ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN DECEMBER
Saints celebrated on the 16th of December
SAINTS ANANIAS, AZARIAS, AND MISAEL
Saints Ananias, Azarias and Misael were brought captive to Babylon as noble Jewish boys with the future prophet Daniel and brought up at court for the service of the king.
THEY WERE GIVEN NEW CHALDEAN NAMES
As servants of the same they were given new (Chaldean) names: Ananias (Hebrew: grace of God) was called Sidrach (Chaldean: messenger); Azarias (Hebrew: God's help) was called Abdenago (Chaldean: servant of the king) and Misael (Hebrew: for God) was called Misach (Chaldean: caretaker of the house).
THEY DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES ABOVE ALL THROUGH WISDOM
They distinguished themselves above all through wisdom (Daniel 1: 3, 6, 7, 19, 20) and were therefore promoted to positions of honour (2:49).
IN THE FURNACE, THEY WERE WONDERFULLY PRESERVED
Later they refused to worship the statue of Nabuchodonosor and were therefore thrown into the fiery furnace, but were wonderfully preserved (Daniel 3:12–15. 16–18. 19–24. 49, 50, 88, 93, 97). There they sang the hymn Benedicite (Daniel 3:57-88), which occurs daily in the Roman breviary and is also frequently used for other church celebrations. Their names are inserted in the Roman Martyrology on December 16.
Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858
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