SS. XANTIPPA AND POLYXENA - 23 SEPTEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 23rd of September

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.

SS. XANTIPPA AND POLYXENA 

SS. Xantippa and Polyxena (September 23) are, according to the tradition of the Roman and Greek churches, pupils of the apostle St Paul. 

But nothing is known for certain about them. The legend relates that Xantippa was a Spanish lady whose husband was called Probus.

She was said to have been converted by St Paul, on whose forehead she saw written (as in a vision) the words "Apostle of Christ".

St Polyxena was converted and baptised by St Paul, too. Their names are in the Roman Martyrology and in the Menologium of the Greeks. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858 - 📷 St Xantippa)

PRAYER:

O God, who gladden us each year by the feast of blessed Xantippa and blessed Polyxena, graciously grant that, as we rejoice in their merits, we may be inspired by their example. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.