Saint Samuel

Saint Samuel was a prophet and the last of the judges of Israel, who at God’s command anointed first Saul and then David as kings. The Roman Martyrology commemorates him on August 20 and recalls that Christ was to be born of David’s line. His story is told in the First Book of Samuel. Scripture does not give the dates of his life.

His father was Elkanah of Ramathaim in the hill country of Ephraim, and his mother was Hannah, who for a long time could not have children. In the sanctuary at Shiloh she prayed in tears for a son and vowed to give him to the Lord all the days of his life. When the boy was born, she named him Samuel, because, as she said, she had asked the Lord for him. When the child was weaned, his mother brought him to Shiloh and entrusted him to Eli the priest. John Paul II recalled that her song of thanksgiving is known as the Magnificat of the Old Testament.

Samuel grew up at the sanctuary of the Lord, in days when the word of the Lord was rare. One night he heard someone calling him by name, and three times he ran to Eli. Then the priest understood that it was God who was calling the boy, and he taught him the answer: “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Benedict XVI pointed to this example to show how important it is to have someone who helps another recognize God’s voice. Samuel grew, the Lord was with him, and all Israel knew that he was a prophet of the Lord.

At a time when the Philistines oppressed Israel, Samuel called on the people to put away foreign gods and serve the Lord alone. He prayed for Israel at Mizpah, and after the victory he set up a stone and named it Ebenezer, saying that thus far the Lord had helped them. All his life he was judge of Israel. The Catechism recalls that he also knew the cost of intercession: he assured the people that he would never cease to pray for them.

When he grew old and his sons did not walk in his ways, the elders demanded a king like those of other nations. This displeased Samuel, but the Lord told him to grant the people’s request, and the prophet anointed Saul. When Saul proved disobedient, Samuel told him that to obey is better than sacrifice, and he grieved over him for a long time. Then the Lord sent him to Jesse in Bethlehem. The youngest of the sons, David, who was tending the sheep, was chosen, for man looks on what the eyes see, but the Lord looks on the heart. Samuel anointed him in the midst of his brothers.

Samuel died in old age. All Israel gathered to mourn him, and he was buried in his house at Ramah. The Book of Sirach praises him as a prophet beloved by the Lord who established the kingdom, and who before his death could testify that he had taken nothing from anyone. In the Acts of the Apostles Saint Peter speaks of the prophets, from Samuel onward, who announced the days of Christ. Samuel was never formally canonized. The Church venerates him as a saint, as it does the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament.