ST BOTVID, MARTYR - 28 JULY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY

Saints celebrated on the 28th of July

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 BOTVID, MARTYR 

Saint Botvid is an 11th century Swedish Christian Saint who endeavoured to convert to the Faith a captive from Finland. Having as he thought succeeded, he sought to restore the neophyte to freedom and to his own country, but while on the voyage was cruelly murdered by the thankless object of his compassion (A.D. 1100).

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

THEY WERE HEADING FOR GOTLAND

Botvid had redeemed a man of Slav origin from captivity and he wanted the man to return to his country and family in order to propagate the Christian religion. 

One of Botvid’s tenant farmers, Esbjörn (Esbernus), accompanied Botvid and the freedman on a boat, which was heading for Gotland. 

THEY WERE MURDERED

While resting on an island called Rogö (Södermanland), the freedman took Botvid’s axe and killed both Botvid and Esbjörn in their sleep. 

Later, when Botvid’s brother Björn together with the family and a priest named Henrik were searching for Botvid, they were guided by a white bird sent by God. 

BOTVID'S BODY WAS FOUND INCORRUPT

They found Esbjörn’s bones and Botvid’s intact body. A well of clear water was streaming on the place where Botvid’s blood had dripped from his wound down to the earth. 

MANY MIRACLES HAPPENED AT HIS TOMB

Botvid was buried in the parochial church of Säby, where many miracles happened, and later his brother Björn built a wooden church at the family estate. Bishop Henrik of Uppsala and Bishop Gerder of Strängnäs celebrated the consecration of the wooden church in honour of Botvid. 

A well sprang up from the earth nearby the lake of Botvid’s property, where they put the relics. This happened in the year 1129. In 1176 a stone church was consecrated by Stephan, the first Archbishop of Uppsala, and by Bishop Wilhelm of Strängnäs. 

(Information from Wikihost.uib.no)