SS. CRATON AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS - 15 FEBRUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY

 Saints celebrated on the 15th 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.

SS. CRATON AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS 

Saint Craton's name is Greek; it means "to be strong, mighty, to rule."

St Craton, a famous orator at Rome, was instructed in the faith by the holy Bishop Valentine of Terni. 

HE AND HIS HOUSEHOLD WERE BAPTISED

As legend has it, St Valentine, the bishop, had already been a successful shepherd of his herd for several years when he received an invitation to Rome. There three noble Athenians, Proculus, Ephebus and Apollonius had accepted lodgings and tuition from their compatriot Craton, the rhetorician, whose only son Charemon was suffering from an incurable disability that could not be fixed by any doctor. This miraculous cure resulted in the conversion of the Craton and all his house.

He was baptised with his whole family, but was captured around the year 273 and beheaded with all his family, namely his wife, son, friends, and servants, and their children.

His name is mentioned in the Roman Martyrology on this day.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we who celebrate the anniversary of the death of your holy martyrs Craton and Companions, 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.