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SAINT RUSTICULA, ABBESS - 11 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 11th 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 RUSTICULA, ABBESS 

(Her memorial is also given as August 10, August 16, May 16, September 1). The holy Abbess Rusticula (Rustirnia, Rusticola) is revered at Arles, where she lived and worked in the Grand Monastery.

SHE WAS DESCENDED FROM THE NOBLE FAMILY MARTIER

She is also called Martia (Marcia) in her biography, which was written by an almost contemporary priest named Florentius Gallus, because she was  descended from the noble family Martier. 

She was born in Vaison in Provence in 555 and had an older brother. She had hardly seen the light of day when her father died. Her physical attractiveness and her talents tempted a certain Cheran, a confidante of King Guntram - probably not without the mother's prior knowledge - to kidnap her. 

SHE ESCAPED THE KIDNAPPER'S HANDS

By special divine providence she escaped the kidnapper's hands and, on the advice of Bishop Syagrius of Autun and with the consent of the king, was transferred to the monastery of St Caesaria, Arles, under the leadership of Abbess Liliola. 

Under her guidance she made great advances in science and in the virtuous life. Soon she was determined to stay here, although her mother insisted that she should return to the world. As a nun, she knew no worry other than the exact fulfillment of the rule of holy obedience.

SHE WAS ELECTED SUPERIOR AT A YOUNG AGE

She read holy writ with so much diligence that she knew a great part of it by heart. She was therefore in such high esteem among her fellow sisters that after the death of Abbess Liliola - although she was only 18 years old - she was elected Superior. Reluctantly she accepted the dignity, but proved herself worthy of the office by her diligence and holiness. It is indescribable, says her biographer, with what sweetness and loving gentleness she rebuked the sisters - not like a mistress, but like a kind mother she gave them healing admonitions. She was especially devoted to prayer and contemplation. 

NIGHT WATCH AND FASTING

Indeed, so devoted was she to the night watch and fasting that she often did not eat food until the third day and spent whole nights praying in church. Only once a year did she use a bed to sleep in. 

After the death of King Theodoric, Chlotar II seized the empire by force and murdered two sons of the late king. The prince Childebert, whom the king also wanted to murder, saved himself by fleeing. She was accused of hiding the prince's son in her monastery and taken into prison. 

SHE WAS BROUGHT BACK TO THE MONASTERY

On this occasion many miracles occurred to the sick, revealing her innocence. Soon she was brought back to her monastery with great honours and received there by the sisters with the greatest joy. The humble religious ascribed her deliverance to the prayers of her spiritual daughters. 

Upon her return, she expanded the monastery. She also built many chapels in the city of Arles. Finally, after proving herself to be a faithful servant of Christ in every way, she died, 77 years old, on August 1, 632. 

THE GIFT OF TEARS

Already during her lifetime the Lord glorified her, as already said above, through miracles. Once a sister saw her face glow like a ray of sunshine. In Avignon, her memory is celebrated on September 1. Her holy body, which was buried by Bishop Theodosius of Arles in the Church of Our Lady on the right side of the high altar, later came to the Cathedral Church of St Trophimus, with the exception of the head, which stayed the monastery of St Caesarius. In pictures this saint is mostly depicted weeping, be it to indicate the gift of tears which she had received in abundance from God, or the persecutions from which she was afflicted. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints)

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