Novena to Our Lady of the Rosary – Day Six – 3 October
Day Six: We Pray for the Virtue of Meekness along with our private intentions.
O Jesus, our pride, stubbornness and lack of faith labelled each thorn as it pierced Your Sacred Head. Our exclusion of spiritual realities tightened the branches around Your Head. Our lack of confidence in Your Mercy and the lukewarmness of our love, braided torture into a wreath of unspeakable pain. O Jesus, let us NEVER forget Your love for us all and the reparation You offered the Father for our sake. Let our soul magnify the Lord by humility of heart, purity of mind and a gentle spirit, so that we may overcome pride, vainglory and resentments and look forward for an increase in faith. Send Your beloved Mother and ours, O Lord, to teach us meekness and humility. Make us like unto Yourself, O Lord, “for I am meek and humble of heart.” Amen
Daily Prayer along with our Daily Rosary:
My dearest Mother Mary, behold me, your child, in prayer at your feet. Accept this Holy Rosary, which I offer you in accordance with your requests at Fatima, as a proof of my tender love for you, for the intentions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in atonement for the offenses committed against your Immaculate Heart and for this special favour which I earnestly request in my Rosary Novena: ………………………….. (Mention your request).
I beg you to present my petition to your Divine Son. If you will pray for me, I cannot be refused. I know, dearest Mother, that you want me to seek God’s holy Will concerning my request. If what I ask for should not be granted, pray that I may receive that which will be of greater benefit to my soul.
I offer you this spiritual Bouquet of Roses because I love you. I put all my confidence in you, since your prayers before God are most powerful. For the greater glory of God and for the sake of Jesus, your loving Son, hear and grant my prayer. Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation.
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for our Holy Mother Church and for our country.
Sweet Heart of Jesus, be my love.
Sweet Heart of Mary, at the hour of my death, lead me home.
Thought for the Day – 3 October – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
“Month of the Holy Rosary” The First Joyful Mystery The Annunciation
“Consider now Mary’s reaction to the reverence and praise with which the Angel greets her. Is she carried away by delight and exaltation at this solemn moment? Nothing of the sort! In her humility and modesty, she is disturbed by the Angel’s salutation and wonders what the reason is for it. “She was troubled at his word and kept pondering what manner of greeting this might be” (Lk 1:29).
How do we behave when we receive praise from our superiors or from our friends and acquaintances? We are pleased and overcome perhaps by feelings of vanity. We smile to ourselves and are convinced that we are of more consequence than we really are. We even feel the need to reveal our thoughts to others and, thereby, seek further aggrandisement! There is a world of difference between the simplicity and humility of the Blessed Virgin and our vain hunger for praise and honour.”
Quote/s of the Day – 3 October – Readings: Genesis 2: 18-24; Psalm 128: 1-6; Hebrews 2: 9-11; Mark 10: 2-16
Childlike Trust
“Whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a little child, shall not enter it.”
Mark 10:15
“Father, I am seeking, I am hesitant and uncertain but will You, O God, watch over each step of mine and guide me.”
St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace
“The greater and more persistent your confidence in God, the more abundantly you will receive all that you ask.”
St Albert the Great (1200-1280) Doctor of the Church
“Do not have any anxiety about the future. Leave everything in God’s hands for He will take care of you.”
St John Baptiste de la Salle (1651-1719)
“Those whose hearts are enlarged by confidence in God run swiftly on the path of perfection. They not only run, they fly because, having placed all their hope in the Lord, they are no longer weak as they once were. They become strong with the strength of God, which is given to all who put their trust in Him.”
St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787) Most Zealous Doctor
“The Holy Spirit leads us like a mother. He leads His child by the hand… as a sighted person leads a blind person.”
One Minute Reflection – 3 October – “Month of the Holy Rosary” – Readings: Genesis 2: 18-24; Psalm 128: 1-6; Hebrews 2: 9-11; Mark 10: 2-16
“So they are no longer two but one flesh.” – Mark 10:8
REFLECTION – “That man, awake, anointed with splendour and who did not yet know sleep, fell on the earth naked and slept. It is likely that Adam saw in his dream, what was done to him, as if he were awake. After Adam’s rib had been taken out, in the twinkling of an eye, God closed up the flesh, … in the blink of an eyelash. The bare bone took on the full appearance and all the beauty of a woman. God then brought her to Adam, who was both one and two. He was one in that he was Adam and he was two because he had been created male and female.
Then Adam said, “Let the man leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife, so that they might be joined and the two might become one” without division as they were from the beginning. They were not ashamed because of the glory with which they were clothed. It was when this glory was stripped from them, after they had transgressed the commandment, that they were ashamed because they were naked.” – St Ephrem (306-373) Deacon in Syria, Father, Doctor of the Church (Commentary on Genesis, 2).
PRAYER – Almighty, everliving God, whose love surpasses all that we ask or deserve, open up for us, the treasures of Your mercy. Teach us the truth of love and forgive us all that weighs on our conscience. Grant us even more than we dare to ask and grant us the merciful and guiding assistance of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Through Him who redeemed us in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 3 October – The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
O Jesus, Sweetest Love, Come Thou to Me 1940 Fr Francis Xavier Lasance (1860–1946)
O JESUS, sweetest Love, come Thou to me. Come down in all Thy beauty unto me. Thou Who didst die for longing of me And never, never more depart from me. Free me, O beauteous God, from all but Thee; Sever the chain that holds me back from Thee; Call me, O tender Love, I cry to Thee; Thou art my all! O bind me close to Thee. O suffering Love, Who hast so loved me; O patient Love, Who wearies not of me. Thou alone O Love! Thou weary not of me! Ah! Weary not till I am lost in Thee, Nay, weary not, till I am found in Thee. Amen
Saint of the Day – 3 October – St Virila OSB (c 870- c 950) Benedictine Monk, Abbot. Born in a small village near Tiermas, Spain and died in c 950 in Leyre, Navarre, Spain of natural causes. Also known as – St Virila of Navarre, Virila of Leyre.
Virila was the Abbot of the Monastery of Saint Saviour of Leyre, Yesa of Navarre, Spain. He also restored the Monastery of St Julian de Samos and helped spread Benedictine monasticiasm in Galicia. He made a pilgrimage to Rome and then visited all the Monasteries in the Pyrenees mountains.
The Navarre Monastery
There is a famous miracle regarding Virila, relating to his desire to understand the Mystery of eternity. A legend tells of one day while meditating in the nearby woods, Vitila fell asleep. When the Abbot awoke he discovered that 300 years had passed.
Tradition has it, that Saint Virila himself told the tale: “… At that time the dilemma of eternity tormented me and doubts assailed me incessantly. I prayed to God, our Lord, to enlighten me on this Mystery and turn on the light in my heart. One spring evening, as I used to do, I went out for a walk among the leafy trees of the Sierra de Leyre. Fatigued, I sat down to rest next to a fountain and stood there absorbed and hypnotised, listening to the beautiful song of a nightingale. After a few hours, in my opinion, I returned to the Monastery. As I passed the main entrance, no Monk brothers were familiar to me. I walked around the various buildings, surprising myself with every detail and gradually realising that something strange had happened. Understanding that no-one recognised me, I went to the Prior who, astonished, listened to my story carefully. We went to the library to try to decipher this enigma and by consulting ancient documents, we discovered that “three hundred years ago, a holy monk, called Saint Virila, had ruled the Monastery and had been devoured by beasts during one of his spring walks” … With the tears in my eyes, I realised that I was that Monk and that God had finally answered my prayers. If the song of a single bird can entertain a man for three centuries, what cannot the divine light of the Saviour do?“
Then a nightingale entered the Abbey with a ring in its beak. The nightingale placed the ring on Saint Virila’s finger and he became Abbot again.
Notre-Dame de Bonne Nouvelle / Our Lady of Good News (Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, France) 1720 – First Sunday of October, 23 December:
Jean de Montfort founded the Dominican Convent of Our Lady of Good News in Rennes to pay a vow taken during the battle of Auray in 1364, where his victory settled him as Duke of Brittany. In the following century, a panel painting in the Convent’s cloister gained a reputation for miracles, resulting in the building of a separate Chapel to give due veneration to Our Lady and to accommodate the pilgrims.
Another vow was paid after the plague of 1632, which spared Rennes the serious devastation which the surrounding regions suffered. In thanks,giving to the Madonna, the City gave Our Lady of Good News a solid silver model of the town and, from 1634, observed a votive celebration every year on 8 September, the Feast of Mary’s Birth. Another miracle occurred during the great fire of 23 December 1720, when, as their wooden houses burned, the people of Rennes saw Our Lady of Good News look down in compassion from the sky.
During the French Revolution, the silver model, was melted down. The Chapel was destroyed and the Convent used to store fodder. A gardener saved the holy image, which he gave to the neighbouring Church of St Aubin. In 1849, a cholera epidemic inspired a new vow. A new silver-plated model city was commissioned from Napoleon III’s goldsmith and the September votive feast reinstated. When St Aubin’s became too small for all the pilgrims, a new Church was built, dedicated in 1904 to St Aubin and Notre-Dame de Bonne Nouvelle.
The painting was canonically crowned in 1908. In recent years the votive feast has been held on the first Sunday in October rather than 8 September.
St Adalgott of Chur Bl Agostina of the Assumption St Candidus the Martyr St Cyprian of Toulon Bl Damian de Portu St Dionysius the Aeropagite Bl Dominic Spadafora St Ewald the Black St Ewald the Fair St Froilan
Bl Utto of Metten St Virila OSB (Died c 950) Abbot St Widradus — Martyrs of Alexandria – 9 saints: A number of Christian martyrs remembered together. We know the names Caius, Cheremone, Dionysius, Eusebio, Fausto, Lucio, Maximus, Paul, Peter and that there were at least two more whose names have not come down to us, and that’s about all we know.
Martyrs of Brazil – 30 beati: On 25 December 1597 an expedition of colonists, with two Jesuit and two Franciscan evangelists, arrived at Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The region was colonized by Portuguese Catholics but was invaded by Dutch Calvinists who soon took over the whole territory. They immediately made a policy of the persecution of Catholics. On Sunday 16 July 1645 at Cunhau, Brazil, 69 people were gathered in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Candles for Mass celebrated by Father Andre de Soveral. At the moment of the elevation a group of Dutch soldiers attack the Chapel, murdering many of the faithful including Father Andre; the parishioners died professing their faith and asking pardon for their sins. On 3 October 1645, 200 armed Indians and a band of Flemish troops, led by a fanatical Calvinist convert, hacked to death an unknown number of people of Rio Grande including: • Blessed Ambrosio Francisco Ferro • Blessed André de Soveral • Blessed Antônio Baracho • Blessed Antônio Vilela • Blessed Antônio Vilela Cid • Blessed Diogo Pereira • Blessed Domingos Carvalho • Blessed Estêvão Machado de Miranda • Blessed Francisco de Bastos • Blessed Francisco Mendes Pereira • Blessed João da Silveira • Blessed João Lostau Navarro • Blessed João Martins • Blessed José do Porto • Blessed Manuel Rodrigues de Moura • Blessed Mateus Moreira • Blessed Simão Correia • Blessed Vicente de Souza Pereira and other lay people whose names have not come down to us.
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