ST ARISTOBULUS OF BRITANNIA - 15 MARCH

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH

Saints celebrated on the 15th 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.

ST ARISTOBULUS OF BRITANNIA 

Saint Aristobulus, a 1st century saint, is said by some to have been one of the seventy-two disciples (Luke 10) and the brother of St Barnabas. 

He is referred to by St Paul (Romans 16:11). Others make him one and the same as Zebedee, Father of St James and St John the Evangelist. 

Again, there is a legend that he was consecrated a bishop by St Peter or St Paul and sent to Great Britain, where he was martyred. But this last story at least has no foundation.

(From The Book of Saints, 1921, by the Monks of Ramsgate)

HIS ENTRY IN THE ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The same day, the birthday of Saint Aristobulus, a disciple of the Apostles, who terminated by martyrdom a life spent in preaching the Gospel.

PRAYER:

O God, who gladden us each year by the feast of St Aristobulus, graciously grant that, as we rejoice in his merits, we may be inspired by his example. 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.