Saints celebrated on the 31st of July
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 HELEN OF SKÖFDE, WIDOW AND MARTYR
Saint Helen of Sköfde was a martyr in the first half of the twelfth century. Her feast is celebrated July 31. Her life is ascribed to St Brynolph, Bishop of Skara, in Sweden (died 1317).
SHE SPENT HER LIFE IN WORKS OF CHARITY AND PIETY
She was of noble family and is generally believed to have been the daughter of the Jarl Guthorm. When her husband died she remained a widow and spent her life in works of charity and piety; the gates of her home were ever open to the needy and the church of Sköfde was almost entirely built at her expense.
SHE WAS KILLED WHEN SHE HAD RETURNED FROM A PILGRIMAGE
Her daughter’s husband was a very cruel man, and was in consequence killed by his own servants. His relatives, wishing to avenge his death, examined the servants. These admitted the crime, but falsely asserted that they acted on the instigation of Helen. She had then gone on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but on her return she was killed in 1160 at Gothene by relatives.
HER BURIAL
Her body was brought to Sköfde for burial, and many wonderful cures were wrought at her intercession. The report of these miracles was sent to Rome by Stephen, the Archbishop of Upsala, and he, by order of Pope Alexander III, in 1164 inscribed her name in the list of canonised saints.
THE VENERATION OF HER RELICS
Great was the veneration shown her relics even after the Reformation had spread in Sweden. Near her church was a holy well, known to this day as St Lene Kild. At various times the Lutheran authorities inveighed against this remnant of what they called popish and anti-Christian superstition. Especially zealous in this regard was Archbishop Abraham, who had all the springs, mineral or pure water, filled up with stones and rubbish.
PILGRIMAGES TOOK PLACE EVERY SUMMER
St Helen’s tomb and well (St Elin’s) were also honoured at Tiisvilde in the parish of Tibirke in the island of Zealand. Pilgrimages were made every summer, cripples and sick came in numbers; they would remain all night at the grave, take away with them little bags of earth from under the tombstone, and frequently would leave their crutches or make votive offerings in token of gratitude.
Such was the report sent in 1658 from Copenhagen to the Bollandists by the Jesuit Lindanus. A similar statement is made by Werlaiff, in 1858, in his "Hist. Antegnelser". The legend says that St Helen’s body floated to Tiisvilde in a stone coffin, and that a spring broke forth where the coffin touched land.
(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)
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