Saints celebrated on the 4th 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. WILLIAM ANDLEBY, PRIEST AND MARTYR
Blessed William was martyred at York on July 4, 1597. He was born at Etton in Yorkshire of a well-known family. At twenty-five he went abroad to take part in the Dutch war, and called at Douay to interview Dr Allen, whom he attempted to confute in argument. Next day he recognised that Allen was right, was converted, and eventually became a priest.
HE WAS CONVERTED
Mention is found of his having served at Mr Tyrwhitt’s, in Lincolnshire, and also of his having succoured the Catholic prisoners in Hull blockhouse.
HE SPARED NO PAINS
His zeal for souls was such as to spare no pains and to fear no dangers. For the first four years of his mission he travelled always on foot, meanly attired, and carrying with him usually in a bag his vestments and other things for saying Mass; for his labours lay chiefly among the poor. Afterwards, humbly yielding to the advice of his brethren, he used a horse and went somewhat better clad.
WATCHING, FASTING, CONTINUAL PRAYER
Wonderful was the austerity of his life in frequent watchings, fastings, and continual prayer, his soul so absorbed in God that he often took no notice of those he met; by which means he was sometimes exposed to suspicions and dangers from the enemies of his faith, into whose hands he at last fell after twenty years’ labour in the vineyard of the Lord.”
HE WAS CONDEMNED FOR BEING A CATHOLIC PRIEST
He was condemned for his priestly character, and suffered martyrdom with three laymen, John Abbot, Thomas Warcop, and Edward Fulthrop, on July 4, 1597.
(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)
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