BL. HELENA, DUCHESS OF POLAND, RELIGIOUS - 6 MARCH

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH

Saints celebrated on the 6th 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. HELENA, DUCHESS OF POLAND, RELIGIOUS 

Blessed Helena [Yolanda],  Duchess of Poland, was the daughter of King Bela IV of Hungary and was born in 1235. 

Already as a child she did not believe in worldly honours and pleasures and loved God with all her soul.

HER MARRIAGE

In 1256 it was given in marriage to Duke Boleslaus V of Poland, known as "the pious and chaste". Though she had desired to serve the Lord as a virgin, yet, God willing otherwise, she performed all the duties of wife and mother with the greatest willingness and anxious zeal. Her marriage was a happy one, and all her children became and remained pious and godly.

A SIMPLE LIFESTYLE

Though surrounded by earthly glory, she was simple in her clothes, in food and drink, in all the necessities of life. Her charity to the poor endeared her to all the people; in her they honoured her like a mother. 

WIDOWHOOD

After the death of her husband, which occurred in 1279, she retired to the Poor Clares convent in Gniezno (Gnesen), where she spent the rest of her days practicing all virtues. She died on March 6, 1298. She was soon venerated as a saint. Their cult, initially approved by Pope Urban VIII, was reconfirmed [she was officially beatified] on September 22, 1827. [Her feast day is also given as June 11.]

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints)