SAINT FEAST DAY 2 MARCH: BL. ENGELMAR UNZEITIG

 ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH 

Saints celebrated on the 2nd 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.

BL. ENGELMAR UNZEITIG, PRIEST AND MARTYR

In 1941, Engelmar Unzeitig, age 31, had been a priest for two years when he was arrested by the Nazis in Austria for speaking in defence of the Jews. 

He was sent to the Dachau concentration camp where he heroically ministered to inmates with typhoid until his own death four years later, in 1945. 

"THE ANGEL OF DACHAU"

Known as the "angel of Dachau," Fr Unzeitig was beatified as a martyr in Würzburg, Germany, in September 2016. 

Pope Francis said, "Killed in hatred of the faith in the extermination camp of Dachau, he opposed hatred with love, and answered ferocity with meekness: may his example help us to be witnesses of charity and hope even in the midst of trials."

Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig, pray for us! 

(Text by Fr Andrew)

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of the blessed Engelmar may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.