St. Prosper of Reggio, Bishop | Saint of the Day | June 25

Prayer to St. Prosper of Reggio, Bishop

God, You made St. Proper an outstanding exemplar of Divine love and the faith that conquers the world, and added him to the roll of saintly pastors. Grant by his intercession that we may persevere in faith and love, and become sharers of his glory. Amen.

St. Prosper of Reggio, Bishop

This 5th/6th-century Saint is shrouded in obscurity; beginning with the 9th century he was venerated in the Italian province of Emilia, although he may have been a native Spain originally. A questionable tradition asserts that St. Prosper distributed all his goods to the poor in order to fulfill our Lord’s precept to the rich young man. He became s Bishop and his beneficent Episcopate lasted twenty-two years.

In due time, Prosper passed on his heavenly reward, surrounded by his priest and deacons, and he was buried in the church of ST. Apollinaris, which he had built and consecrated, outside the walls of Reggio. In 703, his relics were transferred to a great new church erected in his honor by Bishop Thomas of Reggio. And fittingly enough he is the principal Patron of that city.