that made the authorities take her claim of seeing Mary seriously: they knew that she could not have come up with the term the “Immaculate Conception” by herself!

Both St. Ignatius and St. Alphonsus Rodriguez found themselves in a slightly embarrassing situation due to their very late start in schooling: before either could be ordained, they had to finish grammar school in a class of boys half their age! 

The academic struggles of St. John Vianney, the Cure of Ars, were so severe that his hopes of becoming a priest became increasingly bleak. He could barely complete his classes in seminary and even then, only through the help of a dedicated tutor, persistent prayer, and tremendous effort. In the end, he was ordained, but more so because of his intense devotion and holiness of life, rather than his success in the seminary classrooms. 

St. Augustine, a future Doctor of the Church, did not struggle to learn, but he hated going to classes. In an ironic turn of events, his relentless pursuit of truth led him to become a teacher himself!

Now often invoked by students before exams, St. Joseph Cupertino floundered in school. A poor student, everything and anything distracted him from his studies. He couldn’t even hold a conversation like his peers, often trailing off in the middle of sentence, unable to find the words. As he grew up, he tried to enter religious orders but was summarily turned away. Eventually, after many trials, he was admitted as a Third Order Franciscan. Again, like the Cure of Ars, he did become a priest, not because of any academic success beyond basic reading, but because of his great holiness. 

Both St. Gemma Galgani and Cora Evans faced difficulties in school, not because of a lack of intellect, but because of chronic illness that prevented them from attending school. Due to their extended absences, neither were able to complete their studies. 

St. Therese of Lisieux called her five years in a Benedictine school “the saddest of her life.” Although a fine student, she was very shy and found herself unable to make friends, spending most of her schooldays alone and lonesome. 

Another very famous Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, was not always considered the brilliant scholar that we know him to be today. When asked questions during a lesson, his slowness in answering earned St. Thomas Aquinas the nickname of the Dumb Ox. This slowness in answering was not a true marker of his interior intelligence, which far surpassed those who gave him that nickname!

St. Isidore, yet another Doctor of the Church, hated attending to his lessons and being taught. His education had been entrusted to a much older brother, St. Leander, who was a strict schoolmaster. So much so, that one day, St. Isidore simply ran away from his lessons. He hid out in the woods, where a stone being worn down by dripping water caught his attention. It made him realize that this was the attitude he needed to have towards his schooling, whether or not he became a great scholar: gentle, persistent effort. He understood that regardless of our end success, it is our effort and diligence that count, reportedly saying “One who is slow to grasp things but who really tries hard is rewarded; equally he who does not cultivate his God-given intellectual ability is condemned for despising his gifts and sinning by sloth.”

Finally, Blessed Solanus Casey, like St. Ignatius, found himself in high school seminary at age 21. However, even with this belated schooling, he was unable to keep up and his superiors decided that he would be ordained a simplex priest, meaning a priest who couldn’t hear Confessions, and was assigned to be a doorkeeper. Blessed Solanus Casey considered this to be a blessing and listened intently to all those who came to his door. This number grew and grew as the reports of his holiness, despite his inability to preach or hear Confessions, spread! 

It is not our intellect that makes us holy. It is our desire to follow Christ’s call, to be diligent in our duties in life, to love those around us, and to persistently and dedicatedly seek God in prayer. Whatever this coming school year holds for you, may you become holier!