ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY
Saints celebrated on the 18th 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 JEAN-PIERRE NEEL, PRIEST AND MARTYR
Jean Pierre Néel was beatified by Pope Pius X on 2 May 2, 1909, and canonised by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000.
A DIVINE CALLING
Born in 1832, St Jean-Pierre was a native of Sainte Catherine-sur-Rivière, Lyon. From a very young age he wanted to be a priest. He first entered the Montbrisson seminary, where he studied the humanities, then went on to the Largnetière seminary, where his missionary vocation matured and in 1855, he left the seminary and went to the Paris Foreign Missions Society, where he was ordained in 1858.
HE DEPARTED FOR CHINA
He was posted to China. The journey lasted seven months. Upon arrival, he first dedicated himself to learning the Chinese language and customs and then was entrusted with the leadership of the Kia-cha-long Christian community. His ministry lasted four years.
HE WAS ARRESTED FOR BEING A CATHOLIC PRIEST
In 1862, he was captured in the home of a Christian whom he had baptised; he was tied by the hair to the tail of a horse and dragged to the town of Kay-Tcheu, where the mandarin resided.
A LUMINOUS GLOBE LANDED ON THE MARTYR
He ignored his status as a French citizen. He ordered him to be stripped naked and tied, again, to the tail of a horse, which dragged him amid the mockery of the people. Finally, he was decapitated on the outskirts of town. At the moment of his beheading, a luminous globe landed on the martyr, causing great stupor to those present. This is how the Lord wanted to reward his generosity.
Saints Martin Wu Xuesheng, catechist, John Zhang Tianshen, neophyte, and John Chen Xianheng suffered martyrdom with him.
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