ST AREDIUS, ABBOT - 25 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 25th 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 AREDIUS, ABBOT 

Saint Aredius - French Yriez, or Erice - was abbot of the Atane monastery in the former province of Limousin, was born in Limoges around the year 511 as the son of Jucundus and Pelagia. 

HE WAS BROUGHT UP EXCELLENTLY

Both parents were distinguished by nobility and virtue and their son was brought up excellently. At the court of Austrasia (Empire of the East Franconia), where he had been sent by his parents, he gained so much respect from King Theodebert I, who resided in Metz, that he was even promoted to chancellor. 

HE LEFT THE COURT IN ORDER TO LEAD A PENITENT LIFE

As part of his duties, Aredius met the holy Bishop Niketius of Trier, a meeting which determined his future path. He left the court in order to lead a penitent life, withdrawn from the world. 

After the death of his father and brother, he returned to Limoges to comfort his mother, but did not change anything in his way of life. 

HE BECAME THE ABBOT OF THE NEWLY FOUNDED MONASTERY

He founded the Atane monastery in Limousin, of which he became the first abbot. 

The first religious who lived there were from his family and lived according to the rule which he gave them and which was composed of the rules of life of the old fathers. The practical aspects of daily life were taken care of by a saintly woman who was probably his mother. 

THE ATANE MONASTERY LATER BECAME AN ABBEY AND RECEIVED HIS NAME

He finally died around the year 591, and many miracles took place at his grave. The Atane Monastery, which he founded, later became an abbey and received his name. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)