I am His; I am yours, my good Mother! By Blessed John Henry Newman
O Mother of Jesus
and my Mother, let me dwell with you,
cling to you and love you with ever-increasing love.
I promise the honour, love and trust of a child.
Give me a mother’s protection,
for I need your watchful care.
You know better than any other,
the thoughts and desires of the Sacred Heart.
Keep constantly before my mind,
the same thoughts, the same desires,
that my heart may be filled with zeal
for the interests of the
Sacred Heart of your Divine Son.
Instill in me a love of all that is noble,
that I may no longer be easily turned to selfishness.
Help me, dearest Mother,
to acquire the virtues that God wants of me:
to forget myself always, to work solely for Him,
without fear of sacrifice.
I shall always rely on your help to be,
what Jesus wants me to be.
I am His; I am yours, my good Mother!
Give me each day your holy and maternal blessing,
until my last evening on earth,
when your Immaculate Heart will present me,
to the heart of Jesus in heaven,
there to love and bless you
and your divine Son for all eternity. Amen
Thought for the Day – 11 October – The Memorial of St John XXIII (1881-1963) “The Daily Decalogue of St Pope John XXIII”
Pope John XXIII’s message is still extraordinarily timely today. His life, his Discourses and his actions bring us to the heart of the faith and the heart of Christian commitment.
As we know, one of Pope John’s most important decisions was to convoke the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, which was inaugurated on 11 October 1962 here in St Peter’s Basilica.
I was present (indeed, by a fortunate circumstance, it was I who organsed the distribution of the first Council Documents “sub peculiari secreto” to the Council Fathers!) and I remember how the day unfolded to its extraordinary conclusion in St Peter’s Square by moonlight.
We could recall a wealth of Pope John’s teachings and episodes concerning him but today I intend to focus on several thoughts which might be useful in our personal life and spiritual renewal.
The Church, in his view, has a motherly face: her task is to keep “her arms open to receive everyone”. She is a “home for one and all” that “desires to belong to everyone, and in particular she is the Church of the poor, like the village fountain”, with no distinctions of race or religion.
The Church’s holiness and human wisdom are expressed very clearly in what is called “The daily decalogue of Pope John XXIII”:
1) Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
2) Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behaviour; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.
3) Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.
4) Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
5) Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
6) Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.
7) Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.
8) Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
9) Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.
10) Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for 12 hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.
To conclude: here is an all-embracing resolution: “I want to be kind, today and always, to everyone”.In this way, we can put Pope John’s hope for every Christian into practice: “Every believer in this world must be a spark of light, a core of love, life-giving leaven in the mass: and the more he is so, the more he will live, in his innermost depths, in communion with God”. (EUCHARISTIC CONCELEBRATION COMMEMORATING POPE JOHN XXIII ON HIS MEMORIAL – HOMILY OF CARD. TARCISIO BERTONE at the Altar of St Jerome, Vatican Basilica – Wednesday, 11 October 2006)
Quote/s of the Day – 11 October – The Memorial of St John XXIII (1881-1963)
“It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father.”
“Every time I hear anyone speak of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or of the Blessed Sacrament I feel an indescribable joy. It is as if a wave of precious memories, sweet affections and joyful hopes swept over my poor person, making me tremble with happiness and filling my soul with tenderness. These are loving appeals from Jesus who wants me wholeheartedly there, at the source of all goodness, His Sacred Heart, throbbing mysteriously behind the Eucharistic veils… I love to repeat today ‘Sweet Heart of my Jesus, make me love You more and more.'”
Holy Mother Church is a home for one and all. She desires to belong to everyone and in particular she is the Church of the poor, like the village fountain”.
One Minute Reflection – 11 October – The Memorial of St John XXIII (1881-1963)
I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘whom shall I send?…’ “Here I am, I said, send me!” … Isaiah 6:8
REFLECTION – “I have looked into your eyes with my eyes. I have put my heart near your heart.” …St Pope John XXIII “In the last moments of his earthly life, he entrusted his testament to the Church: “What counts the most in life is blessed Jesus Christ, His holy Church, His Gospel, truth and goodness”. – St Pope John Paul II
PRAYER – Help me my Lord, to discern through prayer and meditation, what You truly want of me. Then enable me to offer it to You and indeed to offer myself and all I have to You. St John XXIII, pray for Holy Mother Church, pray for all the members of the Mystical Body, pray for our sons and daughters and for us all, pray for me! Amen
Our Morning Offering – 11 October – The memorial of St John XXIII (1881-1963)
OPENING PRAYER AT THE 2ND VATICAN COUNCIL (1962) By St John XXIII
We stand before You, Holy Spirit,
conscious of our sinfulness,
but aware that we
gather in Your name.
Come to us, remain with us,
and enlighten our hearts.
Give us light and strength
to know Your will,
to make it our own and to
live it in our lives.
Guide us by Your wisdom,
support us by Your power,
for You are God, sharing the
glory of Father and Son.
You desire justice for all:
enable us to uphold the rights of others;
do not allow us to be misled by ignorance
or corrupted by fear or favour.
Unite us to Yourself in the bond of love
and keep us faithful to all that is true.
As we gather in Your name
may we temper justice with love,
so that all our decisions may be pleasing
to You and earn the reward promised to
good and faithful servants.
You live and reign with the Father
and the Son, One God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Thought for the Day – 10 October – The Memorial of St Daniel Comboni (1831-1881)
“Preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mk 16:15). With these words before the Ascension the Risen One entrusted the universal missionary mandate to the Apostles. Immediately afterwards, He assured them that in this demanding mission they would always be able to count on His help (cf. Mk 16: 20).
From the time of his priestly formation in the institute founded by the Servant of God Nicola Mazza, Daniel Comboni felt called to give his own life to proclaim the Gospel in the land of Africa. This awareness stayed with him throughout his life and supported him in his missionary labours and pastoral difficulties. He felt comforted in this dedication by the words he heard from Pope Pius IX: “Labora sicut bonus miles Christi pro African” (“Work like a good soldier of Christ for Africa” Scritti, n. 4085). The modernness and boldness of his work were expressed in the preparation and formation of future priests, in the tireless promotion of the missions by his writing and publishing, in the founding of two institutes one for men, the other for women exclusively dedicated to the mission “ad gentes”, by struggling for the abolition of the terrible slave-trade and by actively working “for the rebirth of Africa through itself”. These insights of the new blessed produced great fruit for the evangelisation of the African continent by paving the way to the consoling growth of the Church in Africa today (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa, nn. 3338).
“Leading humanity to the light of eternal life”: Daniel Comboni’s ideal continues today in the apostolate of his spiritual sons and daughters. They still maintain strong ties in Africa, particularly in Sudan, where their founder spent a great part of his energy as a tireless evangeliser and where he died at a young age, worn out by his labours and illness. The unconditional trust he had in the power of prayer (cf. Scritti n. 2324) is effectively expressed in the “Cenacles of missionary prayer” which are being set up in many parishes and represent a significant way to promote and renew missionary spirituality. – Pope John Paul II at the beatification ceremony for Blessed Daniel on 17 March 1996
Daniel Comboni: the son of poor gardeners who became the first Catholic Bishop of Central Africa and one of the great missionaries in the Church’s history.
It is a fact. When God decides to take a hand and select a generous and open-hearted individual, things happen: great, new things.
Quote/s of the Day – 10 October – The Memorial of St Francis Borgia SJ (1510-1572) and St Daniel Comboni (1831-1881)
“I am very sorry to lose the company of a man of your merit, a shining light of counsel, a model in the exercise of the highest offices of State and, because of your virtue and piety, a factor of edification for all my court. But I recognise that it would be unreasonable to dispute over you with the Master you have chosen to serve. It is, therefore, with sorrow that I grant you the permission you are requesting. I authorise you to renounce your fiefs and titles in favour of your firstborn son. The number of those who will envy you, will be greater than those who will imitate you, since it is easy to admire beautiful examples but difficult to follow them. I recommend myself to your prayers and I count upon you, to attract divine blessings over me, my States, and all Christendom.”
(King Charles V of Spain when he granted permission to St Francis to enter the novitiate of the Jesuits.)
“When you pray, hear Mass, sit at table, engage in business and when at bedtime you remove your clothes— at all times crave that by the pain which He felt when He was stripped just before His crucifixion, He may strip us of our evil habits of mind. Thus, naked of earthly things, we may also embrace the cross.”
“I have great doubts about the salvation of those who do not have special devotion to Mary.”
St Francis Borgia (1510-1572)
“The same terrible crosses that oppress me are also the greatest consolation because Jesus suffered, Jesus is a Victim Jesus chose the Cross…. (therefore) I am happy with the Cross, tbat borne willingly for the love of God, generates triumph and eternal life.”
One Minute Reflection – 10 October – The Memorial of St Daniel Comboni (1831-1881)
God would not be so unjust as to forget all you have done, the love that you have for his name or the services you have done and are still doing, for the holy people of God.…Hebrews 6:10
REFLECTION – “The missionaries will have to understand that they are stones hid under the earth, which will perhaps never come to light, but which will become part of the foundations of a vast, new building.”….St Daniel Comboni (1831-1881)
PRAYER – Lord God, by whose supassing mercy St Daniel Comboni made known the unfathomable riches of Christ, grant, at his intercession, that we may grow in knowledge of You, yield fruit in every good work and by the truth of the Gospel, live faithfully in Your presence. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, forever amen.
Thought for the Day – 9 October – The Memorial of St John Leonardi (1541-1609)
Dear brothers and sisters, St John Leonardi’s existence was always enlightened by the splendour of the “Holy Face” of Jesus, kept and venerated in the Cathedral Church of Lucca, becoming the eloquent symbol and the indisputable synthesis of the faith that animated him. Conquered by Christ like the Apostle Paul, he pointed out to his disciples and continues to point out to all of us, the Christocentric ideal for which “it is necessary to divest oneself of every self interest and only look to the service of God,” having “before the mind’s eye only the honour, service and glory of Christ Jesus Crucified.”
Along with the face of Christ, he fixed his gaze on the maternal face of Mary. She whom he chose patroness of his order, was for him teacher, sister and mother and he felt her constant protection. May the example and intercession of this “fascinating man of God”be, particularly in this Year for Priests, a call and encouragement for priests and for all Christians to live their own vocations with passion and enthusiasm. (Pope Benedict XVI, October 7, 2009)
What can one person do? The answer is plenty! In the life of each saint, one thing stands clear: God and one person are a majority!
What one individual, following God’s will and plan for his or her life, can do is more than our mind could ever hope for or imagine.
Each of us, like John Leonardi, has a mission to fulfill in God’s plan for the world.
Each one of us is unique and has been given talent to use for the service of our brothers and sisters for the building up of God’s kingdom.
A Moment of Joy! – – 9 October – The Memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890) -Vatican investigates second ‘miracle’ attributed to Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
English bishops say the progress of his Cause is a source of ‘great joy’.
Beatification by Pope Benedict XVI
The Archbishop of Birmingham has welcomed reports that the Vatican is investigating a possible second “miracle” which may lead to the canonisation of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman. Archbishop Bernard Longley said it was a “great joy” to know that the Cause was making progress. He said the occasion should also spur on Catholics to renew their prayers for the canonisation of Blessed Dominic Barberi, who received Newman into the Catholic faith from the Church of England.
“Blessed Cardinal Newman has left an extraordinarily rich spiritual legacy – not least through the two Oratory communities in Birmingham and Oxford – as well as to the Church nationally and internationally,” Archbishop Longley said. “It would be a great joy to see him take a step closer to being named among the saints and would be an encouragement to all who have been inspired by him seek the truth by seeking Christ.
“At the same time, and especially during this Jubilee Year of Mercy, I am sure that Blessed John Henry Newman would want us to continue praying for the canonisation of Blessed Dominic Barberi, the Passionist priest who first enabled him to receive the Sacrament of mercy at his reception into full communion with the Catholic Church at Littlemore in 1845 and who gave him a new insight into the merciful love of God.”
The archbishop spoke after the Tablet, a Catholic weekly magazine, revealed that the Archdiocese of Chicago had investigated the inexplicable healing of a young American mother who prayed for the Victorian cardinal’s intercession when she became afflicted by a “life-threatening pregnancy”. Doctors who treated her have reported that they have no explanation for the sudden and complete recovery of the woman, a law graduate. The file on her case has now been passed to the Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood and if Vatican theologians and doctors conclude the healing is a divine sign of Newman’s sanctity the Pope will be invited to canonise him as the first English saint since 1970 and the first British saint since 1976.
Two healing miracles are normally required for a candidate to be declared a saint. Cardinal Newman was beatified in Cofton Park, Birmingham, by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 after the Vatican approved the first miracle, which involved the inexplicable healing of Jack Sullivan, an American who nine years earlier recovered from a crippling spinal condition which had left him “bent double”.
An earlier alleged healing of a baby in Mexico at Newman’s intercession was dismissed by the Congregation and the Vatican is refusing to disclose details about the latest case at the present time. But if the new case passes scrutiny, it will cement the international reputation of Cardinal Newman as one of the most distinguished Englishmen of his generation.
The London-born cardinal was an esteemed 19th-century Anglican theologian who founded the Oxford Movement to try to return the Church of England to its Catholic roots before he converted to the Catholic faith. In spite of a life marked by controversy, he was renowned for his exemplary virtue and also for his reputation as a brilliant thinker and Pope Leo XIII rewarded him with a cardinal’s red hat.
John Henry Newman’s coat of arms with the motto “heart speaks to heart”
He died in Birmingham in 1890, aged 89, and more than 15,000 people lined the streets for his funeral procession to pay tribute to him.
Scholars believe he was years ahead of his time in his views of the Church and her teachings. He was also a deeply original theologian who articulated a “theology of conscience” which historians have recently discovered influenced Sophie Scholl, the German woman beheaded in 1943 after she was caught flooding Munich University with leaflets urging students to rise up against “Nazi terror”.
Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth said he was convinced that Cardinal Newman would not only be canonised one day but would also be declared a Doctor of the Church because of the wealth and depth of teaching he left behind. “He was a man whose life and whose heart was absolutely docile to the truth of God and the truth of Christ,” the bishop said. “He was absolutely under the Word of God and I think that is important to us in an age of relativism and liberalism. Here is somebody led by the truth even if it cost him in his own personal life.” The teachings of Newman continue to be esteemed throughout the world, Bishop Egan said, adding: “I wonder if we undervalue him in England or don’t fully grasp just how significant he is in terms of the universal Church.”
The development was also welcomed by Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury. “John Henry Newman is already recognised by both Catholics and Anglicans for his personal holiness as well as his great learning,” he said. “We cannot anticipate the final judgment on a miracle now attributed to Cardinal Newman’s prayers,” he continued. “However, we pray that soon England will have a new saint recognised, a saint whose life and witness was closely connected with such familiar places as London, Oxford and Birmingham.”
Vatican officials are also studying the Causes of Passionist Fr Ignatius Spencer, a relative of Princes William and Harry through their mother, Lady Diana; Mother Elizabeth Prout, the founder of the Passionist sisters who worked with the poor in Manchester; Frances Taylor, “the saint of Soho” and a colleague of Florence Nightingale, and Mother Riccarda Beauchamp Hambrough, a Bridgettine nun who helped to rescue Jews from the Nazis in the Second World War.
Like Cardinal Newman, all of these post-Reformation candidates for sainthood were converts to the Catholic faith.
Blessed John Henry Newman, Pray for us, as we pray for your Canonisation!
PRAYER FOR CANONISATION of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
God our Father,
You granted to Your servant,
Blessed John Henry Newman,
wonderful gifts of nature and of grace,
that he should be a spiritual light
in the darkness of this world,
an eloquent herald of the Gospel
and a devoted servant of the one Church of Christ.
With confidence in his heavenly intercession,
we make the petition for his Canonisation.
For his insight into the mysteries of the kingdom,
his zealous defence of the teachings of the Church
and his priestly love for each of your children,
we pray that he may soon be numbered among the Saints.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Nihil Obstat: Fr Pat McKinney S.T.L.
Imprimatur: + Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham
One Minute Reflection – 9 October – The Memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
But without faith it is impossible to please him, for anyone who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him....Hebrews 11:6
REFLECTION – “Oh that we could take that simple view of things, as to feel that the one thing which lies before us is to please God! What gain is it to please the world, to please the great, even to please those whom we love, compared with this? What gain is it to be applauded, admired, courted, followed, compared with this one aim, of not being disobedient to a heavenly vision? What can this world offer comparable with that insight into spiritual things, that keen faith, that heavenly peace, that high sanctity, that everlasting righteousness, that hope of glory, which they have who in sincerity love and follow our Lord Jesus Christ?”…Blessed John Henry Newman
PRAYER – “Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance everywhere I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly,
that my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me and be so in me
that every soul I come in contact with
may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus!”
Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us!
Our Morning Offering – 9 October – The Memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Be with Me Today, O Lord By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
May all I do today begin with You, O Lord.
Plant dreams and hopes within my soul,
revive my tired spirit: be with me today.
May all I do today continue with Your help, O Lord.
Be at my side and walk with me:
Be my support today.
May all I do today reach far and wide, O Lord.
My thoughts, my work, my life:
make them blessings for Your kingdom;
let them go beyond today,O God.
Today is new unlike any other day,
for God makes each day different.
Today God’s everyday grace,
falls on my soul like abundant seed,
though I may hardly see it.
Today is one of those days
Jesus promised to be with me,
a companion on my journey,
And my life today, if I trust Him,
has consequences unseen.
My life has a purpose:
I have a mission…I am a link in a chain,
a bond of connection between persons.
God has not created me for naught…”
Therefore I will trust Him.
Whatever, wherever I am,
I can never be thrown away.
God does nothing in vain.
He knows what he is about.
Amen.
Thought for the Day – 8 October: The Eucharist — The Mystery Of Our Christ, by Karl Rahner (extract)
What happens when we celebrate the Eucharist? The simple answer is: the Lord’s Supper which He celebrated at the beginning of His passion becomes present among us and for us. If we are to understand this central element of our faith we must reflect on what happened at the Lord’s Supper and we must ponder what it means when it is said that this meal becomes present among us and for us.
………..And thus He says: “Take this body which is given for you, drink this blood poured out for you.” And through the power of His creative word which changes the subsoils of reality, He makes Himself exist in the form of bread and wine, the everyday sign of loving unity with His disciples, so that all of this – His sacrificed reality for their salvation – becomes manifest and manifestly operative; it truly belongs to them and enters into the centre of their being.
“Take, eat; this is my body. Drink. . . for this is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for all.” They take and they are taken. Taken by the redeeming power of obedience and of love of the Lord, taken by His death which gives birth to life out of its dreadful void, encircled by the grace of God which, with the incomprehensible and consuming holiness of God, unites. They are embraced by love which joins them to each other, not destructively but –redemptively, enveloped by a love which unites them in an experience where otherwise each would die painfully in himself alone in his ultimate solitude. And by eating the dish of God’s mercy, they anticipate the eternal meal when God, no longer in Earthly symbols but in the accomplishment of His revealed glory, makes Himself into the eternal meal of the redeemed. And while they eat thus, they look for the day when the Lord will be entirely with them, the day on which He “will come again” (as they say). And the new and eternal covenant which has been bequeathed to them is celebrated as is their free acceptance of it. These are given in the power of this bread which unites them with the Lord who is the covenant and joins them one to another in the beginning of eternal life.
The Lord’s Supper becomes His presence among us and for us in the church’s celebration of the Eucharist. The church fulfills the fundamental order of the Lord: “Do this (what He Himself had done on the night He was betrayed) in remembrance of me.” The church does what the Lord had done, with the words which He Himself spoke when He gave His body and His blood in the form of bread and wine to His disciples as a pledge of eternal life. The church celebrates the Anamnesis, the “remembrance” of the meal that instituted the new covenant. The church recalls what once happened but does not bring about a repetition of the actual event which happened once and for all on Calvary. Rather, what happened then enters into our place and our time and acquires presence and redemptive power within our own being.
This is possible (if we may so try to understand the miracle of God) because the Lord’s Supper is not an event of the past. The free decision of absolute obedience and unconditional, unreserved love constitutes one of those moments of history in which a temporality becomes the definitive, the enduring and the eternal, not just a moment in which something evaporates into the void of the past. The elements of freedom and spirit always signify the birth of the eternal; in this context, what is temporal passes into time but also attains eternal validity by virtue of the pure essence of the decision itself by a spiritual person. This applies in an utterly unique way to the event of the Last Supper. What happened there as event once and for all is. It is. It is taken up in the eternity of God, it has passed over into the state of perfection in which is becomes permanence in the midst of time. For the Lord in this meal has wrought something that endures forever since His voluntary deeds come from the infinite primal grounds of the eternal Word of God itself and are a spiritual-human reality, like the creative words of Genesis.
He has wrought the “new” and thus the final covenant, as He Himself says.
“Jesus, I am committing myself to accepting the things in life I cannot change and I ask for the grace of serenity. I am committing myself to changing the things in life I can change and I ask for the grace of courage. I am committing myself to knowing the difference and I ask for the grace of wisdom.”
“Jesus, take away the arrogance in my ego and give me Your heart in its place. Take away my ego-centredness and make Your heart and its purposes. the centre of myself. I willingly enter the fire of Your heart and let Your heart burn away my ego and enflame me with enthusiasm for the conversion of the world to the desires of Your heart.” I feel the passionate longing of Your heart for all humanity and I ask to be an apostle of Your love.”
May our Lord Jesus Christ…console your hearts and strengthen them for every good word and work...2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
REFLECTION – “Jesus knows how to comfort us.
So when you are desolate, leave creatures behind.
Come to the tabernacle and you will always find strength and consolation.”…St Peter Julian Eymard
PRAYER – Lord Jesus, let me frequently have recourse to You in the Blessed Sacrament. O Sacrament most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving, be every moment thine! Amen
Just as It Is – a Prayer before Holy Communion By Karl Rahner SJ
Come Lord enter my heart, You who are crucified,
who have died, who love, who are faithful,
truthful, patient and humble.
You who have taken upon Yourself, a slow and toilsome life
in a single corner of the world,
denied by those who are Your own,
too little loved by Your friends, betrayed by them,
subjected to the law, made by the plaything of politics
right from the very first,
a REFUGEE CHILD,
a CARPENTER’S SON,
a creature who found only barrenness and futility
as a result of His labours,
a man who loved and found no love in response,
You who were too exalted for those about You to understand,
who were brought to the point of feeling Yourself forsaken by God,
You who sacrificed all,
who commend Yourself into the hands of Your Father,
You who cry, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’
I will try to receive You as You are,
to make You the innermost law of my life,
to take You, as at once, the BURDEN and the STRENGTH of my life.
When I receive You, I accept my everyday just as it is.
I do not have any lofty feelings in my heart to recount to You,
I can lay my everyday before You, just as it is.
For I receive it from You Yourself,
The everyday and its inward light,
The everyday and its meaning,
The everyday and the power to endure it,
The sheer familiarity of it,
which becomes the hiddenness of Your Eternal Life.
Amen.
Thought for the day – 7 October – The Memorial of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary
The purpose of the rosary is to help us meditate on the great mysteries of our salvation. Pius XII called it a compendium of the gospel. The main focus is on Jesus—his birth, life, death and resurrection. The Our Fathers remind us that Jesus’ Father is the initiator of salvation. The Hail Marys remind us to join with Mary in contemplating these mysteries. They also make us aware that Mary was and is intimately joined with her Son in all the mysteries of his earthly and heavenly existence. T he Glory Bes remind us that the purpose of all life is the glory of the Trinity.
The rosary appeals to many. It is simple. The constant repetition of words helps create an atmosphere in which to contemplate the mysteries of God. We sense that Jesus and Mary are with us in the joys and sorrows of life. We grow in hope that God will bring us to share in the glory of Jesus and Mary forever..(Fr Don Miller OFM)
Quote/s of the Day – 7 October – The Memorial of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary
THE SEVEN BLESSINGS OF THE ROSARY
“The Rosary, recited with meditation on the mysteries, brings about the following marvelous results:
1. It gradually gives us a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ;
2. It purifies our souls, washing away sin;
3. It gives us victory over all our enemies;
4. It makes it easy for us to practice virtue;
5. It sets us on fire with love of Our Blessed Lord;
6. It enriches us with graces and merits;
7. It supplies us with what is needed to pay,
all our debts to God and to our fellow men
and finally, it obtains all kinds of graces for us from Almighty God.”
St Louis Marie Grignion De Montfort (1673-1716)
The Rosary, when it is prayed in an authentic way,
not mechanical and superficial but profoundly,
it brings, in fact, peace and reconciliation.
It contains within itself the healing power
of the Most Holy Name of Jesus,
invoked with faith and love,
at the centre of each “Hail Mary”.
One Minute Reflection – 7 October – The Memorial of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary
Open your petals, like roses planted near running waters...Sirach 39:13
REFLECTION – “To discover whether people are of God, I have found no better way than the following.
Observe whether they say the Hail Mary and the Rosary.”……St Louis Marie de Montfort
PRAYER – Lord, open our hearts to Your grace. May we, who learned to believe through the angel’s message, in the Incarnation of Christ, Your Son, be brought by His Passion and Cross, at the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to the glory of His Resurrection. Through Him who redeemed us in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, pray for us, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 7 October – The Memorial of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary
Queen of the most Holy Rosary
O Queen of the most holy Rosary,
in these times of brazen impiety,
show again your power,
with the signs which accompanied your victories of old
and from the throne where you are seated,
dispensing pardon and grace,
in pity watch over the Church of your Son,
His Vicar and every order of the clergy and laity,
suffering in grievous warfare.
Hasten, O most powerful destroyer of heresy,
hasten the hour of mercy,
as the hour of judgment is daily challenged
by innumberable offences.
Obtain for me, the lowest of men,
kneeling suppliant in your presence,
the grace which may enable me
to live a just life on earth
and reign with the just in Heaven,
whilst with the faithful throughout the world,
O Queen of the most holy Rosary,
I salute you and cry out:
Queen of the most holy Rosary, pray for us! Amen.
Saint of the Day – 7 October – Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary also known as Our Lady of Victory – Patronages – Rosary, United States, 9 diocese, 8 cities. The Feast of the Holy Rosary, is celebrated on 7 October, the anniversary of the decisive victory of the combined fleet of the Holy League of 1571 over the Ottoman navy at the Battle of Lepanto.
Our Lady of Victory In 1571, Pope St. Pius V organized a coalition of forces from Spain and smaller Christian kingdoms, republics and military orders, to rescue Christian outposts in Cyprus, particularly the Venetian outpost at Famagusta which, however, surrendered after a long siege on 1 August before the Christian forces set sail. On 7 October 1571, the Holy League, a coalition of southern European Catholic maritime states, sailed from Messina, Sicily and met a powerful Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Lepanto. Knowing that the Christian forces were at a distinct materiel disadvantage, the holy pontiff, Pope Pius V, called for all of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory and led a rosary procession in Rome.
After about five hours of fighting on the northern edge of the Gulf of Corinth, off western Greece, the combined navies of the Papal States, Venice and Spain managed to stop the Ottoman navy, slowing the Ottoman advance to the west and denying them access to the Atlantic Ocean and the Americas. If the Ottomans had won then there was a real possibility that an invasion of Italy could have followed so that the Ottoman sultan, already claiming to be emperor of the Romans, would have been in possession of both New and Old Rome.
Pius V instituted “Our Lady of Victory” as an annual feast to commemorate the victory at Lepanto, which he attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Dedications to Our Lady of Victory preceded this papal declaration. In particular, Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester built the first shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Victory in thanks for the Catholic victory over the Albigensians at the Battle of Muret on 12 September.
In 1573, Pope Gregory XIII changed the title of the “Feast of Our Lady of Victory” to “Feast of the Holy Rosary” Dominican friar Juan Lopez in his 1584 book on the rosary states that the feast of the rosary was offered “in memory and in perpetual gratitude of the miraculous victory that the Lord gave to his Christian people that day against the Turkish armada”.
In 1671 the observance of this festival was extended by Clement X to the whole of Spain, and somewhat later Clement XI, after the victory over the Turks gained by Prince Eugene in the Battle of Petrovaradin on 6 August 1716 (the feast of Our Lady of the Snows), commanded the feast of the Rosary to be celebrated by the universal Church, assigning it to the first Sunday in October.
A set of “proper” lessons in the second nocturn were conceded by Benedict XIII. Leo XIII raised the feast to the rank of a double of the second class and added to the Litany of Loreto the invocation “Queen of the Most Holy Rosary”. On this feast, in every church in which the Rosary confraternity has been duly erected, a plenary indulgence toties quoties is granted upon certain conditions to all who visit therein the Rosary chapel or statue of Our Lady. This has been called the “Portiuncula” of the Rosary.
In 1960 Pope John XXIII changed the title to “Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary”.
ANNOUNCING a Novena to St John Paul – Day One – 13 October
Leading up to the feast day of Saint John Paul the Great on 22 October, I invite you to join me in prayer to ask for his powerful intercession as well as learn something new about him each day.
Over nine days from 13 October, I will post a prayer to St John Paul, as well as a fact about him, a short Reflection by a great heart and mind about a great heart and mind and a quote that is perhaps less well known. Thus, we will join our prayers together to pray for all of our intentions and ask John Paul II to intercede for us.
Quotes of the Day – – 6 October – The Memorial of St Bruno (c 1030-1101)
“While the world changes, the Cross stands firm.”
“By your work, you show what you love and what you know.”
“No act is charitable if it is not just.”
“In the solitude and silence of the wilderness.. for their labour in the contest, God gives his athletes the reward they desire: a peace that the world does not know and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
“If the bow is stretched for too long, it becomes slack and unfit for its purpose.”
One Minute Reflection – 6 October – The Memorial of St Bruno (c 1030-1101)
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not but ears open to obedience you gave me……..Psalm 139:7
REFLECTION – “By your work you show what you love and what you know.
When you observe true obedience with prudence and enthusiasm, it is clear, that you pick the most delightful and nourishing fruit of Divine Scripture.”…St Bruno
PRAYER – Lord God, You called St Bruno to serve You in a life of solitude. Amidst this world’s changes, help us, by his prayers, to set out hearts always on You. Heavenly Father, let me realise that You guide our lives through Your Providence, Your Word and Sacraments. Help me to be obedient to the rules for my state in life and so be obedient to Your will for me. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, Your Son in union with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. St Bruno, Pray for us. Amen
By you, O Mary St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
By you we have access to your Son,
O blessed finder of grace,
Mother of Life,
Mother of Salvation,
that by you He may receive us,
Who by you was given to us.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 5 October – The Memorial of Blessed Bartholomew Longo – Apostle of the Holy Rosary
Before entering the Shrine to recite the Holy Rosary with you, I paused briefly before the tomb of Bl Bartolo Longo and, praying, I asked myself: “Where did this great apostle of Mary find the energy and perseverance he needed to bring such an impressive work, now known across the world, to completion? Was it not in the Rosary, which he accepted as a true gift from Our Lady’s Heart?” Yes, that truly was how it happened! The experience of the Saints bears witness to it: this popular Marian prayer is a precious spiritual means to grow in intimacy with Jesus and to learn at the school of the Blessed Virgin always to fulfil the divine will. It is contemplation of the mysteries of Christ in spiritual union with Mary as the Servant of God Paul VI stressed in his Apostolic Exhortation Marialis cultus (n. 46) and as my venerable Predecessor John Paul II abundantly illustrated in his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae that today I once again present in spirit to the Community of Pompeii and to each one of you. You who live and work here in Pompeii, especially you, dear priests, men and women religious and lay people involved in this unique portion of the Church, are all called to make Bl. Bartolo Longo’s charism your own and to become, to the extent and in the way that God grants to each one, authentic apostles of the Rosary.
To be apostles of the Rosary, however, it is necessary to experience personally the beauty and depth of this prayer which is simple and accessible to everyone. It is first of all necessary to let the Blessed Virgin take one by the hand to contemplate the Face of Christ: a joyful, luminous, sorrowful and glorious Face. Those who, like Mary and with her, cherish and ponder the mysteries of Jesus assiduously, increasingly assimilate his sentiments and are conformed to him. In this regard, I would like to quote a beautiful thought of Bl Bartolo Longo: “Just as two friends, frequently in each other’s company, tend to develop similar habits”, he wrote, “so too, by holding familiar converse with Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary and by living the same life in Holy Communion, we can become, to the extent of our lowliness, similar to them and can learn from these supreme models a life of humility, poverty, hiddenness, patience and perfection” (I Quindici Sabati del Santissimo Rosario, 27th edition, Pompeii, 1916, p. 27: cited in Rosarium Virginis Mariae, n. 15). POPE BENEDICT XVI – 19 October 2008
Quote/s of the Day – 5 October – The Memorial of Blessed Bartholomew Longo – Apostle of the Holy Rosary
“You, what have you done by taking Christ out of the schools? You have produced enemies of social order, subversives. On the contrary, what have we gained by putting Christ into the schools of the children of criminals? We have transformed these unfortunate ones into honest and virtuous young people that you wanted to abandon to their sad fate or toss into insane asylums! “
“The Rosary is the prayer dearest to Mary, most loved by the Saints, most frequently used by Christian peoples, most honoured by God with astounding wonders, most enriched with great promises, by the Virgin.”
One Minute Reflection – 5 October – The Memorial of Blessed Bartholomew Longo – Apostle of the Holy Rosary
Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord……Luke 1: 45.
REFLECTION – “Rosary in hand, Blessed Bartolo Longo says to each of us: “Awaken your confidence in the Most Blessed Virgin of the Rosary. enerable Holy Mother, in You I rest all my troubles, all my trust and all my hope!” – St Pope John Paul II in his homily during the beatification ceremony for Blessed Bartholomew
PRAYER – And we exult you, O Mary Assumed into Heaven, as we contemplate you who have been glorified and, in the risen Christ, have become the co-worker of the Holy Spirit in communicating divine life to mankind. In you we see the goal of holiness to which God calls all the Church’s members. In your life we recognise the clear sign of the path to spiritual maturity and Christian holiness. With you, with Blessed Bartholomew Longo and with all the saints, we glorify God the Trinity, who sustains our earthly pilgrimage and lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen (by St Pope John Paul Nov 2000)
Our Morning Offering – 5 October – The Memorial of Blessed Bartholomew Longo – Apostle of the Holy Rosary
In this prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary, we ask the Virgin Mary to help us to cultivate a habit of interior prayer through the daily recitation of the rosary. We pray this prayer, particularly during the month of October, as we daily cultivate the habit of praying the Holy Rosary. This is the object of all of our prayers: to arrive at the point where we can “pray without ceasing,” as Saint Paul tells us to do.
TO OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
O Virgin Mary,
grant that the recitation of your Rosary
may be for me each day,
in the midst of my manifold duties,
a bond of unity in my actions,
a tribute of filial piety,
a sweet refreshment,
an encouragement to walk joyfully
along the path of duty.
Grant, above all, O Virgin Mary,
that the study of the mysteries may form in my soul,
little by little, a luminous atmosphere, pure, strengthening
and fragrant, which may penetrate my understanding,
my will, my heart, my memory, my imagination, my whole being.
So shall I acquire the habit of praying while I work,
by interior acts of admiration and of supplication,
or by aspirations of love.
I ask this of you, O Queen of the Holy Rosary,
through Saint Dominic and Blessed Bartholomew Longo,
your sons of predilection,
the renowned preachers of your mysteries
and the faithful imitator of your virtues. Amen
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