ST EOGHAN OF ARDSTRAW, BISHOP - 23 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 23rd 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 EOGHAN OF ARDSTRAW, BISHOP 

➡️ St Eugenius, Bishop in Ireland

Saint Eoghan (Eugene, Owen) of Ardstraw was a native of Leinster, and, after presiding over the Abbey of Kilnamanagh (County Wicklow) for fifteen years, settled in the valley of Mourne (County Tyrone) about the year 576. 

He was followed by many disciples including St Kevin of Glendalough, who completed his studies under this saint. 

HE WAS CONSECRATED FIRST BISHOP OF ARDSTRAW

As a boy he had been carried off to Britain, and subsequently he was taken captive to Brittany, together with St Tighernach, who is best known as the founder of the abbey of Clones. 

So great was the fame of the sanctity and learning of St Eoghan at Mourne that he was consecrated first Bishop of Ardstraw about the year 581. 

IT IS DIFFICULT TO GIVE HIS CHRONOLOGY WITH ANY DEGREE OF EXACTNESS

It is difficult to give his chronology with any degree of exactness, but the Irish annalists give the date of his death as August 23, 618. 

Ardstraw continued as an episcopal see until 1150, when it was translated to Rathlure and subsequently to Maghera, but in 1254 it was definitely removed to Derry. In all these changes St Eoghan was regarded as the clan patron, and hence he is the tutelary guardian of the See of Derry to this day. 

(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)