SS. AQUILA AND PRISCILLA - 8 JULY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY

Saints celebrated on the 8th 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.

SS. AQUILA AND PRISCILLA

(Or Prisca). Saints Aquila and Priscilla were Jewish tent-makers, who left Rome (Aquila was a native of Pontus) in the Jewish persecution under Claudius, 49 or 50, and settled in Corinth, where they entertained St Paul, as being of their trade, on his first visit to the town (Acts 18:1 ff.).

The time of their conversion to the Faith is not known.

THEY ACCOMPANIED ST PAUL TO EPHESUS

They accompanied St Paul to Ephesus (Acts 18:18-19), instructed the Alexandrian Apollo, entertained the Apostle Paul at Ephesus for three years, during his third missionary journey, kept a Christian church in their house (1 Corinthians 16:19), left Ephesus for Rome, probably after the riot stirred up by the silversmith Demetrius (Acts 19:24-40), kept in Rome also a church in their house (Romans 16:3-5), but soon left that city, probably on account of the persecution of Nero, and settled again at Ephesus (2 Timothy 4:19). 

The Roman Martyrology commemorates them on July 8. It is not known why Scripture several times names Priscilla before Aquila; the different opinions are given by Cornely. A number of modern difficulties based on the frequent change of residence of Aquila and Priscilla are treated by Cornely, (Romans 16:3-5).

(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)