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 ARSACIUS, CONFESSOR
Saint Arsacius, a confessor most Latins call Ursacius, was a Persian by birth and devoted himself to armed service in his youth, taking care of the emperor's lions as Sozomenus notes.
HE WITHDREW INTO A TOWER
During the persecution of Christians by the emperor Licinius, he fearlessly confessed his faith in Jesus, but afterwards quit his position and withdrew into an enclosed tower, where he spent the time in prayer and godly exercises.
HE FORETOLD THE FALL OF THE CITY
He foretold the imminent fall of the city and worked many miracles. The sources specifically mention that he cast out devils and killed a monstrous dragon with his prayer.
HE PASSED GENTLY TO THE PEACE OF THE LORD
When he found no one to believe in the prophecy of the misfortune of the city, he returned to the tower, lay down for prayer, and during it passed gently to the peace of the Lord in the year 358.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)
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