ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN NOVEMBER
Saints celebrated on the 11th 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 BARTHOLOMEW OF ROSSANO, ABBOT
St Bartholomew (Bartholomæus), an abbot in the Grotta Ferrata (Crypta Ferrata) near Frascati, was born at Rossano in Calabria around the middle of the 10th century. He was carefully educated, and subsequently entered a monastery which he soon left, however, in order to work under the guidance of his compatriot, St Nilus.
EVENTUALLY HE BECAME ABBOT
He followed this saint to Grotta Ferrata. After his death - although urged to do so - he refused to become his successor in the direction of the monastery. He did not accept this office until the second abbot had also died - only then did he finally became abbot.
HE WAS A PROLIFIC WRITER
His position did not prevent him from writing books and excelling in this occupation: he wrote several hymns to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to other saints, then a life of St Nilus - all in Greek, because he was dedicated to the Order of St Basil which he belonged to.
HE HAD A SPECIAL GIFT FOR CONVERTING SINNERS
He had a special gift for converting sinners, and it was he who led Pope Benedict IX. to abdicate, who thereupon also entered his monastery and died in 1054. It is not known whether Bartholomew survived him.
His name can be found on November 11 both in the general Roman Martyrology and in that for the Basilians.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)
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