BL. ARCHANGELUS OF CALATAFIMI - 10 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 10th 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. ARCHANGELUS OF CALATAFIMI

Blessed Archangelus Calatafimus, [also commemorated on July 5 and July 26 in some calendars], of the Order of St Franciscus, was born in 1390 to noble parents in Calatafimi in Sicily, but left the world to serve God as a hermit. 

HE JOINED THE FRANCISCANS

However, when Pope Martin V abolished the hermits in 1425 and instructed them to join an order, Bl. Archangelus went under the direction of Blessed Bishop Matthew of Girgenti and entered the Order of St Franciscus.

After his novitiate he came to Alcamo, where he founded a house of his order and died on August 10, 1460. 

MANY MIRACLES HAPPENED AT HIS TOMB

The piety of the faithful required that his body be buried in the church, where it was placed in a special tomb. Because of the many miracles that happened at his grave, people began to venerate him publicly, and this devotion has been preserved up to our times. 

THIS DEVOTION HAS BEEN PRESERVED UP TO OUR TIMES

On September 9, 1836 Pope Gregory XVI confirmed that his veneration has taken place since unpredictable times and therefore allowed it to continue. His canonisation process in Rome is pending. 

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