Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary
By Father Joseph Cacella, 1947
SECOND DAY
Intention: Greater love and appreciation for the Holy Rosary
Oh Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, teach us to love those little beads. In every trial, tribulation and sorrow, they have been a source of comfort to all who trust in thee. We are happy in the possession of our Rosaries. May thy Rosary, O Immaculate Heart of Mary, ever strengthen us in all our weaknesses, be our peace in time of affliction, comfort in all matters of doubt, courage in time of temptation and a source of consolation throughout all our days on the earth. May it be our strong influence, in success or in failure. In all things, may we live in peaceful union with thee through the medium of thy Holy Rosary. Amen.
Our Lady of Fatima, Queen of the Rosary, inflame our hearts with the love of thy Most Holy Rosary.
We pray our Daily Rosary now with the same Intention: “Greater love and appreciation for the Holy Rosary”
Thought for the Day – 29 September – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Goodness and Christian Courtesy
“When Jesus wished to propose Himself as our Divine Model, He said: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29). He was kind to all but especially to sinners. He was strict and severe, only with hypocrites, whom He described as a race of vipers and as whitened sepulchres, from which we can see how much He detested duplicity. If the hypocrites had only repented and resolved to mend their ways, however, Our Lord would have received them lovingly and pardoned them.
Let us learn, therefore, to be simple, meek and humble of heart and to display that courtesy of manner, which is the necessary adornment of true Catholic virtue”
Quote/s of the Day – 29 September – The Feast of the Dedication of St Michael the Archangel – Apocalypse 1:1-5, Matthew 18:1-10 – Scripture Search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Then war broke out in Heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and it’s angels fought back …”
Apocalypse 12:7
“Whenever a mighty deed is in question, Michael is assigned, so that by his actions and name, which means “Who is like God?” it may be made known that no-one can do what God can do.”
St Gregory the Great (540-604) Pope, Father and Doctor of the Church
“God loves in the Seraphim, as charity, knows in the Cherubim, as truth, is seated in the Thrones, as equity, reigns in the Dominions, as majesty, rules in the Principalities, as principle, guards in the Powers, as salvation, acts in the Virtues, as strength, reveals in the Archangels, as light, assists in the Angels, as piety.”
St Bernard (1090-1153) Mellifluous Doctor
“The powers of hell will assail the dying Christian but his Angel Guardian will come to console him. His Patrons and St Michael, who has been appointed by God to defend his faithful servants, in their last combat with the devils, will come to his aid.”
St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Most Zealous Doctor
One Minute Reflection – 29 September – The Feast of the Dedication of the Archangel St Michael – Apocalypse 1:1-5, Matthew 18:1-10 – Scripture Search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“At that time, the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?’ And Jesus called a little child unto Him, set him in their midst and said, ‘Amen I say to you, unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever, therefore, humbles himself as this little child, he is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And whoever receives one such little child for My sake, receives Me.’” – Matthew 18:1-5
REFLECTION – “We must seek for reasons for individual sayings and actions of the Lord. After the coin was found, after the tribute paid, what do the Apostles’ sudden questions mean? Why precisely “at that time” did the disciples come to Jesus saying, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Because they had seen that the same tax had been paid for both Peter and the Lord. From the equal price, they inferred that Peter may have been set over all the other Apostles, since Peter had been compared with the Lord in the paying of the tax. So they ask, who is greater in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus, seeing their thoughts and understanding the causes of their error, wants to heal their desire for glory, with a struggle for humility.
He called a child to Him to ask its age or to show the image of innocence. Or perhaps, He actually set a child in their midst — He Himself, Who had not come to be served but to serve — to show them an example of humility.
Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Just as this child, whose example I show you, does not persist in anger, does not long remember injury suffered, is not enamoured inordinately by the sight of a beautiful woman, does not think one thing and say another, so you too, unless you have similar innocence and purity of mind, will not be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Or it might be taken in another way: “Whosoever, therefore, humiliates himself like this child, is greater in the Kingdom of Heaven,” so as to imply that anyone who imitates Me and humiliates himself following My example, so that he abases himself, as much as I abased Myself in accepting the form of a servant, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” – St Jerome (343-420) Priest, Monk, Translator of the Scriptures, Father and Doctor of the Church (Commentary on Matthew 3).
PRAYER – O God, Who assign according to a wondrous order, the duties of Angels and men, mercifully grant that our life on earth be guarded by those who continually stand in Thy presence and minister to Thee in Heaven. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
Saint of the Day – 29 September – The Feast of the Dedication of St Michael the Archangel
Saint Michael, the Guardian Angel of the Blessed Sacrament By Fr Francis Xavier Lasance (1860-1946)
“Michael,” or “Who is like to God?” Such was the cry of the great Archangel when he smote the rebel Lucifer, in the conflict of the heavenly hosts and from that hour, he has been known as “Michael,” the Captain of the Armies of God, the type of of divine fortitude, the champion of every faithful soul, in strife with the powers of evil. Thus he appears in Holy Scripture, as the guardian of the children of Israel, their comfort and protector in times of sorrow or conflict. He it is, who prepares for their return from the Persian captivity, who leads the valiant Machabees to victory and, who rescues the body of Moses from the envious grasp of the Evil One.
And since Christ’s coming, the Church has ever venerated St Michael as her special Patron and Protector. She styles him “the Chief of the Angelic Hosts set over paradise, whom the citizens of Heaven delight to honour; the messenger of God to the souls of the just.” She invokes him by name in her confession of sin, summons him to the side of her children in the agony of death and chooses him, as their escort, from the chastening flames of Purgatory to the realms of Holy Light. Lastly, when Antichrist shall have set up his kingdom on earth, it is Michael, who will unfurl once more, the standard of the Cross, sound the last trumpet and, binding together the false prophet and the beast, hurl them for all eternity into the burning pool.
Although the Blessed Sacrament is the property of the souls of men and belongs to them, in a way and with an intimacy, which the spirits of the Angels cannot share, there is, nevertheless, a great connection between the Angels and the Blessed Sacrament. It is the especial mystery of that human nature, in which Jesus is head of the Angels. It is one of the Mysteries they adore and humbly desire to look into. They admire it with a special admiration and follow it all over the world–in the Priests’ hands, on the throne, in the Tabernacle, round the Church, on its obscure visits to the sick–as if they were attracted by it, which they are. It is called Angels’ Food and the Bread of Angels and, although they cannot enjoy the proper Sacramental union, with the Flesh of our dearest Lord, they doubtless feed on it, in their intelligences by a kind of spiritual Communion. St Thomas says that the Angels see Christ in clear vision and enjoy Him in His own proper species and this, is their spiritual Communion, which precludes their receiving, by a spiritual Communion, this Sacrament, where He is seen only by faith and enjoyed only under the Sacramental Species. “They feed not on the Sacrament but on Him ,Who is in the Sacrament.”–(Summa. p. 3., q. 80, a. 2, c).
It is said that St Michael revealed to St Eutropius, the Hermit, that he had been chosen to be the Guardian Angel of the Blessed Sacrament . . . and there are also on record, several revelations of his to various Saints concerning the worship of the Blessed Sacrament. Some have supposed him to be the Angel of the Mass, referred to in the Canon; he is spoken of at the beginning of the Mass in the Confiteor and again, in the second incensing at the High Mass and also, in the Offertory of Masses of Requiem.
THIS festival has been kept with great solemnity on the 29th of September ever since the Fifth Century and was certainly initially celebrated in Apulia in 493. The Dedication of the famous Church of St Michael on Mount Gargano, in Italy, gave occasion to the institution of this Feast in the West, which is hence called in the Martyrologies of St Jerome, St Bede and others, ‘The Dedication of St Michael.’ About the Apparition of St Michael at Mount Gargano in 492: https://anastpaul.com/2018/05/08/saint-of-the-day-8-may-apparition-of-michael-the-archangel-at-monte-gargano-italy-492/
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