ST AGAPITUS, MARTYR - 18 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 18th 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.

ST AGAPITUS, MARTYR 

Saint Agapitus suffered in his youth a cruel martyrdom at Praeneste, now called Palestrina, twenty-four miles from Rome, under Aurelian, about the year 275. 

[He was first sent to die in the arena, but when the lions did not touch him, St Agapitus was beheaded.]

THE LIONS IN THE ARENA DID NOT TOUCH HIM

His name is famous in the sacramentaries of St Gelasius, and St Gregory the Great, and in the ancient calendars of the church of Rome. Two churches in Palestrina, and others in other places are dedicated to God under his name. 

(From Fr Butler's Lives of the Saints - 🎨 St Agapitus in the arena among the wild beasts)

PRAYER:

May your Church rejoice, O God, trusting in the support of St Agapitus, your Martyr, and, by his glorious prayers, may she remain holy and fearlessly stand her ground. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns...