ST BLESILLA, WIDOW - 22 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 22nd 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.

ST BLESILLA, WIDOW 

Saint Blesilla (Blæsilla), commemorated on January 22, a young widow at Rome, was a disciple of St Jerome and served God most zealously under his leadership. 

She knew not only the Latin but also the Greek language, and died in the year 383 at the age of 20, whereupon she was given a most beautiful funeral and was buried in the ground by her mother Paula.

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

PRAYER:

O God, who gladden us each year by the feast of blessed Blesilla, graciously grant that, as we rejoice in her merits, we may be inspired by her example. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.