ST EUSTACHIUS, MARTYR - 20 SEPTEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 20th of September

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 EUSTACHIUS AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS

Saint Eustachius (Eustace) [one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers] was a martyr under the Emperor Hadrian, in the year 188. His feast is on September 20; his emblems: a crucifix, a stag, an oven.

HE SAW A STAG COMING TOWARDS HIM

The legend relates that Eustachius (before baptism, Placidus), a Roman general under Trajan, while still a heathen, saw a stag coming towards him, with a crucifix between its horns; he heard a voice telling him that he was to suffer much for Christ’s sake. 

HE HEARD A VOICE TELLING HIM THAT HE WAS TO SUFFER MUCH FOR CHRIST'S SAKE

He received baptism, together with his wife Tatiana (or Trajana, after baptism Theopista) and his sons, Agapius and Theopistus. The place of the vision is said to have been Guadagnolo, between Tibur and Praeneste (Tivoli and Palestrina), in the vicinity of Rome. Through adverse fortune the family was scattered, but later reunited.

THEY SUFFERED DEATH IN A HEATED BRAZEN BULL

For refusing to sacrifice to the idols after a victory, they suffered death in a heated brazen bull. Baronius would identify him with Placidus mentioned by Josephus Flavius as a general under Titus. (From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)

JESUS CHRIST'S RELIGION IS THE ONLY BASIS ON WHICH TRUE MAGNANIMITY AND COURAGE CAN STAND

Fr Butler adds this comment: "Religion is the only basis on which true magnanimity and courage can stand. It so enlightens the mind as to set a man above all human events, and to preserve him in all changes and trials steady and calm in himself... and under afflictions and sufferings a source of unalterable peace, and overflowing joy which spring from an assured confidence that God’s will is always most just and holy, and that he will be its protector and rewarder. Does religion exert this powerful influence in us? Does it appear in our hearts, in our actions and conduct? It is not enough to encounter dangers with resolution; we must with equal courage and constancy vanquish pleasure and the softer passions, or we possess not the virtue of true fortitude."