ST ATHANASIA, WIDOW - 14 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 14th 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 ATHANASIA, WIDOW 

Saint Athanasia lived in the 9th century. Her parents belonged to an ancient Greek family, and she was born in the Island of Aegina. 

FROM AN ANCIENT GREEK FAMILY

Her first husband died on the battlefield in a war against the Saracens; but her second husband set her free by himself entering a monastery. 

SHE BUILT THE ABBEY OF TIMIA

She at first turned her own home into a convent, but, soon, desirous of greater retirement, built the Abbey of Timia, where, under the guidance of a saintly priest, she soon gathered a considerable community. 

VIRTUE AND WISDOM

Her virtues and wisdom were such that the Empress Theodora summoned her to Constantinople. There she remained seven years, but returned to die at Timia (A.D. 860).

(From The Book of Saints, 1921, by the Monks of Ramsgate)