ST ALDRICUS, ARCHBISHOP OF SENS - 10 OCTOBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER

Saints celebrated on the 10th of October

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 ALDRICUS, ARCHBISHOP OF SENS

The holy Archbishop Aldrich [Aldricus] (French: Saint-Audri) of Sens in France, was the son of a court official (Palatii principis) and was born in 775 at the court of Charlemagne. 

At an early age he left the goods and honors of the world and entered the Ferrieres monastery in Gatinois, which was then called Bethlehem, as a youth. 

Here he initially enjoyed the leadership of the learned Alcuin, then that of the abbot Singulf, who was a pupil of Alcuin and, for an inkling of his future work, instructed him in all branches of spiritual science. 

Moved by the reputation of his excellent qualities, Bishop Jeremias of Sens consecrated him as a priest, but Emperor Louis the Pious drew him to his court so that there he could shine before all with the light of wisdom and godly conduct. 

Elected abbot of his monastery, he joyfully returned to the midst of his own; but he was only allowed to stay there for a short time, because he was elected Archbishop of Sens after the death of Jeremias in 830. 

After ten years of zealous work, he intended to lay down the shepherd's staff and to prepare for eternity in the Ferrieres monastery; but the Lord preceded him and called him home on October 10, 840 (or, rather, on June 6, 841, as the Bollandists demonstrate). 

The Benedictine Order celebrates his feast on October 10, but in the diocese of Sens on June 6. 

His holy remains were transferred to Ferrieres, but burned by the Huguenots in 1569, so that only a few bones could be saved. 

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