BL. MERCOLINUS, RELIGIOUS - 24 JANUARY

 

 ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 24th 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. MERCOLINUS, RELIGIOUS 

Blessed Mercolinus l was born in Forli to respected citizens (about A.D. 1317). At the age of ten, he entered the local house of the Dominican Order.

Upon completing his education, he remained in the Order and became such a zealous and pious member that he was entrusted with the reformation of several monasteries. 

HE WAS ENTRUSTED WITH THE REFORMATION OF SEVERAL MONASTERIES

In his cell he kept a beautiful image of the Virgin Mary, in front of which he prayed diligently, and from which the Blessed Virgin often spoke to him. It was later honoured as a relic of the Blessed. 

HIS WHOLE LIFE HAD BEEN ONE OF CONSTANT FASTING

Even during his lifetime, the sick and other unfortunate commended themselves to his prayers with success. He reached the age of 80, although his whole life had been one of constant fasting. 

HIS HOLY DEATH

Three days before his end he predicted the same. He died on January 24, 1397. Immediately after his death, numerous miracles took place. His corpse, which was exposed in the church, often had to be clothed anew, because the people cut off many bits of his clothes as relics and carried them home. In 1458 he received a magnificent tomb at the initiative of Bishop Nicholas of Recanata, a native of Forlian. His canonisation process was begun in 1625.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)