ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL
Saints celebrated on the 8th of April
SAINT AGABUS, PROPHET
"At Antioch, the holy prophet Agabus, of whom mention is made by Saint Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles," says the Roman Martyrology.
A citizen of Jerusalem, Agabus is said to have been one of the seventy-two disciples, mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, commissioned to preach the gospel.
THE GIFT OF PROPHECY
According to Acts 11:27-28, he was one of a group of prophets who travelled from Jerusalem to Antioch. The author reports that Agabus had received the gift of prophecy and predicted a severe famine, which occurred during the reign of the emperor Claudius.
"While they were there some prophets came down to Antioch from Jerusalem, and one of them whose name was Agabus, seized by the Spirit, stood up and predicted that a severe and universal famine was going to happen. This in fact happened while Claudius was emperor." (Acts 11:27-28)
HIS FEAST DAY
He died between A.D. 40 and 46. He is venerated by the Latins on February 13 [April 8], by the Greeks on March 8. Some count him among the martyrs.
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"SAINT AGABUS, PATRON SAINT OF FORTUNE TELLERS"
Irrespective of what you may read on the ever-colourful internet, Saint Agabus is NOT the patron saint of fortune tellers. Divination is a sin against the First Commandment, and no saint would bless the sin of trying to play God. This is what the brilliant Fr Hugh S. Thwaites has to say on this subject:
"Fooling around with horoscopes and zodiac rings etc. can lead people to think that there is a third party, besides God and their own free will, that is able, in some way or other, to influence their destiny. This is not so. We have our free will, weakened, indeed, by the effects of original sin and of our own sins. We each have our own good Angel. And God has promised us His grace which is there for the asking.
"Then, on the other side, there is the world, the flesh and the devil. There we have the arena for the Christian combat. But the choices are ours. We cannot shuffle off the blame for our weakness on to the stars; nor, even as a joke, should we even let ourselves think that way.
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
"Question 182 of the Penny Catechism tells us: “The first Commandment forbids all dealing with the devil and superstitious practices, such as consulting spiritualists and fortune-tellers, and trusting to charms, omens, dreams and suchlike fooleries.”
"It would be superstitious to give things a power they do not and could not possess. By “omen” we mean a sign that is supposed to foretell what is to come.
"That catechism answer is quite important. If the devil sees that we are superstitious, always on the look-out for omens, and thinking that our dreams are packed with hidden meaning, he could make a fool of us by keeping us in a perpetual state of anxiety and foreboding.
"Catholics would do very well to keep themselves within the framework of what the Church has to offer.
"The Catholic Church is indeed God’s beautiful garden, and in it we may find all that we need to delight our mind and our heart. In other words, we find in the Church all that we need in order to attain the end for which we were created, namely Heaven.
"But outside the Church, while indeed there is much that is true and beautiful, for the most part it is a wilderness of ignorance and error and confusion, where life is full of anxiety and survival difficult."
(Fr Hugh S. Thwaites)
“God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it…” Catechism of the Catholic Church - CCC 2115
“All forms of divination are to be rejected…Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honour, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.” CCC 2116
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