Journeying with Newman The Thanksgiving Novena for, with and to the beloved and blessed John Henry Newman
Day Six – 9 October His Feast Day!
Counsellor of Converts
Intention: That we are blessed with more vocations to the priesthood.
“Regarding Christianity ten thousand difficulties, do not make one doubt.”
From his writings Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Prayer
Please pray one decade of the Rosary (any you choose) for this Intention and add the following Prayer:
O God our heavenly Father,
we offer You heartfelt thanks
for the life and holiness of John Henry Newman.
In him You give us,
an inspiring example of priest and teacher,
heroic and humble, in his labour
for the salvation of souls
and the pursuit of holiness.
Through his intercession,
we ask You to lead us,
by the kindly light of the Holy Spirit
and so grant us peace and joy,
in the one fold of the Redeemer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 9 October – The Memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
LETTER OF THE HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II
ON THE OCCASION OF THE 2nd CENTENARY
OF THE BIRTH OF CARDINAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN
To The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Birmingham
On the occasion of the second centenary of the birth of the Venerable Servant of God John Henry Newman, I gladly join you, your Brother Bishops of England and Wales, the priests of the Birmingham Oratory and a host of voices throughout the world in praising God for the gift of the great English Cardinal and for his enduring witness.
As Newman pondered the mysterious divine plan unfolding in his own life, he came to a deep and abiding sense that “God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission” (Meditations and Devotions). How true that thought now appears as we consider his long life and the influence which he has had beyond death. He was born at a particular time – 21 February 1801, in a particular place – London and to a particular family – the firstborn of John Newman and Jemima Fourdrinier. But the particular mission entrusted to him by God ensures that John Henry Newman belongs to every time and place and people.
Newman was born in troubled times which knew not only political and military upheaval but also turbulence of soul. Old certitudes were shaken and believers were faced with the threat of rationalism on the one hand and fideism on the other. Rationalism brought with it a rejection of both authority and transcendence, while fideism turned from the challenges of history and the tasks of this world to a distorted dependence upon authority and the supernatural. In such a world, Newman came eventually to a remarkable synthesis of faith and reason which were for him “like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of the truth” (Fides et Ratio, Introduction; cf. ibid., 74). It was the passionate contemplation of truth which also led him to a liberating acceptance of the authority which has its roots in Christ and to the sense of the supernatural which opens the human mind and heart to the full range of possibilities revealed in Christ. “Lead kindly light amid the encircling gloom, lead Thou me on”, Newman wrote in The Pillar of the Cloud and for him Christ was the light at the heart of every kind of darkness. For his tomb he chose the inscription: Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem and it was clear at the end of his life’s journey that Christ was the truth he had found.
But Newman’s search was shot through with pain. Once he had come to that unshakeable sense of the mission entrusted to him by God, he declared: “Therefore, I will trust Him… If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him… He does nothing in vain… He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me. (Meditations and Devotions). All these trials he knew in his life but rather than diminish or destroy him they paradoxically strengthened his faith in the God who had called him, and confirmed him in the conviction that God “does nothing in vain”. In the end, therefore, what shines forth in Newman is the mystery of the Lord’s Cross – this was the heart of his mission, the absolute truth which he contemplated, the “kindly light” which led him on.
As we thank God for the gift of the Venerable John Henry Newman on the two hundredth anniversary of his birth, we pray that this sure and eloquent guide in our perplexity will also become for us in all our needs a powerful intercessor before the throne of grace. Let us pray that the time will soon come when the Church can officially and publicly proclaim the exemplary holiness of Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of the most distinguished and versatile champions of English spirituality. With my Apostolic Blessing.
Quote of the Day – 9 October – Wednesday of the Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 11:1–4 and the Memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Be Merciful, Be Gracious By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Be merciful, be gracious, Lord, deliver me.
From the sins that are past,
From Your frown and Your ire,
From the perils of dying,
From any complying
With sin or denying
My God, or relying
On self,
at the last,
From the nethermost fire,
From all that is evil,
From the power of the devil,
Your servant deliver,
For once and forever,
By Your Birth and By Your Cross,
Rescue me from endless loss,
By Your death and burial,
Save me from a final fall,
By Your rising from the tomb,
By Your mounting up above,
By the Spirit’s gracious love,
Save me in the day of doom.
One Minute Reflection – 9 October – Wednesday of the Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 11:1–4 and the Memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
“Father, hallowed be thy name.”…Luke 11:2
REFLECTION – “Thou art all-holy, yet I come before Thee. I place myself, under Thy pure and piercing eyes which look me through and through and discern every trace and every motion of evil within me. Why do I do so?
First of all, for this reason. To whom should I go? What can I do better? Who is there in the whole world that can help me? Who that will care for me, or pity me, or have any kind thought of me, if I cannot obtain it of Thee? I know Thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity but I know again, that Thou art all-merciful and that Thou so sincerely desires my salvation, that Thou has died for me. Therefore, though I am in a great strait, I will rather fall into Thy hands, than into those of any creature ….
I have an instinct within me, which leads me to rise and go to my Father, to name the Name of His well-beloved Son and having named it, to place myself, unreservedly in His hands, saying “if Thou, Lord, will mark iniquity, Lord, who shall stand it? For with Thee, there is merciful forgiveness.” … Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)To My Father
PRAYER – Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. And grant us Lord, our Father, that the prayers of Blessed John Henry Newman, the Blessed Virgin Mary and all our holy saints, may help us in our needs. We make our prayer, through Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 9 October – Wednesday of the Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year C and the Memorial of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Praise to the Holiest in the Height By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wonderful;
Most sure in all His ways.
O loving wisdom of our God,
When all was sin and shame,
He, the last Adam, to the fight
And to the rescue came.
O wisest love! that flesh and blood
Which did in Adam fail,
Should strive afresh against the foe,
Should strive and should prevail.
And that a higher gift than grace
Should flesh and blood refine,
God’s presence, and His very self
And essence all-divine.
O generous love! that He, who smote
In man for man the foe,
The double agony in man
For man should undergo.
And in the garden secretly,
And on the cross on high,
Should teach His brethren, and inspire
To suffer and to die.
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wonderful;
Most sure in all His ways.
Saint of the Day – 9 October – St Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890) NEARLY A SAINT – Just 4 days to go – Priest, Cardinal, Theologian, Philosopher, Prolific Preacher, Writer and Poet of great beauty, Apostle of Prayer and Charity, Founder of the Catholic University in Ireland and a Catholic school in England – “A Mind Alive” – born on 21 February 1801 at London, England and died on 11 August 1890 at Edgbaston, Birmingham, West Midlands, England of pneumonia.
Bl John Henry converted to Catholicism from Anglicanism in October 1845. In early life, he was a major figure in the Oxford Movement. Eventually his studies in the history of the Church Fathers, persuaded him to become a Catholic.
Canonisation will make Newman the first English person who has lived since the 17th century officially recognised as a saint by the Catholic Church. In 1991, Newman was proclaimed “Venerable” by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints – the first stage in the canonisation process. He was Beatified on 19 September 2010 at an open air Mass in Birmingham by Pope Benedict XVI.
On 1 July 2019, Pope Francis announced at the Consistory of Cardinals his intention to Canonise Newman on 13 October 2019.
Born in London, England, he studied at Oxford’s Trinity College, was a tutor at Oriel College and for 17 years was vicar of the university church, St Mary the Virgin. He eventually published eight volumes of Parochial and Plain Sermons as well as two novels. His poem, “Dream of Gerontius,” was set to music by Sir Edward Elgar but many of his other poems have become standard hymns within the Catholic and other Christian denominations.
After 1833, Newman was a prominent member of the Oxford Movement, which emphasised the Church’s debt to the Church Fathers and challenged any tendency to consider truth as completely subjective.
Historical research made Newman suspect that the Roman Catholic Church was in closest continuity with the Church that Jesus established. In 1845, he was received into full communion as a Catholic. Two years later he was ordained a Catholic priest in Rome and joined the Congregation of the Oratory, founded three centuries earlier by Saint Philip Neri. Returning to England, Newman founded Oratory houses in Birmingham and London and for seven years as the Founder, served as rector of the Catholic University of Ireland.
Before Newman, Catholic theology tended to ignore history, preferring instead to draw deductions from first principles—much as plane geometry does. After Newman, the lived experience of believers was recognised as a key part of theological reflection.
Newman eventually wrote 40 books and 21,000 letters that survive. Most famous are his book-length Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine, Apologia Pro Vita Sua—his spiritual autobiography up to 1864—and Essay on the Grammar of Assent. He accepted Vatican I’s teaching on papal infallibility while noting its limits, which many people who favoured that definition were reluctant to do.
When Newman was named a cardinal in 1879, he took as his motto “Cor ad cor loquitur”—“Heart speaks to heart.” He was buried in Rednal 11 years later. After his grave was exhumed in 2008, a new tomb was prepared at the Oratory church in Birmingham.
Three years after Newman died, a Newman Club for Catholic students began at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In time, his name was linked to ministry centres at many public and private colleges and universities in the United States.
Pope Benedict XVI beatified Newman on 19 September 2010, at Crofton Park. Pope Benedict noted Newman’s emphasis on the vital place of revealed religion in civilised society but also praised his pastoral zeal for the sick, the poor, the bereaved and those in prison.
Our Lady of Good Help: 1859 More here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/10/09/9-october-our-lady-of-good-help-and-memorials-of-the-saints/
Bl Aaron of Cracow
St Abraham the Patriarch
St Alfanus of Salerno
St Andronicus of Antioch
St Athanasia of Antioch
Bl Bernard of Rodez
St Demetrius of Alexandria
St Deusdedit of Montecassino
St Domninus
St Dorotheus of Alexandria
St Donnino of Città di Castello
St Eleutherius
St Geminus
St Gislenus
St Goswin
Bl Gunther
Bl John Henry Newman Cong. Orat. (1801-1890)
St Lambert St Louis Bertrand OP (1526-1581) Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2018/10/09/saint-of-the-day-9-october-st-louis-bertrand-o-p-1526-1581-apostle-of-south-america/
St Publia
St Rusticus
St Sabinus of the Lavedan
St Valerius
—
Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War – Martyrs of Astoria – (9 saints): Also known as Martyrs of Turon: A group of Brothers of the Christian Schools and a Passionist priest martyred in the persecutions during the Spanish Civil War. They are –
• Aniceto Adolfo
• Augusto Andrés
• Benito de Jesús
• Benjamín Julián
• Cirilo Bertrán
• Inocencio de la Immaculada
• Julián Alfredo
• Marciano José
• Victoriano Pío
They were martyred on 9 October 1934 in Turón, Spain and Canonised on 21 November 1999 by St Pope John Paul II.
—
Martyrs of Laodicea – (3 saints): Three Christians martyred together in Laodicea, but no other information about them has survived but their names – Didymus, Diodorus and Diomedes. They were martyred in Laodicea, Syria.
Journeying with Newman
The Thanksgiving Novena for, with and to
the beloved and blessed John Henry Newman
Day Five – 8 October
Guardian of Conscience
“We can believe what we choose. We are answerable for what we choose to believe.”
From his writings Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Prayer
Please pray one decade of the Rosary (any you choose) for this Intention and add the following Prayer:
O God our heavenly Father,
we offer You heartfelt thanks
for the life and holiness of John Henry Newman.
In him You give us,
an inspiring example of priest and teacher,
heroic and humble, in his labour
for the salvation of souls
and the pursuit of holiness.
Through his intercession,
we ask You to lead us,
by the kindly light of the Holy Spirit
and so grant us peace and joy,
in the one fold of the Redeemer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 8 October – Tuesday of the Twenty Seventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 10:38–42
Reaching out towards God
Saint Gertrude the Great of Helfta (1256-1301) The Herald of Divine Love, Book III, SC 143
On a certain occasion, while she was interiorly worrying that she was unable to feel as much desire as was fitting to the glory of God, Gertrude received this divine explanation: that God is fully satisfied when a person, without being able to do more, is in a state of wanting, if possible, to have great desires. Just as great as they would like to have, so they are before God. In a heart filled with the desire, of wanting to desire, God finds greater delights to dwell, than we do in the flowering of early spring.
On another occasion, due to illness, she had been less attentive to God for several days when, regaining consciousness of this fault, she started to confess this negligence to the Lord with a pious humility. And as she was fearing she would have to bear a long delay before recovering the former sweetness of the divine presence, all at once, in a flash, she was aware that God was bending towards her with a truly loving embrace with these words: “Daughter, you are always with me and all that is mine, is yours” (cf. Lk 15:31). She understood by this reply that, even though, through the weakness of nature, a person might sometimes omit to direct their attention to God, nevertheless, in His merciful kindness, He Himself does not neglect to hold all our works, as worthy of an eternal reward, provided only, that we do not deliberately turn away from Him and that we always repent of everything, for which our consciences reproach us.
“You are always with me and all that is mine, is yours”
The Elder Brother’s Prayer
Teach me, my Lord,
to be sweet and gentle in all the events of life,
in disappointments,
in the thoughtlessness of those I trusted,
in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.
Let me put myself aside,
to think of the happiness of others,
to hide my little pains and heartaches,
so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.
Teach me to profit by the suffering
that comes across my path.
Let me so use it that it may make me
patient, not irritable.
That it may make me broad in my forgiveness,
not narrow, haughty and overbearing.
May no one be less good
for having come within my influence.
No one less pure, less true, less kind,
less noble for having been a fellow traveller
in our journey toward Eternal Life.
As I go my rounds from one distraction to another,
let me whisper from time to time,
a word of love to Thee.
May my life be lived in the supernatural,
full of power for good,
and strong in its purpose of sanctity.
Amen
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!
Quote/s of the Day – 8 October – Tuesday of the Twenty Seventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Goaspel: Luke 10:38–42
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
Luke 10:42
“Our Lord’s words teach us that though we labour among the many distractions of this world, we should have but one goal. For we are but travellers on a journey without as yet a fixed abode, we are on our way, not yet in our native land, we are in a state of longing, not yet of enjoyment. But let us continue on our way and continue without sloth or respite, so that we may ultimately arrive at our destination.”
St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor (Sermo 103, 1-2, 6: PL 38, 613, 615)
“Action and contemplation are very close companions; they live together in one house on equal terms. Martha and Mary are sisters.”
St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
Doctor of the Church
“In bustling about and busying herself, Martha risks forgetting — and this is the problem — the most important thing, which is the presence of the Guest… Most importantly He ought to be listened to. “
One Minute Reflection – 9 October – Tuesday of the Twenty Seventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Goaspel: Luke 10:38–42 and the Memorial of Saint Simeon
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”…Luke 10:41-42
REFLECTION – ” Has not the desire of wealth so eaten into our hearts, that we think poverty the worst of ills, that we think the security of property the first of blessings, that we measure all things by mammon, that we not only labour for it ourselves but so involve in our own evil earnestness all around us, that they cannot keep from the pursuit of it though they would? Does not the frame-work of society move forward on such a plan as to enlist into the service of the world all its members, almost whether they will or no? Would not a man be thought unaspiring and unproductive, who cared not to push forward in pursuit of that which Scripture calls “the root of all evil,” the love of which it calls “covetousness which is idolatry,” and the possession of which it solemnly declares all but excludes a man from the kingdom of Heaven? Alas! can this be denied?
And, therefore, of course, the entire system of tranquil devotion, holy meditation, freedom from worldly cares, which our Saviour praises in the case of Mary, is cast aside, misunderstood, or rather missed altogether, as much as the glorious sunshine by a blind man, slandered and ridiculed as something contemptible and vain. Surely, no-one, who is candid, can doubt, that, were Mary now living, did she choose on principle that state of life in which Christ found her, were she content to remain at Jesus’ feet hearing His word and disengaged from this troublesome world, she would be blamed and pitied. Careless men would gaze strangely and wise men compassionately, on such an one, as wasting her life and choosing a melancholy, cheerless portion. Long ago was this the case. Even in holy Martha, zealous as she was and true-hearted, even in her instance, we are reminded of the impatience and disdain with which those who are far different from her, the children of this world, regard such as dedicate themselves to God. Long ago, even in her, we seem to witness, as in type, the rash, unchristian way in which this age disparages devotional services.”…Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
PRAYER – Lord God and Father, who entrusted the earth to men and each to the other, as one family of man, give us the grace this day, to see Your Face in our neighbour and to seek all who need our help. Grant us the grace to work faithfully for Your glory and for our neighbour’s good and never cease to praise Your glory and beg the grace of Your love and mercy. May the prayers of St Simeon and may Mary our Holy Mother, keep us ever in her guiding care. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 8 October – Tuesday of the Twenty Seventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C
Holy Spirit, Enlighten our Hearts Prayer recited before the Sessions of the Second Vatican Council
Holy Spirit, 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,
supports us by Your power.
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 favour.
Unite us to Yourself in the bond of love
and keep us faithful to all that is true.
Help us to temper justice with love,
so that all our decisions
may be pleasing to You
and bring us the inheritance,
promised to good and faithful servants.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 8 October – St Simeon – also known as Holy Simeon, St Simeon the Prophet, Symeon and Simeon Senex – senex means “the old man” and St Simeon the Elder, was present when Jesus was brought into the temple as an infant – celebrated as the feast of the Presentation – the Presentation is celebrated on 2 February and is the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary.
According to the Biblical account, Simeon had been visited by the Holy Spirit and told that he would not die until he had seen the Christ of the Lord. Moved by the Holy Spirit, he entered the Temple as Mary and Joseph brought the child Jesus in. On taking Jesus into his arms he uttered a prayer, which is still used liturgically as the Latin Nunc Dimittis (“Now you dismiss”) every night in Compline of the Divine Office. Simeon gave a prophecy alluding to the crucifixion. His prophecy is used in the context of Our Lady of Sorrows. Simeon is venerated as a saint with his memorial today in the revised Martyrology of the Roman Catholic Church.
The sole mention in the New Testament of Simeon is as follows:
“Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him in his arms and blessed God and said,
“Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
And his father and his mother marvelled at what was said about him and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
Luke 2:25-35
The Nunc Dimittis
Latin (Vulgate):
Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace.
Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum
Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum.
Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.
English (Roman Breviary):
Now, Master, you let your servant go in peace. You have fulfilled your promise.
My own eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all peoples.
A light to bring the Gentiles from darkness, the glory of your people Israel.
The beginning of the Nunc dimittis in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry – It is probably the most famous and best surviving Gothic Manuscript Illumination. It is a book of hours – a collection of prayers to be said at the canonical hours. It was created between c 1412 and 1416.
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May God bless you all!
Ana
I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart, I will declare all your wondrous deeds. I will delight and rejoice in you, I will sing hymns to your name, Most High.
Psalm 9:1-2
I offer too, a Prayer of Thanksgiving, for the great love and generosity of dear friends and supporters
Hugh
& Catherine
Holy Mass will be celebrated for them, on
8 October and 10 October, respectively
Journeying with Newman The Thanksgiving Novena for, with and to the beloved and blessed John Henry Newman
Day Four – 7 October – Memorial of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary
Man of Prayer
Intention:
That we find joy and consolation in the habit of prayer.
“The Rosary seems so simple and easy but you know God chooses the small things of the world, to humble the great.”
From his writings Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Prayer
Please pray one decade of the Rosary (any you choose) for this Intention and add the following Prayer:
O God our heavenly Father,
we offer You heartfelt thanks
for the life and holiness of John Henry Newman.
In him You give us,
an inspiring example of priest and teacher,
heroic and humble, in his labour
for the salvation of souls
and the pursuit of holiness.
Through his intercession,
we ask You to lead us,
by the kindly light of the Holy Spirit
and so grant us peace and joy,
in the one fold of the Redeemer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 7 October – The Memorial of – Our Lady of the Rosary
We should Meditate on the Mysteries of Salvation
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Abbot and Doctor of the Church
An excerpt from one of his Sermons
The child to be born of you will be called holy, the Son of God, the fountain of wisdom, the Word of the Father on high. Through you, blessed Virgin, this Word will become flesh, so that even though, as He says: I am in the Father and the Father is in me, it is still true for him to say: “I came forth from God and am here.”
In the beginning was the Word. The spring was gushing forth, yet still within Himself. Indeed, the Word was with God, truly dwelling in inaccessible light. And the Lord said from the beginning – I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction. Yet your thought was locked within you and whatever you thought, we did not know, for who knew the mind of the Lord, or who was His counsellor?
And so the idea of peace came down to do the work of peace – The Word was made flesh and even now dwells among us. It is by faith that He dwells in our hearts, in our memory, our intellect and penetrates even into our imagination. What concept could man have of God if he did not first fashion an image of Him in his heart? By nature incomprehensible and inaccessible, He was invisible and unthinkable but now He wished to be understood, to be seen and thought of.
But how, you ask, was this done? He lay in a manger and rested on a virgin’s breast, preached on a mountain and spent the night in prayer. He hung on a cross, grew pale in death and roamed free among the dead and ruled over those in hell. He rose again on the third day and showed the apostles the wounds of the nails, the signs of victory and finally, in their presence, He ascended to the sanctuary of heaven.
How can we not contemplate this story in truth, piety and holiness? Whatever of all this I consider, it is God I am considering, in all this, He is my God. I have said it is wise to meditate on these truths and I have thought it right to recall, the abundant sweetness, given by the fruits of this priestly root and Mary, drawing abundantly from heaven, has caused this sweetness to overflow for us.
Quote/s of the Day – 7 October – Our Lady of the Rosary
“Never, as in the Rosary, do the life of Jesus and that of Mary, appear so deeply joined. Mary lives only in Christ and for Christ!”
“By making our own, the words of the Angel Gabriel and Saint Elizabeth contained in the Hail Mary, we find ourselves constantly drawn to seek out afresh in Mary, in her arms and in her heart, the “blessed fruit of her womb.”
“The centre of gravity in the Hail Mary, the hinge, as it were, which joins its two parts, is the name of Jesus.”
St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)
#15, 24 and 33 – Apostolic Letter “Rosarium Virginis Mariae”
“Mary joins us, she fights at our side. She supports Christians in the fight against the forces of evil… through the Rosary.”
One Minute Reflection – 7 October – Monday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 10:25-37 and the Memorial of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary
Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” … Luke 10:37
REFLECTION – “Jesus carries us to the inn. Imagine you are in the arms of Jesus, being carried, half-dead in sin—some of your own making, some done to you—to a place of help. You can rest in His arms. In another surprise, the inn is the Church, the hospital for sinners. The innkeeper might be a priest, family member, or friend who helps you through a dark time in your life.
This is the rest of the story – the Good Samaritan is Jesus!
He always pursues us, even when we don’t ask for it—even in our sins. We must receive the Good Samaritan’s love and mercy first, or we have nothing to give away (1 Jn 4:19). And then our response to this love is repentance—going beyond the mind we have now/giving up the lies we believe about God or ourselves—and then going to confession. This is followed by The Ultimate Challenge – to be that good neighbour or the innkeeper in a world where everyone is wounded by something!
Be like Jesus—be a good spiritual neighbour in a dark and lonely world!
In a world which demands of Christians a renewed witness of love and fidelity to the Lord, may all of us feel the urgent need, to anticipate one another in charity, service and good works (cf. Heb 6:10).”…Pope Benedict (3 November 2011)
PRAYER – Almighty Father, may we learn to trust your Son who carries us! Grant us the grace, we pray, to lean on this great gift of faith which You bestow on us and to learn and understand the mystery of Your commandment of love, where love of You and love of neighbour become one. Teach us good Jesus Your ways of true charity and may Your holy and blessed Mother always be at our side, as we pray her Rosary, which grants us peace and strength. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 7 October – The Memorial of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Bl Bartholomew Longo (1841-1926) – Apostle of the Holy Rosary and the Month of the Holy Rosary
Excerpt from the Petition to Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii also known as Supplication to the Queen of the Holy Rosary By Blessed Bartholomew Longo (1841-1926)
O Blessed Rosary of Mary,
sweet Chain,
which binds us to God,
Bond of love,
which unites us to the Angels,
Tower of salvation
against the assaults of hell,
safe Port in our universal shipwreck,
we shall never abandon you.
You will be our comfort
in the hour of agony.
To you, the last kiss of our dying life.
And the last word from our lips
will be your sweet name,
O Queen of the Rosary of Pompeii,
O dearest Mother,
O Refuge of Sinners,
O Sovereign Consoler of the Afflicted.
Be Blessed everywhere,
today and always,
on earth and in Heaven.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 7 October – St Libaire the Great (Died 362) Virgin, Martyr and a Holy Cephalophoria (like St Denis – one who carries his head in his hands and walks away). Also known as Lievière. Patronage – Sainte-Livière, Haute-Marne, France . Additional Memorials – 8 October (Toul-Nancy, France), Pentecost Monday (procession in Grand, France commemorating the return of the relics) and on the 1st Sunday in October (procession in Grand, France). These Memorials relate to the translation of the Relics of St Libaire in these towns.
Libaire the Great was born to an imperial Roman patrician Christian family, the daughter of Bacchus Lientrude. Her six sisters are also Saints, they are Amée, France, Gertrude, Hilda, Lintrude, Menne, Ode, Pusinne and Suzanne.
She worked for her family as a shepherdess, spending her time with the flocks spinning, praying and singing hymns.
While travelling on his mission to re-convert Gaul to paganism, emperor Julian the Apostate found her in the field, guarding her sheep. She was on her knees praying and singing. Julian tried to get her to renounce Christianity by showing her a golden statue of Apollo, with a sparkling brilliance. She struck it with her distaff and the statue fell apart. He was furious and had her beheaded.
Legend says that a healing spring sprang from the place of her murder and that her body picked up the severed head and carried it back to town where she combed out the hair to make it more presentable before burial.
St Libaire’s relics have been enshrined in many towns in France and are venerated by various feasts in the Churches built in her honour. They are in Grand, Rambervillers, Burey-en-Vaux, Affracourt, Damelevieres, Lépanges-sur-Vologne, Toul-Nancy and in her own town, Sainte-Livière, Haute-Marne.
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (Memorial) – (Commemorating the Victory of Lepanto)
(1571): On Sunday 7 October 1571 the combined Christian fleets under Don John of Austria achieved a significant naval victory over the Turks in the Straits of Lepanto. Thousands of Christians were liberated, the Turkish fleet was destroyed and they suffered their first great defeat at sea. In gratitude to God and Our Lady, Pope Saint Pius V ordered an annual commemoration to be made of Our Lady of Victory. In 1573 Pope Gregory XIII transferred the feast to the first Sunday of October with the title Feast of the Most Holy Rosary since the victory was won through invocation of Our Lady of the Rosary. In 1716 Pope Clement XII extended the feast to the whole Latin Rite calendar, assigning it to the first Sunday in October. Saint Pope Pius X changed the date to 7 October in 1913. In 1969 Pope Paul VI changed the name of the feast to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.
St Adalgis of Novara
St Apuleius of Capua
St Augustus of Bourges
St Canog ap Brychan
St Dubtach of Armagh
St Gerold of Cologne
St Helanus St Libaire the Great (Died 362) Martyr
Bl Jean Hunot
St Julia the Martyr
St Justina of Padua
St Marcellus of Capua St Pope Mark (Died 336) St Pope Mark’s Life: https://anastpaul.com/2018/10/07/saint-of-the-day-7-october-st-pope-mark-died-336/
St Martin Cid
Bl Matthew Carreri
St Osith
St Palladius of Saintes
St Quarto of Capua
St Rigaldo
Martyrs of Arima: Eight lay people Japan who were martyred together in the persecutions of Christianity in Japan:
• Blessed Hadrianus Takahashi Mondo
• Blessed Ioanna Takahashi
• Blessed Leo Hayashida Sukeemon
• Blessed Martha Hayashida
• Blessed Magdalena Hayashida
• Blessed Didacus Hayashida
• Blessed Leo Takedomi Kan’Emon
• Blessed Paulus Takedomi Dan’Emon
They were martyred on 7 October 1613 in Arima, Hyogo, Japan and Beatified on 24 November 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI.
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.
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War
• Blessed José Llosá Balaguer
Journeying with Newman
The Thanksgiving Novena for, with and to
the beloved and blessed John Henry Newman
Day Three – 6 October
Priest of God’s Altar
Intention
That we are blessed with more vocations to the priesthood.
“Had Angels been your priests, my brethren, they could not have condoled with you, sympathised with you, have had compassion on you, felt tenderly for you and made allowances for you, as we can; they could not have been your patterns and guides and have led you on from your own selves, into a new life, as they can – who come from the midst of you.”
From his writings Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Prayer
Please pray one decade of the Rosary (any you choose) for this Intention and add the following Prayer:
O God our heavenly Father,
we offer You heartfelt thanks
for the life and holiness of John Henry Newman.
In him You give us,
an inspiring example of priest and teacher,
heroic and humble, in his labour
for the salvation of souls
and the pursuit of holiness.
Through his intercession,
we ask You to lead us,
by the kindly light of the Holy Spirit
and so grant us peace and joy,
in the one fold of the Redeemer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Novena to Our Lady of the Rosary – Day Nine – 6 October
Day Nine: We Pray for the Virtue of Wisdom
and for our private intentions
At the end of this journey of prayer together,
Let us today, turn to Our Divine Father
and pray, so that we may be granted
the gift of wisdom and discernment,
to enable us to
Understand,
Distinguish,
Separate
and Decide between the good and evil.
We pray for the ability
to make the right judgement for
and about others, as well as for ourselves,
according to God’s Will.
Amen
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.
Our Lady of Fatima,
obtain for humanity a lasting peace.
Sweet Heart of Jesus,
be my love.
Sweet Heart of Mary,
at the hour of my death,
lead me home.
Thought for the Day – 6 October – Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 17:5–10 and the Memorial of St Bruno O.Cart. (c 1030-1101)
This saint has the honour of having founded a religious order which, as the saying goes, has never had to be reformed because it was never deformed. No doubt, both the founder and the members would reject such high praise but it is an indication of the saint’s intense love of a penitential life in solitude.
Bruno was born in Cologne, Germany, became a famous teacher at Rheims and was appointed Chancellor of the Archdiocese at the age of 45. He supported Pope Gregory VII in his fight against the decadence of the clergy and took part in the removal of his own scandalous Archbishop, Manasses. Bruno suffered the plundering of his house for his pains.
He had a dream of living in solitude and prayer and persuaded a few friends to join him in a hermitage. After a while, he felt the place unsuitable and through a friend, was given some land which was to become famous for his foundation “in the Chartreuse”—from which comes the word Carthusians. The climate, desert, mountainous terrain and inaccessibility guaranteed silence, poverty and small numbers.
Bruno and his friends built an oratory with small individual cells at a distance from each other. They met for Matins and Vespers each day and spent the rest of the time in solitude, eating together only on great feasts. Their chief work was copying manuscripts.
Hearing of Bruno’s holiness, the pope called for his assistance in Rome. When the pope had to flee Rome, Bruno pulled up stakes again and after refusing a bishopric, spent his last years in the wilderness of Calabria.
Bruno was never formally Canonised, because the Carthusians were averse to all occasions of publicity. However, Pope Clement X extended his feast to the whole Church in 1674.
If there is always a certain uneasy questioning of the contemplative life, there is an even greater puzzlement about the extremely penitential combination of community and hermit life lived by the Carthusians, but this ‘into the silence and solitude’ is the perfect environment to touch God.
St Bruno wrote to his Carthusians:
“Rejoice, my dearest brothers, because you are blessed and because of the bountiful hand of God’s grace upon you. Rejoice, because you have escaped the various dangers and shipwrecks of the stormy world. Rejoice, because you have reached the quiet and safe anchorage of a secret harbour. Many wish to come into this port and many make great efforts to do so, yet do not achieve it. Indeed many, after reaching it, have been thrust out, since it was not granted them from above. 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 wisely pick the most delightful and nourishing fruit of divine Scripture.”
May we mirror Bruno’s quest for holiness and unity with God.
One Minute Reflection – 6 October – Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 17:5–10 and the Memorial of St Mary Frances of the Five Wounds (1715-1791)
‘Prepare supper for me’ ...Luke 17:8
REFLECTION – “To believe is not simply to sit back and wait until the Lord comes and serves us with His grace. Faith receives it’s incomprehensible efficacy (tossing a tree into the ocean), in the course of serving the Lord, who, after all, has become the servant of us all and cannot stand to see anyone lazily let himself be served by Him (sola fides). Instead, He takes it as self-evident, that His followers serve alongside Him, which really means they serve Him, for “where I am, there will my servant also be” (Jn 12:26).
Moreover, this serving does not take place in haughty pride over how useful to the Lord my co-service may be (as if He could not do anything without me). Just the opposite, in modesty, the servant knows the words of Jesus – “Without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5).
Since He has already done everything for us, the correct estimation of ourselves, is the one commanded by the Lord Himself and expressed in the Confession – “We are useless servants, we have only done our duty.” … Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988)
PRAYER – Almighty, ever-living God, whose love surpasses all that we ask or deserve, guide us to perfect obedience to conform ourselves to Your holy will, that in the manner of St Mary Frances, our only wish may be to serve and find You. May we always serve in modesty and humility and know that only in Your Son, are we complete. May the prayers of St Mary Frances of the Five Wounds be a source of strength on our journey home. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God for all eternity, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 6 October – Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
”O Blessed Host” Prayer before Holy Communion By St Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938) Diary 159
O Blessed Host, in golden chalice enclosed for me,
That through the vast wilderness of exile I may pass –
pure, immaculate, undefiled.
Oh, grant that through the power of Your love
This might come to be.
O Blessed Host, take up Your dwelling within my soul,
O Thou my heart’s purest love!
With Your brilliance the darkness dispel.
Refuse not Your grace to a humble heart.
O Blessed Host, enchantment of all heaven,
Though Your beauty be veiled
And captured in a crumb of bread,
Strong faith tears away that veil.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 6 October – Saint Mary Frances of the Five Wounds TOSF (1715-1791) – Virgin, Third Order Franciscan, Mystic, Stigmatist, Apostle of Charity, born Anna Maria Gallo on 25 March 1715 at Naples, Italy and died on 6 October 1791 at Naples, Italy of natural causes. Patronages – Quartieri Spagnoli of Naples (co-patronof the Gallo World Family Foundation, expectant mothers, women seeking to have children.
She was born the daughter of Francesco Gallo and Barbara Basinsin, in the Quartieri Spagnoli (Spanish Quarter) of Naples, a red-light district of the city, still known for its high crime. According to tradition, another saint, the Jesuit, Francis de Geronimo (1642-1716), predicted her future sanctity while she was still an infant. Her family was of the middle class but her father, a weaver of gold lace, was a very violent man, who regularly abused his family physically, often severely.
When Gallo was sixteen, her father attempted to force her into a marriage with a young man of means, who was seeking her hand. She refused and asked to join the Franciscan Third Order, through which she could live out a religious life in the family home. The friars of Naples were part of the reform of St Peter of Alcantara and they and the tertiaries under their rul,e were known for the strictness of their lives. Through the intervention of a friar, Father Theophilus, permission to enter the Order was eventually granted by her father.
Gallo was received into the Order on 8 September 1731 and began wearing the religious habit of the Order, which was an uncommon practice during that time. She also adopted the use of the religious name she took upon being received into the Order, out of her devotion to the Blessed Mother, St Francis of Assisi and the Passion of Christ. She continued to live in the family home to serve God as a consecrated virgin, as was customary in those days.
She took as her spiritual director, the Franciscan friar, St John Joseph of the Cross OFM (1654–1739), while her confessor was the Barnabite priest, Francis Xavier Bianchi and she began to be known among her neighbours for her work of charity, helping the poor of the sector. She was a person of deep prayer, often spending long hours in meditation.
In 1753 she joined with another Franciscan tertiary, known only as Maria Felice and they moved into a small palace owned by a priest, Giovanni Pessiri, who became their spiritual director. The two women occupied the second floor, sleeping on the floor and the priest the floor above. She is said to have received the wounds of the stigmata while living there and suffered patiently many physical afflictions and spiritual trials. She would wear gloves to cover the marks on her hands, while she did her work. She is also said to have had visions of Saint Raphael the Archangel, who healed her of several afflictions.
Mary Frances was buried in the Franciscan Church of Santa Lucia al Monte in Naples, which she attended during her life. This church also contains the tomb of John Joseph, now also declared a saint.
Mary Frances was declared Venerable by Pope Pius VII, on 18 May 1803. She was Beatified by Pope Gregory XVI on 12 November 1843 and Canonised by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1867.
Statue in Santa Chiara, Naples
Devotion to Mary Frances has long continued to be strong in the neighbourhood where she lived and of which she is the patron saint. The residents credit her intercession with the little damage the sector endured during World War II, when over 100 bombs were dropped on it. Her home has been preserved as a chapel and museum.
Pope Pius IX, who Canonised Mary Frances, declared her to be a patroness of expectant mothers and of women having difficulty conceiving. She is also the patroness of the Gallo World Family Foundation, which was founded to promote the development of Judeo-Christian values, for the betterment of the world, by members of the Gallo family scattered worldwide.
On 6 October 2001, her remains were transferred from the Church of Santa Lucia to the house where she had spent the last half of her life. It is now the Shrine of St Mary Frances of the Five Wounds.
It is still a common practice for expectant mothers to go there to be blessed with her relic. Many votive offerings from mothers who credit her with their successful deliveries are displayed in the sanctuary.
AnaStpaul 
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