ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST
Saints celebrated on the 13th 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 RADEGUND, ABBESS
One of the saints remembered by the Church [on] August 13 is Saint Radegund. She was born in 518 in France amid the turmoil and violence of that time.
SHE WAS KIDNAPPED AT THE AGE OF TWELVE
St Radegund was kidnapped at the age of twelve and was forced to marry the wild and abusive King Clothaire. As Queen she lived a life of prayer and Christian service while trying to support her husband. He mocked St Radegund for her spiritual life of prayer and often mistreated her.
THE MONASTERY OF THE HOLY CROSS
St Radegund asked to be released from the King’s court and grudgingly he allowed her to withdraw to Poitiers, where she joined a convent. Eventually, St Radegund founded the monastery of the Holy Cross, the first in Europe for both men and women, and her friend Agnes became its abbess.
HER FOLLOWERS WERE REQUIRED TO STUDY EVERY DAY
St Radegund valued learning and her followers were required to study for two hours every day. Her biographer wrote, ‘Whenever a servant of God visited, she would question him closely about his manner of serving the Lord. If she learned something new from him which she was not used to doing, she would immediately impose it first upon herself and then she would teach others with words what she had already shown them by her example.’
A PEACEMAKER
St Radegund also became well known for being a peacemaker. When word of war reached her, she would write to the combatants urging them to settle their differences peacably. Sadly, the din of battle would often drown out her gentle voice for peace. When her husband, the King, tried to take St Radegund back by force, the local Bishop interceded and the King repented of all that he had done wrong. In the end the King became a benefactor of the Holy Cross monastery. St Radegund died in the year 587, surrounded by two hundred nuns.
"I WON'T MIND AT ALL"
Her biographer wrote of a time when ‘a friend told Radegund that if she kept kissing lepers, no one would dare kiss her. ‘If you don’t want to kiss me,’ she snapped back, ‘I won’t mind at all.'
(From: Spiritual Thought From Father Chris/2015 - 📷 1. St Radegund, 2. Sankt Radegund - a place near Graz, Austria - coat of arms, 3. St Radegund's Priory)
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