ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL
Saints celebrated on the 27th 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 MARÍA BANDRÉS ELÓSEGUI, VIRGIN
Blessed María Antonia Bandrés Elósegui was born on March 6, 1898 in the town of Tolosa in the northern Spanish Basque country on the Bay of Biscay. She was the second child of Ramón Bandrés, a lawyer, and Teresa Elósegui. After her, another 13 siblings were born.
HER EDUCATION
Antonita, as she was called in the family, was a very sensitive girl, prone to illness. She was homeschooled for the first few years and then attended the school of the “Hijas de Jesús” (Daughters of Jesus), a recently founded congregation that lived the Ignatian spirituality. When she was 13, the founder of the Order, Mother Cándida María de Jesús, said to her disciple: “You will be a daughter of Jesus.”
RELIGIOUS VOWS
When she was 15, doing a spiritual retreat in Loyola, not far from Tolosa, she remembered Mother Cándida's “prophecy” and decided to dedicate her life entirely to Jesus. On December 8, 1915, at the age of 17, she entered the Hijas de Jesús novitiate in Salamanca and took her religious vows on May 31, 1918.
HER CROSS
Her ordeal began shortly thereafter. Her health, which had never been particularly stable, deteriorated rapidly. Realising that her situation was hopeless, María Antonia offered her life in sacrifice for the salvation of her godfather, who lived an unchristian life. In fact, he was converted later.
HER BEATIFICATION
Sister María Antonia, who had made such an impression on him, died in Salamanca on April 27, 1919. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 12, 1996, along with Mother Cándida, the founder of the Hijas de Jesus.
(Source:
https://www.die-tagespost.de/kirche/heilige/die-selige-maria-antonia-bandres-elosegui-art-227789)
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