This week saw the Catholic world celebrate two great angelic feasts - the Feasts of St. Michael and the Archangels and our Guardian Angels - but Christians need to be aware that the New Age has made the existence of these awesome beings into a very dangerous cottage industry.
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Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
The PC culture in America has claimed many victims, but a popular French teacher from a public high school in Williamsburg, Virginia, who was fired for refusing to use male pronouns for a female student, is determined not to be one of them and has filed suit against the school.
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October 3
“Take great care to avoid the two pitfalls that most people fall into during the Rosary. The first is the danger of not asking for any graces at all. So, whenever you say your Rosary, be sure to ask for some special grace or virtue, or strength to overcome some sin.”
(See tomorrow’s Grace Line for the second pitfall.)
-St. Louis de Montfort
For Reflection:
What special grace or virtue will I ask to obtain when I say my Rosary today? Is there a sin I need the strength to overcome? What is it? I will tuck this intention into my prayer as well.
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Angels are all the rage these days. Often depicted as plump little cherubs or New Age nymphs, put one of these winged creatures on the cover of a book or greeting card and it’s bound to sell. How much do we really know about the extraordinary beings who keep careful watch over us every day of our lives?
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October 2
“From my youthful years this prayer has held an important place in my spiritual life. The Rosary has accompanied me in moments of joy and in moments of difficulty. To it I have entrusted any number of concerns:
in it I have always found comfort.”
-Saint John Paul II
For Reflection:
What position does the Rosary hold in my spiritual life? Am I in a moment of joy or difficulty? Am I willing to entrust this moment to this prayer?
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Know Thyself, and thy faults, and thus live. – St. Augustine
My mother had me pegged at a very young age. I remember walking into her bedroom as she put down the book Transformed Temperaments by Tim LaHaye and smiled at twelve-year-old me. “You,” she said with certainty, “are a melancholic.” It didn’t mean much then–although I remember it clearly–but years later I would come to learn and appreciate the four temperaments. Sure enough, even as a child, melancholic me was more likely to be writing poetry than playing sports or crying over a poignant novel than hanging out with friends.
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We all long for peace of soul, the kind of supernatural joy that can remain steadfast and robust even in the midst of the trials and anxieties of 21st century life. How can weak little souls achieve such a lofty goal? Simple! Look to the Little Flower of Lisieux who pioneered a path to this coveted peace that is specifically designed to fit the needs of “little souls” like us.
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The seeds of the Little Flower, the beloved Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897), were planted in unquestionably holy soil. The sanctity of her family is evidenced by the holiness of her parents, Louis and Zelie Martin, both canonized saints of the Catholic Church. All five of their daughters dedicated their lives to Christ by entering religious Orders; four, including Therese, as Carmelites.
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October 1
Queen of the Holy Rosary
Queen of the Holy Rosary! Thee as our Queen we greet,
And lay our lowly, loving prayers Like roses at thy feet.
Would that these blossoms of our souls Were far more fair and sweet.
Queen of the Joyful Mysteries! Glad news God's envoy bore.
The Baptist's mother thou didst tend; Angels thy Babe adore,
Whom with two doves thou ransomest;
Lost, He is found once more.
Queen of the Dolorous Mysteries!
Christ 'mid the olives bled, Scourged at the pillar, crowned with thorns,
Beneath His Cross He sped Up the steep hill;
and there once more Thine arms embraced Him--dead!
Queen of the Glorious Mysteries! Christ from the tomb has flown,
Has mounted to the highest heaven
And sent His Spirit down
And soon He raises thee on high To wear thy heavenly crown.
Queen of the Holy Rosary!
We, too, have joys and woes.
May they, like thine, to triumph lead! May labor earn repose,
And may life's sorrows and life's joys In heavenly glory close.
-Cyril Robert
For Reflection:
As I contemplate this poem, how have I seen the mysteries of Christ’s life reflected in my own? How can this identification help me to pray the Rosary with greater recollection?
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