ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER
Saints celebrated on the 10th 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 THEODARD OF LIEGE, BISHOP AND MARTYR
Saint Theodard of Liege is listed as a Martyr. Not much is known about his life; but there is no shortage of handed-down stories about him. Since he was friends with some of the most influential contemporaries of his time (St Cunibert of Cologne, St Arnulph of Metz, and St Remaclus, Abbot of Stablo and Bishop of Liege), it is justified to assume that St Theodard came from a privileged background.
FROM A PRIVILEGED BACKGROUND
After St Remaclus decided to retire in order to conclude his life in monastic seclusion (c. A.D. 660), he recommended St Theodard as his successor. St Cunibert of Cologne ordained him as bishop; most probably while King Sigebert was still alive.
"A MAN FULL OF PRIESTLY HONOUR"
We have no particular details of St Theodard's administration of the diocese apart from the dedication of one church. That he was "a man full of priestly honour" (vir sacerdotali reverentia plenus), however, and that he endeavoured to "become everything to everyone" is confirmed by contemporaries. He is also considered to have been a teacher of the holy Lambertus.
His death took place on a trip to King Childeric II of Austrasia, whom he wanted to appeal to for protection and help against unjust seizing of the goods of his church. According to all historical evidence, the ecclesiastical property had grown so much in its time that it made up a third of the entire estate. The kings therefore gladly allowed a reduction to be made and only slowly intervened even when invoked.
HE WAS SLAIN IN A WOOD
The journey took him to the Rhine in the area of the Diocese of Speyer and from there via Landau to Alsace. Here he was slain in a wood that is called "Biwalt" in the old documents.
It is not clear who the murderers were, because, while some say that those accused by him wanted to avoid condemnation in this way; the Bollandists's account does allow for the possibility that he was ambushed and killed by common robbers.
HE WAS BURIED IN LIEGE CATHEDRAL
The chronology of his life is also not yet clear. According to Miräus et al., St Theodard ascended the bishop's chair in 653 - that is, under King Sigebert III, who died in 656 - and was murdered in 655 or 658. The Bollandists incidentally put the last event in the year 608, but indicate that a later date, around 670, could not be proven to be incorrect. Indeed, more recent research has definitely put his episcopate in the years 662 to 672 and, in this respect as well, deviating from earlier statements, designate September 17 as the day of his death. His remains were interred in the Liege cathedral by his student and successor Lambertus. (590-593.)
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)
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