BL. GENTILIS, MARTYR - 5 SEPTEMBER

 

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. GENTILIS, MARTYR 

Blessed Gentilis came from the noble family of the Finaguerria and became a Franciscan. 

UNINTERRUPTED CONTEMPLATION AND PENANCE

Like the holy Founder of the order, St Francis of Assisi,  he too went to Mount Alverno twice in order to lead a life of uninterrupted contemplation and penance. 

His reputation soon spread widely; he became a sought-after preacher who reinforced Our Saviour's message by his life, humble demeanour and by the miracles he worked.

HIS PREACHING BROUGHT 10.000 UNBELIEVERS TO THE LORD

Eventually his superiors sent St Gentilis to the Levant, from where he reached Persia and is said to have brought 10,000 unbelievers to the Lord. 

THE SARACENS WATCHED MOST APPREHENSIVELY AS THE GOSPEL WAS SPREAD FAR AND WIDE

When Marco Cornaro came to Persia from Venice on business of state, he joined him in order to obtain freedom of worship for Christians. The Saracens, however, who watched the Gospel grow with severe apprehension, murdered him in Toringia in 1340, when he was on a pilgrimage to the grave of St Katharina. 

HIS VENERATION WAS APPROVED BY POPE PIUS VI.

The Venetian merchant Nicolao Quirini brought his remains to the Church of the Minor Brothers in Venice, where they are still resting. His veneration was approved by Pope Pius VI. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia, 1858)