ST ODA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR - 16 FEBRUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY

 Saints celebrated on the 16th 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.

SAINT ODA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR 

Today we also commemorate Saint Oda. This holy virgin and martyr was the sister of Saints Eucharius and Elophus, who died for Jesus under Julian the Apostate. Like her saintly brothers, she is particularly venerated in Lorraine. The Bollandists* mention Saint Oda on October 9. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg, 1875, p. 599)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

May blessed Oda, Virgin and Martyr, who was ever pleasing to you by the merit of her chastity and by her trust in your power, implore for us your forgiveness, we beseech you, O God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.