Our saint of the day for December 1 is St. Eligius.
Sty. Eligius was born sometime around the year 590 in France. During his life, he was an extremely gifted metalsmith and is the patron saint of goldsmiths. King Clotair of Paris appointed Eligius to serve as Master of the Mint. I am guessing that this would be something akin to Secretary of the Treasury in the United States today. During this time, King Clotair and Eligius became good friends and the reputation of Eligius as a great metalsmith Became widespread throughout the kingdom. As he became more and more famous, his wealth treasure grew considerably. Eligius used his monies to care for the poor. He also purchased many slaves out of the bonds of slavery and set them free. He also used his money to build a number of churches and a monastery at Solignac in France.
After the death off Clotair, Eligius was given property by Clotair's son, King Dagobert. Eligius used this property to build a convent in Paris. Dagobert appointed Eligius his chief counselor in the year 629. While on a mission for Dagobert, he persuaded King Judicael, the Breton King, to accept the authority of Dagobert.
In 640, around the age of 50, Eligius was ordained to the priesthood, which was what he really wanted too be as evidenced by his generosity to the poor, to the enslaved, and to the Church. After ordination, Eligiius was elevated to the bishopric, being assigned to serve as Bishop of Noyon and Tournai. Eligius preached with such apostolic zeal that he preached in Flanders, which included Cortenai, Antwerp and Ghent. He successfully converted many in those areas.
Eligius died December 1, 660 or so. St. Eligius, pray for us!
Join me at 3:30 PM Eastern time for the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Saint of the Day and the St. Andrews Christmas Novena. The link for the show is https://www.blogtalkradio.com/the4persons/2023/12/01/divine-mercy-chaplet-and-saint-of-the-day-and-daily-update.
The prayer for the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is:
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, for the reunification of estranged familiexs and our own personal intentions through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.
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