ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH
Saints celebrated on the 1st 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.
SAINT ALBINUS, BISHOP OF VERCELLI
Saint Albinus of Vercelli lived in Italy in the 5th century. In 452 he was consecrated as the sixth bishop of Vercelli. This was a time that was characterised by the upheavals of the migrations. But in the same year, Imperial General Aetius (Ezio) had created a certain respite for the Church through his victory over the Huns and Goths who had invaded Italy half a century earlier.
THE NEW CATHEDRAL
The new bishop succeeded in getting the hard-hit diocese back on its feet, and as an outward sign of that, he rebuilt the old cathedral, which the city's first bishop Eusebius had built.
ST GERMANUS OF AUXERRE
The holy bishop Germanus of Auxerre passed through Vercelli, and Albinus asked this prominent bishop to inaugurate the new cathedral. Because Germanus was on his way to Ravenna on urgent matters that could not wait, he promised to inaugurate the new cathedral on his return journey.
THE MIRACLE INVOLVING CANDLES
But Germanus died in Ravenna, and came to Vercelli on the stretcher with his dead body. When his earthly remains had been brought in solemn procession to the cathedral that he was supposed to have consecrated, all the candles in the church were lit by themselves. For several days, all attempts to ignite them had failed. Therefore, Albinus considered that the dead bishop in this miraculous way had kept his promise, and he declared the cathedral consecrated.
A HUMBLE MAN
Apart from this strange episode, we know nothing about Albinus' further life. But this very event shows that the bishop, who with his work had recreated the ancient foundation, was an exceptionally humble man, who wanted to give someone else the credit for his own merits. His cult in Vercelli began immediately after his death sometime in the late 400s. His memorial day is March 1. It is the same day as St Albinus of Angers, which has led to confusion. The attribute of both of the two holy bishops is a bishop's staff.
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