ST GEMINIANUS, BISHOP OF MODENA - 31 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 31st 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 GEMINIANUS, BISHOP OF MODENA 

Saint Geminianus, commemorated on January 31, bishop of Modena, is often confused with another saint of that name.

A CONTEMPORARY OF POPE LEO THE GREAT

Bishop Geminianus lived at the time of Attila's devastating campaigns, and was thus a contemporary of Pope Leo the Great.

HE WAS FAMOUS FOR MIRACLES

The story of his miracles can be seen in relief on the outside of the Duomo of Modena. He is often depicted driving devils out of the possessed.

HIS COMMEMORATION

Even in the ecclesiastical Office of Modena, our saint is mentioned, as is the other St Geminianus, and the Roman Martyrology did not distinguish them either. The Bollandists themselves concede that the name Attila could possibly appear in the biography of the first as a general name for "enemy of the church," a conjecture whose appreciation is hereby left to the discretion of the reader. The saint is depicted in episcopal clothing; According to Migne an angel hovers above him, offering him the city of Modena, whose protector he is.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858 - 📷 Reliefs at the Duomo of Modena)