Communio – Page 81 – …bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Be Still…Matthew

A prayer for those in the path of
Hurricane Matthew

O Lord Jesus Christ, who stopped the raging sea by the firm word of Thy command, saying, “Peace, be still!”, so also visit us with Thy might and mercy, further sending this hurricane to die in the abyss of the Sea, and show mercy, show mercy to all in its path. For Thou art the True God, Almighty and All-merciful, to whom we ascribe thanks and glory, with Thy beginning-less Father, and the Most-Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

(I think this comes from the OCA)

Our Lady of the Rosary

“The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. In the sobriety of its elements, it has all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety , of which it can be said to be a compendium. It is an echo of the prayer of Mary, her perennial Magnificat for the work of the redemptive Incarnation which began in her virginal womb. With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 1).

St. Josemaria Escriva said, “The Rosary is a prayer very pleasing to our Lady, which has been part of the life of Catholics for many centuries. At the same time, it is a meditation on the mysteries of the life of our Lord and his Mother.

“Therefore, I recommend it with all my heart, also as a prayer that can be done as a family, although you shouldn’t force your young children to pray it . . . if they want to join the others, fine; if not, let them be, and eventually they will come. It has to be something voluntary” (Notes, November 17, 1972).

Mother Marie Adele Garnier’s canonization cause opens

Vatican opens cause for canonization Mother Marie Adele Garnier, OSB. Mother now carries the title of Servant of God.

Two pieces to look at:

The Catholic Herald (article)

The monastic communities founded by Garnier (video)

This is REAL GOOD news!

St Francis of Assisi

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains us and governs us and who produces
varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Praised be You, my Lord,
through those who give pardon for Your love,
and bear infirmity and tribulation.

Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.

A word about this image:

The fresco on the left is the earliest, and is at the Benedictine abbey of St Scholastica in the Sacro Speco Shrine at Subiaco. It opens a window.

Sermon on the mount summons us

The sermon on the mount is a summons to follow Jesus Christ in discipleship. He alone is perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect (the demand reaching into the depths of one’s being in which the individual instructions of the sermon on the mount are condensed and united: Matt. 5:48). On our own we cannot be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect – but we must be to correspond to the task our nature lays upon us.

We cannot do this, but we can follow him, cling to him, become his. If we belong to him as his limbs or members, then through our participation we become what he is: his goodness becomes ours. What the father says in the parable of the prodigal son is realized in us: All that is mine is yours (Luke 15:31).

The moralism of the sermon on the mount that is all too stiff for us is brought together and transformed into communion with Jesus, into being a disciple of Jesus; in clinging fast to our relationship to him, in friendship with him and in confidence in him.

To Look On Christ
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger

Transitus of St Francis of Assisi

This evening the Franciscans (friars, nuns, sisters, laity) recall in a prayerful manner Holy Father Saint Francis, who passed from this world 790 years ago.

Francis is recalled by his biographer Thomas of Celano:

While therefore the brothers were weeping very bitterly and grieving inconsolably, the holy father commanded that bread be brought to him. He blessed and broke it and gave a small piece of it to each one to eat. Commanding also that a book of the Gospels be brought, he asked that the Gospel according to St. John be read to him from the place that begins: “Before the feast of the Passover.” He was recalling that most holy supper which the Lord celebrated as his last supper with his disciples. He did all of this in reverent memory of that supper, showing thereby the deep love he had for his brothers.

(The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul by Thomas of Celano, The Second Book, Chapter CLXIII, #217, p. 387.)

The Transitus experience is an expression of the Franciscan order which is rather unique: it is the anniversary of the saint’s death but the uniqueness lies in the question: what does it mean to live the spirit of Francis in our midst today? Or, how is the life and work and spiritual patrimony of Francis as light for our world today?

St Theodore Guerin

A little known saint in these parts is an American woman called Saint Mother Theodore Guerin. Today is her liturgical commemoration. Mother Theodore is the foundress of the Sisters of Providence in Indiana. For the time being, Saint Theodore’s liturgical devotion is restricted to the dioceses in Indiana. She is a recognized saint of the Church, and her ability to assist us in our efforts to live holy lives is well documented. She was known for her great trust in God’s Providence and her holiness of life.

In October 1840, Mother Theodore and a group of sisters was invited from France to Indiana to serve in this portion of the Lord’s Kingdom. Travel to the USA and to Indiana caused them great hardships. And their challenges did not end there. Mother Theodore had many requests for her small community to serve the needs of the new diocese in Indiana. Mother Theodore and her sisters set to work serving those in their neighborhood, and quickly set to work establishing schools for the poor. On a personal level, she suffered many hardships, from the severe conditions of their rugged dwellings to personal health problems that eventually led to an early death in 1856.

Saint Mother Theodore, Pray for us!

Blessed Columba Marmion

The month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. It is a profound prayer and a way to drawn closer to Christ by being a child of Mary, the Mother of God. Today, we commemorate the feast of the Benedictine abbot, Blessed Columba Marmion. When he was elected abbot of his abbey, he chose Rosary Sunday for the Abbatial Blessing in 1909. He had, as we ought to have, a sincere devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary. He writes:

Here is an example to help you understand the efficacy of the Rosary. You remember the story of David who vanquished Goliath. What steps did the young Israelite take to overthrow the giant? He struck him in the middle of the forehead with a pebble from his sling. If we regard the Philistine as representing evil and all its powers: heresy, impurity, pride, we can consider the little stones from the sling capable of overthrowing the enemy as symbolizing the Aves of the Rosary.

The ways of God are entirely different from our ways. To us it seems necessary to employ powerful means in order to produce great effects. This is not God’s method; quite the contrary. He likes to choose the weakest instruments that He may confound the strong: “God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong — Infirma mundi elegit ut confundat fortia” (1 Cor 1:27).

Have you not often met poor old women who are most faithful to the pious recitation of the Rosary? You also must do all that you can to recite it with fervour. Get right down, at the feet of Jesus: it is a good thing to make oneself small in the presence of so great a God.

Columba Marmion
Christ, the Ideal of the Priest

A prayer to a guardian angel

October 2nd is the day to commemorate the Guardian Angels. While it is a Sunday, the feast gets trumped by the Sunday observance.

The teaching we hold dear about the Guardian Angel is that an angel is (a created, non-human, non-corporeal being) that has been assigned to guard a particular person, with concern for that person to avoid spiritual and physical dangers and work out one’s salvation. The Directory on Piety and the Tradition of the Church says serenity and confidence in facing difficult situations, since the Lord guides and protects the faithful in the way of justice through the ministry of His Holy Angels.

In sacred Scripture, the Prophet Daniel speaks of Michael as “the great prince who has charge of your [Daniel’s] people” (Dan. 12:1). Michael is depicted as the guardian angel of Israel.

Saint Matthew’s Gospel speaks of Jesus talking about are guardian angels for all persons, particularly little children. He says: See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven (Matt. 18:10).

‘A prayer to the good angel’

O sweet angel, to me so dear,
Who night and day standeth me near
Full lovingly, with mild mood, [gentle mind]
Thanks, honour, love and praising,
Offer for me to Jesu, our king,
For his gifts great and good.

As thou goest betwixt him and me,
And knowest my life in every degree,
Telling it in his presence,
Ask me grace to love him truly,
To serve my Lord with heart duly,
With my daily diligence.

Keep me from vice and all perils,
While thou with me daily travels
In this world of wickedness;
Cause my petitions to be granted
By thy prayer daily haunted,
If it please thy holiness.

O sweet angel, who keepest me,
Bring me to bliss, I pray thee!

From the manuscript from which this prayer comes we can note that it was in a volume owned by Margaret Beauchamp, the Duchess of Somerset, mother of Margaret Beaufort, and grandmother of Henry VII.

Religious Lyrics of the XVth Century, ed. Carleton Brown (Oxford, 1939)

Know your angels

Angels are everywhere. Do you notice the angels? Do you know they possess us? Are you in friendship with your Guardian Angel? On the 29th of September we had the feast of the Holy Archangels and on the 2nd of October we have the feast of Guardian Angels. Catholic theology, like that of Jewish theology, teaches the existence and work of angels. Some catechesis on video and some book recommendations:

Watch Mike Aquilina: Angels

Watch Scott Hahn: Angels and Saints

Watch Mark Miravalle: The Nine Choirs of Angels and their relation to Mary the Queen of Angels