Collect: Let thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy humble servants; and, that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Saints of the Week Monday, August 26: St. Louis Born in 2014, the fourth son of King Louis VIII, Louis was crowned King of France at the age of 12 (his elder brothers had all died during his childhood). He married Margaret of Provence, who bore five sons and six daughters and was his strong and loving companion. His life and reign were devoted to God — he prayed the full monastic office every day and night, heard two masses a day, and made confession every Friday. He committed himself to justice and order — outlawing private wars and usury, personally inserting himself into unjust situations. In the midst of splendor and power, he lived austerely, ascetically — it’s said that at one point, he even discussed abdicating the throne in order to become a monk. In …

Collect: Grant to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do anything that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Saints  Tuesday, August 20: Saint Bernard Saint Bernard was born to a noble French family in the year 1090. The third of seven children, his mother’s death when he was seventeen plunged him into despair; only his sister Humbeline was able to bring him out of his depression. He entered the Benedictine abbey at Citeaux at the age of 22, along with 31 others whom he had persuaded to join him. After three years, Abbot Stephen of Citeaux sent Bernard with 12 other monks to found a new branch of the monastery , which he eventually named Clairvaux, or “Valley of Light.” As a leader of the reform within Benedictinism at that time, hundreds of monastic houses were founded using his system of rule. Fr. John Julian states …

Collect: “O God, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” Saints and Blesseds Monday, August 12: St. Clare of Assisi: Born in 1194 to a noble family, very little is known of St. Clare’s early life. We know that in 1212, when she was 18, St. Francis preached the Lenten sermons at her church. St. Clare was so compelled by St. Francis that on Palm Sunday, after the blessing of the palms, she ran out of the church to him and donned rough clothes instead of her her elegant gown. Francis cut her hair and gave her a veil and Clare became the first woman to follow him. He would call her “the first flower in my garden” and in many ways, she was the most faithful of his followers. Clare founded her own contemplative community, which came to be known as the …

Collect: “Lord of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Saints: Monday, August 5: Saint Dominic St. Dominic was born between 1173 and 1175 in the Castilian village of Caleruega. While pregnant, his mother had several dreams which foretold that Dominic would be a light to the world. After being educated in theology and ordained, Dominic lived as a canon in the Rule of St. Augustine for around six years. While on official business traveling from Spain to Castile, Dominic and his companion encountered some Cistercian monks who shared their difficulties preaching against the popular Albigensian heresy in Southern France. The Albigensians believed that all matter was evil, thus denying the incarnation and the sacraments. In their extreme asceticism, they demanded celibacy, rigorous fasting and even esteemed suicide, but the laudible purity of their …