Blessed Domenico of Perpignano was a Mercedarian (the Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives) friar the Holy Savior convent on Mallorca, Spain. He freed 153 Christians enslaved and imprisoned by Muslims for their faith in Tunisia.
Members of Blessed Domenico’s order took a fourth vow: to die, if necessary, for a Christian captive who is in danger of losing their faith.
St Luke the Evangelist (Feast)
Notre-Dame de Reims / Our Lady of Rheims – Dedication of the Church of Our Lady of Rheims (405) built by St Nicasius – 18 October:
Dedication of Our Lady of Rheims, built by St Nicasius (died c 407), Archbishop of that City period in the year 405. It was Saint Nicasius who prophesised that France would be invaded by the Vandals, telling the people of Rheims to prepare themselves. When the Vandals finally arrived at the City gates, St Nicasius went out to meet them with his sister, a faithful deaconess. All were killed but their sacrifice gave time for more of the people of Rheims to flee to safety.
It is interesting to note, that when St Nicasius was beheaded he was praying Psalm 119. He was slain at the moment when he reached the phrase “Adhaesit pavimento anima mea,” which means, “my soul is attached to dust.” After he was decapitated, his head struck the ground and he miraculously continued the psalm, saying: “Vivifica me, Domine, secundum verbum tuum,” which means, “revive me, Lord, with your words.”
This was the Church where King Clovis humbly confessed his belief in the Triune God and was baptised by St Regimius in 496 and where, all of the subsequent French Kings were crowned. In the Gallery of the Kings there is a magnificent painting of the baptism of King Clovis surrounded by images of all of his successors.
This Church, having fallen to ruins, was later rebuilt by Ebo and Hincmar. It was finished in the year 845 and still remains a place of pilgrimage to the Mother of God. At one time enemies of the Cathedral chapter set fire to a monastery of Rheims. Among the relics which the sacristan tried to save was an ivory statue of the Virgin, containing some of her hair. The sacristan prayed fervently to the Virgin that she would preserve this relic. The Abbot, entering the ruins of the Church, found the Statue upright and unharmed as if placed there reverently. From thence forward, the image was believed to be miraculous.
The present Cathedral takes the place of the older churches, the previous one having been damaged by fire in 1210. It was not completed until the 14th century, and is the beautiful Gothic Cathedral that can still be seen today, after much restoration work after the bombardments of WWI and II.
St Acutius of Pozzuoli
St Amabilis of Auvergne (c 397- c 475) Priest, Confessor
St Asclepiades of Antioch
St Athenodorus
St Brothen
Bl Burchard I
St Cadwaladr of Brittany
Bl Domenico of Perpignano
St Eutychius of Pozzuoli
St Gwen of Tagarth
St Gwendoline
St Julian Sabas the Hermit (4th Century) Hermit, Confessor and miracle-worker.
St Justus of Beauvais (c 278—c 287) Martyr, Child of nine years of age. He is a Cephalophores.
Bl Margherita Tornielli
St Monon of Nassogne
St Proculus of Pozzuoli
Bl Theobald of Narbonna
St Tryphonia of Rome
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Martyrs of Africa – 9 saints: A group of Christians martryed together in Africa. The only details that have survived are the names – Beresus, Dasius, Faustinus, Leucius, Lucius, Martialis, Victoricus, Victrix and Viktor. They were martyred in c.300 in Africa.
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Alfredo Almunia López-Teruel
• Blessed Francisco Roselló Hernández
• Blessed Isidro Juan Martínez
Our Morning Offering – 18 October – The Feast of St Luke, the Evangelist
Holy and Learned, Great Saint Luke
Prayer/Hymn in Honour of St Luke
“Plausibus Luca canimus”
Trans the Benedictines of
Saint Cecilia’s Abbey, Ryde, UK
Holy and learned, great Saint Luke,
we praise you,
Closely you followed in the steps of Jesus,
As supreme witness to His life and teaching
Shedding your life-blood.
Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
You left in writing, for all time to study
Stories unrivalled for their depth and beauty,
Christ’s love revealing.
Yours are the records
which we read with pleasure
Of the beginning of the Church so fervent,
Under the impulse of the true and living
Spirit of Jesus.
Paul’s earnest helper, sharer in his travels,
Zealous as he was, with a heart as loving,
Make our souls also steadfast and devoted
To the Lord Jesus.
Tender physician, use your gift of healing,
Comfort our weakness with a faith unswerving,
So that rejoicing, we may praise forever
God the Almighty.
Amen
One Minute Reflection – 18 October – The Feast of St Luke the Evangelist – Readings: Esth 13:9-11, Ps 118:1, Eph 6:10-17, Matt 18:23-35
At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples this parable: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who desired to settle accounts with his servants.
Matt 18:23-35
REFLECTION – What is human mercy like? It makes you concerned for the hardship of the poor. What is divine mercy like? It forgives sinners.
In this world God is cold and hungry in all the poor, as he himself said. What sort of people are we? When God gives, we want to receive, when he asks, we refuse to give? When a poor man is hungry, Christ is in need, as he said himself: “I was hungry and you gave me no food”. Take care not to despise the hardship of the poor, if you would hope, without fear, to have your sins forgiven… What he receives on earth he returns in heaven.
I put you this question, dearly beloved: what is it you want, what is it you are looking for, when you come to church? What indeed if not mercy? Show mercy on earth, and you will receive mercy in heaven. A poor man is begging from you, and you are begging from God: he asks for a scrap, you ask for eternal life. And so when you come to church give whatever alms you can to the poor in accordance with your means.
St Caesarius of Arles
PRAYER – O Lord, we beseech Thee, that Luke, Thy holy Evangelist, who for the honour of Thy Name bore continuously in his body the suffering of the Cross, may intercede on our behalf. 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
And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people.
Luke 1:17
If we willfully neglect to seek the road that leads to God, we shall find that we are as far off as earth is to heaven. But if we sincerely try to reach that blessed city, we shall soon find ourselves at its gate.
St John Chrysostom
In seeing and possessing God in heaven, we shall become like to God: holy, pure, wise, powerful and happy, sharing the happiness of God Himself, a pure, constant, universal and eternal happiness. We shall be transformed into Him; our wills, our affections, our desires, will be like God’s.
Fr François Nepveu
God and the soul become one in participant transformation, and the soul appears to be God more than a soul. Indeed, in the Transforming Union it is God by participation.
The Fire Within
Had you worked to gain heaven, every moment of pain would produce an additional lustre to your crown of glory. But because you work for this world, you labour incessantly and gain nothing. All that you have done, all that you have suffered, will be to no avail, all your ridiculous projects will end in smoke, all your works are dead, and with them, you will die.
Pere Crasset
Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name. And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.
Luke 1: 48-50
PRACTICE FIFTH
To converse interiorly with the Angels
Render familiar to yourselves the converse of the holy Angels, says St. Bernard to his religious, and often call them to mind. We willingly converse with men—and behold the world is full of Angels, and these most amiable and excellent in every point of view, and yet scarcely can there be found a few who think of them. Is it that we doubt of their presence, because we do not behold them with our bodily eyes? Have we not faith?
When you walk through town, salute interiorly the Angels of those whom you meet. When you go to the country, pay homage to the blessed Spirits who are there even more neglected, because of the ignorance of the poor peasantry. When you enter into a church, or a public assembly, let holy faith manifest to you the presence of the Angels. When you make a journey, entertain yourself with the Angels of those who travel with you. When among your friends, say from time to time a little word to their Angels—and when alone with yourself, speak to and entertain these blessed Spirits.
If we exhort you to be familiar with and devout to all the Angels, we are still more pressing in inviting you to honour that holy Spirit to whose care God committed you at the moment of your birth. He thinks continually of you; never lose sight of him. A little prayer, said morning and night, is too slight a testimony of your gratitude towards him. Take then, a quarter or half an hour sometimes to pay this good Angel your homage. Prostrate yourself before him; crave pardon for your past ingratitude; ask his blessing : tell him all you would wish to say to a most faithful friend.: Now speak to him of your weaknesses, miseries, temptations—and then of the obligations you have to him, of his beauty, his perfections, his admirable qualifications. Converse with him as with a good father, a tender mother, an incomparable friend, a vigilant pastor, a charitable guide, a skilful physician, a powerful protector. Entertain your good Angel at different intervals in one of these characters—and be assured that the time will pass much more agreeably and profitably than in the company of creatures. Sometimes you are at a loss for a companion—behold your good Angel always ready to converse with you.
We ought also often visit in spirit heretical and infidel kingdoms, to converse with the Angels of these poor people, and treat with them about their conversion. One day we can honour the Angels of one kingdom—and another, the Angels of some other. Another very delightful practice is, to traverse, in spirit, the Heavenly Jerusalem—now saluting the Cherubim, then the Seraphim, and so the other Choirs. It is also very laudable to salute the Angels our acquaintances when we meet them. This is easier than some may imagine; it is only necessary to make a little compact with yourself, which you will renew at least every month, that, as often as you salute any person, you will also salute his Angel Guardian. On these occasions, when you remember it, say interiorly to these holy Angels, that you salute them.
By this means, the recollection of these blessed Spirits will be gradually facilitated. Some, when writing to friends, salute their Angel Guardians. I know it will be said, that these practices are rare. I admit that they are so—but maintain that they ought to be general. It is an extraordinary thing to see a real Saint: but as this deplorable truth should not hinder us from aspiring to sanctity—so, that want of devotion to the Angels, which is so general, cannot warrant us to refuse them our love and veneration.
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