"For all the saints who from their labors rest,

Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!"

Well, what a surprise. Today is St. Marian's Day. I was born in October, so I missed it by a few months.

It wouldn't surprise my close friends that I'm definitely NOT a saint. I've had my share of good times, especially at the old party school of the South, Alabama. But in the end, I believe and celebrate my beliefs. And I'll look forward to meeting this gentleman in time. I especially like the part about birds and bears and all the animals.


St. Marian
Feastday: April 20
When St. Mamertinus was Abbot of the monastery which St. Germanus had founded at Auxerre, there came to him a young man called Marcian (also known as Marian), a fugitive from Bourges then occupied by the Visigoths. St. Mamertinus gave him the habit, and the novice edified all his piety and obedience. The Abbot, wishing to test him, gave him the lowest possible post - that of cowman and shepherd in the Abbey farm at Merille. Marcian accepted the work cheerfully, and it was noticed that the beast under his charge thrived and multiplied astonishingly. He seemed to have a strange power over all animals. The birds flocked to eat out of his hands: bears and wolves departed at his command; and when a hunted wild boar fled to him for protection, he defended it from its assailants and set it free. After his death, the Abbey took the name of the humble monk. His feast day is April 20th.

"O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor's crown of gold:
Alleluia! Alleluia!"




"For All the Saints": text by William Howe Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams
From the English Hymnal, Oxford Press, London