ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL
Saints celebrated on the 3rd of April
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 RICHARD OF CHICHESTER
Richard was born, 1197, in the little town of Wyche, eight miles from Worcester, England. He and his elder brother were left orphans when young, and Richard gave up the studies which he loved, to farm his brother's impoverished estate. His brother, in gratitude for Richard's successful care, proposed to make over to him all his lands; but he refused both the estate and the offer of a brilliant marriage, to study for the priesthood at Oxford.
VARIOUS APPOINTMENTS
In 1235 he was appointed, for his learning and piety, chancellor of that University, and afterwards, by St Edmund of Canterbury, chancellor of his diocese. He stood by that Saint in his long contest with the king, and accompanied him into exile. After St Edmund's death Richard returned to England to toil as a simple curate, but was soon elected Bishop of Chichester in preference to the worthless nominee of Henry III. The king in revenge refused to recognise the election, and seized the revenues of the see. Thus Richard found himself fighting the same battle in which St Edmund had died. He went to Lyons, was there consecrated by Innocent IV in 1245, and returning to England, in spite of his poverty and the king's hostility, exercised fully his episcopal rights, and thoroughly reformed his see. After two years his revenues were restored.
YOUNG AND OLD LOVED ST RICHARD
Young and old loved St Richard. He gave all he had, and worked miracles, to feed the poor and heal the sick; but when the rights or purity of the Church were concerned he was inexorable. A priest of noble blood polluted his office by sin; Richard deprived him of his benefice, and refused the king's petition in his favour. On the other hand, when a knight violently put a priest in prison, Richard compelled the knight to walk round the priest's church with the same log of wood on his neck to which he had chained the priest; and when the burgesses of Lewes tore a criminal from the church and hanged him, Richard made them dig up the body from its unconsecrated grave, and bear it back to the sanctuary they had violated. Richard died in 1253, while preaching, at the Pope's command, a crusade to liberate the Holy Land.
REFLECTION:
As a brother, as chancellor, and as bishop, St Richard faithfully performed each duty of his state without a thought of his own interests. Neglect of duty is the first sign of that self-love which ends with the loss of grace.
(From: Fr Butler's Lives of the Saints)
Thanks be to You, my Lord, Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which You have given me, for all the pains and insults which You have borne for me. Most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother, may I know You more clearly, love You more dearly, and follow You more nearly, day by day. Amen.
(St Richard of Chichester)
Comments
Post a Comment