ST SYMPHORIAN OF AUTUN, MARTYR - 22 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 22nd 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 SYMPHORIAN OF AUTUN, MARTYR 

Saint Symphorian was the son of Faustus, of a noble Christian family, and suffered at Autun in Gaul, soon after the martyrs of Lyons, in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. 

HE REFUSED TO SACRIFICE TO THE GODS

He had been baptised by St Benignus, was well instructed in polite literature and in his faith, was then in the bloom of life, and remarkable for his modesty, prudence, charity, and the innocence of his manners. 

When a pagan celebration was held in the city of Autun, Symphorian refused to pay honours to the idol and was seized by the mob, and carried before Heraclius, a man of consular dignity, and governor of the province. 

HE WAS BROUGHT BEFORE THE AUTHORITIES

Heraclius, being seated on his tribunal, asked him why he refused to adore the image of the mother of the gods. He answered, because he was a Christian, and adored the true God who reigneth in heaven. Heraclius commanded him to be cruelly beaten with clubs, and sent him to prison.

HE WAS BROUGHT OUT OF THE DARK DUNGEON

Two days after, he was brought out of his dark dungeon, and presented before the tribunal. Heraclius courted him by proffers of preferment, but Symphorian declined. 

"FEAR NOT DEATH WHICH LEADS TO CERTAIN LIFE"

At length the judge condemned him to die by the sword. He heard the sentence with joy. As he was carried out of the town to execution, his mother, standing on the walls of the city to see him pass by, cried out to him: "My son, my son Symphorian: remember the living God, and be of good courage. Raise your heart to heaven, and consider him who reigneth there. Fear not death which leads to certain life." He suffered martyrdom on August 22, 178. Some religious persons carried away his body privately, and buried it. 

A CHURCH WAS BUILT OVER HIS TOMB

His tomb became famous for miracles, and in the middle of the fifth century Euphronius, a priest, afterwards bishop of Autun, built over it a church. 

[St Symphorian is patron saint against eye problems, against syphilis, of students and of the city of Autun.] 

(From Fr Butler's Lives of the Saints)