ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER
Saints celebrated on the 26th 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 ALFRED THE GREAT
Saint Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, was born around 849 - the fifth son of the king.
Having become king himself on April 23, 871, Danish invaders posed a severe threat, but he managed to establish Saxon supremacy. Alfred improved the quality of life of his subjects: he issued laws, restored and founded monasteries, including Shaftesbury Abbey. His work as a patron of the arts, literature, and especially the Church made him a popular king.
His wife, Edelwida, whom he married in 868, bore him five children, St Ethelgiva of Shaftesbury was one of them. He translated Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy into Anglo-Saxon, as well as Bede’s Ecclesiastical History and the Pastoral Rule and Dialogues of Pope St Gregory the Great. St Alfred also bore the cross of poor health - he suffered from Crohn's Disease. He died on October 26, 899.
PRAYER:
O God, who gladden us each year by the feast of the blessed Alfred, graciously grant that, as we rejoice in his merits, we may be inspired by his 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.
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