ST GALLA OF VALENCE, VIRGIN - 1 FEBRUARY

 

 ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY

Saints celebrated on the 1st 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 GALLA OF VALENCE, VIRGIN 

Saint Galla lived in or near Valence (ager Valentinus) on the Rhone, and, leaving behind all earthly goods, allegedly in the presence of seven bishops, took the veil. 

SHE TOOK THE VEIL

Day and night she did not leave the church, ate only once a day, before sunset, and gave to the poor much and often.

THE POWER OF HER PRAYERS

Through the power of her prayers she brought help to many in need. She gave sight to two blind women by touching their eyes invoking the name of Jesus. She is said to have repulsed an enemy attack with her prayer.

SHE IS SAID TO HAVE REPULSED AN ENEMY ATTACK WITH HER PRAYER

In general, the history of her life contains so much that is edifying that we can only regret that we know so little about the events in her life.

She was buried in Baigne in Valais. There is a place nearby that bears the name of St Peter, to whose protection the saint is known to have appealed often.

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