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Join young adults for a series of lectures at Metro 53 Bar and Restaurant, 307 East 53rd Street, between 2nd and 1st Avenues. The event is from 7pm-8:30pm.

The third lecture of the Fall 2008 season is on October 20 by Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, director of Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of NY. His topic this night will be “God’s Plan for Your Life: Our Call to Charity” For more details, visit www.totnyc.org.

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Holy Mother and Immaculate Virgin, you are the glorious Queen of the world; may all who celebrate your feast know the help of your prayers.

We owe the origins of today’s Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary to the two saints depicted above.

St. Dominic, seen receiving the Rosary from Mary, images the generations of Dominican friars who have preached devotion to Our Lady and her Rosary.  Early on in its history, the Order of Preachers was charged with promoting this particular form of prayer, teaching the faithful to contemplate the face of Christ through the attentive eyes of his mother.  In response to this mandate, Dominicans established Confraternities of the Holy Rosary all over the world. As an outward sign of its devotion and mission to Mary, the Rosary eventually became a part of the Dominican habit.  It is worn on the left side of the body, where soldiers once carried their swords.

Pope St. Pius V brought this Dominican mission to the apostolic palace.  In 1571, St. Pius implored all of Europe to pray the Rosary for its delivery from invading Turkish armies.  At the Battle of Lepanto, the Christian navy miraculously defeated a larger Islamic fleet.  In thanksgiving, Pius established the Feast of Our Lady of Victory.  It later became the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and Pope Clement XI extended its celebration to the entire Church in 1716.

In 1757, Fr. Augustine Ricchini composed the following hymn to be sung on today’s feast.  It praises Our Lady by summarizing the mysteries of the Rosary.  The following translation of the Te gestientem gaudiis was prepared by Abbot Oswald Hunter-Blair of Fort Augustus Abbey in Scotland.  It can be sung to any long meter tune.

The gladness of thy motherhood,
     The anguish of they suffering,
The glory now that crowns thy brow,
     O virgin mother, we would sing.

Hail, blessed mother, full of joy
     In thy consent, thy visit too;
Joy in the birth of Christ on earth,
     Joy in him lost and found anew.

Hail, sorrowing in his agony–
     The blows, the thorns that pierced his brow;
The heavy wood, the shameful Rood–
     True queen and chief of martyrs thou!

Hail in the triumph of thy Son,
     The quick’ning flames of Pentecost;
Shining a queen in light serene,
     When all the world is tempest-tossed.

O come, you nations, roses bring
     Culled from these myst’ries all divine,
And for the mother of your King
     with loving hearts your chaplets twine.

We lay our homage at thy feet,
     Lord Jesus, thou the virgin’s Son,
With Father and with Paraclete
     Reigning while endless ages run.

Below you’ll find video of the homily I gave this past weekend at Mother of God Monastery in West Springfield, MA.  The Dominican nuns invited me to preach their annual Rosary Sunday celebration.  Recalling several points made by Pope John Paul II in his 2002 Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, I spoke of the Rosary as our means of imitating Mary’s perfect prayer.

O God, whose only-begotten Son, by his life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech you, that in meditating on these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

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Saint Bruno is the founder of the Carthusian Order, a medieval congregation that caught the public eye recently through the acclaimed documentary Into Great Silence.

Born to a noble family of Cologne in 1030, Bruno excelled in his classical and religious studies at schools both at home and in Rheims.  After completing his education, Bruno taught in Rheims, was ordained to the priesthood, and over time was granted various responsibilities in the diocesan administration of Rheims.  At some point, ecclesiastical politics drove Bruno to seek refuge in the countryside, where he and a few companions happened upon a way of life that combined the solitary observance of hermits with the communal prayer and fraternity of monks. The result was a type of return of western Benedictine monasticism to its eremitical roots in the near eastern deserts of Palestine and Egypt.

After regularizing this way of life in southeast France, at what is today called the Grand Chartreuse, Bruno was called to Rome and reentered the world of church governance.  His learning and erudition were well known, and the pope needed his counsel.  Bruno fulfilled his tasks in the papal court well, but he kept his distance from intrigue and worked quietly out of the spotlight.  While in Rome, Bruno befriended the clergy of Reggio Calabria in southern Italy.  There he helped them to establish a rule of life similar to what he lived in southeast France.  It was among his new disciples in Reggio Calabria that Bruno died in 1101.  

St. Bruno’s two foundations in Italy and France were the first seeds of what would eventually become the Carthusian Order.

For more on the life and spirit of St. Bruno, click here.

Only one Carthusian monastery exists here in the United States.  The Charterhouse of the Transfiguration is located in southern Vermont.

Below you’ll find two rare glimpses of Carthusian life taken from Into Great Silence.  The first shows the monks of the Grand Chartreuse celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi.  In the second an elderly Carthusian shares what he has discovered to be the secret of happiness.

Father, you called Saint Bruno to serve you in solitude.  In answer to his prayers help us to remain faithful to you amid the changes of this world.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

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Many Dominican parishes and monasteries still observe the first Sunday of October as “Rosary Sunday,” a feast of the old calendar not carried over into the new.  By maintaining this feast the sons and daughters of St. Dominic continue their centuries-long tradition of promoting devotion to Christ through the daily recitation of the Rosary.  

Six years ago, Pope John Paul II reminded the Church of the privileged place the Rosary enjoys in Western spirituality.  He wrote in Rosarium Virginis Mariae that the Rosary’s uniqueness is rooted in Mary’s singular relationship with Christ. Modeled on the perfect contemplative gaze she maintained on the mysteries of her Son, the Rosary perpetuates Mary’s prayer and enables our participation in it, thus making the Rosary, when prayed well, one of the quickest and surest ways to union with God.  

From paragraph 10 of Rosarium Virginis Mariae:

The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary. The eyes of her heart already turned to him at the Annunciation, when she conceived him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the months that followed she began to sense his presence and to picture his features. When at last she gave birth to him in Bethlehem, her eyes were able to gaze tenderly on the face of her Son, as she “wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger” (Lk2:7).

Thereafter Mary’s gaze, ever filled with adoration and wonder, would never leave him. At times it would be a questioning look, as in the episode of the finding in the Temple: “Son, why have you treated us so?” (Lk 2:48); it would always be a penetrating gaze, one capable of deeply understanding Jesus, even to the point of perceiving his hidden feelings and anticipating his decisions, as at Cana (cf. Jn 2:5). At other times it would be a look of sorrow, especially beneath the Cross, where her vision would still be that of a mother giving birth, for Mary not only shared the passion and death of her Son, she also received the new son given to her in the beloved disciple (cf. Jn 19:26-27). On the morning of Easter hers would be a gaze radiant with the joy of the Resurrection, and finally, on the day of Pentecost, a gaze afire with the outpouring of the Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14).

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Let us all rejoice in the Lord, and keep festival in honor of our Holy Father Francis. Let us join with the angels in joyful praise to the Son of God.

Gentle God, you granted our seraphic Father Francis the grace of conformity to Christ in poverty and humility.  By walking in the paths he trod may we follow your Son and be joined to you in love and joy.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

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On today’s “Word to Life” I discussed this Sunday’s readings with Fr. James Cuddy, OP, and Fr. Sean Connor.  Fr. Cuddy, a Dominican priest at the Church of St. Louis Bertrand in Louisville, KY, focused on how Isaiah’s “Song of the Vineyard” in the First Reading foreshadows Christ’s “Parable of the Wicked Tenants” in the Gospel. God’s tenacious love for his creation, explains Fr. Cuddy, is the key to understanding both readings.

Fr. Connor, pastor of St. Ann’s Church in Neponset, MA, highlighted the unflappable courage of the landlord’s son.  In obedience, he willingly entered the vineyard fully aware of his impending death.  Christ meant the chief priests and elders to see his own predicament in this parable.  It worked.  Centuries later, the parable still strikes to the heart.

Click below for the audio of today’s show.

Word to Life - October 3, 2008 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Great art can tell more than one story at a time.  For example, take the image above.  While pondering it, we are taught a whole lesson on the solicitude of the guardian angels.  Given the expression on the angel’s face, we are to conclude only one thing–it loves the soul it embraces.  At the same time, we are reminded of St. Francis’ humble and gentle surrender to grace.  The expression on his face tells us of his complete trust in the one embracing him.  And there is a third story told here.  On both faces, God is glorified.

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Guardian Angels.  Click here for a short essay summarizing the Church’s doctrine regarding these invisible friends of ours.  Study also the Gospel for today’s Mass.  It is key in defining our doctrine and shaping our devotion.

On Saturday, we turn our attention, like the angel above, to Holy Father Francis.

For a great article on St. Thomas Aquinas’ doctrine of the guardian angels, click here.  Written by Marguerite Kussmaul, this brief essay appeared in the October 1, 1999, edition of Catholic Insight.

For something high on rhetoric but low on substance, click below and watch a brief clip of Biography‘s treatment of Aquinas and the angels.  (FWIW – Yes, I do believe that Aquinas’ was the greatest mind of the thirteenth century, but the clip barrels downhill from there.  It’s odd that while trying to honor St. Thomas one would run roughshod over the precision of his thought.)

God our Father, in your loving providence you send your angels to watch over us. Hear our prayers, defend us always by their protection and let us share your life with them forever.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

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Yesterday the Catholic Bishops of New York issued a statement entitled “Our Cherished Right, Our Solemn Duty.”  In it the bishops reflect on the duties and responsibilities Catholics have in democratic societies.

Discipleship should shape our public life, the bishops argue, for faith in Jesus Christ adds clarity to our moral reasoning.  As believers in the one who shows us perfect humanity, we Christians enjoy a privileged vantage point from which to promote and defend the common good.  Faith aids reason to establish the right “hierarchy of values” according to which prudential political decisions should be made.

Every four years, 12 months prior to the presidential election, the Bishops of the United States issue a statement calling Catholics to faithful citizenship. Simply put, faithful citizenship refers to our duty as Catholics to be full participants in the public square in order to make our nation and the world a better and more just place. With this duty comes the responsibility to exercise our right to vote and to be engaged in the political process. This right did not come easily, having been bought with the blood of our forebears and protected through the centuries by our Constitution and the men and women in uniform who defend it.

We Catholics are called to look at politics as we are called to look at everything – through the lens of our faith. While we are free to join any political party that we choose or none at all, we must be cautious when we vote not to be guided solely by party loyalty nor by self interest. Rather, we should be guided in evaluating the important issues facing our state and nation by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the teachings of His Church. 

[. . .]

It is the rare candidate who will agree with the Church on every issue. But as the U.S. Bishops’ recent document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship makes clear, not every issue is of equal moral gravity. The inalienable right to life of every innocent human person outweighs other concerns where Catholics may use prudential judgment, such as how best to meet the needs of the poor or to increase access to health care for all. 

The right to life is the right through which all others flow. To the extent candidates reject this fundamental right by supporting an objective evil, such as legal abortion, euthanasia or embryonic stem cell research, Catholics should consider them less acceptable for public office. As Faithful Citizenship teaches, “Those who knowingly, willingly, and directly support public policies or legislation that undermine fundamental moral principles cooperate with evil.” 

The statement concludes with a list of questions useful for evaluating candidates’ platforms.

To read the entire statement, click here.

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On the occasion of the Feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, we invite you to attend the first presentation of “Crossroads on the Road.” The 75-minute theatrical production Maurice & Therese: A Story of a Love will be performed this Sunday, October 5, at 3 pm at St. John the Martyr Church in Manhattan. The performance is free of charge and open to the public. See below for more details.

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A spoiled brat grows up, becomes a nun, and dies at 24.  

This life history is overly simplified, perhaps even a little irreverent.  But it captures both the ordinary and the extraordinary aspects of St. Therese’ short life, which under obedience she chronicled in Story of a Soul.  The Little Flower’s biography has attracted the attention of millions as they find strength and solace in her “little way.”  The compelling drama of Therese’s life, however, is nothing compared to the spiritual wisdom she attained during her brief years in the Carmel of Lisieux.  This wisdom, so uncommon for someone her age, has earned Therese the title “Doctor of the Church.”

What is this wisdom?  From one perspective, it’s this: the modern desires for excellence, individuality, and belonging are satisfied fully through living one’s vocation in the Church, which, St. Therese learned, is a lesson St. Paul taught many years ago.  Therese added to this lesson her discovery of the secret gem hidden in every vocation. Embracing this gem was her vocation.

From today’s Office of Readings, which reprints this passage from Story of a Soul:

Since my longing for martyrdom was powerful and unsettling, I turned to the epistles of Saint Paul in the hope of finally finding an answer.  By chance the twelfth and thirteenth chapters of the first epistle to the Corinthians caught my attention, and in the first section I read that not everyone can be an apostle, prophet or teacher, that the Church is composed of a variety of members, and that the eye cannot be the hand.  Even with such an answer revealed before me, I was not satisfied and did not find peace.

I persevered in the reading and did not let my mind wander until I found this encouraging theme: Set your desires on the greater gifts.  And I will now show you the way which surpasses all others.  For the Apostle insists that the greater gifts are nothing at all without love and that this same love is surely the best path leading directly to God.  At length I had found peace of mind.

When I had looked upon the mystical body of the Church, I recognized myself in none of the members which Saint Paul described, and what is more, I desired to distinguish myself more favorably within the whole body.  Love appeared to me to be the hinge for my vocation.  Indeed I knew that the Church had a body composed of various members, but in this body the necessary and more noble member was not lacking; I know that the Church had a heart and that such a heart appeared to be aflame with love.  I knew that one love drove the members of the Church to action, that if this love were extinguished, the apostles would have proclaimed the Gospel no longer, the martyrs would have shed their blood no more.  I saw and realized that love sets off the bounds of all vocations, that love is everything, that this same love embraces every time and every place.  In one word, that love is everlasting.

Then, nearly ecstatic with the supreme joy in my soul, I proclaimed: O Jesus, my love, at last I have found my calling: my call is love.  Certainly I have found my proper place in the Church, and you gave me that very place, my God.  In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and thus I will be all things, as my desire finds its direction.

To the modern soul Therese says: “You want it all?  Be love!”

God our Father, you have promised your kingdom to those who are willing to become like little children.  Help us to follow the way of Saint Therese with confidence so that by her prayers we may come to know your eternal glory.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.

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In these days of continued financial distress, good news–and good advice–emerges from Wisconsin.

For more, click here.

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