ST ELFLEDA, ABBESS OF RAMSEY ABBEY - 20 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 20th 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.

SAINT ELFLEDA, ABBESS OF RAMSEY ABBEY

Saint Elfleda was of royal stock in England, having Ethelwold and Brithwina as parents. 

She took the veil at Ramsey Abbey. St Mervina, the first abbess of that monastery, was an excellent teacher in the godly life, whose precepts she carefully observed, and whose example she imitated with all zeal. 

SHE SUCCEEDED ST MERVINA

After Mervina's death, the dignity of abbess passed to this her worthy student, who, after a holy life, died in the odour of sanctity.

Some sources mention St Elfleda's feast day on October 29.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints)