BL. JOHN SCOTUS ERIGENA, MARTYR - 10 NOVEMBER

 ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN NOVEMBER 

Saints celebrated on the 10th of November

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 JOHN SCOTUS ERIGENA, MARTYR

B. Johannes Scotus Malmesburiensis, better known under the name John Scotus Erigena, was a monk at Malmesbury in England and occurs as such on November 10 in Elenchus and Bucelin, who call him "blessed" and say of him that he was famous not only in England but also in France because of his high learning and eloquence.

HIS HIGH LEARNING AND ELOQUENCE

At the request of the Emperor Charles the Bald, at whose court he lived for some time, he translated the "Hierarchy" from Greek into Latin. He also wrote a book on "De naturae divisione", as well as a treatise on the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. The latter  indeed contains some errors against dogma, but when this was pointed out our Blessed submitted humbly to holy Mother Church.

A WONDERFUL HEAVENLY GLOW

In the end was stabbed to death by his pupils, since he sharply rebuked their vices. Bucelin therefore calls him a martyr who flourished in 870 and found his resting place at Malmesbury, next to the high altar on which a wonderful heavenly glow appeared afterwards. 

Nothing certain is known about the time and place of his birth. Most assume that he was an Irishman, as Scotia also called Ireland in ancient times. As for the surname Erigena, this could mean Eringena, i.e. "The one born in Erin (Ireland)."

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