Saint Theophilus of Bulgaria, was a Benedictine monk and confessor. Originally from Bulgaria, he joined a monastery in Asia Minor and was an outspoken opponent of the imperial policies of lconoclasticism. For this he was sent into exile by Emperor Leo III the Isaurian, and was brutally mistreated.
Original design of the St Benedict medal
In accord with the emperor’s orders, the saint was subjected to beatings and led through the city tied up like a criminal. The emperor then gave Theophilus over into the charge of the official, Hypatius, who tried repeatedly to compel Theophilus to accept the Iconoclastic heresy. Theophilus remained steadfast in the Faith, and Hypatius converted instead. Because of this, Hypatius gained the emperor’s permission to set the saint free.
Theophilus died in 750.
Leo III the Isaurian
Leo III the Isaurian was described as ‘Islamic minded’.
Matka Boża Różańcowa / Our Lady of the Rosary, Krakow, Poland (1600s) – First Sunday of October, 2 October:
In the Dominican Basilica of the Trinity in Cracow is a large Chapel dedicated to the Mother of God of the Rosary. The icon on its main Altar, crowned on 2 October 1921, is a copy of the ancient Salus Populi Romani (Health of the Roman People) image in the Basilica of St Mary Major of the Snows in Rome — the icon Pope Gregory the Great carried in procession to end the plague of 597. During the Battle of Lepanto (7 October 571), when ships of a coalition of Christian countries routed the Turkish navy off Greece, Pope Pius V prayed the Rosary with a large group of faithful before the Roman icon. The old image thus became associated with the newer devotion of the Rosary and with saving Europe from Ottoman rule.
Churches throughout Catholic Europe were dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary and copies of the Salus Populi Romani proliferated. Cardinal Maciejowski brought such a copy from Rome to Cracow in 1600. The image played a part in the “Polish Lepanto” in 1621, when at Khotyn, Ukraine (then Chocim, Poland) an allied force of Poles, Lithuanians and Ukrainians faced a Turkish army twice its size. On 3 October, the Bishop of Krakow led an hours-long Rosary procession with the holy icon. The entire population joined in. When the Turks gave up their attack and signed a treaty, Our Lady of the Rosary gained another victory. Her feast is celebrated in Krakow on the first Sunday of October.
The Swedish deluge contributed to the destruction of the original image of the Mother of God. T he cult, however, was so strong that a copy of the previous painting was quickly funded. The present one comes from the 50s and 60s of the 17th century. Numerous votive offerings made on the occasion of receiving favours have also survived from that time. The oldest exhibited in the Church are dated to 1703, the older ones are in the Archdiocese Museum. The love for the Blessed Mother is also evidenced by the silver dress donated in the 1770s by the Działyński family,and the sceptre of Our Lady of the “Pious Gregory of Pierzchno” foundation at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries.
St Alfonso del Rio St Andrea Ximenez
St Beregisius St Eleutherius of Nicomedia Bl Georges-Edme René St Gerinus
St Leudomer St Maria Antonina Kratochwil St Modesto of Sardinia St Saturius of Soria St Theophilus of Bulgaria St Thomas de Cantilupe of Hereford (c 1218-1282) Bishop St Ursicinus II — Martyred in Antioch, Syria: Martyred in one of the early persecutions, date unknown. St Cyril of Antioch St Primus of Antioch St Secundarius of Antioch
Martyred in Nagasaki, Japan: A husband, wife and two sons, who were all martyred together in the persecutions in Japan. They were beheaded on 2 October 1622 in Nagasaki, Japan and Beatified by Pope Pius IX on 7 May 1867. • Blessed Andreas Yakichi • Blessed Franciscus Yakichi • Blessed Lucia Yakichi • Blessed Ludovicus Yakichi
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: • Blessed Elías Carbonell Molla • Blessed Enrique Sáiz-Aparicio • Blesssed Felipe González de Heredia Barahona • Blessed Francisco Carceller Galindo • Blessed Isidoro Bover Oliver • Blessed Juan Carbonell Molla • Blessed Juan Iñiguez de Ciriano Abechuco • Blessed Manuel Borrajo Míguez • Blessed María Francisca Ricart Olmos • Blessed Mateu Garrolera Masferrer • Blessed Pedro Artolozaga Mellique • Blessed Pedro Salcedo Puchades
One Minute Reflection – 2 October – The Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels, Readings: Ps 102:20, Ps 102:1, Exod 23:20-23, Matt 18:1-10
If you heed his voice and carry out all I tell you, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foe, and My Angel will go before you.
Exod 23:20-23
REFLECTION – Come, Lord Jesus, seek your servant; seek your weary sheep; come, my shepherd… While you delay on the mountains, see! your sheep is straying. So leave the ninety-nine that are safe in hand and come, look for the one that has strayed. Come, without seeking a helper, without making yourself known; it is you I am waiting for now. Take no whip; take up your love. Come with the gentleness of your Spirit. Don’t hesitate to leave the ninety-nine that belong to you on the mountains: wolves cannot reach the heights where you have set them. Come to me who have strayed far away from the flocks on high, for you had set me up there, too, but the night wolves made me leave your sheepfolds.
Seek me, Lord, since my prayer seeks you. Seek me, find me, take me up, carry me! He whom you seek, you can find; he whom you find, stoop to take up; and he whom you take up, set on your shoulders. This burden of your love is never a load for you and you unwearyingly make of yourself the toll-keeper of justice. So come, Lord, since, if it is true that I stray, yet “I do not forget your word” and still keep hoping for relief. Come, Lord, for you alone are still able to call your lost sheep and will cause no harm to those you will be leaving behind. They, too, will be happy to see the sinner return. Come! There will be redemption on earth and rejoicing in heaven.
Do not send your menservants, do not send hirelings: come and look for your sheep yourself. Take me up in that flesh that fell with Adam. By this act acknowledge in me, not the child of Eve but the son of Mary, pure virgin, virgin by grace, without stain of sin. Then carry me even to your cross, salvation of the straying, only rest for the weary, sole life of all who die.
St Ambrose
PRAYER – Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits thee here. Ever this day, be at my side, to light, to guard, to rule, to guide. Amen.
In every lodging, at every corner, have reverence for thy Angel. Do not dare to do in his presence what you would not dare to do, if I were there. Or do you doubt that he is present whom you do not behold? What if you should hear him? What if you should touch him? What if you should scent him? Remember, that the presence of something is not proved only by the sight of things.
St Bernard
God is humanity’s universal Teacher and Guardian but His Teaching to humanity is mediated by Angels.
St Thomas Aquinas
When tempted, invoke your Angel. He is more eager to help you than you are to be helped! Ignore the devil and do not be afraid of him; he trembles and flees at the sight of your Guardian Angel.
St John Bosco
See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. Give heed to him and hearken to his voice. Do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your sin. My authority is within him.
Exodus 23:20-21
Beside each believer stands an Angel as protector and shepherd, leading him to life.
St Basil the Great
What joy it is to know that when we go out of the house, we are never alone en route.
AN EXHORTATION TO THE LOVE AND HONOUR OF THE HOLY ANGELS
The science of the sage, says the Holy Ghost, is like in its abundance to an inundation of waters : for, as the land is sometimes overspread by the swelling of the sea over its boundaries—so the mind of a Christian is sometimes so penetrated with the lights of faith, that it is absorbed in wonder and amazement. This assertion is fully verified in the knowledge which revelation gives of the Holy angels. However slightly we consider what it teaches of them, we discover so many and such powerful reasons to love these blessed Spirits, that we cannot refuse to do so.
All possible motives concur in pressing you to love these Spirits of love. If you regard God, you must love his Angels; if you regard yourself, you must love the Angels. Pure love commands it— interested love requires it—God alone wishes it— the holy Virgin and all the Saints desire it. If you live to God alone, you must be devout to the Angels; even though you still live to nature, you must love these blessed Spirits. We are differently affected—some are attracted by honours, some by riches, and others by pleasure. If pleasure attract you, these blessed Spirits can procure it for you, for they are placed at the source of eternal joy. If you wish to have the interest of the mighty, there is nothing in created being more powerful than the angelic nature. If you sigh after greatness, know that these peers of the celestial realms procure for their clients the sceptre of immortal honour and the diadem of unfading glory.
Ah! how different are the dispositions of the Angels, compared with those of the great ones of this earth! These wish to reign alone, whereas the highest ambition of those princes of love is to share their thrones with us, that we may partake in their felicity. If you are captivated by beauty, learn that the Angels are beautiful beyond description, and that their beauty is not subject to decay. Besides, the love and constancy of these amiable friends are incomparable ; the former includes every species of love—the latter is so great that whatever ingratitude we evince towards them, they seem to overlook it, incessantly watching over all that concerns us, defending us against our enemies, and rendering us every service. If you are of those souls who act by the movements of grace, and live to God alone, you must love the Angels. If the motive of the will of God influence you, you must be devout to them, since these blessed Spirits are the objects of his complacency and the masterpieces of his love.
If the kings of the earth were willing to receive you into their friendship, surely you would not refuse it. Now, consider that it depends on yourself to form an eternal alliance with the heavenly Princes, and by their influence to be one day crowned with them in the celestial empire.
Love the Angels, apostolic men ! for they are the missionaries of paradise.
Love the Angels, preachers of the world, they are profoundly skilled in the science of eternity.
Love the Angels, priests! for it is by their ministry the divine oblation is made.
Love the Angels, religious ! those admirable spirits are always retired in God.
Love the Angels, seculars ! those good intelligences pity you in the dangers to which you are continually exposed.
Love the Angels, married persons! the succour afforded Tobias by the Archangel Raphael, evinces the care of your state.
Love the Angels, widows and orphans! they are indefatigable in providing for persons in distress.
Love the Angels, virgins; again I say to you, love the Angels ! they are great friends of virginity, being charmed to see frail mortals live on earth as they live in heaven.
Love the Angels, just souls ! they are infallible guides in the way to God
Love the Angels, sinners ! they will obtain your pardon.
Love the Angels, afflicted souls! they are the consolation of the miserable, and the help of the distressed.
Love the Angels, ye rich and great! they will teach you that nothing is worth regarding but eternity.
Love the Seraphim, O men! they are the princes of pure love.
Love the Cherubim, they are skilled in the science of the saints.
Love the Thrones, they patronize peace of heart and tranquillity of soul.
Love the Dominations, they will teach you the art of self-government.
Love the Virtues,they are masters in the school of perfection.
Love the Powers, they are your defence.
Love the Principalities, they preside over states and kingdoms.
Love the Archangels, they are zealous for your wellbeing, and obtain for you a thousand benedictions.
Love the Angels, they are celestial stars, whose influence we oftener feel, because placed nearer to this nether sphere.
Henceforward be all love for those blessed spirits, who so ardently love you. Bless them, my God! those who are devout to your Angels. Bless those who on reading this poor little work will give themselves to this devotion. Bless them with the benedictions of the just, making them walk in your ways. Bless them with the benediction of Abraham, the spirit of sacrifice—with the benediction of Isaac, the spirit of conformity— with the spirit of Jacob, the spirit of lively faith Bless them -with the benediction of the elect. Bless them with the benediction of the Angels, making them sharers in your neverending joys ! Great and august Queen of Paradise, bless them with your protection that, being all united in seeking the interest of God alone, God alone may reign in their hearts for ever. Amen.
Day Five – We Pray for Purity of Heart and our personal intention:
The Ever-Virgin Mary was and remains pure in charity, chastity and love of truth and orthodoxy of faith. And that purity is divine because it is inspired by God! Each of us benefits from the purity of Mary, regardless of how difficult it is to be pure in charity, chastity and right belief, IT IS POSSIBLE… We WILL be pure when we adopt the attitude of Our Blessed Lady and seek the divine purity that even yet radiates from Her. By abandoning ourselves to God as she did, we open ourselves to fresh opportunities of achieving purity. (The Virtue of Purity: An Undivided Heart by Msgr Charles M Mangan)
To Our most holy Mother. To you do we pray first with heartfelt thanks for your YES to the Father. Grant us your guidance and assistance to become as pure as you are.
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.
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