SAINT FEAST DAY 3 AUGUST: ST LYDIA THE PURPLE SELLER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 3rd of August

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 LYDIA THE PURPLE SELLER

Saint Lydia Purpuraria, feast August 3 [January 27, May 20 in some calendars], is the 1st century native of Thyatira (now Ak-Hissar), a city in Asia Minor, famous for its dye-works, whence Lydia’s trade (Purpuraria, Purple-Seller). 

SHE BECAME ST PAUL'S FIRST CONVERT IN EUROPE

She was at Philippi in Macedonia when her heart was opened and she became St Paul’s first convert in Europe and afterwards his hostess (Acts 16:14,15). There are no trustworthy traditions concerning her after-life. 

(Information from the Book of Saints, 1921, by the Monks of Ramsgate)