ST HANNAH, MOTHER OF SAMUEL

ST HANNAH, MOTHER OF SAMUEL - 9 DECEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 9th of December

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 HANNAH, MOTHER OF SAMUEL

S. Anna, Mater Samuelis. Saint Anna [Hannah] was the wife of Elkanah and the mother of the holy Prophet Samuel (1 Kings [1 Samuel] 1:1. 2). She conceived Samuel after a long period of sterility through tears and vows to God (5–12. 15–20).

SHE CONSECRATED SAMUEL TO GOD

After Anna had given birth to Samuel (c. B.C. 1155), he was cared for by his mother during the first years of childhood. She consecrated him to the Lord (22, 24–28) and sang an inspiring hymn of praise (chapter 2:1-10), which the church has adopted and Feria IV. Ad Laudes prays it at their times of the day.

AN INSPIRING HYMN OF PRAISE

Because of her trust she was blessed by God and had more offspring, namely three sons and two daughters (v. 20, 21). St Anna is venerated by the Greeks on December 9, on which day she appears in their menus and synaxaries (legends); on the other hand, their feast is found among the Ethiopians on October 3, in the German martyrology of Canisius on September 1 and in some other martyrologies on August 20.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)

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ST JOHN BERCHMANS, RELIGIOUS - 13 AUGUST

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