ST AVENTINUS, ABBOT - 4 FEBRUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY

Saints celebrated on the 4th 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 AVENTINUS, ABBOT 

Saint Aventinus, an abbot at Troyes in France, descended from humble parents at Berry, came to Troyes as a monk, and became a disciple of the holy bishop Lupus. 

HE RETURNED TO THE MONASTERY

After the death of his teacher, Bishop Camelianus  appointed him administrator of the ecclesiastical goods. After a while he returned to the monastery and became abbot of it. 

A SECLUDED CELL

Aventinus later chose a secluded place for his abode.  Once he pulled a thorn from the paw of a bear that had approached him in his cell for help with this injury - which is why he is often pictured pulling a thorn from a bear's paw.

HE WAS ORDAINED A PRIEST

Because of his virtues and the miraculous gifts that he possessed to a high degree, he was ordained a priest and died at Troyes at the beginning of the 6th century (according to Butler 540), where he was also buried. His name is also found in the Roman Martyrology on February 4.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858 - 📷 Part of a strained glass window at the Cathedral of Troyes)