ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST
Saints celebrated on the 27th 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 DOMINIC BARBERI, PRIEST
Saint Dominic Barberi was a member of the Passionist Congregation and theologian, born near Viterbo, Italy, June 22, 1792; died near Reading, England, August 27, 1849.
HE WAS EMPLOYED TO TAKE CARE OF THE SHEEP
Because both his parents died when he was very young, Dominic was adopted by his maternal uncle, Bartolomeo Pacelli. As a boy he was employed to take care of sheep, and when he grew older he did farm work. He was taught his letters by a kind Capuchin priest, and learned to read from a country lad of his own age; although he read all the books he could obtain, he had no regular education until he entered the Congregation of the Passion.
HE READ ALL THE BOOKS HE COULD OBTAIN
He was deeply religious from childhood, felt himself distinctly called to join the Passionists, and believed that God, by a special manifestation, had told him that he was destined to announce the Gospel truth and to bring back stray sheep to the way of salvation.
HE BECAME A PASSIONIST
He was received into the Congregation of the Passion in 1814, and ordained priest, March 1, 1818. After completing the regular course of studies, he held in Italy the offices of rector, provincial consultor, and provincial, and fulfilled the duties of these positions with ability. At the same time he constantly gave missions and retreats.
THE FIRST PASSIONIST RETREAT IN BELGIUM
He founded the first Passionist Retreat in Belgium at Ere near Tournai in 1840; in 1842 he established the Passionists in England, at Aston Hall, Staffordshire. In England he established three houses of the congregation.
"THY WILL BE DONE"
He died [of a heart attack, still conscious, praying 'Thy will be done'] at a small railway station near Reading and was buried under the high altar of Saint Anne’s Retreat, Sutton, Saint Helen’s.
Among the converts whom he received into the Church are John Henry Newman, and Newman’s two companions, E. S. Bowles and Richard Stanton, all of whom were afterwards distinguished Oratorians. St Dominic also wrote many remarkable works.
(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)
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