SS. PAUL AND THIRTY-SIX COMPANIONS, IN EGYPT, MARTYRS - 18 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 18th 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.

SS. PAUL AND THIRTY-SIX COMPANIONS, IN EGYPT, MARTYRS 

➡️ More information about Saint Paul and Companions

In Egypt, thirty-seven Christian noblemen, all persons of high birth and plentiful fortunes; but richer in the gifts of grace, entered into a zealous confederacy to propagate the gospel throughout the country. 

THEIR LEADER WAS PAUL, A TRUE IMITATOR OF THE GREAT APOSTLE

Their leader and head was one Paul, a true imitator of the great apostle whose name he bore. They divided themselves into four several bands: Paul and nine others went eastwards: Recombus, with eight more, towards the north: Theonas, with the like number, to the south: and Papias, with the remaining eight, to the west. 

THEY LABOURED ZEALOUSLY IN EXTENDING THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST

They laboured zealously in extending the kingdom of Christ on every side, planting the faith, instructing the docile, and purifying the souls of penitents who confessed their sins. 

SOME LOVED DARKNESS MORE THAN LIGHT

But the greater part of the inhabitants of that great kingdom loved darkness rather than light. The servants of God were treated with all manner of injuries, apprehended, and laid in irons. 

THEY WERE APPREHENDED AND LAID IN IRONS

The governor alarmed at the news of their enterprise, sent orders for their being brought before him from different parts of the kingdom. He employed both promises and threats to compel them to sacrifice. Paul answered in the name of them all that it was better for them to die, saying: “Do not spare us.” 

THE JUDGE CONDEMNED THEM ALL TO DEATH

The judge condemned them all to death, those who went to the east and south, to be burned: those from the north, to be beheaded, and those from the west to be crucified. But he was affrighted and surprised beyond expression to see with what joy and courage this brave army marched out, and bowed their heads to death. They suffered on January 18, but in what year it is not mentioned in their acts.

(From Fr Butler's Lives of the Saints)