SAINT FEAST DAY 8 AUGUST: ST RATHARDUS, PRIEST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 8th 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.

SAINT RATHARDUS OF DIESSEN, PRIEST

Saint Rathardus, of noble parentage, was a brother of the Bishop Hanto of Augsburg. He forwent all benefits of his station, renounced the world, and became a priest. 

A PRIEST, HE USED HIS INHERITANCE TO BUILD A CHURCH

St Rathardus used his inheritance to build a church dedicated to St George. In 815 he founded a monastery for priests who lived according to the rule of St Augustine. His blissful death occurred around the year 820 or 825. 

HIS RELICS WERE TRANSLATED

In his humility he had demanded that he be buried in a corner of the monastery church he had built. The many miracles that happened at his grave are a sign of the holiness of this transfigured priest. 

In 1114 the provost Hartwig had the bones of St Rathardus translated to the middle of the new church. The church was consecrated on August 8, 1114 with the permission of Bishop Walter von Augsburg by Bishop Anselm von Havelburg. 

THE NEW CHURCH WAS CONSECRATED IN AUGUST 1114

In 1494 a second new building was erected, and St Rathard's relics were buried on the middle altar of St George's Church. As the veneration of the saint still grew, his bones were transferred from St George's Church to the monastery church on August 8, 1620 and placed on the high altar for veneration. He is often portrayed carrying the church he built in his hands. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints)