Day: October 31, 2023

Posted in Hail MARY!, MARIAN Antiphons, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on DEATH, ROSARY QUOTES

Thought for the Day – 31 October – “Pray for Us … at the Hour of Our Death”

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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”

“We have come to the end of this month, which we have dedicated to Mary and her blessed Rosary.
Let us remember, however, that apart from this Month of October, we should dedicate our whole lives to her, up to our final moment of death.
We are always in need of Mary’s patronage and intercession with God.
Let us always have recourse to her, therefore, especially in danger and in suffering but, most especially, at the decisive moment of death, for this is the moment on which eternity depends.
This day will arrive sooner or later but, it will certainly come, “at an hour that you do not expect” (Lk 12:40).

In the second part of the Hail Mary, the Church places on our lips, these words of supplication: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.”
How many times we have recited this prayer?!
But do we ever think of death?
Let us remember that a mediation on death is the most valuable lesson in life.
One day, we shall find ourselves face-to-face with God, drawing our last breath on earth.
It may be on a sick bed, it may be in the middle of a street – we do not know.
It may be after a long illness at the end of which we are comforted by the Holy Sacraments and blessed by a Priest, or it may be quite unexpected.
But, it is certain that death will come.
Let us aim, therefore, at being always prepared, so that it may not come when we have no good works to offer and when our hearts are full of ourselves and of worldly interests.
Like Mary, let us lead lives of holiness and we shall be sure to die holy deaths.
Let us beseech our heavenly Mother to be by our side at that final moment to sustain us in the conflict and to consign our souls to her divine Son, Jesus. Amen.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in ArchAngels and Angels, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, Hail MARY!, OCTOBER - The HOLY ROSARY and The HOLY ANGELS, POETRY, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on MORTIFICATION, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SANCTITY, ROSARY QUOTES, ROSARY REFLECTIONS and QUOTES

Quote/s of the Day – 31 October – Goodbye October

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Quote/s of the Day – 31 October – “The Month of the Most Holy Rosary and of the Angels” – Goodbye October

“Be constant in secret prayers
which God, Who indeed sees in secret,
rewards in the open.
Hold fast to this exercise
of a most excellent way of life.
that you may find hidden treasure
in the day of need.”

St Basil the Great (329-379)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“… [I] resolved to recite a Rosary
for anyone who caused me trouble.
Then I heard the Voice
from the Tabernacle say,
‘Your prayers for those
who mortify you,
are very pleasing to Me.
In exchange, I am ready
to grant you many graces.‘”

St Serafino of Montegranaro (1540-1604)

TOP 10 Practical Guide to Holiness

  1. Go to Mass with deepest devotion.
  2. Spend a half hour to reflect upon your main failing
    and make resolutions to avoid it.
  3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes,
    if a half hour is not possible.
  4. Say the Rosary everyday.
  5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament
    and toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour.
  6. Conclude the day with evening prayer
    and an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day.
  7. Every month make a review of the month in confession.
  8. Choose a special Patron every month
    and imitate that Patron in some special virtue.
  9. Precede every great feast with a novena, that is, nine days of devotion.
  10. Try to begin and end every activity with a “Hail Mary.”

Bl Francis Xavier Seelos (1819-1867)

My Oldest Friend
By John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

My oldest friend, mine from the hour
When first I drew my breath,
My faithful friend, that shall be mine,
Unfailing, till my death….

Mine when I stand before the Judge,
And mine, if spared to stay
Within the golden furnace, till
My sin is burn’d away.

And mine, O Brother of my soul,
When my release shall come,
Thy gentle arms shall lift me then,
Thy wings shall waft me home.

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on MERIT, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on THE VOICE OF GOD, The BEATITUDES, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 31 October – Blessed are you …

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 31 October – “The Month of the Most Holy Rosary and of the Angels” – Vigil of All Saints – Apocalypse 5:6-12, Luke 6:17-23 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“And He, lifting up His eyes on His disciples, said:
Blessed are you …” – Luke 6:20

REFLECTION – “Lord Jesus Christ, to teach us the summit of virtue, You ascended the mountain with Your disciples and taught them the Beatitudes and highest virtues, promising them the rewards applicable to each. Grant that my weakness may hear Your Voice, that I may apply myself, through their practice, to acquire the merit of the virtues, so that by Your Mercy, I may receive the promised reward. As I consider the payment, do not let me refuse the effort of the labour. Make my hope of eternal salvation, sweeten the bitterness of the cure, inflaming my soul with the splendour of Your work. Out of the wretched person I am, create one of the blessed; from the blessedness here below, lead me, by Your Grace, to the blessedness of the homeland.

Come, Lord Jesus Christ, in search of Your servant, seeking Your erring and exhausted sheep. Come, Spouse of the Church, in search of Your lost coin. Come, Father of mercies, welcome the prodigal son returning to You. Come, then, Lord, for You are the only One, able to call back the sheep that has strayed, to find the lost drachma, to reconcile the runaway son. Cone, that there may be salvation on earth and joy in Heaven! Turn me towards Youself and grant that I may carry out a true and perfect repentance, so that I may become an occasion for joy, among the Angels. Sweetest Jesus, I pray You, by the immensity of Your Love for me, a sinner, grant that I may love You alone, above all things, that I may be consoled by none but You, my sweetest God!” – Ludolph of Saxony (c1300-1378) Monk, Theologian, Writer, Dominican then a Carthusian (Prayers to Jesus Christ).

PRAYER – Multiply Thy grace upon us, O Lord our God and grant that by following in holiness of life, those whose glorious festival we anticipate, we may attain to their bliss. 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).

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, MARIAN HYMNS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN TITLES, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, REDEMPTORISTS CSSR

Our Morning Offering – 31 October – O Mother Blest

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Our Morning Offering – 31 October – “The Last Day Month of the Most Holy Rosary and of the Angels”

O Mother Blest
By St Alphonsus Maira Liguori (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor of the Church
Trans. Fr Edmund Vaughn C.SS,R, (1827 – 1908 )

O Mother blest, whom God bestows
On sinners and on just,
What joy, what hope thou givest those
Who in thy mercy trust.
Thou are clement, thou are chaste,
Mary thou art fair,
Of all mothers, sweetest best,
none with thee compare.

O heavenly Mother, mistress sweet!
it never yet was told
that suppliant sinner left thy feet,
unpitied, unconsoloed.
Thou are clement, thou are chaste, …

O Mother, pitiful and mild,
Cease not to pray for me;
For I do love thee as a child,
And sigh for love of thee.
Thou art clement, thou art chaste, …

Most powerful Mother, all men know
Thy Son denies thee nought;
Thou askest, wishest it, and lo!
His power thy will hath wrought.
Thou art clement, thou art chaste, …

O Mother blest, for me obtain,
Ungrateful though I be,
To love that God who first could deign
To show such love for me.
Thou art clement, thou art chaste,
Mary, thou art fair.
Of all mothers, sweetest, best,
None with thee compare.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 31 October – Saint Arnulf of Novalesa OSB (Died c840) Martyr

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Saint of the Day – 31 October – Saint Arnulf of Novalesa OSB (Died c840) (Ordo Sancti Benedicti – OSB) Monk, Martyr. Also known as – Arnolfo, Arnulfo. Additional Memorial – 13 March on some calendars.

A Benedictine Monk

Arnulf was a Benedictine Monk in the Benedictine Monastery of Novalesa in Piedmont, Italy. It was located at the foot of the Alps and at the mouth of the Susa Valley on the Italian side of Mont Cenis in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy and boasted a large community of 500 Monks.

Arnulf is said to have been murdered around 840 by the Saracens, the medieval term for Muslims. His and Saint Heldrad ‘s Relics were transferred to the Parish Church in Novalesa upon the arrival of the French troops in 1794. His memorial day is 31 October, together with St Heldrad (on the Benedictine calendar) but St Heldrad is remembered on 13 March on the universal calendar.

The still active Abbey today

Some sources date his Martyrdom to the early 10th Century, which seems likely. In 906 Italy was invaded by the Saracens. A group of them moved from Frassineto (near today’s Saint-Tropez) in the direction of the Monastery in Novalesa. Abbot Donniverto heard of the impending danger, so together with most of the Monks he made it to safety in the Church of Sts Andrew and Clement (today’s Consolata) in Turin and brought with him the most sacred, indispensable and valuable objects as well as manuscripts from the library. The Saracens looted the Monastery and set fire to the buildings.

Some Monks from Novalesa had sought shelter in the Monastery of Oulx in the Susa Valley on the present border with France but there they were discovered and slaughtered. Two Monks escaped, Saints Justus and Flavian, who hid in a cave in the Arbour above Beaulard. From there they saw the Martyrdom of their brothers and that Angels brought their souls to Heaven. Then, they decided to go down into the Valley again and join their fellow brothers, where they too suffered Martyrdom. The Novalesa Monastery was rebuilt only in the 11th Century.

St Heldrad has been celebrated here on 13 March:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/13/saint-of-the-day-13-march-st-heldrad-of-novalese-died-c-875/

Novalesa today
Posted in DOMINICAN OP, franciscan OFM, JESUIT SJ, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Vigil of All Saints Day or All Hallow’s Eve, Nuestra Señora del Rosario / Our Lady of the Rosary, Argentina, 17th Century and Memorials of the Saints – 31 October

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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:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/10/31/solemnity-of-christ-the-king-vigil-of-all-saints-day-nuestra-senora-del-rosario-de-rio-blanco-argentina-and-memorials-of-the-saints-31-october/

Commemoration of All Holy Relics (Dominicans)

St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617) Spanish Lay Brother of the Society of Jesus, Doorkeeper, Mystic, Visionary, Apostle of Charity and of Prayer, Spiritual Adviser. Canonised o 6 September 1887 by Pope Leo XIII.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/10/31/saint-of-the-day-31-october-st-alphonsus-rodriguez-sj-1532-1617/

St Ampliatus
St Antoninus of Milan
St Apelles of Eraclea Sintica
St Arnulf of Novalesa (Died 840) Monk, Martyr
St Begu of Hackness

Blessed Christopher of Romagna OFM (Died 1272) Priest, Friar of the Order of Friars Minor during the life of St Francis, Missionary, sent by St Francis to preach against the heretic Albigensians in France.and Founder of Franciscan Monasteries there. … He was Beatified in 1905 by Pope Pius X.
His Holy Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/10/31/saint-of-the-day-31-october-blessed-christopher-of-romagna-ofm-died-1272/

St Epimachus of Melusio
St Erth of Cornwall

St Foillan of Fosses (Died 655) Bishop Martyr, Missionary, Abbot
St Foillan’s Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/10/31/saint-of-the-day-31-october-st-foillan-of-fosses-died-655/

St Lucilla of Rome
Bl Maria de Requesens
St Narcissus
St Notburga of Cologne
St Quentin
St Stachys of Constantinople

Blessed Thomas Bellacci TOSF (1370-1447) Lay Friar and Third Order Franciscan, Penitent, Confessor, renowned Missionary Preacher, Papal Legate, Novice Master and Vicar General of the Order. Thomas was Beatified by Pope Clement XIV in 1771.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/10/31/saint-of-the-day-31-october-blessed-thomas-bellacci-tosf-1370-1447/

St Urban

St Wolfgang of Regensburg (c934 –994) “The Great Almoner,” Bishop, Monk, Missionary, Ascetic, Apostle of Charity. He is regarded as one of the three great German Saints of the 10th Century, the other two being Saint Ulrich and Saint Conrad of Constance. He was Canonised in 1052 by Pope Leo IX.
St Wolfgang’s life:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/10/31/saint-of-the-day-31-october-saint-wolfgang-of-regensburg-c-934-994/