SS. ANTHONY, JOHN, AND EUSTACHIUS, MARTYRS - 14 APRIL

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL

Saints celebrated on the 14th 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.

SAINTS ANTHONY, JOHN, AND EUSTACHIUS, MARTYRS 

[Martyrs of Vilnius, Lithuania.] They were three noblemen of Lithuania, and the two first brothers, commonly called in that country Kukley, Mihley, and Nizilo. They were all three chamberlains to Olgerd, the great duke of Lithuania, who governed that country from the year 1329 to 1381, and was father of the famous Jagiello. 

THEY WERE OLGERD'S CHAMBERLAINS

They also attended on the great duchess, and were worshippers of fire, according to the idolatrous superstition of that country, till they had the happiness to be converted to the Christian faith, and baptised by a priest called Nestorius. 

THEY REFUSED TO EAT FORBIDDEN MEATS ON FAST-DAYS

For refusing to eat forbidden meats on fast-days, they were cast into prison, and, after many trials, put to death by order of Olgerd, the great duke; John, the eldest of them, on April 24; his brother Anthony on June 14; Eustachius, who was then young, on December 13. This last had suffered many other torments before his execution, having been beaten with clubs, had his legs broken, and the hair and skin of his head violently torn off, because he would not suffer his hair to be shaved, according to the custom of the heathens. 

THEY SUFFERED AT VILNA

They suffered at Vilna, about the year 1342, and were buried in the church of the Holy Trinity, of the Russian-Greek rite, united in communion to the Roman Catholic Church. Their bodies still remain in that church, which is served by Basilian monks; but their heads were translated to the cathedral.

THE CHRISTIANS BUILT A CHURCH UPON THE SPOT OF THEIR EXECUTION

The great oak tree on which they were hanged had long been the usual place of execution of malefactors; but, after their martyrdom, the Christians obtained a grant of it from the prince, and built a church upon the spot. 

These martyrs were ordered to be honoured among the saints by Alexius, patriarch of Kiow, of the Catholic communion. Their feast is kept at Vilna on April 14, and they are regarded as the particular patrons of that city. 

(From Fr Butler's Lives of the Saints)