ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH
Saints celebrated on the 20th of March
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.
BL. AMBROSE OF SIENA, TEACHER AND DIPLOMAT
Blessed Ambrose was born at Siena on April 16, 1220, of the noble family of Sansedoni; he died at Siena, in 1286. When about one year old, Ambrose was cured of a congenital deformity, in the Dominican church of St Mary Magdalene.
A FELLOW-STUDENT OF SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS
As a child and youth he was noted for his love of charity, exercised especially towards pilgrims, the sick in hospitals, and prisoners. He entered the novitiate of the Dominican convent in his native city at the age of seventeen, was sent to Paris to continue his philosophical and theological studies under Albert the Great, and had for a fellow-student there St Thomas Aquinas.
HE BROUGHT ABOUT RECONCILIATION BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES
In 1248 he was sent with St Thomas to Cologne where he taught in the Dominican schools. In 1260 he was one of the band of missionaries who evangelised Hungary. In 1266 Siena was put under an interdict for having espoused the cause of the Emperor Frederick II, then at enmity with the Holy See. The Siennese petitioned Ambrose to plead their cause before the Sovereign Pontiff, and so successfully did he do this that he obtained for his native city full pardon and a renewal of all her privileges. The Siennese soon cast off their allegiance; a second time Ambrose obtained pardon for them. He brought about a reconciliation between Emperor Conrad of Germany and Pope Clement IV. About his time he was chosen bishop of his native city, but he declined the office.
HE WAS SENT TO TUSCANY AS PAPAL LEGATE
For a time, he devoted himself to preaching the Crusade; and later, at the request of Pope Gregory X, caused the studies which the late wars had practically suspended to be resumed in the Dominican convent at Rome. After the death of Pope Gregory X he retired to one of the convents of his order, whence he was summoned by Innocent V and sent as papal legate to Tuscany. He restored peace between Venice and Genoa and also between Florence and Pisa.
A CONVINCING PREACHER
His name was inserted in the Roman Martyrology in 1577. His biographers exhibit his life as one of perfect humility. He loved poetry, and many legends are told of victories over carnal temptations. He was renowned as an apostolic preacher. His oratory, simple rather than elegant, was most convincing and effective. His sermons, although once collected, are not now extant.
(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)
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