ST PUBLIUS, BISHOP AND MARTYR - 22 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

 Saints celebrated on the 22nd 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 PUBLIUS, BISHOP AND MARTYR

Saint Publius is taken for the "colonel" of the island of Malta, who (according to Acts 28:7), was a Roman by birth. 

AFTER ST PAUL'S SHIPWRECK, HE LODGED THERE

After being shipwrecked, St Paul lodged there for three days. St Publius' father, who was sick with fever and dysentery, was restored to health by the prayer and the laying on of hands of St Paul. 

HE BECAME BISHOP OF ATHENS

It is very likely that St Publius, following the sermon of St Paul, believed and was baptised. He succeeded St Dionysius the Areopagite in the see of Athens. 

He went to God by martyrdom, and St Quadratus was chosen third bishop of that city.