ST VENERANDA - 14 NOVEMBER

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN NOVEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 14th 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 VENERANDA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR

Saint Veneranda (Venera), virgin and martyr, is mentioned in the Roman Martyrology on this day. 

She is said to have been born in Gaul to Christian parents, Agathon and Polena, and to have been brought up and taught by them with great care. 

SHE TAUGHT FEMALE CATECHUMENS

As a virgin she dedicated herself to the teaching and upbringing of female catechumens, and in her 39th year she went to Rome, where she was imprisoned by the Prefect Asclepiades (Asclepius) for being a Christian. In Rome she underwent torments under said prefect, and was subsequently brought to various other locations, where she had to undergo more tortures, all of which she bore prayerfully and with great fortitude. Finally she was beheaded. Her death is said to have occurred in A.D. 144. 

SHE IS SAID TO HAVE SUFFERED MARTYRDOM IN A.D. 144

All of this is based on quite uncertain notes, though; the Roman Martyrology indicates that St Veneranda suffered in Gaul [present day France], her  homeland, rather than in Rome. But she is also venerated and invoked in certain areas of southern Italy and Sicily, for instance at Castro (Aci Reale), Gerace (Locri) and other places.

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