ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY
Saints celebrated on the 12th of January
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 BERNARD OF CORLEONE, RELIGIOUS
Originally called Filippo Latino, St Bernard was born in 1605 in Corleone, Italy. A shoemaker by trade, he had contact with the soldiers stationed nearby. From them he learned the art of fencing. But on one occasion, he reacted to a provocation by cutting off his adversary's arm with a sword. To flee justice and to expiate his crime, he asked for shelter in a Capuchin convent and was taken in. Conversion ensued and he decided to join the Franciscans and become a lay brother in the order.
BROTHER BERNARD
And so Filippo Latini became Brother Bernard in 1632. He started leading a most penitential life as a Franciscan. But along with his stern self-discipline and fasting, he advanced by giant steps in his prayer life. Many spiritual gifts were reported of him as time passed: prophecies, wonders, miracles.
HIS ABILITY TO HEAL ANIMALS
Among the more unusual graces bestowed on Br. Bernard was the ability to heal animals. In a truly Franciscan spirit, he felt loving kinship with all lesser creatures. He was sad to see them in pain, for, as he said, they could not speak in order to tell human beings of their illnesses.
"SUPERNATURAL VETERINARY"
Because of the reputation Bernard acquired of curing animals, owners of all sorts of animals brought them to this "supernatural veterinary". He would usually say the Our Father over them, and then lead them three times around the cross that stood in front of the Capuchin church. "He cured them all," says a biographer.
A SPECIAL LOVE FOR THE BLESSED MOTHER
St Bernard cherished a special love for the Blessed Mother, and encouraged others to do the same. The Blessed Mother appeared to him and placed the Divine Child in his arms. Moreover, she gave him knowledge of the day of his death four months in advance. He died at Palermo on January 12, 1667. Numerous miracles occur at his grave.
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