ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH
Saints celebrated on the 12th 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. JUSTINA OF AREZZO, HERMITESS
Blessed Justina a hermitess at Arezzo (Aretium) in Tuscany (Etruria), is nicknamed Bizzola Francuccia by some, because she is said to have descended from this noble family.
HER STAY AT ST MARK'S MONASTERY
As a 13-year-old virgin, she entered the monastery of St Mark at Arezzo, where she served God the Lord in all piety for four years. When the Benedictine nuns moved to the monastery of All Saints (Ogni Santi), she moved with them.
SHE RETIRED TO A SOLITARY CELL
After having passed there several years in great holiness, she chose a life still more dead to the world, and, after receiving leave, retired to a solitary cell near Civitella, in which dwelt a holy hermitess named Lucia. This cell was so narrow and low that the two sisters could not stand up. Here they spent their lives in constant prayer, fasting, and penance.
JUSTINA CARED FOR HER DAY AND NIGHT
Lucia fell ill and Justina cared for her day and night for more than a year, without ceasing from her prayers and penances, until finally Lucia died. After her death, Justina remained alone in this cell for some time, but was seized by a painful eye disease, which later caused her total blindness.
THE WALLED-IN MONASTERY
From this cell she was then taken to a so-called walled-in monastery, where she lived with several sisters in the strictest mortification, constantly praising God in all suffering and pain and praying uninterruptedly every day from midnight to noon.
MIRACLE HEALINGS
Sick and afflicted of all kinds were healed through the faithful prayer of Bl. Justina. Far more miraculous healings occurred after her death at her grave. She died on March 12, 1319, and as early as 1360, by a resolution of the community and the clergy of Arezzo, the veneration of the blessed was introduced.
HER RELICS
Her body initially rested in the Monastery of All Saints, but was then transferred to the Church of St Justinus brought to where the nuns seem to have moved too. After later the former monastery of St. Mark, now called "Holy Cross" was completely rebuilt from the ground up, her body was placed in the adjoining church on May 23, 1559.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints)
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