ST NARCISSUS, BISHOP OF GERONA, MARTYR - 18 MARCH

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH

Saints celebrated on the 18th 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 NARCISSUS, BISHOP OF GERONA, MARTYR 

Saint Narcissus, bishop and martyr, was the one who - according to the tradition of the Augsburg Church - by the example of his faithful and devout prayer,  converted the public sinner Afra, into whose house he had entered, who received her and a number of her relatives into the Church, and who consecrated her brother, St Dionysius, first bishop of this city [Augsburg in South Germany].

HIS EPISCOPAL SEAT

This is also reported in the Acts of St Afra. Tradition designates Gerona (Gerunda, Gerundum) in Spain as his episcopal seat, from which, in accordance with the Lord's instructions, he had fled because of the violent persecution that had broken out there. His deacon Felix is said to have accompanied him and taken part in the first founding of Christianity in the city of Augsburg. The legend has it that angels showed the way to them both. Certainly there can be no doubt that, as servants of God, they were under special heavenly protection. 

HIS FEAST DAY

These holy missionaries returned to their homeland and died there around A.D. 306 or 307 as martyrs. St  Narcissus' name is in the Roman Martyrology on March 18; in the Augsburg records he can be found on October 29 as an "apostle" of this city. 

PROTECTED BY MOSQUITOES

When the city of Gerona was taken by the French under King Peter of Aragon, a swarm of mosquitoes defended the tomb of the saint, on September 8, 1286. St Felix is commemorated on August 1.

THE HISTORICAL RECORDS

St Narcissus lived in the times of Emperor Diocletian at the beginning of the fourth century. The Church of Gerona has always honoured him as its bishop. Evidence of this are: the conversion story of St Afra, a letter from Bishop Berengar (around 1087) of Gerona to Abbot Sieghart of St Afra, as well as several Spanish historians, including Relles and the Roman Martyrology. See also the Lives of Afra, Dionysius and Hilaria. So he is not just an "Augsburg product" but a historical person. In pictures he is portrayed as a bishop and martyr with staff and sword. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints)