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. OLDEGARIUS OF TARRAGONA, BISHOP
Blessed Oldegarius [Olegarius] is commemorated on March 6. This holy archbishop is highly venerated in the city and in the diocese of Barcelona, and no less in the archdiocese of Tarragona, over which churches he successively presided.
He was born in Catalonia around the year 1061 of German (Gothic) blood. His father's name was also Oldegarius, his mother's name was Guilla (Guilia). As often happened at that time, he became a canon as a boy and rose to the rank of provost before he was even ordained a priest. In 1114 he became bishop of Barcelona.
A MAN OF EXQUISITE HUMILITY
A man of exquisite humility, he thought of escaping this dignity by flight, but was brought back by order of Pope Paschalis II, who approved his election and ordered him to accept it. Though he was reluctant to assume the episcopal dignity, he governed his church with vigour and exercised its rights against any interference.
THE COUNCIL OF REIMS
When the city and territory of Tarragona were recovered from the Moors, Count Raymond left them to Oldegarius and his successors. Pope Gelasius II awarded him the pallium at Gaëta on March 21, 1118 and also put the diocese of Tortosa under his administration. In 1119 the saint attended the Council of Reims, at which Henry V was declared excommunicated.
THE COUNCIL IN THE LATERAN
At the Council in the Lateran in 1123 he received the dignity of apostolic legate and the commission to preach the cross against the Moors. After these were defeated, Oldegarius travelled to Jerusalem. Having returned safely from this pilgrimage, he held several synods concerning the reform of the clergy and the preservation of ecclesiastical unity against the antipope Peter Leone.
THE COUNCIL OF CLERMONT
He also rendered great services to the church at the Council of Clermont in 1130 under Pope Innocent II. It is particularly worth mentioning that he built the cathedral in honour of St Thecla, restored other churches, and established a hospital for the poor in 1133. In general he was a father and protector of all oppressed and needy.
THE TEMPLAR ORDER
As a defence against the Moors, he introduced the Templar Order. For the rest he was a guardian and teacher of perpetual chastity, the word of the Lord was the key of his mouth, because with it he opened and closed all his speeches. Constantly concerned for the peace and quiet of the Christian people, this courageous fighter for the holy faith, this zealous shepherd of his flock wanted to devote himself to his profession until the last hour of his life and, although already very ill, in November of the year 1136 called the ordinary diocesan synod. For three days he spoke with great effort about the external state of the Church, about the duties of pastors, about faith, obedience and good works, and added that this synod was the last at which he preside.
HIS VENERATION
As the illness increased, he also arranged his temporal affairs according to the canonical provisions, and then, just as the abbots, priests and clerics under him had gathered for the "Fasting-Synod", the holy bishop handed over his soul to the supreme shepherd of souls, Christ, on March 6, 1137. His body was raised in 1180 and again in 1405, at which latter survey his body was found intact. Various miracles that took place after his death caused him to be venerated in the church without formal canonisation, and this veneration was confirmed by Pope Clement VIII as immemorial.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints)
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