Saints celebrated on the 14th of July
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. GHEBRE-MICHAEL, PRIEST
Blessed Ghebre-Michael, born around 1791, was educated in Dibo, Ethiopia, and from the age of twelve onwards did his high school studies in one of the monastic schools where he was known for his shrewd manner of learning.
(The prefix Ghebre means "the servant of" and is always followed by the name of a saint; this combination is a very common form of name in Ethiopia and Eritrea. "Ghebre" cannot be separated from "Michael" and used as if it were a first name.)
In his childhood he lost one eye in an accident that in his culture would have rendered him unfit for most forms of work. After this he did research on monasteries.
HE DID RESEARCH ON MONASTERIES
In order to do the research on location he joined a small delegation of Orthodox faithful who attempted to go to Alexandria (and from then to Cairo) to ask the Coptic Patriarch to appoint a new Orthodox bishop since the sole position had been rendered vacant.
Blessed Ghebre-Michael also learnt that the bishop Justin de Jacobis would become part of it due to high esteem for the latter. De Jacobis had been reluctant to accept but compromised that he would go with the delegation if it headed to Rome on the sojourn back to Ethiopia. The delegation then headed to Rome to meet Pope Gregory XVI, of whom they were very warmly welcomed.
The two would meet on a regular basis for the next six months and the two together visited monasteries before de Jacobis himself received him into Catholicism in February 1844; this led to six other Coptic monks asking for admission too after having seen his example.
HE DECIDED TO BECOME A VINCENTIAN
He was a disciple of Justin de Jacobis for many years, and eventually decided, with Justin’s consent, to become a Vincentian. A date was fixed for him to begin his internal seminary but when the fixed day arrived he was under arrest, and he died before he could carry out his intention. In a letter to the Superior General, Jean-Baptiste Etienne, Justin explained all this but said that he called Ghebre-Michael a Vincentian "because in his heart he already belonged to the Congregation".
Meanwhile, the new Orthodox bishop instigated persecution of Catholicism and at one stage (when he was set to enter the Congregation of the Mission as a postulant) Blessed Ghebre-Michael and de Jacobis were arrested with four others.
THEY WANTED THEM TO LEAVE THE CATHOLIC FAITH
De Jacobis was kept hidden from the others while their captors hoped extreme isolation and torture would cause them to abandon Catholicism. But de Jacobis was later released and in late 1854 the Orthodox bishop failed through torture to get him and the others to apostatise.
Tewodros II was crowned as the king in 1855 and the king also sought to torture him to get him to apostatise - to no avail. To that end the emperor kept him in chains and would have him brought with him whenever and wherever he travelled.
HE DIED DUE TO ILL-TREATMENT
In May 1855 the British Consul visited the emperor and the latter decided to put the priest on trial in the consul's presence. But he refused to abandon his faith and the court deemed that he should be shot dead. But the consul asked for him to be spared and the emperor agreed which left the priest back in chains and moved from place to place as the emperor travelled.
On July 30, 1855, Blessed Ghebre-Michael died due to ill treatment on a road under a cedar tree. His remains were never found.
SERVANT OF GOD
The informative phase in investigation into potential beatification opened and closed in Addis Ababa in 1904 as did a similar process in Asmara in 1909; the formal introduction to the cause came under Pope Benedict XV on January 25, 1920 and he became titled as a Servant of God. The apostolic process was later held from 1921 to 1922 after which point the Congregation for Rites validated the previous processes on December 11, 1923.
BEATIFICATION
His theological and other spiritual writings received approval on May 19, 1925. A preparatory committee approved the cause on December 22, 1925 as did a preparatory one on February 23, 1926 and a general one on April 27. On the following May 22 his beatification received formal approval from Pope Pius XI who beatified him later on October 3.
(Information from Wikipedia -
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gh%C3%A9br%C4%93-Michael)
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