ST NOTBURGA OF BÜHL, WIDOW - 26 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 26th 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 NOTBURGA OF BÜHL, WIDOW 

According to legend, this saint lived in the ninth century. She was of Scottish royal blood. Her husband had died recently.

She moved on and came to what is now Klettgau, not far from the Rhine, and gave birth to nine children there. 

THE BABIES' BAPTISM

When she wanted to bring them to be baptised and there was a lack of water, the maid, trusting in divine help in this emergency, seized the woman's walking staff and coaxed a spring from the rock, with the water of which she baptised the children, except one, who had sadly died.

BY HER PRAYERS, SHE MOVED THE SPRING

Later, when there was a large influx of people to this spring and people quarrelled about drinking the water, St Notburga first tried to restore peace and order, but because that didn't work, she moved the healing water through her prayers to the nearby grove. 

SHE BROUGHT UP HER CHILDREN IN THE FEAR OF GOD

She brought up her eight children in piety and fear of God and then slept happily in the Lord [on January 26, 842.]. A church was built in her honour, which later became a popular place of pilgrimage. Her daughter Hixta (Yxta) is a known saint. The legend says nothing of her other children. She is pictured with eight children in her arms; the ninth lies dead at her feet. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints)

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Notburga may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. 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.