BL. HELDEMAR, HERMIT - 13 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 13th of January

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. HELDEMAR, HERMIT 

Blessed Heldemar (Hildemarus) - his name means "Hero of Glory" or "Heroic Fame". 

Bl. Heldemar, also known as Hildemar, is one of the founders of the monastery of Arouaise (Coenobium Aroasiense) near Bapaume in the county of Artois (Artesia). It was called into existence around the year 1090. 

THEY MOVED INTO THE HERMITAGE, WHICH WAS SITUATED IN AN AREA THAT WAS CONSIDERED UNSAFE

He, together with his companion and pupil Cono, had studied in England under William I and had become a canon. Along with a lay brother called Roger, they moved into the aforesaid hermitage. It was situated in a region then notorious for robbers. 

They spent seven years here in the service of God with prayer and mortification, until an unworthy cleric inflicted a mortal wound on Blessed Heldemar, from which he never recovered. 

A MODEL OF CHRISTIAN LOVE OF ENEMIES

Heldemar is a model of Christian love of enemies. Not only did he willingly forgive his murderer, but had he been present he would have even hugged and kissed him. His death happened in the year 1097. His companion and pupil Cono later became bishop of Palestrina (Praeneste).

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints)