ST EUPHROSYNE OF POLACAK, VIRGIN - 23 MAY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY

Saints celebrated on the 23rd 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.

ST EUPHROSYNE OF POLACAK, VIRGIN 

Saint Euphrosyne was born in Polacak, Belarus, in 1110. Determined to devote her life to God, she refused all marriage proposals and, finally ran away to join her aunt's convent, Holy Wisdom. There she took the veil and the name Euphrosyne, and the money Euphrosyne earned by copying books, she distributed to the poor.

SHE FOUNDED THE HOLY SAVIOUR CONVENT

Later she founded and ruled her own convent, Holy Saviour, as well as a monastery. In trying to convince her father, Prince Sviataslau, to allow her sister Hardzislava join her at the convent, she argued that in joining, Hardzislava would learn to read and write. She was also joined there by two nieces and a cousin. Euphrosyne commissioned the making of a beautiful, gem-studded cross, which she gave to Holy Saviour Church in 1161. It disappeared without a trace during World War II. 

HER PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND

Late in life, Euphrosyne made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where she died in 1173. After the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187, her relics were transferred to the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev, Ukraine. In 1910, they were returned to Polacak.

(Source:

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-euphrosyne-of-polatsk-247)

➡️ More information about Saint Euphrosyne