SS. TROPHIMUS AND THALUS, MARTYRS - 11 MARCH

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH 

Saints celebrated on the 11th 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.

SS. TROPHIMUS AND THALUS, MARTYRS

Today, we also commemorate Saints Trophimus and Thalus. The Roman Martyrology states: 

"At Laodicea, in Syria, during the persecution of Diocletian, the holy martyrs Trophimus and Thalus, who obtained crowns of glory, after undergoing many severe torments."

THEIR ENTRY IN STADLER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SAINTS:

Saints Trophimus and Thalus (Thaleus) are commemorated on March 11. These two martyrs at Laodicea are named in the Roman Martyrology. They suffered in the Diocletian persecution. 

The governor Asclepias had them crucified, and they still glorified the name of Jesus and proclaimed his gospel from their crosses. Legend has it that the governor's wife was a secret Christian herself, and that she donated perfumes and silk for the honourable and dignified burial of these two martyrs.

Two friends of the saints, Zosimus and Artemius, brought their holy relics to their native town of Stratonica, where they buried them secretly in the nearby quarries.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)

PRAYER:

Grant to your Church, we beseech you, O Lord, through the intercession of your holy martyrs Trophimus and Thalus, not to think high-mindedly, but to grow in humility pleasing to you; that, despising what is base, she may with unbounded love diligently do whatever is right. 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.