ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST
Saints celebrated on the 19th 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 BERTULF OF BOBBIO, ABBOT
Saint Bertulf was abbot of Bobbio; his date of birth is unknown; he died 639 or 640.
HE ENTERED THE MONASTERY OF LUXEUIL
He was the son of a pagan nobleman in Austrasia and a near relative of St Arnulf, Bishop of Metz, whose pious example had such an influence on Bertulf that he became a Christian and in 620 entered the monastery of Luxeuil.
A few years later he became acquainted with Abbot Attala, who had come to Luxeuil on a visit, and, with permission of Abbot Eustace of Luxeuil, joined Attala’s community at Bobbio in Italy.
HE INSISTED ON THE OBSERVANCE OF THE AUSTERE RULE INTRODUCED BY ST COLUMBAN
Upon the death of Attala, in 627, Bertulf was elected by the monks of Bobbio as their abbot. Like his holy predecessor, he insisted on the observance of the austere rule introduced by St Columban, the founder of Bobbio, and preached fearlessly against Arianism, which had gained a firm foothold in Italy under the Lombard kings.
HE PREACHED FEARLESSLY AGAINST ARIANISM
When the Bishop of Tortona endeavoured to bring Bobbio under his own jurisdiction, Bertulf hastened to Rome, where Pope Honorius received him kindly and granted the monastery entire exemption from episcopal jurisdiction.
THE PRAYERS OF ST BERTULF
Jonas, a monk of Bobbio, who accompanied Bertulf on his journey to Rome, relates that, while returning to his monastery, Bertulf was attacked by a deadly fever, and cured miraculously by St Peter. The same author ascribes a few other miracles to the prayers of St Bertulf. Most martyrologies give him the title of saint. His feast is celebrated on August 19.
(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)
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