ST VALERIUS OF TRIER, BISHOP - 29 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 29th 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 VALERIUS OF TRIER, BISHOP 

The three bishops

Saint Valerius' entry in the Roman Martyrology runs thus: "At Treves, the demise of the blessed bishop Valerius, disciple of the Apostle St Peter."

"DISCIPLE OF ST PETER"

According to legend, Valerius, the second Bishop of Trier (Treves), Germany, had been a disciple of St Peter or even one of the 72 disciples of Christ: Peter had sent him to Gaul with two companions to preach the Good News. Eucharius was to be bishop, Valerius deacon, and Maternus subdeacon.

HE BUILT A CHURCH AT TRIER

 However, it is more likely that Valerius and his companions appeared in the area at the end of the third century, after the end of the bloodiest persecution of Christians. In Trier they stayed at the home of a widow named Albana, who was converted by her example and preaching and allowed them to turn her big house into a church. 

THEIR MORTAL REMAINS REST IN THE ABBEY CHURCH

When Eucharius died, Valerius succeeded him as bishop. After fifteen years he was succeeded by Maternus, who in the meantime had founded the bishoprics of Cologne and Tongeren. The bishops' mortal remains rest in the Abbey Church of St Matthias at Trier.