SAINT FEAST DAY 7 APRIL: ST JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL

Saints celebrated on the 7th 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 JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE, PRIEST

Saint John Baptist de la Salle was born at Reims, France, in 1651; he opened his first school for poor children in 1679 in Rheims, and later in Paris and Rouen. He formed a religious congregation to carry out the work of Christian education, insisting on a life of poverty, penance and prayer. He met with much opposition from his companions. He died 1719, at Rouen.

PRAYER:

Father,

you chose Saint John Baptist de la Salle

to give young people a Christian education.

Give your Church teachers who will devote themselves

to helping your children grow

as Christian men and women.

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.