ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL
Saints celebrated on the 19th of April
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. CONRAD OF ASCOLI, MISSIONARY
Blessed Conrad of Ascoli was a Friar Minor and missionary; he was born at Ascoli in the March of Ancona in 1234; died there, April 19, 1289.
A LIFE OF PENANCE
He belonged to the noble family of Milliano and from his earliest years made penance the predominating element of his life.
HE TAUGHT THEOLOGY
He entered the Order of Friars Minor at Ascoli together with his townsman and lifelong friend, Girolamo d’Ascoli, afterwards minister general, and later pope under the title of Nicholas IV. Having completed his studies at Perugia, Conrad was sent to Rome to teach theology.
MISSIONARY ENGAGEMENTS
Later he obtained permission to go to Africa, where he preached with much fruit through the different provinces of Libya and worked numerous miracles. He was recalled from Africa to go on a mission to the King of France, then at war with Spain, and subsequently he became lector of theology at Paris.
HIS HOLY DEATH
When not engaged in teaching, Conrad preached to the people or ministered to the sick in hospitals. In 1288 he was summoned to Rome by the new pope, Nicholas IV, who wished to make him cardinal, but Conrad died on the way after reaching his native city, being then fifty-five years of age.
THE POPE WAS DEEPLY GRIEVED
Nicholas IV was deeply grieved at the loss of his saintly friend, on whose counsel and zeal he had counted so much, and declared that Conrad’s death was a great loss to the Church.
A SPLENDID TOMB
The people of Ascoli erected a splendid tomb over the remains of Blessed Conrad. In 1371, when his body was removed to the new church of the Franciscans, it was found incorrupt and gave forth a sweet odour. Pius VI approved the cultus of Blessed Conrad. His feast is kept in the Order of Friars Minor on April 19.
(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)
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