ST CHRISCHONA, VIRGIN -16 JUNE

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JUNE

Saints celebrated on the 16th of June

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 CHRISCHONA, VIRGIN

Saint Chrischona (Latin: Christiana or Cristina) was part of a set of three sisters: Chrischona, Margaretha and Odilia, each of whom built a church on one of the three hills in the vicinity of Basel, Switzerland, within sight of the other. From St Chrischona the churches of St Ottilien in the German town of Tüllingen and St Margarethen in Binningen can be seen. 

THE ONLY SURVIVOR OF URSULA'S MARTYRS

The perhaps best known tradition about St Chrischona can be found in the Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea), which lists Chrischona as a companion of the virgin Ursula of Cologne. As the only survivor among Ursula's martyrs she fled along the Rhine to Basel. 

SHE DIED NEAR GRENZACH

Some sources claim she became sick and had to break off her return journey in Basel. Most versions tell of Chrischona's death from exhaustion near Grenzach. Farmers found her and put her on an ox cart, whereupon the oxen set off on their own in the direction of Dinkelberg and stopped on the hill. The church is said to have been built on the same spot in her memory.

THE ELEVATION OF HER RELICS

On June 17, 1506, Cardinal Raimund Peraudi carried out the elevation of her relics. Her feast day is June 16. 

(Information from Wikisource)