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. JUETTA (IVETTA), WIDOW AND ANCHORESS
Juetta was born in 1158 in Huy (Huum or Hoyum), an old town on the Meuse (Mosa) in Belgium. Her parents' names are not known to us. Her father was administrator of the property of Bishop Radulphus of Liège and was very rich.
DEEP PIETY
Even in her childhood, Juetta showed signs of great understanding and deep piety. She was pretty, lived chaste and moderate, despised the world and detested the thought of getting married.
HER MARRIAGE
Nevertheless, she gave in to the will of her parents and entered into marriage, in which she lived for five years and became the mother of three sons, one of whom died as a child.
WIDOWHOOD
At the age of eighteen she became a widow and now made the irrevocable decision to stay single. For this, she suffered a great deal from her father, who wanted to force her into a second marriage, and from potential suitors.
At first, on her father's advice, she still lent her money to people who needed funds, on interest, which she soon regretted. She afterwards tried to make up for having charged interest on loans by giving generous alms instead.
HER TIME AT THE INFIRMARY
After five years she went to the so-called infirmary (Leprosorium) near Huy to practice nursing there, which, to the amazement of all, she did with all zeal for a full eleven years.
HER FATHER'S CONVERSION
It was at this time that her prayer was heard, so that her father started to entertain pious thoughts, so that he finally became a Cistercian in the monastery of Villars. After her older son had also become a Cistercian in the monastery of Orval (Aurea vallis) and she had been freed from external worries in this way, she decided to renounce the service of Martha and to choose the part of Mary.
LIFE AS AN ANCHORESS
She had the abbot of Orval shut her in a cell at Huy, which was attached to a church. There she lived another 36 years, during which time she bewailed all the venial sins that she had committed in her life, and in particular that sin of having wished death upon her husband so that she would be free to embrace the consecrated life. She also undertook severe penance for her sins.
HEAVENLY APPARITIONS
Juetta was also awarded the gift of contemplation, prophecy and miracles and was honoured with many heavenly apparitions, such as the appearance of our Lord himself, who administered Holy Communion to her, which she experienced twice.
THE WORRY ABOUT THE STATE OF HER SON'S SOUL
Obviously, she also had to endure her fair share of temptations, which she always steadfastly overcame. She also had to suffer many other tribulations. One of the greatest of those was the worry about her other surviving son, who was left behind in the world, and who led a very dissolute life. She wept and prayed for him for a long time, lovingly but very earnestly admonishing him to change his lifestyle, until God finally softened the son's heart. She then had the joy of seeing that her son was truly converted and, on her advice, entered the Cistercian monastery of Trois-Fontaines (Trium fontium) in the diocese of Chalons sur Marne, where he started leading a very pious life, which he kept up.
SHE BEGAN TO PREPARE FOR DEATH
After she had helped many other people to true conversion through prayer and admonitions, and had also acquired some spiritual daughters, she began to prepare for her death, the day and hour of which she foretold .
SHE BREATHED FORTH HER SOUL
She now confessed to the abbot John of Floreffe, then received the Last Rites and afterwards whispered the words: "In your hands, O Lord, I recommend my spirit" with eyes and hands raised to heaven, cheerfully breathing forth her pious soul on Thursday January 13, in the Octave of the Epiphany, at an age of 70 years.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints)
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