ST GLYCERIUS, MARTYR - 21 DECEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN DECEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 21st of December

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 GLYCERIUS, MARTYR

Saint Glycerius was a martyr who suffered at the beginning of the 4th century during the last and most cruel persecution of Christians under the emperor Diocletian, around 303. 

HE WAS ORDAINED PRIEST IN BITHYNIA

According to the Bollandists he was ordained a priest in Bithynia by the holy Bishop from Anthimus of Nicodemia. 

This was where the heat of persecution was most intense, especially against priests and bishops. 

WHEN HE REFUSED TO RENOUNCE THE FAITH HE WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH

St Glycerius was therefore cast into prison, and when he refused to fall away from the faith, sentenced to death.

He was pinned to a wooden stake for Christ and killed with a fire lit under it. He is mentioned in the Roman Martyrology.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)