Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI

Thought for the Day – 7 October – The Fifth Joyful Mystery – The Finding of Jesus in the Temple

Thought for the Day – 7 October – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

“Month of the Holy Rosary”
The Fifth Joyful Mystery
The Finding of Jesus in the Temple

“Mary and Joseph came, according to custom, to celebrate the feast of the Pasch in Jerusalem.
They took with them, Jesus, Who was now twelve years of age.
When the feast was over, the pilgrims came together to return to Nazareth.
As usual, they gathered in the temple to say a final prayer and then divided into two companies, one consisting of men, the other of women.
The children were assigned to either caravan.

At any rate, when the two groups came together for the night after a day’s journey, Mary and Joseph looked in vain for Jesus.
He could not be found in either caravan!
We can imagine how they suffered.
However, they returned without delay to Jerusalem to look for their Child.
They searched for three days.
At last, when they went into the Temple to pour out their troubles to God, they found Jesus, sitting among the doctors, who were amazed at the wisdom of His answers and of His questions.
There was joy and sorrow in Mary’s countenance as she regarded Him.
“Son,” she said gently. “why hast thou done so to us? Behold, in sorrow, thy father and I have been seeking thee.”
Jesus’ reply was also mild and at the same time, mysterious.
“How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?”

Then He returned with them to Nazareth, where He remained “subject to them.”
But His mother, we are told, “kept all these things carefully in her heart” (Cf Lk 2:41-51).

This Mystery of the Rosary is, at the same time, joyful and sorrowful.
We can learn a good deal by meditating on it.
We can admire the divine wisdom of Jesus, Who, even from childhood, desired to reveal a little of the truth and also His obedience to Mary and Joseph, until He reached thirty years of age.
We can admire, too, His hidden life in the workshop in Nazareth, interrupted only by this brief demonstration of His divinity and the anxiety of Mary and Joseph to find Jesus when they had lost Him, as well as their delight when He was restored to them.

If we should ever have the great misfortune of losing Jesus, let us have recourse at once, to Mary and Joseph, who lost Him without any fault on their part, searched anxiously for Him and did not rest, until they had found Him. Amen”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in MARIAN POETRY, OCTOBER - The HOLY ROSARY and The HOLY ANGELS, ROSARY QUOTES

Quote/s of the Day – 7 October – Queen of the Holy Rosary!

Quote/s of the Day – 7 October – “The Month of the Most Holy Rosary and of the Angels” – Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

Say the Rosary everyday
to obtain peace for the world.
And after each decade,
say the following prayer:
‘O my Jesus, forgive us our sins,
save us from the fires of Hell,
lead all souls to Heaven,
especially those in most need of Thy mercy.’

Our Lady of Fatima
1917

Queen of the Holy Rosary

Queen of the Holy Rosary!
Thee as our Queen we greet,
And lay our lowly, loving prayers
Like roses at thy feet.
Would that these blossoms of our souls
Were far more fair and sweet.

Queen of the Joyful Mysteries!
Glad news God’s envoy bore.
The Baptist’s mother thou didst tend;
Angels thy Babe adore,
Whom with two doves thou ransomest;
Lost, He is found once more.

Queen of the Dolorous Mysteries!
Christ ‘mid the olives bled,
Scourged at the pillar, crowned with thorns,
Beneath His Cross He sped
Up the steep hill and there once more
Thine arms embraced Him–dead!

Queen of the Glorious Mysteries!
Christ from the tomb has flown,
Has mounted to the highest heaven
And sent His Spirit down
And soon He raises thee on high
To wear thy heavenly crown.

Queen of the Holy Rosary!
We, too, have joys and woes.
May they, like thine, to triumph lead!
May labour earn repose,
And may life’s sorrows and life’s joys
In heavenly glory close.

Taken from:
Cyril Robert – Mary Immaculate:
God’s Mother and Mine. 1946

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, Hail MARY!, OCTOBER - The HOLY ROSARY and The HOLY ANGELS, ONE Minute REFLECTION, PARTIAL Indulgence, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, The ANNUNCIATION, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 7 October – ‘… Speak the word that is transitory and embrace the Word which is everlasting!’

One Minute Reflection – 7 October – “The Month of the Most Holy Rosary and of the Angels” – Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary – Proverbs 8:22-24, 32-35, Luke 1:26-38 Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

And Mary said: Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word.” – Luke 1:38

REFLECTION – “You have heard, O Virgin, that you are to conceive and bring forth a Son and that this will not be through the power of man but, by the virtue of the Holy Spirit. The Angel awaits your reply, for it is time that he should return to God Who sent him. We, too, are waiting, O Lady, for a word of mercy, we, who are groaning under the sentence of condemnation. See, the price of our salvation is offered to you; if you consent, we shall at once be delivered. By the Eternal Word of God were we all created and behold, we will all die. By your brief answer, we shall be refreshed and recalled to life! …

Hasten, then, O Lady, to give your answer; hasten to speak the word so longed for by all on earth, in limbo and in Heaven. Yes, the King and Lord of all things, Who has “greatly desired your beauty” (Ps 44:12), desires, as eagerly, your word of consent by which He has purposed to save the world. He, Whom you pleased by your silence, will be yet more pleased by your reply. Hark! He calls to you from Heaven – “O most beautiful among women, let me hear your voice” (Sg 1:8; 2:14) … Answer the Angel quickly, then; yes, through the Angel give your consent to your God. Answer one syllable, receive the Word; utter your own word and conceive that which is Divine. Speak the word that is transitory and embrace the Word which is everlasting! …”

Behold,” she says, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me according to thy word.” – St Bernard (1091-1153) Father and Doctor of the Church (Homily 4 on the “Missus est” [He was sent] #8-9).

PRAYER – O God, Whose Only-begotten Son, by His life, death and resurrection, has merited for us the grace of eternal salvation, grant, we beseech Thee, that, meditating on these Mysteries in the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may both imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same 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).

Posted in Hail MARY!, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MOTHER of GOD, Our MORNING Offering, PAPAL PRAYERS, QUOTES on DEATH, ROSARY QUOTES, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The HOLY ROSARY/ROSARY CRUSADE

Our Morning Offering – 7 October – The Holy Rosary

Our Morning Offering – 7 October – Our Lady of the Holy Rosary/Our Lady of Victory – Commemorating the Victory of Lepanto – 1571

The Holy Rosary
By Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903)

Accept, mighty Maid, we beseech thee,
This prayer with its fragrance of flowers;
With one soul we seek thus to reach thee
And hail thee, God’s Mother and ours.

Thy heart is made glad by our praying;
Thy bounty is generous and wise;
Thy hands are enriched for conveying
What God’s tender Mercy supplies.

We kneel at thy Shrines in the Churches;
Oh, gently look down from above,
And welcome the heart that then searches
For worthy expressions of love.

Let others present precious caskets
Of gems, or heap Altars with gold;
Slight prayer-beads shall serve us for baskets
To bring thee the garland they hold.

With violets lowly we fashion
This wreath and with these combined
Red roses–our faith in the Passion
With Chastity’s lilies entwined.

Our minds, as the Mysteries vary,
Are active, our hands play their part
And always thy name, Holy Mary!
Oft-uttered, rejoices the heart.

Be with us, we trust thee to guide us
Through life and when labouring breath
At the last, seeks thine aid, be beside us
To help at the hour of our death.
Anen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 7 October – Saint Gerold of Cologne (c1201-1241) Layman, Pilgrim.

Saint of the Day – 7 October – Saint Gerold of Cologne (c1201-1241) Layman Pilgrim. Born in Cologne, Germany and died in Cremona, Italy by being murdered by robbers. He is venerated by both Cologne and Cremona as their own special Saint and is regarded as a Martyr, although it is doubtful that he was killed for the Faith. Also known as – St Gerold of Cremona. The image is the only one available but has no explanation accompanying it.

Gerold was born in Cologne. a City also a destination for pilgrimages, for the devotion of Saint Ursula and her fabulous eleven thousand companions and for the Relics of the Three Kings, preserved in the famous Cathedral which is, itself, a destination of pilgrims.

Gerold was, so to speak, a professional pilgrim, who progressively extended the scope of his journeys which became increasingly longer and more difficult, in pursuit of sanctity and perfection.

He was in Rome, travelling along the road to pray in the Basilicas and venerate the linen of Veronica. He arrived at St James of Compostella, staff in hand and shell on his chest, to pay homage to the “baron” of Galicia, St James. Finally, he set sail, holding the palm, for the distant Holy Land, the land of the Lord.

Those who went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem made a will before leaving home because the chances of returning were rather slim. Our saint, however, was among those who returned from the East to Italy. But for him, the most dangerous road was much nearer home. In 1241, while crossing the Alps into what is now Italy, he was attacked by robbers, who left him to die. The remains were collected by some passers-by and taken to Cremona, where the cult for the devout pilgrim was ignited by the veneration paid the holy man and the miracles granted by his intercession.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, OCTOBER - The HOLY ROSARY and The HOLY ANGELS, SAINT of the DAY

First Saturday, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary and Memorials of the Saints – 7 October

First Saturday

St Adalgis of Novara (Died c 850) Bishop
St Apuleius of Capua

St Canog ap Brychan
St Dubtach of Armagh
St Gerold of Cologne (c1201-1241) Layman Pilgrim
St Helanus

St Julia the Martyr

St Marcellus of Capua (Died Third or Fourth Century) Martyr
St Martin Cid
St Osith
St Palladius of Saintes
St Quarto of Capua
St Rigaldo

St Sergius and Companions – Martyrs

Mercedarian Nuns of Seville: Five Mercedarian Nuns at the Monastery of the Assumption in Seville, Spain noted for their piety – Sisters Agnese, Bianca, Caterina, Maddalena and Marianna.