ST JOHN OF MATHA - 17 DECEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN DECEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 17th 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 JOHN OF MATHA, PRIEST

Saint John of Matha, born of holy and noble parents at Faucon in Provence, saw in a vision when he first offered the Sacrifice of the Mass to God that he was destined to redeem captives from the infidels. Therefore, in accordance with the divine prompting, he withdrew into a place of solitude where he met Felix of Valois, who had been living there for many years. There they renewed the fervour of their prayers, and admonished three times in dreams, set out for Rome and obtained from Pope Innocent III the approbation of the new Order of the Most Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives.

THE FIRST MONASTERY

Then they built their first monastery in the diocese of Meaux, where Felix remained as superior. John, then, returned to Rome with some of his brethren, where Innocent gave them the house, church and hospital of Saint Thomas de Form is on the Coelian Hill.

THEY REDEEMED MANY CAPTIVES

Through letters sent to Miramolin, King of Morocco, the work of redemption was successfully begun. Then John went to Spain, a great part of which was oppressed under Saracen rule, created sympathy for the captives in the minds of all, built many hospitals, and redeemed many captives. He returned to Rome, worn out by his heavy labours, and seized with illness, died in the Lord on the sixteenth day before the Calends of January in 1213.

(From: An Approved English Translation of the Breviarium Romanum, Burns & Oates, London, 1964 - heading added afterwards)