MARTYRS OF SIRMIUM - 23 FEBRUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY

 Saints celebrated on the 23rd of February

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.

MARTYRS OF SIRMIUM 

These fourth century martyrs are commemorated on February 23. At Sirmium, capital of the Roman Province of Pannonia, seventy-three Christians perished about A.D. 303 in the persecution under Diocletian, and are honoured as martyrs.

(From The Book of Saints, 1921, by the Monks of Ramsgate)

THEIR ENTRY IN THE ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In the same place [Sirmium], the birthday of seventy-two holy martyrs, who ended the combat of martyrdom in that city, and took possession of the everlasting kingdom.

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we who celebrate the anniversary of the death of your holy Martyrs of Sirmium, may by their intercession be delivered from all evils that threaten us. 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.