Saints celebrated on the 27th of May
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. LOJZE GROZDE, MARTYR
Blessed Lojze Grozde was born illegitimately in Slovenia in 1923. He was cared for by relatives in a rural environment and did heavy manual work. Blessed Lojze was an outstanding student at school and became a member of Catholic Action, a lay organisation to promote good Catholic works. He loved reading, especially poetry.
Blessed Lojze had a great devotion to the Eucharist, which he called the “Sun of my life”. Blessed Lojze wanted to do everything he could to promote the Kingdom of God, to lead other young people and to sacrifice himself for the salvation of souls. He also had a great love for the Virgin Mary, who helped him to enlarge the horizon of his spiritual life.
PROMOTING THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Slovenia was occupied during the Second World War by Italy and Germany. Civil War also broke out. At the beginning of 1943, at the age of only 19, Blessed Lojze left school to go to his family home for the holidays [on the 1st of January].
HE WAS SEIZED BY COMMUNISTS
On his journey he was seized by communists, who found him carrying a Missal, a book on Our Lady of Fatima and the spiritual classic ‘The Imitation of Christ’. That same night the communists tortured Blessed Lojze to death. His mutilated body was found a month later in a forest. After the Second World War, because of the communist regime, it was prohibited to speak aloud about Blessed Lojze’s death, but despite this, his fame of martyrdom and reputation for holiness grew.
THE HOLY EUCHARIST NOURISHED HIS UNSHAKABLE FAITH
At his Beatification Mass, Pope Benedict said that, “Blessed Lojze was particularly devoted to the Eucharist, which nourished his unshakeable faith, his capacity for sacrificing for the salvation of souls and his apostolate in Catholic Action of leading other young people to Christ.”
(From: Spiritual Thought from Father Chris, June 2010)
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