ST DONATUS, MARTYR - 30 JUNE

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JUNE

Saints celebrated on the 30th 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 DONATUS, MARTYR

Saint Donatus served as an officer with emperor Marcus Aurelius. As a Christian, he had taken private vows of celibacy. During a critical battle, through prayer, he implored rain, thunder and lightning from God in order for the enemies to retreat, which they did. 

HE IS INVOKED AGAINST THUNDERSTORMS AND HAIL

Because he did not sacrifice to the pagan gods following the successful military campaign, he got martyred. He is the patron saint against thunderstorms and hail.

PATRON SAINT OF BUDA

In 1652, at the request of the Jesuit Balthasar Ballonus, his relics were brought from the Catacombs of Rome, where he had originally been buried, to the newly established Collegium at Münstereifel in Jülich. Some of his relics have found a home in other churches in the Rhine valley region of Germany and the Low Countries, and he is a patron saint of Buda.