ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN SEPTEMBER
Saints celebrated on the 28th 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.
ST WENCESLAS, DUKE AND MARTYR
Wenceslas, Duke of Bohemia, was the son of a Christian father, Wratislaus, and a pagan mother, Drahomira. He was brought up piously by his grandmother, Ludmilla, a very holy woman, and was noted for every virtue; he preserved his virginity unstained throughout his life with the greatest zeal.
CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT
His mother, through the brutal murder of Ludmilla, seized the government and lived a wicked life, as did her younger son, Boleslaus. This stirred up against her the indignation of the nobility, who, wearied of their wicked rule, threw off the yoke of both mother and son and proclaimed Wenceslas as king of the city of Prague.
GOOD KING WENCESLAS
He ruled his kingdom with kindness rather than by might, and was skillful and constant in aiding the poor and afflicted. He had a very deep respect for priests, and with his own hands sowed the wheat and pressed the wine for the sacrifice of the Mass. After he had been honoured by the emperor with the royal coat of arms, while praying in church, he was slain by his impious brother, who was urged on by his mother [on September 28, 935]. His blood may still be seen splattered over the walls.
PRAYER:
O God, who through the palm of martyrdom transported Wenceslas from an earthly dominion to heavenly glory, keep us, by his prayers, from all harm and grant us to rejoice in his fellowship. Through our Lord.
(From: An Approved English Translation of the Breviarium Romanum, Burns & Oates, London, 1964)
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REFLECTION ON THE FEAST OF ST WENCESLAS
In wonderful ways does God lead his own towards their glorious heavenly goal, but mostly on the path of suffering. A myriad of restrictions, hardships, persecution and oppression are usually the lot of a pious Christian on earth.
Since we suffer for proclaiming our Lord's teaching in deed and word, how would we not feel privileged to suffer for Jesus? Did not the Divine Master, whom we follow, endure the same to a far greater extent?
PRAYER:
O God ! Loving Father! We abandon ourselves utterly and joyfully to your guidance and help. For your sake and for the sake of the Gospel, every bitterness is bound to be joyful. Give us the grace of strength, fortitude and perseverance, and lead us, and all those whom we are meant to edify, to eternal life. Amen.
(From an old German prayer book - 🎨 King Wenceslas helps to gather winter fuel for the poor)
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