ST LUPUS, BISHOP OF CHALONS - 27 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 27th 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 LUPUS, BISHOP OF CHALONS 

Saint Lupus, Bishop. [The name is Latin and means wolf.] Lupus was first a monk, then an abbot and later a bishop at Chalons sur Saone (Cabilon). There is no real historically reliable information about him. 

HE TOOK SPECIAL CARE OF THE POOR AND PRISONERS

He came, according to tradition, from Burgundy from very wealthy parents and gave his fortune to the church. Powerful in word and deed, he led the shepherd's staff over the flock entrusted to him and took special care of the poor and prisoners, for whom he interceded even dying. 

THE FUNERAL PROCESSION

The whole town went into mourning at his funeral, so that cries of lamentation filled the streets. When the body was carried past the spot where the municipal gaol was situated, the pall bearers could not move on. The prisoners were freed from their bonds by invoking the saint, and the doors of the prison sprang open of their own accord. With joyful hearts the inmates accompanied the mortal remains of their special intercessor to the Basilica of St Peter where he was to be buried. 

MIRACLES AT HIS GRAVE

God worked an extraordinary number of great miracles at his grave. He enjoys very special veneration as the patron saint of the sheep; for at his intercession the diseases departed from these animals. His death is placed in the 7th century. St Lupus is not mentioned in the Roman Martyrology.

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