ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER
Saints celebrated on the 18th of September
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 RICHARDIS, FOUNDRESS
Richardis (Rigarda), a daughter of Count Erchanger (Erchangar) of Alsace, was the wife of Emperor Charles the Fat, whom she got married to in 862.
HER HUSBAND ACCUSED HER OF UNFAITHFULNESS
The capricious, almost stupid man suddenly, after many years of marriage, accused her of unfaithfulness. [Charles claimed she had an affair with Bishop Liutword of Vercelli. Some suspect the reasons for this accusation were political. Richardis denied the charges, and even underwent trial by fire, a barbaric procedure that "proved" she was innocent.]
SHE FOUNDED THE ANDLAU MONASTERY
Vindicated, Richardis left Charles and founded the Andlau Monastery (Andlavia Eleon) on her father's estate near Schlettstadt in the year 880 and also contributed her ancestral estates in Maistrazheim and Krautergersheim towards this laudable cause. She also built a church in Sigolsheim and facilitated renovations for the Ebersheimmünster monastery (Stivagium).
SHE DISTRIBUTED HER BELONGINGS TO THE POOR AND TO THE MONASTERIES
She distributed everything that was belonged to her to the poor and to the monasteries she founded. It is not known for sure whether she took the religious vows. It is more likely that it did not happen, since she is mentioned everywhere only as the founder, not as a real member of the monastery.
HER DEATH
She died on September 18, 893 or 894 (according to others already 888). Her grave was glorified by many miracles. In 1049 the solemn exaltation of her holy body took place under Pope Leo IX. This elevation is considered a canonisation. Since then she has been venerated as a saint in Germany in the diocese of Strasbourg, and in France, especially in Etival, where relics of her are to be found.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858 - 🎨 Richardis undergoing ordeal by fire. Painting by Dierec Bouts)
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