Saints celebrated on the 26th 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. GEORGE SWALLOWELL, MARTYR
George Swallowell was a Protestant minister of Houghton Spring, England, when he visited a Catholic layman imprisoned for his faith.
HE WOULD NO LONGER LEAD PROTESTANT SERVICES
George began a doctrinal debate with the man, a contest he soon found himself losing. When the Catholic parishioner pointed out the absurdity of claiming that Queen Elizabeth I was supreme head of the Church, George began to recognise the fallacy of his own beliefs.
Not long afterwards, he mounted the pulpit of his church to announce that he had been in error in professing the Protestant religion, and would no longer lead services there.
HE WAS JAILED
He was quickly jailed. In July of 1594, George was tried together with two Catholic priests, (Blesseds) John Boste and John Ingram. Seized with fear, George agreed to conform to the Protestant religion. Father Boste turned to him and asked, “George Swallowell, what have you done?”
Immediately George repented of his lapse and repudiated his preceding words, declaring that he would die in the same faith as that of the priests. Father Boste turned to him again and placed his hand upon his head to absolve him. George was drawn and quartered with merciless brutality on July 26, 1594.
(From: Catholic Compendium)
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