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BL. MYKOLAS GIEDRAITIS, RELIGIOUS - 4 MAY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY

Saints celebrated on the 4th of May

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. MYKOLAS GIEDRAITIS, RELIGIOUS

Blessed Mykolas Giedraitis (Michał Giedroyć) was born between 1420 and 1425 to a princely family of Lithuanian nobles. 

HIS DISABILITY

He suffered from frail health including lower than average height. A childhood accident left one of his feet paralysed and he had to use crutches. Later examination of his remains revealed one of his legs was much shorter than the other. His disability likely influenced his later hermit tendencies and his devotion to crucified Christ. He did not want to be a burden and wanted to serve others. Therefore, he started making boxes (most likely from wood) for the Eucharist that could be brought to the sick in their homes.

HE JOINED THE CANONS REGULAR OF THE PENITENCE OF THE BLESSED MARTYRS

He joined the Canons Regular of the Penitence of the Blessed Martyrs, an Augustinian order that had a convent in Bystryca in present-day Belarus. They wore a white robe with a symbol of a red heart in front and thus were known as the White Augustinians. 

THEY LEFT FOR KRAKÓW

In 1460, together with the general superior of an Augustinian monastery and several other novices, he left for Kraków and the following year enrolled into the Jagiellonian University. He studied the liberal arts and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1465. However, Lithuanian researcher Paulius Rabikauskas argued that the university records related to a different person by the same name as his early hagiographies (written by university professors) mentioned nothing about his university education.

SACRISTAN

After his studies, Mykolas became a sacristan at the Church of St Mark, Kraków. He received permission from his superiors to live as a hermit in a tiny hut attached to the church. He was not ordained as a priest and remained a religious brother helping clean, maintain, and decorate the church. 

HIS FASTS

He lived a reclusive and austere life and practiced mortifications and self-flagellation. Attracted by his charism, people started seeking him out for his advice and prayer as they believed that he could prophesy. He did not eat meat and often fasted on bread and salt alone. 

HIS PRAYER LIFE

He most frequently prayed before the crucifix and image of the Madonna. The image of the Madonna is now known as the Madonna Giedroyciowa or Matka Boska Giedroyciowa. His prayers to Christ were so intense that he is said to have received a vision and heard Christ speak from the cross. According to a latter tradition, Christ spoke the words from the Revelation: Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. The crucifix now hangs in the main altar of the church.

HIS HOLY DEATH

Mykolas died in 1485 and his remains were interred in the Church of St Mark. He was buried in the presbytery, on the left to the main altar. According to his hagiography, the divine message to bury him in such a prominent place was delivered by Świętosław Milczący.

(Source:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micha%C5%82_Giedroy%C4%87)

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