ST FACIUS, CONFESSOR - 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.

ST FACIUS, CONFESSOR 

Saint Facius (Facio, Fazzio) was born around 1190 in Verona. From an early age, his pious parents accustomed him to prayer and work. He devoted himself to being a goldsmith and soon gained general confidence through diligence and skill. This aroused the envy of some of his fellow-citizens, which caused him much bitterness. 

HE MOVED TO CREMONA

In order to avoid all vexations, he left his native town and moved to Cremona, where he gave away  everything that his artistic diligence had brought him, donating it to the churches and the poor. This earned him the love of all the residents, who put him at the head of their charity. 

ATTEMPTED RECONCILIATION

Meanwhile, Facius not only wished to avoid his oppressors, but also to be reconciled with them, and so he went back to Verona. This aroused the old hatred of his enemies anew; they even brought him to prison with the help of bribed witnesses.

IMPRISONMENT

Thereupon divine providence intervened in this way: Mantua declared war on the Veronese. In their distress, they appealed to the Cremonese for help, which they agreed to do, but only on the express condition that Facius, who had been arrested innocently, be released. 

THE CREMONESE INTERVENED

Facius was released and moved back to Cremona to end his life there. He built a chapel and founded a religious men's association, "Order of the Holy Spirit" for the purpose of nursing the sick, visiting prisoners, satisfying and consoling poverty, and doing other works of love. 

WORKS OF CHARITY

The saint also made many pious journeys; among other pilgrimages he went to Rome and to the tomb of St James to Compostella in Spain. 

A NEW CHALLENGE

The Bishop of Cremona finally appointed St Facius Visitator General of all the monasteries of his diocese, which office he administered with all prudence and wisdom until he entered eternal rest in 1272, in his 82nd year, following an episode of violent fever.

THE TITLE "SAINT"

During his lifetime this side of eternity and after his death, many miracles happened at his intercession; he still enjoys great veneration in Cremona today. Although Facius was never solemnly included in the ranks of the saints, his name is in the register of the saints of Italy, and the apostolic see has long since confirmed his office for the churches of Cremona and Verona. 

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