January 16

Born: 567, Munster, Ireland.
Died: 648 at Mezerolles, France.
Buried at Peronne, Picardy, France.

Irish Monastic Founder. Praised by St. Bede.

Son of an Irish prince. Brother of Saint Foillan and Saint Ultan. Educated by Saint Brendan the Voyager. Priest. Abbot of a house at Rathmat, Ireland. Preached, evangelized, and established monasteries in Ireland for twelve years. Evangelized in England, building monasteries. Evangelized in France, working with Saint Blitharius; they had great success. Clovis, king of the Franks, received him, and asked that he build a house at Lagny, France. Raised the young son of a court nobleman from the dead. Given to ecstacies and trances during which he received visions of a immense struggle between good and evil, with glimpses of heaven and hell. The visions were described in the aptly named Visions of Fursey, and had a great effect on such works as Dante's Divine Comedy. Bede wrote extensively and glowingly of Fursey. His image is on the banner of the city of Peronne, France.

The Prayer of St. Fursey...

The arms of God be around my shoulders,
The touch of the Holy Spirit upon my head,
The sign of Christ's cross upon my forehead,
The sound of the Holy Spirit in my ears,
The fragrance of the Holy Spirit in my nostrils,
The vision of heaven's company in my eyes,
The conversation of heaven's company on my lips,
The work of God's church in my hands,
The service of God and the neighbor in my feet,
A home for God in my heart,
And to God, the Father of all, my entire being.
Amen.