ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER
Saints celebrated on the 5th of September
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.
BL. ALBERT OF PONTIDA, ABBOT
Blessed Albert, Abbot of Pontida near Bergamo in northern Italy, devoted himself to armed service in his youth, but after he was seriously wounded in battle he hovered between life and imminent death due to spiking high temperatures due to infected, festering wounds. Bl. Albert, at this point, made the vow to only serve the Lord if a longer lifetime should be bestowed upon him.
AFTER HIS RETURN FROM THE PILGRIMAGE, HE SHARED HIS INHERITANCE WITH HIS BROTHER
Albert's prayer was heard, and he indeed recovered from the wound fever. As soon as he was able to, he made a pilgrimage to Compostella in Spain together with a certain Heinrich von Cremona.
After his return from the pilgrimage, he shared the inheritance with his brother and, with his own part of the revenue, retired to Pontida. He used the funds to built a splendid church and a monastery there.
A SPLENDID CHURCH AND A MONASTERY
From Abbot Hugo in Cluny he received a tried and tested monk who gave him (and his companions who had gathered around him) precise instructions in everything that was observed there.
A GREAT REPUTATION FOR VIRTUES
After a while Hugo himself appeared in Pontida and installed Albert as Abbot, who soon gained a great reputation for his virtues as well as for his miracles. He spread the fragrance of holiness everywhere.
HIS RELICS REST AT PONTIDA
He died in 1095 and after his death was buried in the church that he had built. But after 277 years church and monastery got destroyed, and his holy relics were transferred to the church of St Maria Maggiore in Bergamo. [Here they were honoured until 1911, when they were returned to Pontida to the restored abbey church.]
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)
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