Day 19, JOYFUL MYSTERIES, Wednesday September 30

Second Joyful Mystery ~ Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Elizabeth

~ St. Alphonsus de Liguori, The Glories of Mary

My soul doth magnify the Lord:And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.Because He hath regarded the lowliness of His Handmaid:For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.For He that is mighty hath done great things to me: and holy is His Name.And His mercy is from generation unto generations,To them that fear Him. He hath showed might with His arm:He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the lowly.He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich He hath sent empty away.He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of His mercy;As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.

FORTUNATE does that family consider itself which is visited by a royal personage, both on account of the honour that redounds from such a visit, and the advantages that may be hoped to accrue from it. But still more fortunate should that soul consider itself 'which is visited by the Queen of the world, the most holy Virgin Mary, who cannot but fill with riches and graces those blessed souls whom she deigns to visit by her favours. The house of Obededom was blessed when visited by the ark of God: “And the Lord blessed his house." But with how much greater blessings are those persons enriched who receive a loving visit from this living ark of God, for such was the Divine Mother! ‘Happy is that house which the Mother of God visits, says Engelgrave. This was abundantly experienced by the house of Saint John the Baptist; for Mary had scarcely entered it when she heaped graces and heavenly benedictions on the whole family; and for this reason, the present feast of the Visitation is commonly called that of 'our Blessed Lady of Graces.'

After the Blessed Virgin had heard from the Archangel Gabriel, that her cousin Saint Elizabeth had been six months pregnant, she was internally enlightened by the Holy Ghost to know that the Incarnate Word, who had become her Son, was pleased then to manifest to the world the riches of His mercy in the first graces that He desired to impart to all that family. Therefore, without inter posing any delay, according to Saint Luke, " Mary rising up . . . went into the hill country with haste."  Basing from the quiet of contemplation to which she was always devoted, and quitting her beloved solitude, she immediately set out for the dwelling of Saint Elizabeth; and because " charity beareth all things;"  and cannot support delay, as Saint Ambrose remarks on this Gospel: ' The Holy Ghost knows not slow undertakings;'''

Blessed Mary undertook the journey without even reflecting on the arduousness of the journey; this tender Virgin, I say, immediately undertook it. On reaching the house she salutes her cousin: “And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth." Saint Ambrose here remarks, that Mary was ' the first to salute' Elizabeth.  The visit of Mary, however had no resemblance with those of worldlings, which, for the greater part, consist in ceremony and outward demonstrations, devoid of all sincerity; for it brought with it an accumulation of graces. The moment she entered that dwelling, on her first salutation, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and Saint John was cleansed from original sin, and sanctified ; and therefore gave that mark of joy by leaping in his mother's womb ; wishing, thereby, to manifest the grace that he had received by the means of the Blessed Virgin, as Saint Elizabeth declared : " As soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy." Thus, as Bernadine da Bustis remarks, in virtue of Mary's salutation, Saint John received the grace of the Divine Spirit which sanctified him: 'When the Blessed Virgin saluted Elizabeth, the voice of the salutation entering her ears, descended to the child, and by its virtue he received the Holy Ghost.'

And now, if all these first fruits of Redemption passed by Mary as the channel through which grace was communicated to the Baptist, the Holy Ghost to Elizabeth, the gift of prophecy to Zachary, and so many other blessings to the whole house, the first graces, which, to our knowledge, the Eternal Word had granted on earth after His Incarnation, it is quite correct to believe, that from thence forward God made Mary the universal channel, as she is called by Saint Bernard, through which all the other graces which our Lord is pleased to dispense to us should pass, as we have already declared in the fifth chapter of the first part of this work.' With reason, then, the Divine Mother is called the treasure, the treasurer, and the dispenser of Divine graces. She is thus called by Saint Peter Damian, ' the Treasure of Divine graces;' by Blessed Albert the Great, ' the Treasurer of Jesus Christ;' by Saint Bernardine, ' the Dispenser of graces;' by a learned Greek, quoted by Petavius, ' the Storehouse of all good things.' - So also by Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus, who observes, that ' Mary is said to be thus full of grace; for in her all the treasures of grace were hidden.' Richard of St. Lawrence also says, that 'Mary is a treasure, because God has placed all gifts of graces in her as in a treasury; and from thence He bestows great stipends on his soldiers and labourers.' She is a treasury of mercies whence our Lord enriches His servants. Saint Bonaventure, speaking of the field in the Gospel, in which a treasure is hidden, and which should be purchased at however great a price, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field, which a man having found hid it ; and for joy thereof, goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field," says that 'our Queen Mary is this field in which Jesus Christ, the treasure of God the Father, is hid,' and with Jesus Christ the source and flowing fountain of all graces. Saint Bernard affirms, that our Lord 'has deposited the plenitude of every grace in Mary, that we may thus know that if we possess hope, grace, or anything salutary, that it is from her that it came.' Of this we are also assured by Mary herself, saying, "In me is all grace of the way and of the truth;" in me are all the graces of real blessings that you men can desire in life. Yes, sweet Mother, and our hope, we know full well, says Saint Peter Damien, ' that all the treasures of Divine mercies are in thy hands.' 

Day 18, GLORIOUS MYSTERIES, 29 September Feast: St. Michael the Archangel

29 September, Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel

From The Liturgical Year, Dom Gueranger

THE glorious Archangel appears to-day at the head of the heavenly army: There was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels. Who, then, are these heavenly Powers, whose mysterious combat heads the first page of history? Their existence is attested by the traditions of all nations as well as by the authority of Holy Scripture.  If we consult the Church, she teaches us that in the beginning God created simultaneously two natures, the spiritual and the corporal, and afterwards man who is composed of both. The scale of nature descends by gradation from beings made to the likeness of God, to the very confines of nothingness; and by the same degrees the creature mounts upwards to his Creator. God is infinite being, infinite intelligence, and infinite love. The creature is forever finite: but man, endowed with a reasoning intellect, and the angel, with an intuitive grasp of truth, are ever, by a continual process of purification, widening the bounds of their imperfect nature, in order to reach, by increase of light, the perfection of greater love. God alone is simple with that unchangeable productive simplicity, which is absolute perfection excluding the possibility of progress; He is pure Act, in whom substance, power, and operation are one thing. The angel, though entirely independent of matter, is yet subject to the natural weakness necessary to a created being; he is not absolutely simple, for in him action is distinct from power, and power from essence. How much greater is the weakness of man’s composite nature, unable to carry on the operations of the intellect without the aid of the senses!

‘Compared with ours,’ says one of the most enlightened brethren of the angelic doctor, ‘How calm and how luminous is the knowledge of pure spirits! They are not doomed to the intricate discussions of our reason, which runs after the truth, composes and analyzes, and laboriously draws conclusions from propositions. They instantaneously apprehend the whole compass of primary truths. Their intuition is so prompt, so lively, so penetrating, that it is impossible for them to be surprised, as we are, into error. If they deceive themselves, it must be of their own will. The perfection of their will is equal to the perfection of their intellect. They know not what it is to be disturbed by the violence of appetites. Their love is without emotion; and their hatred of evil is as calm and as wisely tempered as their love. A will so free can know no perplexity as to its aims, no inconstancy in its resolutions. Whereas with us long and anxious meditation is necessary before we make a decision, it is the property of the angels to determine by a single act the object of their choice. God proposed to them, as He does to us, infinite beatitude in the vision of His own Essence; and to fit them for so great an end, He endowed them with grace at the same time as He gave them being. In one instant they said Yes or No; in one instant they freely and deliberately decided their own fate."

Let us not be envious. By nature the angel is superior to us; but, to which of the angels hath He said at any time, ‘Thou art My Son?” The only begotten Son of God did not take to Himself the angelic nature. When on earth, He acknowledged the temporary subordination of humanity to those pure spirits, and deigned to receive from them, even as do His brethren in the flesh, the announcements of the divine will, and help and strength. But ‘God hath not subjected unto angels the world to come,’ says the apostle.5 How can we understand this attraction of God towards what is feeblest? We can only worship it in humble, loving faith. It was Lucifer’s stumbling-block on the day of the great battle in heaven. But the faithful angels prostrated themselves in joyous adoration at the feet of the Infant-God foreshown to them enthroned on Mary’s knee, and then rose up to sing: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.’ O Christ, my Christ as St. Denis calls Thee, the Church today delightedly proclaims Thee the beauty of the holy angels. Thou, the God-Man, art the lofty height whence purity, light, and love flow down upon the triple hierarchy of the nine choirs. Thou art the supreme Hierarch, the centre of worlds, controller of the deifying mysteries at the eternal feast. Flaming Seraphim, glittering Cherubim, steadfast Thrones, court of honour to the Most High, and possessed of the noblest inheritance: according to the Areopagite, ye receive your justice, your splendour, and your burning love by direct communication from our Lord: and through you, all grace overflows from Him upon the holy city. Dominations, Virtues, and Powers; sovereign disposers, prime movers, and rulers of the universe: in whose name do ye govern the world? Doubtless in His whose inheritance it is; in the name of the King of glory, the Man-God, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord of hosts.

Angels, Archangels, and Principalities; heaven’s messengers, ambassadors, and overseers here below: are ye not also, as the apostle says, ministers of the salvation wrought on earth by Jesus, the heavenly High-Priest? We also, through this same Jesus, O most holy Trinity, glorify Thee, together with the three princely hierarchies, which surround Thy Majesty with their nine immaterial rings as with a many-circled rampart.  To tend to Thee, and to draw all things to Thee, is their common law. Purification, illumination, union: by these three ways in succession, or simultaneously, are these noble beings attracted to God, and by the same they attract those who strive to emulate them. Sublime spirits, it is with your gaze ever fixed on high that ye influence those below and around you. Draw plentifully, both for yourselves and for us, from the central fires of the Divinity; purify us from more than the involuntary infirmities of nature; enlighten us; kindle us with your heavenly flames. For the same reason that Satan hates us, ye love us: protect the race of the Word made Flesh against the common enemy. So guard us, that we may hereafter be worthy to occupy among you the places left meant by the victims of pride.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou – O Prince of the Heavenly Hosts – thrust into hell, Satan, and all the evil spirits who prowl throughout the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. 

Day 17, SORROWFUL MYSTERIES, Monday September 28

St. Padre Pio, pray for us. May the Lord, by your powerful intercession, grant us to love Him more and more and to participate by our own acts of love in His holy Passion.

On Reparation for Sin, from the Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Pope Pius XI, MISERENTISSIMUS REDEMPTOR, On Reparation to the Sacred Heart (Nos. 9,10)

But no created power was sufficient to expiate the sins of men, if the Son of God had not assumed man's nature in order to redeem it. This, indeed, the Savior of men Himself declared by the mouth of the sacred Psalmist: "Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldest not: but a body thou hast fitted to me: Holocausts for sin did not please thee: then said I: Behold I come" (Hebrews x, 5-7). And in very deed, "Surely He hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows. . . He was wounded for our iniquities (Isaias liii, 4-5.) …  Yet, though the copious redemption of Christ has abundantly forgiven us all offenses (Cf. Colossians ii, 13), nevertheless, because of that wondrous divine dispensation whereby those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ are to be filled up in our flesh for His body which is the Church (Cf. Colossians i, 24), to the praises and satisfactions, "which Christ in the name of sinners rendered unto God" we can also add our praises and satisfactions, and indeed it behoves us so to do.

However, we must ever remember that the whole virtue of the expiation depends on the one bloody sacrifice of Christ, which without intermission of time is renewed on our altars in an unbloody manner, "For the victim is one and the same, the same now offering by the ministry of priests, who then offered Himself on the cross, the manner alone of offering being different" (Council of Trent, Session XXIII, Chapter 2). Wherefore with this most august Eucharistic Sacrifice there ought to be joined an oblation both of the ministers and of all the faithful, so that they also may "present themselves living sacrifices, holy, pleasing unto God" (Romans xii, 1). Nay more, St. Cyprian does not hesitate to affirm that "the Lord's sacrifice is not celebrated with legitimate sanctification, unless our oblation and sacrifice correspond to His passion" (Ephesians 63). For this reason, the Apostle admonishes us that "bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus" (2 Corinthians iv, 10), and buried together with Christ, and planted together in the likeness of His death (Cf. Romans vi, 4-5), we must not only crucify our flesh with the vices and concupiscences (Cf.Galatians v, 24), "flying the corruption of that concupiscence which is in the world" (2 Peter i, 4), but "that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies" (2 Corinthians iv, 10) and being made partakers of His eternal priesthood we are to offer up "gifts and sacrifices for sins" (Hebrews v, 1). Nor do those only enjoy a participation in this mystic priesthood and in the office of satisfying and sacrificing, whom our Pontiff Christ Jesus uses as His ministers to offer up the clean oblation to God's Name in every place from the rising of the sun to the going down (Malachias i, 11), but the whole Christian people rightly called by the Prince of the Apostles "a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood" (1 Peter ii, 9), ought to offer for sins both for itself and for all mankind (Cf. Hebrews v, 3), in much the same manner as every priest and pontiff "taken from among men, is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God" (Hebrews v, 1).

But the more perfectly that our oblation and sacrifice corresponds to the sacrifice of Our Lord, that is to say, the more perfectly we have immolated our love and our desires and have crucified our flesh by that mystic crucifixion of which the Apostle speaks, the more abundant fruits of that propitiation and expiation shall we receive for ourselves and for others. For there is a wondrous and close union of all the faithful with Christ, such as that which prevails between the head and the other members; moreover by that mystic Communion of Saints which we profess in the Catholic creed, both individual men and peoples are joined together not only with one another but also with him, "who is the head, Christ; from whom the whole body, being compacted and fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to the operation in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in charity" (Ephesians iv, 15-16). It was this indeed that the Mediator of God and men, Christ Jesus, when He was near to death, asked of His Father: "I in them, and thou in me: that they may be made perfect in one" (John xvii, 23).

Day 15, GLORIOUS MYSTERIES, Saturday September 26

Our Lady, Help of Christians, Turin

Our Life, Our Sweetness, and Our Hope

~ St. Alphonsus de Liguori, from The Glories of Mary

In the Franciscan chronicles it is related, that brother Leo once saw a red ladder, on the summit of which was Jesus Christ; and a white one, on the top of which was His most holy Mother; and he saw some who tried to ascend the red ladder, and they mounted a few steps, and fell — they tried again, and again fell. They were then advised to go and try the white ladder, and by that one they easily ascended, for our Blessed Lady stretched out her hand and helped them, and so they got safely to heaven. Denis the Carthusian asks, ' Who is there that is saved? Who is there that reigns in heaven? ' And he answers, ' They are certainly saved and reign in heaven for whom this Queen of mercy intercedes.' And this, Mary herself confirms in the book of Proverbs, "By me kings reign;" through my intercession kings reign, first in this mortal life by ruling their passions, and so come to reign eternally in heaven, where, says Saint Augustine, 'All are kings.'

Saint Antoninus tells us 'that this Divine Mother has already, by her assistance and prayers, obtained heaven for us, provided we put no obstacle in the way.'' Hence says the Abbot Guerric, ' He who serves Mary, and for whom she intercedes, is as certain of heaven as if he was already there.' Saint John Damascene also says, 'that to serve Mary and be her courtier is the greatest honour we can possibly possess ; for, to serve the Queen of Heaven is already to reign there, and to live under her commands is more than to govern.'

Prayer

O Queen of Heaven and earth! O Mother of the Lord of the world! O Mary, of all creatures, the greatest, the most exalted, and the most amiable! It is true, that then; are many in this world who neither know thee, nor love thee; but in heaven, there are many millions of angels, and blessed spirits, who love and praise thee continually. Even in this world, how many happy souls are there not, who burn with thy love, and live enamoured of thy goodness! Oh, that I also could love thee, O Lady, worthy of all love. Oh that I could always remember to serve thee, to praise thee, to honour thee, and engage all to love thee. Thou hast attracted the love of God, whom, by thy beauty, thou hast, so to say, torn from the bosom of his Eternal Father, and engaged to become man, and be thy Son. And shall I, a poor worm of the earth, not be enamoured of thee? No, my most sweet Mother, I also will love thee much, and will do all that I can to make others love thee also. Accept then, O Mary, the desire that I have to love thee, and help me to execute it. I know how favourably thy lovers are looked upon by God. He, after His own glory, desires nothing more than thine, and to see thee honoured and loved by all. From thee, O Lady, do I expect all; through thee the remission of my sins, through thee perseverance. Thou must assist me at death, and deliver me from purgatory; and finally, thou must lead me to heaven. All this thy lovers hope from thee, and are not deceived. I, who love thee with so much affection, and above all other things, after God, hope for the same favours.

Day 14, SORROWFUL MYSTERIES, Friday, September 25

Psalm 21

O God my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins. O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me. But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel. In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and thou hast delivered them.

They cried to thee, and they were saved: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people. All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head. He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him. For thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my hope from the breasts of my mother.

I was cast upon thee from the womb. From my mother' s womb thou art my God, Depart not from me. For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me. Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me. They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening and roaring. I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered. My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: and thou hast brought me down into the dust of death. For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet. They have numbered all my bones. And they have looked and stared upon me. They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots. But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help to a distance from me; look towards my defence.

Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog. Save me from the lion' s mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise thee. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him. Let all the seed of Israel fear him: because he hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man. Neither hath he turned away his face from me: and when I cried to him he heard me.

With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him. The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever. All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight. For the kingdom is the Lord' s; and he shall have dominion over the nations. All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him.

And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him. There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.

Day 12, GLORIOUS MYSTERIES, Wednesday 23 September

MARVELS OF THE ROSARY ~ St. Louis de Montfort, Secret of the Rosary

IT WOULD HARDLY be possible for me to put into words how much Our Lady thinks of the Holy Rosary and of how she vastly prefers it to all other devotions. Neither can I sufficiently express how highly she rewards those who work to preach the devotion, to establish it and spread it, nor on the other hand how firmly she punishes those who work against it.

All during life, Saint Dominic had nothing more at heart than to praise Our Lady, to

preach her greatness and to inspire everybody to honor her by saying her Rosary. As a reward he received countless graces from her; exercising her great power as Queen of Heaven she crowned his labors with many miracles and prodigies. Almighty God always granted him what he asked through Our Lady. The greatest honor of all was that she helped him crush the Albigensian heresy and made him the founder and patriarch of a great religious order.

As for Blessed Alan de la Roche who restored the devotion to the Rosary, he received many privileges from Our Lady; she graciously appeared to him several times to teach him how to work out his salvation, to become a good priest and perfect religious, and how to pattern himself on Our Lord.

He used to be horribly tempted and persecuted by devils, and then deep sadness would fall upon him and sometimes he used to be near to despair----but Our Lady always comforted him by her sweet presence which banished the clouds of darkness from his soul.

She taught him how to say the Rosary, explaining its value and the fruits to be gained by it and gave him a great and glorious privilege: the honor of being called her new spouse. As a token of her chaste love for him she placed a ring upon his finger and a necklace made of her own hair about his neck and gave him a Rosary. Blessed Alan died at Zunolle in Flanders September 8th, 1475, after having brought over 100,000 people into the Confraternity.

Blessed Thomas of Saint John was well known for his sermons on the Most Holy Rosary, and the devil, jealous of the success he had with souls, tortured him so much that he fell ill and was sick so long that the doctors gave him up. One night when he really thought that he was dying, the devil appeared to him in the most horrible form imaginable. There was a picture of Our Lady near his bed; he looked at it and cried with all his heart and soul and strength: "Help me, save me, my sweet, sweet Mother!" No sooner had he said this than the picture seemed to come alive and Our Lady put out her hand, took him by the arm and said:

"Do not be afraid, Thomas my son, here I am and I am going to save you: get up now and go on preaching my Rosary as you used to do. I promise to shield you from your enemies."

When Our Lady said this the devil fled and Blessed Thomas got up, finding that he was in perfect health. He then thanked the Blessed Mother with tears of joy. He resumed his Rosary apostolate and his sermons were marvelously successful.

Our Lady blesses not only those who preach her Rosary, but she highly rewards all those who get others to say it by their example.

Alphonsus, King of Leon and Galicia, very much wanted all his servants to honor the Blessed Virgin by saying the Rosary. So he used to hang a large rosary on his belt and always wore it, but unfortunately never said it himself. Nevertheless his wearing it encouraged his courtiers to say the Rosary very devoutly.

One day the King fell seriously ill and when he was given up for dead he found himself, in a vision, before the judgment seat of Our Lord. Many devils were there accusing him of all the sins he had committed and Our Lord as Sovereign Judge was just about to condemn him to Hell when Our Lady appeared to intercede for him. She called for a pair of scales and had his sins placed in one of the balances whereas she put the Rosary that he had always worn on the other scale, together, with all the Rosaries that had been said because of his example. It was found that the Rosaries weighed more than his sins.

Looking at him with great kindness Our Lady said: "As a reward for this little honor that you paid me in wearing my Rosary, I have obtained a great grace for you from my Son. Your life will be spared for a few more years. See that you spend these years wisely, and do penance."

When the King regained consciousness he cried out: "Blessed be the Rosary of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, by which I have been delivered from eternal damnation!"

After he had recovered his health he spent the rest of his life in spreading devotion to the Holy Rosary and said it faithfully every day.

People who love the Blessed Virgin ought to follow the example of King Alphonsus and that of the Saints whom I have mentioned so that they too may win other souls for the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. They will then receive great graces on earth and eternal life later on. "They that explain me shall have life everlasting." (Ecclus. 24:31.)

Day 11, SORROWFUL MYSTERIES, Tuesday September 22

Fifth Sorrowful Mystery ~ The Crucifixion
~ Passion of Jesus Christ, St. Alphonsus de Liguori

While hanging on the cross Jesus looked in vain for someone to console him: I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none. On the contrary, he heard those around him uttering blasphemies: If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. You who will destroy the temple of God, and in three days rebuild it, save yourself. He saved others, himself he cannot save. Why should they care to afflict by insults and derision one that is already expiring on the cross?

And Jesus, while these are outraging him, what is he doing upon the cross? Is he perhaps praying to the eternal Father to punish them? No, he is praying to him to pardon them: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Yes, says St. Thomas; to show forth the immense love which he had for men, the Redeemer asked pardon of God for his crucifiers: "To show forth the abundance of his love, he asked pardon for his persecutors."  He asked it, and obtained it; for, when they had seen him die they repented of their sin: They returned beating their breasts.

Ah, my dear Savior, behold me at Your feet; I have been one of the most ungrateful of Your persecutors; pray likewise for me to Your Father to pardon me. True it is that the Jews and the executioners knew not what they were doing when they crucified You; but I well knew that in sinning I was offending a God who had been crucified, and had died for me. But Your blood and Your death me the divine mercy. I cannot feel doubtful of being pardoned after seeing You die to obtain pardon for me. 

Day 10, JOYFUL MYSTERIES, Monday 21 September

Fifth Joyful Mystery, Finding of Jesus in the Temple

Luke, Chapter 2

[41] And his parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the Pasch, [42] And when he was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, [43] And having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not. [44] And thinking that he was in the company, they came a day’s journey, and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. [45] And not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him.

[46] And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. [47] And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. [48] And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. [49] And he said to them: How is it that you sought me? Did you not know, that I must be about my father’s business? [50] And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them.

[51] And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. [52] And Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men.

Day 9, GLORIOUS MYSTERIES, Sunday 20 September

Fourth Glorious Mystery ~ The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven

-         St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Glories of Mary

But behold Jesus is now come to take His mother to the kingdom of the blessed. It was revealed to Saint Elizabeth, that her Son appeared to Mary before she expired with His cross in His hands, to show the special glory He had obtained by the redemption; having, by His death, made acquisition of that great creature, who, for all eternity, was to honour Him more than all men and angels. Saint John Damascene relates that our Lord Himself gave her the viaticum, saying with tender love: Receive, O my Mother, from my hands, that same body which thou gavest to me.” And the Mother, having received with the greatest love that last communion, with her last breath said, “My Son, into Thy hands do I commend my spirit. I commend to Thee this soul, which from the beginning Thou didst create rich in so many graces, and by a singular privilege didst preserve from the stain of original sin. I commend to Thee my body, from which Thou didst deign to take Thy flesh and blood. I also commend to Thee these, my beloved children (speaking of the holy disciples who surrounded her); they are grieved at my departure; do Thou, who lovest them more than I do, console them; bless them, and give them strength to do great things for Thy glory.

The life of Mary being now at its close, the most delicious music, as Saint Jerome relates, was heard in the apartment where she lay; and, according to a revelation of Saint Bridget, the room was also filled with a brilliant light. This sweet music, and the unaccustomed splendour, warned the holy Apostles that Mary was then departing. This caused them again to burst forth in tears and prayers, and raising their hands, with one voice they exclaimed: ' O, Mother, thou already goest to heaven; thou leavest us; give us thy last blessing, and never forget us miserable creatures.' Mary, turning her eyes around upon all, as if to bid them a last farewell, said, ' Adieu, my children, I bless you; fear not, I will never forget you.' And now death came, not indeed clothed in mourning and grief, as it does to others, but adorned with light and gladness. But what do we say? Why speak of death? Let us rather say that Divine love came, and cut the thread of that noble life. And as a light before going out, gives a last and brighter flash than ever ; so did this beautiful creature on hearing her Son's invitation to follow Him, wrapped in the flames of love, and in the midst of her amorous sighs, give a last sigh of still more ardent love, and breathing forth her soul, expired. Thus was that great Soul, that beautiful Dove of the Lord, loosened from the bands of this life; thus did she enter into the glory of the blessed, where she is now seated, and will be seated, Queen of paradise for all eternity.

Day 8, SORROWFUL MYSTERIES, Saturday 19 Sept

First Sorrowful Mystery, The Agony in the Garden

From On the Passion of Jesus Christ, St. Alphonsus de Liguori

[Our Blessed Lord, kneeling down to pray,] began to feel great repugnance at the sight of the pains that had been prepared for him. When one feels repugnance, even delightful things become painful. Hence with such a repugnance what punishment for the heart of Jesus, what horrible sight then presented itself to his mind of all the interior and exterior torments which were to deprive him of life by afflicting so cruelly his body and his blessed soul! He distinctly saw all the sufferings that awaited him, the mockeries, the outrages, the injuries, the blows, the thorns, the cross, and above all that shameful and desolate death which he was to suffer on an infamous cross, abandoned by everyone, by men and by God, in an abyss of sorrows and disgrace. This is what caused him so bitter a repugnance that he was obliged to ask his eternal Father for strength: He began to fear and to be heavy.

With this fear and repugnance Jesus felt at the same time great sadness and great affliction of mind: he began to grow sorrowful and to be sad. But, O Lord! Is it not You that have given to Your martyrs such a force in sufferings that they went so far as to despise torments and death and to submit to them with joy? How then does it happen that for Yourself, O Jesus! You have reserved Yourself to suffer by dying in so great sadness? Ah! I know the reason for at this moment there were presented to his mind all the sins of the world, the blasphemies, the sacrileges, the impurities, and all the other sins that men were going to commit after his death. Each one of these sins came then as a cruel monster to tear his heart by its own malice. It seems that then in his agony our afflicted Savior was obliged to say: O men! is it thus that you respond to the immense love that I have borne towards you? Alas! after so many sufferings endured for you, to see so many sins! After so many proofs of my love, to see so much ingratitude! It is that which afflicts me, makes me sad even unto death, and makes me sweat blood: And his sweat became as drops of blood trickling down upon the ground.

O my tender Jesus! I do not notice in this garden scourges, thorns, nails, which wound You; yet I see You bathed in blood from head to foot. My sins therefore were the cruel pressure which, by the violence of the affliction and of sadness, forced so much blood from Your heart. I have myself been one of Your most cruel executioners. … How dear did it cost You to make me comprehend the love which You have for me! Oh, grant me those aids to love You which You have merited for me by so many sufferings! Bestow upon me that sacred fire which You did come to enkindle upon earth by dying for us. Be ever reminding me of Your death that I may never forget to love You.

Day 7, JOYFUL MYSTERIES, Friday September 18

Joyful Mysteries ~ Birth of Our Savior, Jesus Christ

[Many holy persons have described the necessity of True Devotion to Mary in memorable, truly inspired ways, but none has done so, to the best of my knowledge, more delightfully than GK Chesterton does here. From his classic The Everlasting Man.]

Bethlehem is emphatically a place where extremes meet. Here begins, it is needless to say, another mighty influence for the humanization of Christendom. If the world wanted what is called a non-controversial aspect of Christianity, it would probably select Christmas. Yet it is obviously bound up with what is supposed to be a controversial aspect (I could never at any stage of my opinions imagine why); the respect paid to the Blessed Virgin. When I was a boy, a more Puritan generation objected to a statue upon my parish church representing the Virgin and Child. After much controversy, they compromised by taking away the Child. One would think that this was even more corrupted with Mariolatry, unless the mother was counted less dangerous when deprived of a sort of weapon. But the practical difficulty is also a parable.

You cannot chip away the statue of a mother from all round that of a newborn child. You cannot suspend the new-born child in mid-air; indeed, you cannot really have a statue of a newborn child at all. Similarly, you cannot suspend the idea of a newborn child in the void or think of him without thinking of his mother. You cannot visit the child without visiting the mother; you cannot in common human life approach the child except through the mother. If we are to think of Christ in this aspect at all, the other idea follows it as it is followed in history. We must either leave Christ out of Christmas, or Christmas out of Christ, or we must admit, if only as we admit it in an old picture, that those holy heads are too near together for the haloes not to mingle and cross.

Day 6, GLORIOUS MYSTERIES, September 17, Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis

Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi

From The Liturgical Year, Dom Gueranger, Time After Pentecost

The Man-God, Jesus Christ, still lives in the Church by the continual reproduction of His mysteries in this His bride, making her a faithful copy of Himself. In the thirteenth century, while the charity of the many had grown cold, the divine fire burned with redoubled ardour in the hearts of a chosen few. It was the hour of the Church’s passion; the beginning of that series of social defections, with their train of denials, treasons, and derisions, which ended in the prescription we now witness. 

The cross had been exalted before the eyes of the world: the bride was now to be nailed thereto with her divine Spouse, after having stood with Him in the Praetorium exposed to the insults and blows of the multitude. Like an artist selecting a precious marble, the Holy Spirit chose the flesh of St. Francis of Assisi as the medium for the expression of His divine thought. He thereby manifested to the world the special direction He intended to give to the sanctity of souls; He offered to heaven a first and complete model of the new work He was meditating, viz: the perfect union, upon the very cross, of the mystical body with its divine Head. Francis was the first to be chosen for this honour: but others were to follow; and hence forward, here and there through the world, the stigmata of our blessed Lord will ever be visible in the Church. Let us read in this light the admirable history of the event, composed by the seraphic doctor in honour of his holy father St. Francis. 

Let us read in this light the admirable history of the event, composed by the seraphic doctor in honour of his holy father St. Francis.

Two years before the faithful servant and minister of Christ, Francis, gave up his spirit to God, he retired alone into a high place, which is called Mount Alvernia, and began a forty days’ fast in honour of the Archangel St. Michael. The sweetness of heavenly contemplation was poured out on him more abundantly than usual, till, burning with the flame of celestial desires, he began to feel an increasing overflow of these divine favours.

While the seraphic ardour of his desires thus raised him up to God, and the tenderness of his love and compassion was transforming him into Christ the crucified Victim of excessive love; one morning about the feast of the Exaltation of holy cross, as he was praying on the mountain-side, he saw what appeared to be a Seraph, with six shining and fiery wings, coming down from heaven. The vision flew swiftly through the air and approached the man of God, who then perceived that it was not only winged, but also crucified; for the hands and feet were stretched out and fastened to a cross; while the wings were arranged in a wondrous manner, two being raised above the head, two out stretched in flight, and the remaining two crossed over and veiling the whole body. As he gazed, Francis was much astonished, and his soul was filled with mingled joy and sorrow. The gracious aspect of him, who appeared in so wonderful and loving a manner, rejoiced him exceedingly, while the sight of his cruel crucifixion pierced his heart with a sword of sorrowing compassion.

He, who appeared outwardly to Francis, taught him inwardly that, although weakness and suffering are incompatible with the immortal life of a seraph, yet this vision had been shown to him to the end that he, Christ’s lover, might learn how his whole being was to be transformed into a living image of Christ crucified, not by martyrdom of the flesh, but by the burning ardour of his soul. After a mysterious and familiar colloquy, the vision disappeared, leaving the saint’s mind burning with seraphic ardour, and his flesh impressed with an exact image of the Crucified, as though, after the melting power of that fire, it had next been stamped with a seal. For immediately the marks of nails began to appear in his hands and feet, their heads showing in the palms of his hands and the upper part of his feet, and their points visible on the other side. There was also a red scar on his right side, as if it had been wounded by a lance, and from which blood often flowed staining his tunic and underclothing.

Francis, now a new man, honoured by this new and amazing miracle, and, by a hitherto unheard of privilege, adorned with the sacred stigmata, came down from the mountain bearing with him the image of the Crucified, not carved in wood or stone by the hand of an artist, but engraved upon his flesh by the finger of the living God. The seraphic man well knew that it is good to hide the secret of the king; wherefore, having been thus admitted into his king’s confidence, he strove, as far as in him lay, to conceal the sacred marks. But it belongs to God to reveal the great things which he himself has done; and hence, after impressing those signs upon Francis in secret, he publicly worked miracles by means of them, revealing the hidden and wondrous power of the stigmata by the signs wrought through them.

Pope Benedict XI willed that this wonderful event, which is so well attested and in pontifical diplomas has been honoured with the greatest praises and favours, should be celebrated by a yearly solemnity. Afterwards, Pope Paul V, wishing the hearts of all the faithful to be enkindled with the love of Christ crucified, extended the feast to the whole Church. 

Standard-bearer of Christ and of His Church, we would fain, with the apostle and with thee, glory in nothing save the cross of our Lord Jesus. We would fain bear in our souls the sacred stigmata, which adorned thy holy body. To him whose whole ambition is to return love for love, every suffering is a gain, persecution has no terrors; for the effect of persecutions and sufferings is to assimilate him, together with his mother the Church, to Christ persecuted, scourged, and crucified. It is with our whole hearts that we pray, with the Church: ‘O Lord Jesus Christ, who, when the world was growing cold, didst renew the sacred marks of Thy Passion in the flesh of the most blessed Francis, to inflame our hearts with the fire of Thy love; mercifully grant, that by his merits and prayers we may always carry the cross, and bring forth worthy fruits of penance. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.’

Day 5, SORROWFUL MYSTERIES, September 15

 Feast Day of Sts. Cornelius (253) Pope and Cyprian (258) Martyrs

From the Roman Breviary, Liturgical Year, Dom Gueranger

St. Cornelius

Cornelius, a Roman by birth, was sovereign Pontiff during the reign of the emperors Gallus and Volusianus. In concert with a holy lady named Lucina, he translated the bodies of St. Peter and St. Paul from the catacombs to a more honourable resting place. St. Paul’s body was entombed by Lucina on an estate of hers on the Ostian Way, close to the spot where he had been be headed; while Cornelius laid the body of the Prince of the apostles near the place of his crucifixion. When this became known to the emperors, and they were moreover informed that, by the advice of the Pontiff, many became Christians, Cornelius was exiled to Centumcellae, where Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, wrote to him to console him.

The frequency of this Christian and charitable intercourse between the two saints gave great displeasure to the emperors; and accordingly, Cornelius was summoned to Rome, where, as if guilty of treason, he was beaten with scourges tipped with lead. He was next dragged before an image of Mars, and commanded to sacrifice to it; but indignantly refusing to commit such an act of impiety, he was beheaded on the eighteenth of the Calends of October. The blessed Lucina, aided by some clerics, buried his body in a sandpit on her estate, near to the cemetery of Callixtus. His pontificate lasted about two years.

St. Cyprian

From the book of St. Jerome, priest, on Ecclesiastical writers.

Cyprian was a native of Africa, and at first taught rhetoric there with great applause. The priest Caecilius, from whom he adopted his surname persuaded him to become a Christian. Thereupon, Cyprian distributed all his goods among the poor. Not long afterwards, having been made priest, he was chosen bishop of Carthage. It would be useless to enlarge upon his genius, since his works out shine the sun. He suffered under the emperors Valerian and Gallienus, in the eighth persecution, on the same day as Cornelius was martyred at Rome, but not in the same year. 

Holy Pontiffs, united now in glory as you once were by friendship and in martyrdom, preserve with in us the fruit of your example and doctrine. Your life teaches us to despise honours and fortune for Christ’s sake, and to give to the Church all our devotedness, of which the world is unworthy. May this be understood by those countless descendants of noble races, who are led astray by a misguided society. May they learn from you gloriously to confound the impious conspiracy that seeks to exterminate them in shameful oblivion and enforced idleness. If their fathers deserved well of mankind, they themselves may now enter upon a higher career of usefulness, where decadence is unknown, and the fruit once produced is everlasting. Remind the lowly as well as the great in the city of God, that peace and war alike have flowers to crown the soldier of Christ: the white wreath of good works is offered to those who cannot aspire to the rosy diadem of martyrdom.1 Watch, O Cyprian over thy Church of Carthage, now at length renewing her youth. And do thou, O Cornelius, restore to Rome her glorious past. Put down the foreigner from her throne; for the mistress of the world must obey no ruler but the Vicar of the King of kings. May her speedy deliverance be the signal to her people for a complete renovation, which cannot now be far distant, unless the end of the world be approaching.

Day 4, JOYFUL MYSTERIES, Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
from St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Glories of Mary

Let us imagine then that the divine mother standing near her Son dying upon the cross and justly applying to herself the words of Jeremias says to us: “Oh all ye that pass by the way attend and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow.  Oh ye that are passing your lives upon this earth and have no pity for me stop a while to look upon me now that I behold this beloved Son dying before my eyes, and then see if among all who are afflicted and tormented there be sorrow like to my sorrow.”  “No,” answers St Bonaventure,
“there can be found no sorrow, oh afflicted mother, more bitter than thine, for no son can be found more dear than thine.  “Ah, there has never been in the world” says St Lawrence Justinian, “a son more worthy of love than Jesus, nor a mother who loved her son more than Mary.  If, then, there has never been in the world a love like the love of Mary, how can there be a grief like the grief of Mary?

It was revealed to St Elizabeth, that St John the Evangelist after the blessed Virgin was assumed into heaven desired to see her again. This favor was granted him, and his dear mother appeared to him and Jesus Christ with her.  St. John heard Mary asking of her Son some peculiar grace for those who were devoted to her sorrows, and Jesus promised her for them the four following special graces:

1st That those who invoke the divine mother by her sorrows before death will merit to obtain true repentance of all their sins

2d That he will protect such in their tribulations especially at the hour of death

3d That he will impress upon them the memory of his passion and that they shall have their reward for it in heaven

4th That he will commit such devout servants to the hands of Mary that she may dispose of them according to her pleasure and obtain for them all the graces she desires.

Our Blessed Mother revealed to St. Bridget of Sweden that she grants the following seven graces to the souls who honor her daily by saying seven Hail Marys while meditating on her tears and sorrows:

1) “I will grant peace to their families.”

2) “They will be enlightened about the divine Mysteries.”

3) “I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.”

4) “I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.”

5) “I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.”

6) “I will visibly help them at the moment of their death—they will see the face of their mother.”

7) “I have obtained this grace from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and sorrows will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness, since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son will be their eternal consolation and joy.”

Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

1.  Prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34,35)

2.  Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13,14)

3.  Loss of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:43-44)

4.  Meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross

5.  The Crucifixion

6.  Taking down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross

7.  The burial of Jesus

Day 3, GLORIOUS MYSTERIES, Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, 14 September

Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross

The Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross celebrates the vision and victory of Constantine, which ultimately led to the triumph of Christianity over the Paganism of the Roman Empire, and also of the finding of the True Cross by his mother, St. Helena. A few words about each event, first from Dom Gueranger, and the account of St. Helena’s finding of the True Cross from Catholic Encyclopedia.

Dom Gueranger, Liturgical Year

Eternal Wisdom has willed that the octave (ed – an octave is a celebration of a major liturgical feast extending eight days from the date of the feast) of Mary’s birth should be honoured by the celebration of this feast of the triumph of the holy cross. The cross indeed is the standard of God’s armies, whereof Mary is the Queen; it is by the cross that she crushes the serpent’s head, and wins so many victories over error, and over the enemies of the Christian name. ‘By this sign thou shalt conquer.’ Satan had been suffered to try his strength against the Church by persecution and tortures; but his time was drawing to an end. By the edict of Sardica, which emancipated the Christians, Galerius, when about to die, acknowledged the powerlessness of hell. Now was the time for Christ to take the offensive, and for His cross to prevail.

Towards the close of the year 311, a Roman army lay at the foot of the Alps, preparing to pass from Gaul into Italy. Constantine, its commander, thought only of avenging himself for an injury received from Maxentius, his political rival; but his soldiers, as unsuspecting as their chief, already belonged henceforward to the Lord of hosts. The Son of the Most High, having become, as Son of Mary, king of this world, was about to reveal Himself to His first lieutenant, and, at the same time, to discover to His first army the standard that was to go before it.

Above the legions, in a cloudless sky, the cross, proscribed for three long centuries, suddenly shone forth; all eyes beheld it, making the western sun, as it were, its footstool, and surrounded with these words in characters of fire: IN HOC VINCE: by this be thou conqueror! A few months later, October 27, 312, all the idols of Rome stood aghast to behold, approaching along the Flaminian Way, beyond the bridge Milvius, the Labarum with its sacred monogram, now become the standard of the imperial armies. On the morrow was fought the decisive battle, which opened the gates of the eternal city to Christ, the only God, the everlasting King. ‘Hail, O cross, formidable to all enemies, bulwark of the Church, strength of princes; hail in thy triumph!

From Catholic Encyclopedia:

In the year 326 the mother of Constantine, Helena, then about 80 years old, having journeyed to Jerusalem, undertook to rid the Holy Sepulchre of the mound of earth heaped upon and around it, and to destroy the pagan buildings that profaned its site, Some revelations which she had received gave her confidence that she would discover the Saviour's Tomb and His Cross. The work was carried on diligently, with the co-operation of St. Macarius, bishop of the city. The Jews had hidden the Cross in a ditch or well, and covered it over with stones, so that the faithful might not come and

venerate it. Only a chosen few among the Jews knew the exact spot where it had been hidden, and one of them, named Judas, touched by Divine inspiration, pointed it out to the excavators, for which act he was highly praised by St. Helena. Judas afterwards became a Christian saint, and is honoured under the name of Cyriacus. During the excavation three crosses were found, but because the titulus was detached from the Cross of Christ, there was no means of identifying it. Following an inspiration from on high, Macarius caused the three crosses to be carried, one after the other, to the bedside of a worthy woman who was at the point of death. The touch of the other two was of no avail; but on touching that upon which Christ had died the woman got suddenly well again. From a letter of St. Paulinus to Severus inserted in the Breviary of Paris it would appear that St. Helena herself had sought by means of a miracle to discover which was the True Cross and that she caused a man already dead and buried to be carried to the spot, whereupon, by contact with the third cross, he came to life.