St. John Henry Newman, Priest and Confessor

John Henry Newman, the 19th century's most important English-speaking Catholic theologian, spent the first half of his life as an Anglican and the second half as a Roman Catholic, as a priest, popular preacher, writer and eminent theologian in both.

Born in London, England, he studied at Oxford's Trinity College, was a tutor at Oriel College and for 17 years was the Anglican vicar of the university church, St. Mary the Virgin.

After 1833, Newman was a prominent member of the Oxford Movement, which emphasized the links which the Church today must have with the Church at the beginning.

His study and research eventually convinced John Henry Newman that the Roman Catholic Church was indeed in continuity with the Church that Jesus established. He stopped his work in Oxford and retired to Littlemore. It was there, on October 9, 1845, that 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 St. Philip Neri. Returning to England, Newman founded Oratory houses in Birmingham and London and for seven years served as rector of the Catholic University of Ireland.

Cardinal 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.

When he was named a cardinal in 1879, he took as his motto "Cor ad cor loquitur" (Heart speaks to heart). He was buried in Rednal (near Birmingham) 11 years later. After his grave was exhumed in 2008, a new tomb was prepared at the Oratory church in Birmingham. but it was found that his remains had returned to the earth completely.

Three years after Cardinal Newman died, a Newman Club for Catholic students began at the University of Pittsburgh. In time, his name was linked to ministry centers at many public and private colleges and universities in the United States.

Pope Benedict XVI beatified Cardinal Newman on September 19, 2010, at Crofton Park (near Birmingham). The pope noted the cardinal's emphasis on the vital place of revealed religion in civilized society but also praised his pastoral zeal for the sick, the poor, the bereaved and those in prison.  His canonization took place on October 13, 2019.

From his writings:

"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. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about."

O God, who didst bestow upon thy Priest Saint John Henry Newman, the grace to follow thy kindly light and find peace in thy Church: graciously grant that, through his intercession and example, we may be led out of shadows and images into the fulness of thy truth; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Portrait of Cardinal Newman in Keble College, Oxford University

by William Thomas Roden (1818–1892)

The Story of God's Vineyard

“My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He digged it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.” 

- Isaiah 5:1, 2

The Holy Scriptures – Old and New Testaments together – give us an account of the relationship between God and His people. We read in the Bible of God’s great love for His children, and we read of the rebellious spirit which causes punishment to come upon them from time to time. It’s the story of our salvation, it’s the story of a people seeking God, trying to love Him, sometimes succeeding, and sometimes failing.

The prophecy of  Isaiah tells a story which is really a tragedy – “My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill...” And so begins the account of the great love which God has for His people, and it sums up the whole drama of the relationship between God and His children. Isaiah paints a picture using this image of a vineyard planted with choice vines. A watchtower was built in the midst of it. A wine vat was put in it. And then the owner looked for it to yield a good harvest – everything was in place for it to produce good grapes, sweet, and abundant. But all He got from it was wild grapes – small, sour, an unusable crop.

The meaning of Isaiah’s story is clear. God had chosen a certain people to be the guardians of His promises, and this people was chosen to make God known to the whole world. God intended the Israelite nation to be representatives of His love and tenderness. But rather than producing the good fruits of faithfulness and peace, instead they produced sour fruit – unfaithfulness, jealousy, violence, even hatred. The end result would be their own destruction. The hedge surrounding them would be removed. The walls would be broken down and trampled. It would become a wasteland. It would be choked with weeds, and even the rain would not come upon it any more. This is how Isaiah told the story, through the inspiration of God Himself, as a warning to Israel.

In the Gospel according to St. Matthew (21:33-43), we hear the Incarnate God, our Lord Jesus Christ, telling a story – a parable – and He echoes what we heard from Isaiah.  Our Lord tells of a vineyard, and the owner who planted it. He put a hedge around it. He dug a winepress, he built a tower. When our Lord told this already-familiar story to the chief priests and the elders of the Jews, they knew the reference He was making. They knew He was telling them that they were being unfaithful to God. Just as the tenants wanted to make the vineyard into their own, disregarding the fact that it already had an owner, our Lord was telling the Jewish leaders that they were using the law and prophets, not to give glory to God, but rather to bolster their own personal authority, and so were hiding God’s truth and love from others.

Jesus was being prophetic here. Just as happened in His parable, the chief priests had not only rejected the message of the prophets in the past, but they would also kill the Son – namely, Jesus Himself. And His warning to them was forthright. “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.”

One of the things we know about Christ’s parables is that they have a universal application. Although He was speaking to the chief priests and elders of Israel, His message is for us, too. And it’s a serious message. Namely, that we are to listen to God’s truth as it comes to us through those who are appointed to bring it – and the source of the truth is Jesus Christ Himself. We are to use what our Lord has revealed to us to produce the fruits of the vineyard. We’re to use it to build up God’s kingdom, and to spread the good news of His love and salvation to the whole world.

This was what Israel had been chosen to do, and now we – as the New Israel – have been chosen for the same task. We are to devote our minds and our wills and our energy to the building up of God’s kingdom, and not looking for any return for ourselves. The job we have is pretty simple in its outline, but it’s not easy. Too often we fall into a selfish practice of our faith: “God, I want...God, I need...God please do this for me...” It’s an ancient temptation. We see it through the prophecies of Isaiah and the other great prophets; we see it in the chief priests and elders of the Jews to whom our Lord was speaking. It’s the temptation to try a fashion the Kingdom of God as our own personal domain, focusing our attention on what we want, on what we feel is important. We sometimes try, like the unworthy tenants in the Gospel story, to take the Lord’s vineyard for ourselves, serving ourselves under the guise of serving the truth.

How do we become faithful tenants of God’s vineyard? St. Paul gives us some guidance in his epistle to the Philippians (4:6-9). “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things...” We should think: are those the ingredients in my conversations? Do people read those things in my own heart? And also he tells us, “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God.” This is the “bottom line” – that we have to seek out those things that are of God, and those things only, and act upon them, making them the basis of our prayer to God. 

There is no room for selfishness in God’s kingdom. There is no room for personal gain in God’s kingdom. There is no room for “picking and choosing” in God’s kingdom. There is but one thing for us to do: to put ourselves in God’s care, and His care alone, so that He can plant His kingdom in us. And when we allow God to plant His Word in us – with all of the grace which flows from the Sacraments and from our life of prayer – He’ll have a great harvest. It will be a harvest of salvation for the world, the harvest of a people who want to serve God and His truth by living in accordance with His Will. This is the harvest that can fix broken lives, and that can heal broken families, and that can renew broken hearts.

Are things not as we hoped they would be in our own lives? The answer to that is for us to live in sync with God’s revealed truth. This is the paradox of the Gospel: that we’re free to be all that we should be, only when we’re obedient to God. It’s in obedience that we find freedom. We can have new life only insofar as our old lives of selfishness and self-centeredness are put aside. We’re not the owners of this vineyard; we are tenants. One of the fundamental spiritual mistakes we make is to think that we own the world. We are tenants, entrusted with the responsibility of caring for it, but everything that we have, everything we are, is on loan, and if we put ourselves at the center, we put our tenancy in jeopardy. So this is the great question for us today: "how am I using the gifts that God gave me for God's purposes? My money? My time? My talents? My creativity? My relationships?" It all has to be for God.

May we unite ourselves so completely with Christ that His death will bring us life, and that the creatures of bread and wine, transubstantiated at the Mass, might make us into a new creation; namely, men and women who desire only to love and serve the Lord.

Our Lady of the Rosary

The commemoration of Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of Victory, recalls an historic event which took place on October 7, 1571.

For some time the Muslims had attempted to conquer Europe, not only for political reasons, but also in an attempt to destroy the Church and impose Islam throughout the known world.  On that clear October morning a huge gathering of ships appeared in the Mediterranean Sea, near the Greek port of Lepanto - 280 Turkish ships, and 212 Christian ships. 

For years the Muslims had been raiding Christian areas around the Mediterranean and had carried off thousands of Christians into slavery. In fact, all of the ships gathered on that morning were powered by rowers – and the Muslim ships had nearly 15,000 Christian slaves in chains, being forced to pull the oars to guide the ships into battle. The Catholic fleet was under the command of Don Juan of Austria, but the Catholic fleet was at a great disadvantage in its power and military ability. This was a battle that would decide the fate of the world – either the Turks would be victorious and the Church destroyed, or the Catholics would be victorious and would put down the Muslim threat.

Pope St. Pius V knew the importance of victory. He called upon all of Europe to pray the rosary, asking for the intercession of Our Lady, that God would grant a Catholic victory. Although it seemed hopeless, the people prayed. Don Juan guided his battleships into the middle of the Turkish fleet; meanwhile, many of the Christian slaves had managed to escape their chains and poured out of the holds of the Muslim ships, attacking the Turks and swinging their chains, throwing the Muslims overboard. The combination of the attack by the Catholic fleet and the uprising of the Christian slaves meant that there was a great victory by the Catholics fleet over the mighty Turkish fleet.

We know today that this victory was decisive. It prevented the Islamic invasion of Europe at that time, and it showed the Hand of God working through Our Lady. At the hour of victory, St. Pope Pius V, who was hundreds of miles away in his Papal residence, is said to have gotten up from a meeting, went over to a window, and through supernatural knowledge exclaimed, "The Christian fleet is victorious!" and he wept tears of thanksgiving to God.

This day has been remembered throughout the Church, first as Our Lady of Victory, and then as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary – remembering the victory God granted, and also remembering the means by which that victory was achieved – that it was an intervention by God through the prayers offered by praying the Rosary... something we might consider in our own generation.

O God, whose Only Begotten Son by his life, death, and Resurrection, hath purchased for us the rewards of eternal salvation: grant, we beseech thee; that meditating upon the mysteries of the Rosary, our devotion may bud forth as the rose in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and that we may so follow the pattern of their teaching, that we may finally be made partakers of thy heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Blessed Marie Rose Durocher

Many of our greatest saints and holy people knew that they could raise others up by helping to educate them. Eulalie Durocher was one such person. Born on October 6, 1811, at Saint Antoine-sur-Richelieu in Quebec, Canada, she was the youngest of 10 children. Her parents valued education, and her mother, who had studied with the Ursuline Sisters in Quebec City, taught all of her children. Eventually young Eulalie attended a boarding school with the Notre Dame Sisters and began to dream of becoming a nun. She had always been a teenager who did not hesitate to visit the sick and poor in her village and spent much time in prayer at the local church. But poor health and the death of her mother when Eulalie was 18 seemed to mean that a vocation might not be possible. She stepped into her mother’s role, leading the household as best she could.

Her brother, who was a priest, asked Eulalie and their father to come live with him in his rectory so that Eulalie could be a housekeeper for the both of them. For 12 years she served in this role and also taught religion to the parish children while continuing to help the poor and organizing many volunteer activities in the parish. She saw how important education was for the people of Canada and finally, when the local bishop announced he was bringing a group of nuns over from France to live in their area, Eulalie made plans to join the congregation.

But the Sisters of Marseilles were unable to come to Canada. Knowing of her hopes, Montreal Bishop Ignace Bourget asked Eulalie Durocher to found a community of nuns herself in 1843. She and her friends, Melodie Dufresne and Henriette Cere, did so in Longueuil, beginning the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Under the name Mother Marie-Rose, Eulalie recruited nearly a dozen women for their community in the first year. The group was committed to teaching, and they taught in both English and French so that students could speak both languages. They built four convents and boarding schools with a free day school attached so that all children could receive the same education, regardless of their families' income. By 1849, they had 44 nuns in their group.

Mother Marie-Rose worked hard to make the schools and the congregation a success. Her hard work made her already poor health even more precarious, and at the very young age of 38 she died. Her legacy lived on; by the 1960s, her congregation had more than 277 convents in Canada, the United States, Africa, and South America, where they continue to teach today. Mother Marie-Rose was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II on May 23, 1982.

[This account of the life and work of Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher is taken from the RCL Benziger Saints Resource.]

O LORD, who didst enkindle in the heart of Blessed Marie Rose Durocher the flame of ardent charity and a great desire to serve the mission of the Church as a teacher: grant us that same active love; that, answering the needs of the world, we may lead our brethren to the blessedness of eternal life; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Bruno, Priest and Founder

St. Bruno founded a religious order, the Carthusians, which is the most demanding, the most strict and the most difficult in which to live – and yet many young men choose it as a way of making a life-long sacrifice for the glory of God.

Born in Cologne, Germany, St. Bruno became a famous teacher at Rheims and an important official the archdiocese. It was a time when many clergy were living lives that were incompatible with their calling, and when Pope Gregory VII brought about reforms, Bruno completely supported it. In fact, he took part in getting his own scandalous archbishop removed from office – of course, the archbishop had his friends, and they made life very difficult for Bruno.

After all this, St. Bruno had the dream of living in solitude and prayer, and persuaded a few friends to join him in a hermitage, and eventually was given some land which was to become famous for his foundation "in the Chartreuse" which described the color of the countryside (yellowish green, and from which comes the word “Carthusian”). The climate, which was 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.

The pope, hearing of Bruno's holiness, called for his assistance in Rome. When the pope had to flee Rome, Bruno pulled up stakes again, and spent his last years (after refusing becoming a bishop) in the wilderness of Calabria.

He was never formally canonized, because the Carthusians avoided all occasions of publicity. Pope Clement extended his feast to the whole Church in 1674.

Almighty and everlasting God, who dost prepare mansions in heaven for them that forsake the world: we humbly entreat thy boundless mercy; that at the intercession of blessed Bruno, thy Confessor, we may be faithful to vows that we have made, and may obtain, to our eternal salvation, the rewards which thou hast promised to them that persevere unto the end; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

The priestly zeal of Francis Xavier Seelos took him to many places, but always with the same purpose; namely, to help people know the great love and compassion of God. And not only did he preach, but he put his words into practice, even to the point of risking his own life in caring for the sick and the dying.

Francis Xavier Seelos was born in southern Bavaria in the year 1819. He studied philosophy and theology in Munich as part of his preparation for the priesthood, but while still a student he became fascinated with the missionary work of the Redemptorists, which they were carrying out amongst the German-speaking immigrants in the United States. He arrived in America in 1843 and was ordained in the Redemptorist Church of St. James in Baltimore at the end of 1844. He was assigned for six years to the parish of St. Philomena in Pittsburgh, where he served as an assistant to St. John Neumann, who would become one of our great missionary bishops.

During the several years he was engaged in parish ministry throughout the state of Maryland, Fr. Seelos also had the responsibility of training Redemptorist students for the priesthood. In fact, during this time the Civil War broke out, and he went went to Washington, D.C. to appeal to President Lincoln that his students not be drafted for military service, although eventually some were.

For several years Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos preached in English and in German throughout the Midwest and in the Mid-Atlantic states. Eventually he was assigned to St. Mary of the Assumption Church in New Orleans, where he served faithfully as pastor. In 1867 he died of yellow fever, being only forty-eight years old, having contracted the disease while visiting the sick in his parish. He was described as a priest with a constant smile and a generous heart. He was beatified in 2000, and his cause for canonization is moving forward.

O God, who makest us glad with the yearly feast of blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, thy Priest and Confessor: mercifully grant that, as we now observe his heavenly birthday; so we may follow him in all virtuous and godly living; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Maria Faustina Kowalska

Linked forever to the annual Feast of Divine Mercy on the Octave Day of Easter, along with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy recited by many at 3:00 p.m. each day, is the name of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska.

Born in 1905, the third of ten children, she was baptized as Helena in the Church of St. Casimir in the little village of Świnice Warckie, located in the Polish provincial seat of Lodz.

She worked as a housekeeper before joining the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925, taking the name of Sr. Maria Faustina, and then working as a cook, gardener and porter in three of their houses.

In addition to carrying out her work faithfully, serving the needs of the sisters and the local people, Sister Faustina also had a deeply spiritual interior life, which included receiving revelations mystically from the Lord Jesus, which she recorded in her diary at the request of Christ and of her confessors.

At a time when some Catholics tended to view God as a judge so strict that they might be tempted to despair about the possibility of being forgiven, it was through His revelations to St. Faustina that Jesus chose to emphasize His mercy and forgiveness for sins, as long as they were acknowledged and confessed.

In one of His revelations, our Lord said to St. Faustina, “I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to my merciful heart.” The familiar image of the Divine Mercy, revealed to St. Faustina, shows two rays emanating from Christ’s heart, which symbolize the blood and water poured out after Jesus’ death, representing the healing and sanctifying graces, especially of Baptism and the Eucharist, that flow from the Sacred Heart of Jesus toward mankind.

St. Maria Faustina died of tuberculosis in Krakow, Poland, on October 5, 1938. She was beatified in 1993 by Pope St. John Paul II and he canonized her seven years later.

O GOD who didst endue thy holy Virgin Saint Faustina Kowalska, with grace to witness a holy life: grant that we, after her example and aided by her prayers, may be found ready when the Bridegroom cometh, and enter with him to the marriage feast; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Francis of Assisi

St. Francis of Assisi was baptized with the name Giovanni (John), but his father, who was a cloth merchant and who had lots of business in France, called him Francis. That's the name that stuck, although it's really a nickname. Francis was born in 1182 in the town of Assisi, and because his father was rather successful, Francis was raised with a love of fine clothes and good times. He led the other young men of the town in enjoying good food and drink, singing, and dancing.

When Francis was 20, he was taken prisoner in a war between Assisi and Perugia. For the year he was a prisoner, during which time he was very sick, he had some religious experiences which began to change him. After his release, he was praying in the decrepit little chapel of S. Damiano outside Assisi, and he heard a voice from the crucifix telling him, "Francis, repair my house, which is falling in ruins." He took the words literally, and he went quickly back to the city, sold his horse and some cloth from his father's shop, and came back to give some of the money to the priest at S. Damiano, and distributed some of it to the poor. Francis also, with his own hands, worked on repairing the little church.

His father was furious at Francis' squandering money on churches and beggars, and hauled him before the bishop to bring him to his senses. As he stood before the bishop, Francis calmly took off all his clothes, gave them to his father (the astonished bishop quickly covered Francis with a cloak), and said that he was now recognizing only his Father in heaven, not his father on earth. His life from this time on was lived without money or family ties.

The 13th century was also a time when the Christian religion was taken very much for granted, and Francis felt the need to return to the original spirit of Christ. This meant living in poverty, and it also meant showing Christ's love to other people. A number of the young men of Assisi, attracted by Francis' example, joined him in his new way of life. In 1209 Francis and his companions went to Rome, where they presented their ideas to Pope Innocent III and received his approval.

They found themselves influencing more and more people, including a young lady named Clare, whom Francis helped to enter a monastery of nuns, and who later began the "second order" of Franciscans, the order for women. Francis travelled to the Holy Land. He also went to Rome in 1223 to present the rule of his order to the Pope, who approved it wholeheartedly. Francis returned to Assisi and began to spend more time alone in prayer, leaving the decisions about his organization to others.

While he was praying on Mt. Alvernia in 1224, he had a vision of an angelic figure, and when the vision disappeared Francis felt the wounds of Christ in his hands, side, and feet. He was careful not to show the stigmata to others, but several close friends reported after his death that Francis had suffered in his body as Christ had suffered on the cross. His last 2 years were lived in almost constant pain and near-blindness. He died in 1226, and 2 years later he was canonized.

O God, who dost ever delight to reveal thyself to the childlike and lowly of heart: grant that, following the example of blessed Francis, and aided by his prayers; we may count the wisdom of this world as foolishness and know only Jesus Christ and him crucified; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Image: "St. Francis of Assisi"

by Eugène Burnand (1850 – 1921)

The Transitus of St. Francis

The Vigil of the Feast of St. Francis, known as the Transitus, traditionally is celebrated by Franciscans all over the world on October 3rd, and is a night to commemorate the death of the beloved saint.

“Transitus” is a Latin word meaning “passage” or “crossing over.” In every account written of the death of St. Francis, it is remembered that as he crossed over from life on earth to eternal life with the Lord it was an event full of great joy and song.

This is a brief account of his final hours:

“On the eve of his death, the saint, in imitation of his Divine Master, had bread brought to him and broken. This he distributed among those present, asking God’s blessing upon Bernard of Quintaville, his first companion, and Elias, his vicar, as well as all the others in order. “I have done my part,” he said next, “may Christ teach you to do yours.” Then wishing to give a last token of detachment and to show he no longer had anything in common with the world, Francis removed his poor habit and lay down on the bare ground, covered with a borrowed cloth, rejoicing that he was able to keep faith with his Lady Poverty to the end. After a while he asked to have read to him the Passion according to St. John, and then in faltering tones he himself intoned Psalm cxli. At the concluding verse, ‘Bring my soul out of prison’, Francis was led away from earth by ‘Sister Death’, in whose praise he had shortly before added a new strophe to his ‘Canticle of the Sun’.”

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ALLELUIA, Alleluia. Francis, poor and humble, enters heaven rich and is welcomed with celestial hymns. Alleluia.

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. Amen.

O God, you granted our blessed Father Francis the reward of everlasting joy: grant that we, who celebrate the memory of his death, may at last come to the same eternal joy; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Pictured: “St. Francis on his death bed” 

by Eugène Burnand (1850 – 1921)

Holy Guardian Angels

God shows His love to us in many ways, and one of the most comforting and constant expressions of this is that He entrusts each of us to a particular angel, who is our guide and our guardian. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that "the existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls 'angels' is a truth of faith” (n. 328), and it goes on to say (n. 336) "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life."  Our Lord Himself tells us, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father" (Matthew 18:10).

From the first instant of our existence until our death, we are surrounded by the protection and intercession of angels, particularly our guardian angel who remains beside each one of us and who stands as protector and shepherd leading us to life with God. We should ask our Guardian Angel for help, and when we are praying for others, we can ask our Guardian Angel to cooperate with the Guardian Angel of another person, to keep them safe and to guide them.

Guardian angels are not lucky charms. They are given to us as God's love. They do battle for us and with us. They are dedicated to the work of doing everything possible to bring us to God.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, in writing to his spiritual sons (and equally applicable to all of us) says this:

“Be alert in your every action as one should be who is accompanied by angels in all your ways, for that mission has been enjoined upon them. In whatever lodging, in whatever nook or corner you may find yourself, cherish a reverence for your guardian angel. In his presence do not dare to do anything you would not do in mine. Or do you doubt his presence because you do not see him? Would it really help if you did hear him, or touch him, or smell him? Remember, there are realities whose existence has not been proven by mere sight.

Brethren, we will love God's angels with a most affectionate love; for they will be our heavenly co-heirs some day, these spirits who now are sent by the Father to be our protectors and our guides. With such bodyguards, what are we to fear? They can neither be subdued nor deceived; nor is there any possibility at all that they should go astray who are to guard us in all our ways. They are trustworthy, they are intelligent, they are strong — why, then, do we tremble? We need only to follow them, remain close to them, and we will dwell in the protection of the Most High God. So as often as you sense the approach of any grave temptation or some crushing sorrow hangs over you, invoke your protector, your leader, your helper in every situation. Call out to him and say: Lord, save us, we are perishing.”

O Everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the ministries of angels and men in a wonderful order: Mercifully grant that, as thy holy angels always serve and worship thee in heaven, so by thine appointment they may help and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without. Amen.

Angel of God, my Guardian dear,

to whom His love commits me here,

ever this day be at my side,

to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

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Pictured: "Watchmen in the Night" 

by Thomas Richman Blackshear II (b. 1955)

Doing the Will of the Father

Jesus said, "A man had two sons; and he went to the first and said, `Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' And he answered, `I will not'; but afterward he repented and went. And he went to the second and said the same; and he answered, `I go, sir,' but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?"

- St. Matthew 21:28-31

The word "no" is a part of our natural, early vocabulary. Anyone who has children, or who works with children, is well aware of that fact. It almost seems as though the word "no" comes pre-programmed with the child. Where does this come from? It comes from Adam and Eve, the ones who first said "no" to God and "yes" to themselves and “yes” to the devil who lied to them, and that "no" is passed on like a genetic disease from parent to child, from one generation to the next.

In our own human experience, to say “no” to someone in authority is a test of that authority, which is exactly what the first son was doing in the parable Jesus told. He was denying his father's authority. To say no to his father's request was to refuse his authority. 

Of course, there were two sons in the Gospel story, and we hear also the words of the second son: the lips say “yes,” but the actions say no. This, also, was a denial of his father's authority. When we hear all this outlined for us in a parable, it all seems so stark, and it appears obvious what is going on. But very often the actions we see in these two sons describes exactly how we tend to operate. We’re not necessarily so rude as to say "no" to someone's face. What happens is that, like the second son in the parable, we say "yes," - maybe even in a polite way - but then we go and do the opposite. We’ve all done it at one time or another.

In fact, we stand in a long tradition of people doing that - indeed, it began with Adam and Eve, and it’s been present throughout the history of mankind. Look back in the Scriptures:

The People of Israel stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai where God had given them the Law, and they said, “All these things the Lord has commanded us, we will do." That was just before they made the golden calf and bowed down to worship it.

St. Peter made the promise to Christ, "Even if I must die with you, I will never deny you," and later, on the very same day, he denied Jesus three times.

And so it goes with each of us. We say one thing, but we do the opposite. As St. Paul said, the good we want to do, we don't do; the evil we don't want to do, we very often end up doing. We honour God with our lips, but our hearts are often far from Him. We nod a polite "yes" to God's Law, but in the end, our greed, our arrogance, our immorality, our self-centeredness, our gossip and our lack of forgiveness – they all speak a deafening "no." So, the first son in the parable is almost like looking in a mirror.

But the second son in the parable isn’t any stranger to us. In fact, his behavior is a prime example of what would be called religious hypocrisy. The word "hypocrite" is from the Greek word for "actor." In the Greek theater, the actors hid behind masks; they appeared to be something they weren’t. That’s what we see in the second son. He appeared to be the good, obedient son - not like the other one who said "no." This son learned to hide his disobedience behind a shiny halo of politeness. "Yes, sir," he said to his face, while shaking his fist behind his father's back. And that’s what religion without repentence is -- a polite "yes, sir" to God's face while we shake our fists at Him in defiance.

Both sons in Jesus' parable sinned against their father. And that’s exactly what we should be confessing to God. We have sinned against God our Father by what we have done and by what we have left undone, by our rebellious "no" and by our false religious "yes." We haven’t loved God with our whole heart, and so our "yes" to Him sometimes is half-hearted at best. We make God’s commandments a matter of convenience; we say “yes” to them as long as they apply to the sins of others and as long they don't cramp our own lives too severely.

Jesus asked the religious leaders who heard the parable, "Which of the two did the will of his father?" "The first," they replied. “The one who said no, but then turned.” Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, the tax collectors and harlots are going into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him, but the tax collectors and harlots believed him; and even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him."

Repentance – a “turning” – is what this parable is all about. Not just turning things around in your life, but actually being turned around by God. Like the first son – who turned from his "no," – so we’re supposed to be turned away from ourselves and turned toward God – we’re supposed to be turned in our mind and our heart. We’re to see ourselves in a new light, in the light of Christ, as people who are called to be saints, to be children of God, to be heirs of eternal life. Once we were determined to do our own will, a determination that leads to death; but now we’re turned to do the will of our Father in heaven, a determination which leads to life.

And what is the will of our Father in heaven? Jesus said, "For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life; and I will raise Him up at the last day." This is God's will for us: that we should look to His Son Jesus – crucified for us, raised for us, reigning in us – and that trusting in Jesus, and not in ourselves, so we can claim the promise of the free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ, so that we’ll rise from the dead in the resurrection of the righteous to live in the presence of God forever. That’s the will of our Father in heaven. That’s what God is bringing about in our lives. Not necessarily that we be happy, healthy, wealthy, or even wise, but that we rise from the dead – rise to newness of life – and God orders everything in our lives around that very end.

God has provided a kind of “alternative death” in the death of Jesus, a death into which a sinner dies to sin now, so that he can live forever. God took His Son, placed upon Him the sin of the world, and nailed Him on the cross. Now in Holy Baptism, God offers that death to us. He applies it to us with His Word and Sacrament. He says, "Cling to this death, because it’s yours – it’s Jesus' gift for you." Die with Him – die to “self” – and you will live forever. But try to live without Him – try to do things your own way and according to your own schedule – and you’ll die forever.

As with all the parables, the key is Christ. He is, in a sense, the “third son” of the father, the one not mentioned in the parable. He’s the son who said "yes" to His Father's Will long ago, when the foundations of the world first were laid. It was then that the Father said to His beloved Son, "When they turn from me, you will go and save them. You’ll do what they won’t do. You will keep the Law perfectly in their place, and you will take upon yourself their sin. Their disobedience will become yours; and your obedience will be theirs.” Jesus said "yes" to His Father's will to save mankind, and He did it, perfectly.

In his Epistle to the Philippians St. Paul wrote what is actually a beautiful hymn which says in part, “Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” St. Paul presents the fact that the eternal Son didn’t consider His equality with the Father something to be held on to, but He emptied Himself of His divine honour and glory, and took on the humble clothing of a servant. The king left his throne and became a peasant. God became the lowliest of men, born of a poor and humble virgin. He laboured, he wept, he bled. God was clothed in our humanity. He humbled Himself. He buried His divinity deeply behind our humanity. He touched us with human hands. He became obedient to His own Law. He kept it perfectly in our place. He came under the Law's death sentence - even death on a cross.

So – to go back to the parable – “Which one did the will of his father?” The answer is that Jesus did. He did the will of His Father for those who would not, for those who could not. Jesus did it for everyone - for the son who said "no" and for the son who said "yes." He did it for those who are religious and for those who aren’t. He did it for the sinner and for the saint, for the tax collector and for the Pharisee. He did it for you, and He did it for me. He did it for the whole world. Therefore the Father exalted His Son. He raised Him from the dead and enthroned Him at His right hand, and placed His name over all things so that He might place His saving death and resurrection over everyone and everything. "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Jesus’ death is our death. His resurrection is ours. His ascension is ours. Baptized into Him we have died, we have risen, we are seated with Him at the Father's right hand. So, turn to Him who has turned to you in love to forgive you, to raise you up, to make you his own. Turn to Him, because God doesn’t want us to die forever. Turn to Him, who hung on the cross for you. Turn to Him, confessing your sins, because God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins. Christ is calling each and every one of us to turn to Him, and live.

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Pictured: "The Father and His Two Sons in the Vineyard" 

Engraving by Georg Pencz (1500-1550)

St. Jerome, Priest and Doctor

Saints are usually remembered for some outstanding virtue or devotion which they practiced, and St. Jerome certainly had many qualities which can lead to holiness, but by his own admission he suffered also from being ill-tempered at times. 

Although he could be scathing in his assessment of others, his love for God was extraordinarily intense. Some of St. Jerome’s reputation for impatience with others was because he considered that anyone who taught error was an enemy of God and truth, and he went after such a person with his mighty and sometimes sarcastic pen.

He was above all a Scripture scholar, translating most of the Old Testament from the Hebrew. He also wrote commentaries which are a great source of scriptural inspiration for us today. He was an avid student, a thorough scholar, a prodigious letter-writer and a consultant to monk, bishop, and pope. St. Augustine said of him, "What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known."

His love for scripture led him to the Holy Land because of his desire to see and pray in the places of scripture. It was there that he began work on his greatest achievement, which was the Latin Vulgate version of the scriptures.

He took up residence in Bethlehem, and the cave in which he lived was near the cave in which Jesus was born. It was where he studied and worked for many years, eventually dying there. His body is now in St. Mary Major in Rome.

O God, who hast given us the holy Scriptures for a light to shine upon our path: grant us, after the example of thy servant Saint Jerome and assisted by his prayers, so to learn of thee according to thy holy Word; that we may find in it the light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen. 

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Painting: "St. Jerome" by Jan Massys (1509-1575)

Ss. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels

O Everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the services of Angels and men in a wonderful order: mercifully grant that as thy holy Angels alway do thee service in heaven; so by thy appointment they may succour and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Angels are pure, created spirits. The name "angel" means servant or messenger of God. Angels are celestial or heavenly beings, on a higher order than human beings. Angels have no bodies and do not depend on matter for their existence or activity. They are distinct from saints, which men can become. Angels have intellect and will, and are immortal. They are a vast multitude, but each is an individual person. Archangels are one of the nine choirs of angels listed in the Bible. In ascending order, the choirs or classes are 1) Angels, 2) Archangels, 3) Principalities, 4) Powers, 5) Virtues, 6) Dominations, 7) Thrones, 8) Cherubim, and 9) Seraphim.

St. Michael
The name of the archangel Michael means, in Hebrew, “who is like unto God?” and he is also known as "the prince of the heavenly host." He is usually pictured as a strong warrior, dressed in armor. His name appears in Scripture four times, twice in the Book of Daniel, and once each in the Epistle of St. Jude and the Book of Revelation. From Revelation we learn of the battle in heaven, with St. Michael and his angels combatting Lucifer and the other fallen angels (or devils). We invoke St. Michael to help us in our fight against Satan; to rescue souls from Satan, especially at the hour of death; to be the champion of the Jews in the Old Testament and now Christians; and to bring souls to judgment.


St. Gabriel
St. Gabriel's name means "God is my strength". Biblically he appears three times as a messenger. He had been sent to Daniel to explain a vision concerning the Messiah. He appeared to Zachariah when he was offering incense in the Temple, to foretell the birth of his son, St. John the Baptist. St. Gabriel is most known as the angel chosen by God to be the messenger of the Annunciation, to announce to mankind the mystery of the Incarnation. The angel's salutation to our Lady, so simple and yet so full of meaning, “Hail Mary, full of grace,” has become the constant and familiar prayer of all Christian people.


St. Raphael
Our knowledge of the Archangel Raphael comes to us from the book of Tobit. His mission as wonderful healer and fellow traveler with the youthful Tobias has caused him to be invoked for journeys and at critical moments in life. Tradition also holds that Raphael is the angel that stirred the waters at the healing sheep pool in Bethesda. "God has healed" is the meaning of his name.

St. Lawrence Ruiz and Companions, Martyrs

The mixed-race child of a Chinese father and a Filipino mother, Lawrence Ruiz grew up in Manila and married a local Catholic girl. They had three children, and lived a simple life on his modest salary as a clerk working for the local parish. What they lacked in material things they more than made up for in their deep Catholic faith. Living something of an anonymous life, known only to their immediate circle of family and friends, life was good but not extraordinary. That is, not until a false accusation was made. And then, life as Lawrence Ruiz and his wife knew it, no longer existed. Everything was turned upside down as he made the nearly-impossible decision to run from his accusers. He was completely innocent, but he paid a very heavy price, which involved leaving his beloved wife and children and the only home he knew.

Lawrence made his way to a ship which was headed for Japan, and his travelling companions were three Dominican priests, a Japanese priest, and a layman who suffered from leprosy. They arrived in Okinawa and made no secret of their Catholic faith. And for that, they were arrested and tortured mercilessly. They were dragged off to Nagasaki, where further sport was made of Lawrence and the others, in an attempt to get them to deny Christ. They remained steadfast in professing their love for God and His Church. Lawrence had already had a false accusation made against him, but this accusation - that he was a Catholic - was an accusation he was happy to confirm, no matter what the consequences. And the consequences were brutal. He and his companions were hung upside down while having heavy stones tied to them; they were held under water until the moment before they would drown; they had wood splinters driven under their fingernails. But through it all, their hearts were filled with love for God and forgiveness for their persecutors.

When they finally died from their tortures, the bodies of Lawrence and his companions were burned and the ashes were thrown into the sea. Their faithful witness, however, fed that great burning fire of God's love, which continues to burn to this day.

Grant us, we pray, Lord God, the same perseverance shown by thy Martyrs Saint Lawrence Ruiz and his Companions in serving thee and their neighbour: even as those persecuted for the sake of righteousness are blessed in thy kingdom; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Wenceslaus, King and Martyr

St. Wenceslaus, duke of Bohemia, was born about the year 907 at Prague, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). His father was killed in battle when he was young, leaving the kingdom to be ruled by his pagan mother. Wenceslaus was educated by his grandmother, Ludmilla, also a saint. She taught him to be a Christian and to be a good king. She was killed by pagan nobles before she saw him king, but she left him with a deep commitment to the Christian faith.

Throughout his life he lived as a completely faithful Catholic. As duke he was a father to his subjects, generous toward orphans, widows, and the poor. He himself frequently carried wood to the houses of the needy. He often attended the funerals of the poor.  He ransomed captives, and visited those suffering in prison. He was filled with a deep reverence toward the clergy. With his own hands he planted the wheat for making altar breads and pressed the grapes for the wine used in the Mass. During winter he would visit the churches barefoot through snow and ice, frequently leaving behind bloody footprints.

Wenceslaus was eighteen years old when he succeeded his father to the throne. Without regard for the opposition, he worked in close cooperation with the Church to convert his pagan country. He ended the persecution of Christians, built churches and brought back exiled priests. As king he gave an example of a devout life and of great Christian charity, with his people calling him "Good King" of Bohemia.

His brother Boleslaus, however, turned to paganism. One day he invited Wenceslaus to his house for a banquet. The next morning, on September 28, 929, as Wenceslaus was on the way to Mass, Boleslaus struck him down at the door of the church. Before he died, Wenceslaus forgave his brother and asked God's mercy for his soul. Although he was killed for political reasons, he is listed as a martyr since the dispute arose over his faith. This king, martyred at the age of twenty-two, is the national hero and patron of the Czech Republic. He is the first Slav to be canonized.

O God, who through the victory of martyrdom didst exalt thy blessed Saint Wenceslaus from his earthy principality to the glory of thy heavenly kingdom: we pray thee, at his intercession, to defend us against all adversities; and to suffer us to rejoice in his eternal fellowship; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.