ST ABBO - 13 NOVEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN NOVEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 13th 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.

ST ABBO, ABBOT AND MARTYR

St Abbo (or Albo), abbot in the Fleury monastery, received his education in the said Fleury or the St Benedict monastery on the Loire, where he also took his vows. He was very learned for his time, but he was more distinguished by his virtues. 

At the request of St Oswald, Bishop of Worcester, who had also lived as a monk at Fleury Abbey, he travelled to England and was placed in charge of the Ramsey Abbey School. 

ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE APPROACHED HIM FOR ADVICE

On his return to his Fleury monastery, he was elected abbot and practiced strict discipline and order. Because of his reputation of holiness and wisdom, he was asked for advice from all kinds of places, and also received a mission to Rome from King Robert, Capet's son. 

He valiantly defended the rights of his abbey against Bishop Arnulf of Orleans, and wrote a justification on this to the king Hugo Capet and his son Robert. On a trip to the monastery of Squirs or Reole, in the bishopric of Bazas, which was under the abbot of Fleury, he lost his life in a quarrel which arose between his companions and the Gascoines. [He was hit by a javelin.] He died in 1004.

HE DIED IN 1004

As his holiness was demonstrated through various miracles, he was venerated as a martyr. Among other miracles, many blind people recovered their sight at his grave through his intercession. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858 - 🎨 A drawing by Abbot Abbo)