ST ARMAGILUS, PRIEST - 16 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 16th 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 ARMAGILUS, PRIEST

St Armagilus - called St Armel or Arzel in the local dialects of the people - was born in England about the year 482 and, like many of his countrymen, came to Brittany  to serve God in solitude, after he had been ordained a priest. 

HE LIVED AT THE KING'S COURT

In the area of ​​Leon, where the parish of St Arzel (usually called Plou-Arsel) is located today, he built an oratory, stayed there until Count Riguald's death and then went to King Childebert, at whose court he lived for some time. 

HE HAD THE GIFT OF MIRACLES

God glorified his virtue with the gift of miracles, by which he not only healed all kinds of diseases, but also exterminated wild animals which made whole regions unsafe. 

HE FOUNDED A MONASTERY

It is impossible to say for certain whether he was abbot in a monastery - what is certain is that he founded a monastery and had a few students around him. 

AN ANGEL APPEARED TO HIM

When he was lying prostrate before God in prayer, an angel appeared to him and announced that he would enter into eternal glory on the day after the Assumption of Mary. He did indeed die on August 16, 552. 

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