BL. GODFREY OF CAPPENBERG - 14 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 14th of January

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.

BLESSED GODFREY OF CAPPENBERG, RELIGIOUS

(January 13 in some calendars - Godefridus, Gottfried, Conf. Ord. Praem.)  Saint Godfrey was born in 1097 in the Westphalian castle Cappenberg (Kappenberg), the seat of the counts of renowned name. 

AN ILLUSTRIOUS FAMILY

His father was called Gottfrid, Count von Cappenberg, from the blood of Charlemagne; his mother was Beatrix, born of the German emperors from the Swabian Haue. 

He was ignited through the zeal of St Norbert, who had just founded the Premonstratensian Order, and was so moved that in 1122 he turned his father's castle into a monastery and at the same time persuaded his wife Jutta to leave the world in order to serve the Lord alone in monastic seclusion. 

HE FOUNDED THREE PREMONSTRATENSIAN MONASTERIES

He now founded three Premonstratensian monasteries: Cappenberg, Varlar and Ilbenstadt or Ilmstadt in the Wetterau. 

He also induced his brother Otto and his sister Beatrix to consecrate themselves to the Lord. He was already known for his delicate conscience and his piety. As a monk he wanted to be the lowest everywhere and always preferred the humblest of tasks. He permitted nobody to address him by his aristocratic title. 

HE DIED TO THE WORLD BEFORE HE HAD TO LEAVE IT

When he prayed or listened to God's word, he shed abundant tears. He lived very strictly and enjoyed almost nothing but bread and water. So he died to the world before he had to leave it. 

Nothing pleased him more than the approach of his than the thought of the hour of death: "Oh, would it came soon," he sighed often, "the hour of our devotion; Oh Lord my God, prepare me for this hour!" 

"NOW THEY COME, THE MESSENGERS OF THE LORD MY CREATOR"

Finally he fell ill on the way to Magdeburg, on a monastic errand. He once more humbly asked his confreres for forgiveness if he had insulted or annoyed them as he prepared himself to die. 

As he was about to breathe his last, he exclaimed: "Now they come, the messengers of the Lord my Creator," whereupon he, passed away in the Lord on January 13, 1127. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)