ST SIGMUND FELIX FELINSKI, BISHOP - 17 SEPTEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 17th 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 SIGMUND FELIX FELINSKI, BISHOP  

Saint Sigmund Felix Felinski (1822-1895) was Archbishop of Warsaw and Founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary. He was born on November 1, 1822 in Wojutyn in Volinia (present-day Ukraine), in what was then Russian territory. 

HE SPENT MOST OF HIS TIME AS BISHOP IN TERRITORY THAT BELONGED TO THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

He was Archbishop of Warsaw for 16 months, spent 20 years in exile in Siberia, spent 12 years in semi-exile as tit. Archbishop of Tarsus and parish priest in the country. He died in Krakow, which then belonged to Austria, on September 17, 1895. Indeed, he spent 58 of his 73 years in territory that belonged to the Russian Empire.

HE IS VENERATED AS SHEPHERD IN EXILE

He is venerated as Shepherd in exile, an apostle of national harmony and unity in the spirit of the Gospel, a model of priestly dedication. 

He died in Krakow on September 17, 1895. In 1920 his remains were translated to Warsaw where, on April 14, 1921, they were solemnly interred in the crypt of the Cathedral of St John where they are now venerated. 

(Information from L'Osservatore Romano)

[St Sigmund was beatified on August 18, 2002 by Pope John Paul II, and canonised on October 11, 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI.]