In preparation for the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray this Advent Novena starting St. Andrew’s Day through midnight on Christmas Eve (11-30 through 12-24). Join us!
Pray this prayer every day 15 times:
+Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold.
In that hour vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.
Detail of St. Theresa, 1827, by French painter François Gérard
Happy Feast Day of St. Teresa of Ávila, who was the first female to be declared Doctor of the Church. As one can imagine, she did not live life for herself, at all, after she had been shown her place in hell IF she were to continue living a rather tepid religious life and thus squander the gifts Our Lord had given her. So don’t be surprised when you do read her own writing and find her style very down to earth, much like a mother teaching her daughters.
The prayer “Nada te turbe” is attributed to Teresa, having been found in her breviary. Here is an English rendering:
“Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.” ~ St. Teresa of Ávila
Teresa of Ávila, by Peter Rubens, 1615. This is the portrait of Teresa that is probably the most true to her appearance. It is a copy of an original 1576 painting of her when she was 61.
Rather than reading about her, I suggest reading what she herself wrote. The Interior Castle is well worth your time and contemplation.
“Perhaps we do not know what love is, nor does this greatly surprise me. Love does not consist in great sweetness of devotion, but in a fervent determination to strive to please God in all things, in avoiding, as far as possible, all that would offend Him, and in praying for the increase of the glory and honor of His Son and for the growth of the Catholic Church.” ~ St. Teresa of Avila, An excerpt from “Interior Castle”
It is October 4th today, and always a special day for us here because it is the feast of the saint most dear to us. Happy Feast of St. Francis of Assisi to y’all! In honor of the first saint to receive the stigmata, enjoy a few depictions of St. Francis, along with my favorite St. Francis quote:
“Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received– only what you have given.”
St. Francis by Albert Chevallier Tayle
Stained glass window of St. Francis in St. Damiano
St. Francis embracing Christ by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Scenes from the Life of St Francis: Francis Preaching to the Birds Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi
St. Francis talking to the wolf of Gubbio (Carl Weidemeyer, 1911)
The month of October is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. During her last apparition at Fatima on October 13, 1917, Mary specifically referred to herself as “The Lady of the Rosary.” If you are not in the habit of praying the Rosary but have considered learning or starting again to pray it, this is the perfect month to do so.
Our Lady of the Rosary
On October 7th, the RCC celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. According to tradition, Our Lady famously appeared to St. Dominic de Guzman and gave the prayers of the Holy Rosary (as we know them today) to assist him as a spiritual weapon in combating heresy and leading souls back to the one true Catholic faith. Since then, the Rosary has been an infallible source of grace and strength to those who pray it. At Fatima, for example, Our Lady instructed the three children she appeared to to learn how to read and write so that they could pray the Rosary and spread the devotion to it.
Saints who prayed the Rosary
If and when you pray the Rosary, you are in very good company, both today and throughout the ages. Here is a short, by no means comprehensive list of saints who prayed the Rosary.
St. Benedict XVI
St. Bernadette Soubirous
St. Anthony Mary Claret
St. Dominic
St. Josemaria Escriva
St. John Paul II (who aded the Five Luminous Mysteries)
St. Thérèse of Lisieux
St. Louis de Montfort (who happens to be a relative of ours)
St. Pio of Pietrelcina
St. Pius V
St. Pius X
St. Francis de Sales
Don’t know how to pray the Rosary?
There are many books on how to pray the rosay, and what to contemplate while praying the many Ave Marias. If you are just starting out, here are a few links that might help you:
The month of September is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, Mater Dolorosa: On September 15th, we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Our Lady of Sorrows
From very early on, Mary was keenly aware that the Son of God, who was also her son, was born to suffer, to be the “man of sorrows” the prophet spoke about. This month, September, we particularly remember Mary’s role in the life and passion of Our Lord, how she suffered when He was still a child during the flight to Egypt and when Simeon prophesied over the child Jesus during the Presentation. More suffering followed when she lost Jesus for three days when He was twelve, and finally when she went with Him every step of the way during His passion. She was the first to pray the Stations of the Cross, even as they were unfolding.
Stabat Mater
Many Western composers have put to music a hymn from the 13th century, “Stabat Mater”, “The Mother was standing”. On the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, this hymn is sung at the liturgy. The first two stanzas run:
Stabat mater dolorósa juxta Crucem lacrimósa, dum pendébat Fílius.
At the Cross her station keeping, Stood the mournful Mother weeping, Close to Jesus to the last:
Cuius ánimam geméntem, contristántem et doléntem pertransívit gládius.
Through her heart, his sorrow sharing, All his bitter anguish bearing, now at length the sword has pass’d.
Of course, there are a lot more stanzas to it, and if you are looking for a version of the Stabat Mater online, you will find anything from three-minute videos to over an hour long compositions. I happen to like this rendering of Antonio Vivaldi‘s version a lot:
The sword that “at length” pierces Our Lady is a reference to the prophesy of Simeon:
“And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35, KJV)
Since Mary’s sorrows are seven in number, depictions of Our Lady of Sorrows with seven swords piercing her, or Mary surrounded by pictures showing her seven sorrows, are numerous.
During the month of September, many people pray the Seven Sorrows of Mary in much the same way they otherwise pray the Stations of the Cross.
These are the last days before Holy Week, and they offer a last opportunity for some Lent Meditation. Ponder with us the last journey to Jerusalem. Let us get ready to re-member the last stage of the most important week in the history of mankind.
Passion Sunday is past, Palm Sunday not yet upon us, Lent is slowly but surely coming to a head. Aren’t these days like waiting for a challenging situation you have been preparing for? You want it to come, you know you are ready, but it is not here yet. If only it had already begun! The waiting almost seems to be the worst of it all.
These last days of Lent invite us to meditate on Jesus growing ever more somber in His discourse with the apostles and disciples, ever more sad. And He becomes ever more outspoken with regards to the terrifying suffering that awaits Him in Jerusalem. No Lent Meditation of the last week can be complete without considering Lam 1:12:
“Is it nothing to you, All ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.”
He knows His suffering will be unspeakably great. During His Agony in the Garden, He sees just precisely how unspeakably great it will be! He Himself will suffer most ignominious treatment. His Beloved Mother will inwardly experience His own pain. His beloved friends will watch helplessly while their Lord and their Hope runs the most cruel gauntlet and dies the most shameful death.
And they that longed to see Him die on the cross wag their heads and mock and revile Him with ever growing ferocity. Indeed, His sorrow is nothing to them. And yet, they know not that they are but tools in the toolbox of Someone Greater: The Son’s unparalleled suffering and sorrow is the final nail in the adversary’s coffin. See, He is making something New!
“Not my will but Thine be done.”
Frans Schwartz “Agonie in the Garden” 1898, detail
