ST SILAUS, BISHOP OF LUCCA - 17 MAY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY

Saints celebrated on the 17th of May

WELCOME!

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 SILAUS, BISHOP OF LUCCA 

Saint Silaus (also commemorated on May 21, May 30, and October 19 in some calendars) was a noble Irishman who distributed his fortune among the poor, made a pilgrimage to Italy and became Bishop of Lucca. He is said to have been a contemporary of St Gregory the Great.

FABULOUS MIRACLES

The fabulous miracles told of him are utterly amazing. It is told of him that he crossed the sea on an ashlar once. On another occasion he transformed a pig into fish by his prayers, etc. (cf. Brandanus.) 

HIS RELICS

His relics rest in the monastery church of St Giustina. According to others, he lived in the 11th century, was appointed Bishop of Lucca by Gregory VII and died in 1094.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)

ST SILAVE (FR BUTLER'S ACCOUNT)

Saint Silave [Silaus, Silan, Silao] was an Irish monk, and abbot of the monastery of St Brendan. Being afterwards ordained bishop he governed his diocese with great zeal and charity. The latter part of his life he spent in Italy, where he was styled the Father of the Poor. He died at Lucca in 1100, and was canonised by Pope Lucius III in 1183. 

(From Fr Butler's Lives of the Saints)