SAINT FEAST DAY 12 MARCH: ST ALPHEGE

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH

Saints celebrated on the 12th of March

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST ALPHEGE THE BALD, BISHOP

St Alphege, of Anglo-Saxon descent, was Bishop of Winchester from 934 to 951. Monasticism had declined in England in favour of secular clergy; he played an important role in the monastic revival. A monk in the court of King Athelstan, St Alphege was the personal tutor of St Ethelwold. He ordained both St Dunstan and St Ethelwold. 

"WHITE HAIR AND WISDOM"

He is known as Alphege the Bald to distinguish him from other saints called Alphege. 'Bald' in the old English means 'white', denoting white hair and wisdom. He died on March 12, 951 and initially was buried in the Old Minster in Winchester. His relics were subsequently translated to the new cathedral church, and his shrine was destroyed during the Protestant Reformation.