ST ANTHOLIAN OF AUVERGNE, BISHOP AND MARTYR - 6 FEBRUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY

Saints celebrated on the 6th 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.

ST ANTHOLIAN OF AUVERGNE, BISHOP AND MARTYR 

Saint Antholian (Anatholius, Anatolianus, Ancolianus, Anatolius, Anthoënus, Amilianus) was killed with many others at the time of the emperors Valerianus and Gallienus (about the year 255) by the Alemanni at Clermont in France. They had invaded the area under their king Chrocus. Afterwards, all of the martyrs were buried in Clermont. 

THE APPARITION OF ST ANTHOLIAN

St Gregory of Tours relates that when a church was being built in his honour in the sixth (according to Butler, in the fifth) century, the saint appeared to someone in Clermont and expressed his displeasure at the fact that the mortal remains of so many saints had been stacked one below the other. As nothing was done about his message, the church tower soon collapsed, but without damaging the altar or any person. 

HIS RELICS WERE TRANSLATED TO ST-ALLYRE

As a result, his relics were moved to the local church of St Gallus and later to the Church of St Illidius (St-Allyre). His name appears in the Roman Martyrology on February 6.

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