Thought for the Day – 31 October – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
“Month of the Holy Rosary” “Pray for Us … at the Hour of Our Death”
“Our divine Redeemer, although He was God and did not except Himself from the law of death. It was appropriate, therefore, that His divine Mother should have been no exception either. But Mary had shared in the torments of her Son’s death upon Calvary and so obtained from Him, the privilege of a death so sweet and gentle, as hardly to justify the name at all. Her soul was separated from her body as if in an ecstasy of love and was united even more indissolubly with God. She did not die of a natural disease but, out of love for God. She had always loved God with all the ardour of the noblest of creatures and her life ended in a final outpouring of love. It was the climax of a continuous ascent towards God.
Death should be like this for us too. It can be like this if we follow her example, especially in the boundlessness of her love for God.
O Mary, my tender Mother, be at my side throughout my life but especially at the hour of death. Shelter me beneath your maternal mantle and never let me be far apart from you. Grant that I may have a calm and peaceful death like yours, a death made easy by a great love for Jesus and for you, as well as by the reception of the Holy Sacraments and by your special blessing, amen.”
Quote/s of the Day– 31 October – The last day of the “Month of the Holy Rosary”
THE SEVEN BLESSINGS OF THE HOLY ROSARY
“The Rosary, recited with meditation on the mysteries, brings about the following marvellous results:
It gradually gives us a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ;
It purifies our souls, washing away sin;
It gives us victory over all our enemies;
It makes it easy for us to practice virtue;
It sets us on fire with love of Our Blessed Lord;
It enriches us with graces and merits;
It supplies us with what is needed to pay, all our debts to God and to our fellow men and finally, it obtains all kinds of graces for us from Almighty God.”
St Louis Marie Grignion De Montfort (1673-1716)
“The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying.”
Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903)
“If there were one million families praying the Rosary everyday, the entire world would be saved.”
St Pope Pius X (1835-1914)
“We put great confidence in the Holy Rosary, for the healing of evils which afflict our times.”
One Minute Reflection – 31 October – The last day of the “Month of the Holy Rosary” – Readings: Deuteronomy 6: 2-6; Psalm 18: 2-4, 47, 51; Hebrews 7: 23-28; Mark 12: 28b-34
“Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them…” – Hebrews 7:25
REFLECTION – “Petition does not imply here, as it does in popular parlance, a desire for legal satisfaction; there is something humiliating in the idea. No, it means interceding for us in His role of mediator, in the way that the Spirit too is spoken of, as “making petition” on our behalf. “For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Even at this moment, He is, as human, interceding for my salvation, until He makes me divine by the power of His incarnate Humanity. “As human,” I say, because He still has with Him the Body He assumed, though He is no longer “regarded as human,” meaning, the bodily experiences, which, sin aside, are ours and His. This is the “Advocate” we have in Jesus — not a slave who falls prostrate before the Father on our behalf. Get rid of what is really a slavish suspicion, unworthy of the Spirit. It is not in God to make the demand, nor in the Son to submit to it; the thought is unjust to God. No, it is by what He suffered as Man, that He persuades us, as Word and Encourager, to endure. That, for me, is the meaning of His “Advocacy.” – St Gregory Nazianzen (330-390) Archbishop of Constantinople, Father & Doctor of the Chuirch (Theological Oration 4 (On the Son), 30)
PRAYER – Lord God, You gave the peoples of the world as the inheritance of Your only Son; You crowned Him as King of Zion, Your holy city and gave Him Your Church to be His Bride. As He proclaims the law of Your eternal kingdom, may we serve Him faithfully and so share His royal power forever. We make our prayer, through Him and with Him and in Him, our King and our Redeemer, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 31 October – Christ the King
I am Thine and born for Thee, What wilt Thou do with me? By St Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) Doctor of Prayer of the Church
Sovereign Lord, upon Thy Throne, Endless Wisdom, One and Whole, Goodness that dost feed my soul, Good and great, One God alone, As I sing my love for Thee. What wilt Thou do with me?
Thine I am, for Thou didst make me; Thine, for Thou alone didst save me; Thine – Thou couldst endure to have me; For Thine own, didst deign to take me. Never once, didst Thou forsake me. Ruined were I, if not for Thee: What wilt Thou do with me?
What, O good and loving Lord, What wilt Thou have this creature do? This Thy slave, a sinner too, Waiting till she hears Thy word? With Thy will in close accord, Sweetest Love, I come to Thee: What wilt Thou do with me?
Take, O Lord, my loving heart: See, I yield it to Thee whole, With my body, life and soul And my nature’s every part. Sweetest Spouse, my life Thou art; I have given myself to Thee: What wilt Thou do with me?
Let me live or let me die; Give me sickness, give me health; Give me poverty or wealth; Let me strive or peaceful lie. Weakness give or strength supply – I accept it all of Thee: What wilt Thou do with me?…
I am Thine and born for Thee, What wilt Thou do with me?
Poem – I am Yours, for You I was born – “Vuestra Soy, para Vos nací ” (trans. E Allison Peers)
Saint of the Day – 31 October – St Foillan of Fosses (Died 655) Bishop, Martyr, Missionary, Abbot. Born in the 7th Century in Ireland and died by murder on 31 October 655 in the forest near Nivelles, Belgium, Patronages – children’s nurses, dentists, Fosses, Belgium, surgeons, truss makers, Diocese of Mechelen and Tournai., Belgium. Also known as – Faelan, Faillan, Faolan, Feuillien, Foalan, Foelan. Additional Memorial – 5 November in the Diocese of Mechelen and Tournai.
Foillan was one of the numerous Irish missionaries who, in the course of the seventh century, evangelised in Europe, bringing the liturgy and sacred vessels, founding prosperous Monasteries and sharing considerably in the propagation of the Faith in these countries. Foillan played a significant part in Frankish ecclesiastical history, as shown by his share in the direction of Nivelles and by the foundation of the Monastery of Fosses-la-Ville.
Foillan was born in Ireland early in the seventh century and was the brother of Saints Ultan and Fursey, the latter a famous Missionary who preached the Faith to the Irish, the Anglo-Saxons and the Franks. Foillan, probably in company with Ultan, went with his brother Fursey, when the latter, fleeing from his country then devastated by foreign invaders, retired to a lonely islands. Fursey soon went among the Anglo Saxons and built a Monastery at Burgh Castle (Cnoberesburg) in Suffolk, between 634 and 650.
Seized again with the desire for solitude, Fursey left the Monastery in the care of Foillan, who remained at the head of the community and had the happiness of once more seeing his brother Fursey, who, having since gone to the kingdom of the Franks, came to visit him about 650. Soon a disastrous war broke out between Penda, the Mercian Chief and Ana, King of the Eastern Anglo-Saxons. Ana, having been put to flight, the Monastery of Cnoberesburg fell into the hand of the enemies. It was pillaged,and its Abbot, Foillan, barely escaped death. He hastened to ransom the captive Monks, recovered the relics, put the holy books and objects of veneration on board ship and departed for the country of the Franks, where his brother Fursey was buried. He and his companions, were well received at Péronne by Erconwald, Mayor of the Palace. But soon, for some unknown reason, Foillan and his companions left Péronne and went to Nivelles, a Monastery founded by St Ita and St Gertrude, wife and daughter of Duke Pepin I.
Foillan, like so many other Irishmen who went to the Continent in the seventh century, was invested with episcopal dignity, having doubtless been a monastic Bishop at Cnoberesburg. He was, therefore ,of great assistance in the organisation of worship and the holy books and relics, which he brought, were great; treasures for St Ita and St Gertrude. As the Monastery of Nivelles was under Irish discipline, the companions of Foillan were well received and lived, side by side, with the holy women, occupying themselves with the details of worship under the general direction of the Abbess. Through the liberality of Ita, Foillan was enabled to build a Monastery at Fosses, not far from Nivelles, in the Province of Namur.
The Church at Fosses
After the death of Ita in 652, Foillan came one day to Nivelles and sang Mass, on the eve of the feast of St Quentin. The ceremony being finished, he resumed his journey, doubtless undertaken in the interests of his Monastery. In the forest of Senege the Saint and his companions fell into a trap set by bandits who inhabited that solitary place. They were slain, stripped, and their bodies concealed. But they were recovered by St Gertrude and when she had taken some relics of the Saint, his body was borne to the Monastery of Fosses, where it was buried in 655.
It is not surprising, after his death and because of his work in the area, that St Foillan should be honoured and venerated both at Nivelles and Fosses and, to find at Le Roeulx (Belgium) a Monastery bearing his name. As late as the twelfth century the veneration in which he was held, inspired Philippe Le Harvengt, Abbot of Bonne-Espérance, to compose a lengthy biography of the Saint. He is the Patron of Fosses, near Charieroi. In the Diocese of Namur his feast is celebrated on 31 October, in the Dioceses of Mechlin and Tournai on 5 November.
Vigil of All Saints Day or All Hallow’s Eve: Eve of the Feast of All Hallows, that is, All Saints Day. Halloween is a day on which many quaint customs are revived. It is popular in the United States and Scotland and in the US has become the second largest secular holiday of the year.
Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Río Blanco y Paypaya de Jujuy / Our Lady of the Rosary of Rio Blanco (of the White River) and Paypaya, Argentina , 17th Century – 31 October:
In the Province of Jujuy, Our Lady of the Rosary is the main Patron, who was added the title of “Paypaya and White River.” Local tradition tells that the Virgin defended the City from attacks by the Indians. The most beautiful devotion is the procession which takes place on 31 October, the day on which the image is removed from its precious altar next to the nave of the Cathedral of Jujuy and is taken to the Sanctuary of the White River…The people displaying their deep religious faith, expressed in their great devotion to the Virgin “Our Lady of the Rosary of White River and Paypaya,” the history refers to the colonial era of the mid-seventeenth century. Entering through the side entrance of the court, located next to the Cathedral of San Salvador de Jujuy, in the centre of the long nave, is the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary of White River and Paypaya, a clothed image 60 cm. height. There is another Statue is in the Chapel of the City of Rio Blanco.
St Ampliatus St Antoninus of Milan St Apelles of Eraclea Sintica St Arnulf of Novalesa St Begu of Hackness Bl Christopher of Romagna Bl Dominic Collins St Epimachus of Melusio St Erth of Cornwall St Foillan of Fosses (Died 655) Bishop Martyr, Missionary, Abbot Bl Irene Stefani St Jesús Miquel Girbau Bl Leon Nowakowski St Lucilla of Rome Bl Maria de Requesens Bl Modesta Moro Briz St Narcissus St Notburga of Cologne St Quentin Bl Pilar Isabel Sánchez Suárez St Stachys of Constantinople
AnaStpaul 
You must be logged in to post a comment.