ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN NOVEMBER
Saints celebrated on the 8th 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 GODFREY, BISHOP OF AMIENS
The parents of Saint Godfried [Gottfried, Godfrey, Geoffrey] lived for many years a very sad life, because they had no child.
AT LENGTH, AFTER LONG PRAYERS, GOD GAVE THEM A CHILD
At length, after long prayers, God gave them a son, whom they called Godfried. When he was five years old, they sent their only and beloved child into a monastery, that he might be instructed and piously reared by a most learned and virtuous abbot.
It was soon perceptible that the Almighty watched over the little Godfried, and had chosen him for the religious state.
HE MADE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS OVER THE WOUND
A crane one day gave him so violent a blow between the eyes, that he was in danger of losing his sight, perhaps his life. The boy, calling on the name of Jesus, made the sign of the cross over the wound, and immediately all danger vanished, the wound was healed, and nothing remained but a small scar as a sign of the miracle which had taken place. This was justly looked upon as a manifestation of divine protection which watched over Godfried.
He determined, in his own mind, to serve God in the religious state. As soon, therefore, as he arrived at the requisite age, he began his novitiate, and finished it by solemnly pronouncing the sacred vows.
HE SOLEMNLY PRONOUNCED THE SACRED VOWS
His superiors charged him with the duty of attending to the sick, which he fulfilled with the greatest joy, as a welcome opportunity to show his love to God and men. Words fail to describe how kind he was to the sick and how unweariedly he served them day and night.
His care however, was not confined to their bodies, but extended also to their souls, as he proved by most zealously exhorting them, encouraging them to patience, reading to them from devout books, or praying with them. If he saw that their illness was dangerous, he persuaded them to receive the holy Sacraments, and to prepare themselves in time for a happy death.
HE RESTORED THE ABBEY
When he had attained his twenty-fifth year, he was ordained priest, and as he had gained a great reputation on account of his virtue, wisdom and talents, he received from the Archbishop of Rheims the order to take on himself the administration of a half-ruined abbey, and restore it to its former prosperity.
Difficult as was this undertaking, yet the untiring energy of the holy Abbot succeeded.
He was an example to all his religious, exhorted them most kindly and earnestly, and before long, had all his affairs in such excellent order, that his abbey became celebrated far and near.
HE WAS ELECTED BISHOP
Soon after, when the bishop of Amiens died, or as others say, had resigned his See, the clergy and the people resolved to elect Godfried as his successor. The election was unanimous; but the humble servant of God would not accept the dignity, until the papal Nuncio had most earnestly admonished him to obey the call of Heaven.
Godfried, as bishop, changed not in the least his former austere and holy conduct, but used his dignity as an opportunity to labour still more for the honour of God, the benefit of the church and the comfort of the poor.
TO THE LAST, HIS EPISCOPAL PALACE WAS ALWAYS OPEN
To the last, his episcopal palace was always open. He received them most kindly, served them personally at table, washed their feet, and allowed none to go away without alms. One day, a leper came to him at table and asked for some food. The Saint gave him a fish which was on the table. His steward murmured at this: but the bishop said: “Would it be right that I should have superfluity on my table, whilst Christ is suffering hunger in His poor?” At another time he met a half-naked beggar, and having no money with him he took off his coat and gave it. The vices and abuses, which were prevalent in the city, he sought to eradicate by continual preaching, admonition and exhortation, and, finally, also by earnest menaces, without allowing himself to be checked by the power of the great. With prophetic spirit he denounced to the impenitent city, the divine punishment which was hanging over it. His words soon became true; for, fire fell on Amiens, as, in ancient times, it had fallen upon Sodom, and consumed the entire city, except the church, the palace of the bishop and a few houses.
PURITY AND INNOCENCE
This changed the conduct of those who survived the catastrophe, but only for a short time. Deeply grieved the Bishop set out for Rheims, but was overtaken by sickness on the way. Odo, the Abbot of St Crispin, brought him to his monastery, where, after receiving the Sacraments, the holy bishop raised his eyes towards heaven, and gave his soul to God. His purity and innocence, he carried with him inviolate to the grave, in 1118.
(From Fr Weninger's Book of Saints)
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