SS. DONATUS, BISHOP, AND HILARINUS, MARTYRS - 7 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 7th of August

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. DONATUS, BISHOP OF AREZZO IN TUSCANY, AND HILARINUS, MARTYRS 

Being illustrious for sanctity and miracles, as St Gregory the Great assures us, he was apprehended by Quadratianus, the Augustalis, or imperial prefect of Tuscany, in the reign of Julian the Apostate. 

HE WAS APPREHENDED IN THE REIGN OF JULIAN THE APOSTATE

Refusing to adore the idols, he suffered many torments with invincible constancy, and at length finished his martyrdom by the sword in 361. 

HIS RELICS ARE ENSHRINED IN THE CATHEDRAL OF AREZZO

His relics are enshrined in the cathedral of Arezzo. At the same time and place St Hilarinus, a monk, received the like crown, being beaten to death with clubs. His relics were afterwards translated to Ostia. 

(From Fr Butler's Lives of the Saints)