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. GEORGE GERVASE, PRIEST AND MARTYR
(Jervise) A priest and martyr, [Blessed George Gervase] was born at Boscham, Suffolk, England, 1571; he died at Tyburn, April 11, 1608. His mother’s name was Shelly, and both his father’s and mother’s families had been long established in the County of Suffolk.
HE WAS KIDNAPPED BY PIRATES AND CARRIED OFF BEYOND SEAS
Losing both parents in boyhood, he was kidnapped by pirates and carried off beyond seas, remaining in captivity over twelve years. He lost his religion during that period; but, when at last he was able to return to England, and found that his brother Henry had become a voluntary exile in Flanders in order to be able to practise his religion, George followed him there, and was soon reconciled with the Church.
HE WAS SOON RECONCILED WITH THE CHURCH
He entered the English College at Douai in 1595, and was ordained priest in 1603. He at once went to the English mission. He laboured very successfully for over two years, but was arrested in June, 1606, and banished with several other clergy.
He then made a pilgrimage to Rome, and there endeavoured to enter the Society of Jesus, but, not being admitted for some unknown reason, he returned to Douai, where he received the Benedictine habit.
His brother Henry had obtained for him a comfortable living near Lille, being anxious to preserve him from the persecution then raging in England.
HE WAS DETERMINED TO LABOUR FOR THE CONVERSION OF HIS NATIVE LAND
But George was determined to labour for the conversion of his native land, and succeeded in returning to his native England, but was soon arrested and incarcerated.
HE RECEIVED THE DEATH PENALTY FOR BEING A PRIEST
Refusing to take the new oath of allegiance on account of its infringing on spiritual matters where Catholics were concerned, he was tried, convicted of the offence of merely being a priest, under the statute 27 Elizabeth, and was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. Some authorities say he did not receive the Benedictine habit until a short time before his death from Father Augustine Bradshaw.
(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)
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