BL. ACHAS, CHILD - 11 JUNE

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JUNE

Saints celebrated on the 11th of June

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. ACHAS, CHILD 

Achas (Achatius) was born at Thorut in Flanders, and was still a child in years, but a marvel of grace. When he was five years old he laid eyes on the minor brothers of the Order of St Francis. It was quite exceptional for his tender age that he was filled with such love for them that, with tears, he desired to be received into their Order and to wear the habit. 

True, his request was refused; but because he did not stop begging and crying, the religious, with the knowledge and the consent of his parents, allowed  him to wear the habit of the Third Order. 

To all, his peers and the adults alike, he was a shining example of virtue and amazed them by his marvellous wisdom. But the Lord took him early; he died on June 11, 1220. 

When he asked for the viaticum on his deathbed and it was not allowed to be given to him because of his insufficient age, he expressed in the most touching way the joyful hope of soon becoming a partaker of the Divine Being himself. 

Moved by this example, both his parents turned their backs on the world and joined religious Orders. His father entered the Order of St Dominic, and the mother the abbey of Citeaux. This pious boy himself is counted among the "blessed" by some.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858 - 📷 Kloosterschool Zevenkerken - detail)