ST ANGILULFUS, BISHOP AND MARTYR - 9 JULY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY

Saints celebrated on the 9th 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.

ST AGILULFUS, BISHOP AND MARTYR

Saint Angilulfus was Abbot of Stavelot, Bishop of Cologne and Martyr, 750. We know but little of this Saint. The account, written of him by a monk of Malmedy and printed by the Bollandists is, as they state, quite untrustworthy. 

BISHOP OF COLOGNE

He was of good family, was educated under Abbot Angelinus at Stavelot, and eventually became abbot there. Not long afterwards Agilulfus was elected Bishop of Cologne. 

HIS DEATH IS ATTRIBUTED TO VENGEANCE

He is said to have tried to persuade King Pepin on his death-bed not to leave the succession to Charles Martel, his illegitimate son, and the Bishop's death by violence soon after is attributed to the vengeance of the prince he sought to exclude. 

A LETTER FROM THE POPE IN A.D. 747

A letter of Pope Zacharias in 747 commends Agilulfus for signing the Charta verae et orthodoxae professionis. His remains were conveyed to the Church of Our Lady of the Steps, at Cologne, where they have recently again received public veneration. His feast is kept on July 9.

(From "Catholic Encyclopedia", 1913 - 📷 The St Agilulfus altar-piece in Cologne Cathedral, Germany)