BL. ANDOVERA, QUEEN AND MARTYR - 17 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 17th of August

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.

BL. ANDOVERA, QUEEN AND MARTYR 

Blessed Andovera or Audouvaria was the wife of King Chilperic I of France [they had several children together], and was displaced by the ruse of Fredegundis, who was a concubine of the king.

SHE IS LISTED AS A MARTYR

Chilperic sent Andovera away and into a convent at Mans, where she distinguished herself through her virtues, especially through her heavenly patience.

Bucelin counts her among the "blessed" and lists her as a martyr, the latter probably because she was later killed with a sword on the orders of Fredegundis, who was made queen. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858 - 🎨 Audovera's Repudiation, by Albert Maignan)