ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL
Saints celebrated on the 11th 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. ELENA GUERRA, FOUNDRESS
Blessed Elena Guerra was born on June 23, 1835 in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. She came from a well-to-do background.
HER ILLNESS
In her late teens, she nursed the sick in a cholera epidemic, and as a 22-year-old, she contracted an illness that forced her to stay in bed for eight years. She became the first member of the "Daughters of St Mary's Association of St Agnes", which was founded in Lucca in 1866.
ST ZITA'S SISTERS
Elena associated with young women as "spiritual friends," and here her apostolate of charity could unfold. She placed the fellowship of her spiritual friends under the special protection of the Mother of God. This became the basis for the congregation "St Zita's Sisters", named after Saint Zita, the patron saint of maids, who is highly revered in Lucca and the city's patron saint. The congregation is also called the "Oblates of the Holy Spirit" (US). It is important in mission areas and now has houses in Italy, Brazil, Canada, the Philippines, Lebanon and Iran. Saint Gemma Galgani was a student at her schools.
HER HOLY DEATH
Blessed Elena died on April 11, 1914 in Lucca. She was beatified on April 26, 1959 by Pope John XXIII; around 5,000 of the congregation's sisters from all over the world were present. Her memorial day is the day of her death on April 11, but December 23 is also mentioned.
(Information from katolsk.no -
http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/hguerra)
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