SAINT MARY ELIZABETH HESSELBLAD, VIRGIN - 24 APRIL

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL

Saints celebrated on the 24th 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.

SAINT MARY ELIZABETH HESSELBLAD, VIRGIN

A nun who saved Jewish families during World War Two has been made the first Swedish saint in more than 600 years. Pope Francis canonised Roman Catholic convert Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad at a ceremony in St Peter's Square [in 2016].

SHE HID JEWISH FAMILIES DURING WORLD WAR TWO

[St Mary Elizabeth] hid Jewish families in the convent in Rome where she was the mother superior.

The Pope also canonised Polish monk Stanislaus Papczynski for supporting the poor in the 17th Century. He founded the first men's religious order dedicated to the Virgin Mary's immaculate conception.

[St Mary Elizabeth], a Lutheran who converted to Catholicism, is only the second Swede to become a saint, following Saint Bridget 625 years ago.

SHE PROMOTED GOOD RELATIONS 

A former nurse, she is credited with saving at least 12 Jews during the war, concealing families inside her Rome convent for about six months before the war ended. She also won praise for promoting better relations between Catholics and non-Catholics and for encouraging both Christians and non-Christians towards the church.

Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust remembrance centre honoured her as one of the Righteous Among the Nations in 2004, an award given to non-Jews who helped Jews during the Holocaust.

Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad died in Rome in 1957, aged 87.

(From the BBC website -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36455982.amp)