St. Luke the Evangelist

Feast (1969 Calendar): October 18
Double of the II Class (1955 Calendar): October 18

Today is the feast day of St. Luke, the patron saint of physicians, surgeons, goldsmiths, painters, and bachelors. He wrote the Gospel according to St. Luke and the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible. His name literally translates to "bringer of the light." According to tradition, he also "painted" the first icon. In fact the two most important icons in the world are attributed to him: "Salus Romani Populi" which is the Roman Icon at St Mary Major, and Our Lady of Częstochowa, which was the Byzantine Icon in Constantinople. The icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa was later brought to Jasna Gora which is the largest Marian shrine in the world. Also of note, Częstochowa is believed to be written on the table the Holy Family used in Nazareth.

St. Luke was born a pagan in Antioch in c. 74 AD and possibly was a slave. He was one of the first converts. St. Luke met St. Paul at Troas and evangelized Greece and Rome with him. During Paul's two years in prison, St. Luke stayed in Rome. St. Luke died a martyr.

"According to tradition, he was an artist, as well as a man of letters; and with a soul alive to all the most delicate inspirations, he consecrated his pencil to the holiest use, and handed down to us the features of the Mother of God. It was an illustration worthy of the Gospel which relates to the divine Infancy; and it won for the artist a new title to the gratitude of those who never saw Jesus and Mary in the flesh. Hence St. Luke is the patron of Christian art."- Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.

St. Luke Day As a Former Holy Day of Obligation

The first catalog of Holy Days comes from the Decree of Gratian in c. 1150 AD, which shortly thereafter gave way to the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX in 1234, which listed 45 Holy Days. In 1295, Pope Boniface VIII enacted the decretal Gloriosus, which "commanded that each of the feasts of the twelve apostles, four evangelists, and four doctors of the Church be celebrated as an officium duplex" (The Cambridge History of Medieval Canon Law by Anders Winroth and John Wei).

In 1642, His Holiness Pope Urban VIII issued the papal bull Universa Per Orbem which mandated the required Holy Days of Obligation for the Universal Church to consist of 34 days as well as the principal patrons of one's one locality (e.g. city and country). Those days were the Nativity of Our Lord, the Circumcision of Our Lord, the Epiphany of Our Lord, Monday within the Octave of the Resurrection, Tuesday within the Octave of the Resurrection, Ascension Thursday, Monday within the Octave of Pentecost, Tuesday within the Octave of Pentecost, Most Holy Trinity, Corpus Christi, the Finding of the Holy Cross, the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Dedication of St. Michael, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, St. Andrew, St. James, St. John (the December feast day), St. Thomas, SS. Philip and James, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew, SS. Simon and Jude, St. Matthias, St. Stephen the First Martyr (the December feast day), the Holy Innocents, St. Lawrence, St. Sylvester, St. Joseph, St. Anne, and All Saints.  

Ultimately Universa Per Orbem helped bring more uniformity to the Church since some parts of the Catholic world observed even more holy days of double precept (i.e., mandatory attendance at Mass and rest from servile work). One of those former days which kept in some places as the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist. 

For instance, in modern-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, which were included in the ecclesiastical province of Mexico, the feasts were regulated by the Third Council of Mexico in 1585, as American Catholic Quarterly Review states: 

"In these parts besides those already mentioned, the faithful observed as holy days of obligation St Fabian and St Sebastian (January 20th), St Thomas Aquinas (March 7th), St Mark (April 25th), St Barnabas (June 1), the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin (July 2), St Mary Magdalene (July 22), St Dominic (Aug 4), the Transfiguration (Aug 6), St Francis (Oct 4), St Luke (Oct 18), St Catharine (Nov 25), the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin (Dec 18). 

Things to Do (Excerpted from Catholic Culture):

• Read the Acts of the Apostles. St. Luke accompanied St. Paul on his missionary journeys — we could spiritually adopt a missionary and accompany him or her with our prayers.
• St. Luke depicted Mary vividly in words. Learn and pray the three precious canticles preserved for us by him — the Benedictus, the Magnificat, and the Nunc Dimittis.
• Pray for doctors and those who care for the sick through the intercession of St. Luke, patron of physicians.
• Foods this day to honor St. Luke would include some beef dishes, as he is the patron of butchers. So perhaps a nice cut of steak would be in order? For dessert, bake some raisin Banbury Tarts to evoke the festivals of England on this day, or a cake in the shape of a book with decorations of a calf or ox for this evangelist.
• Today is also known as "Sour Cakes Day" in Scotland because baked cakes were eaten with sour cream in Rutherglen.
• This day is also "St. Luke's Little Summer," a period of summerlike days that occur around October 18 (like the term "Indian Summer," which officially occurs between Nov 11-20), named to honor the saint's feast day. In the past, St. Luke's Day was not observed by the secular world as much as St. John the Baptist's Day (June 24) and Michaelmas (September 29), so to keep in the forefront, St. Luke gives us some golden days before the cold of winter.

Prayer:

Let holy Luke, Thine Evangelist, we beseech Thee, O Lord, intercede for us, who for the glory of Thy name ever bore in his body the mortification of the cross. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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Boycott of American Girl

American Girl has recently come under fire and for good reason: it is in support of gay marriage and abortion rights. Until they stop funding and/or supporting directly or indirectly abortion and gay marriage I will not buy any of there products and encourage others to do the same.

More Information: Pro Life Action

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St. Ignatius of Antioch

Double (1954 Calendar): February 1

III Class (1962 Calendar): February 1
Memorial (1969 Calendar): October 17

Today the Church remembers St. Ignatius of Antioch, who was a martyr in early Rome c. 100 AD. He was devoured by animals instead of denouncing the Faith. St. Ignatius was a convert from paganism and lived a life of holiness. Legend says that St. Ignatius of Antioch was the infant Jesus held in the Gospel of Mark Chapter 9.

St. Ignatius of Antioch succeeded Peter as the Bishop of Antioch. In 107 AD, St. Ignatius of Antioch used the term "Catholic Church" for the first time, which described the universal Church established by Jesus Christ. In c. 107 AD, St. Ignatius of Antioch died as a martyr. Before his martyrdom, he wrote many letters like the one below. He is also an Apostolic Father.

Traditional Matins Reading (quoting St Jerome's "On Ecclesiastical Writers"):

Ignatius was the third Bishop of the Church of Antioch, St Peter the Apostle being the first. During the persecution under Trajan, he was condemned to be devoured by wild beasts, and was sent in chains to Rome. During this voyage, which was made by sea, he had to stop at Smyrna, where Polycarp, the disciple of St John, was Bishop. From this city, he wrote several Epistles: one to the Ephesians, a second to the Magnesians, a third to the Trallians, a fourth to the Romans. When he had left Smyrna, he addressed an Epistle to the Philadelphians and Smyrneans, and one to Polycarp himself, recommending to him his Church of Antioch. It is in this last-named Letter that he quotes from the Gospel which I have lately translated a passage bearing testimony to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I cannot pass by this mention of so great a man, without citing a few sentences from the Epistle which he wrote to the Romans. ‘ From Syria,' he says, ' even unto Rome, I am fighting with wild beasts, both by sea and land, both night and day, for I am fastened to ten leopards, I mean to the soldiers who have care of me. When I show them a kindness, they grow more brutal. Their injuries are my instruction, but I am not thereby justified. I long for the wild beasts that are prepared for me, which I heartily wish may rush upon me and torture me and devour me, and not be afraid to touch me, as has happened with other Martyrs. Nay, if they refuse to approach me, I will make them come on, I will rush upon them, that so they may devour me. Pardon me, my little children: I know what is for my own welfare.

‘Now do I begin to be a disciple of Christ, and care for nothing in this world, that so I may find Jesus. Let fire, or the cross, or wild beasts, or the breaking of my bones, or the cutting me to pieces, or the shattering of my whole body, yea, all the tortures of the devil—let them all come upon me, only let me enjoy my God.' When he was sentenced to be devoured by wild beasts, and heard the roaring of the lions, his impatience to suffer made him exclaim: ‘I am the wheat of Christ; let me be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may become the pure bread.' He suffered in the eleventh year of Trajan's reign. His Relics are at Antioch, in the Cemetery outside the Daphne Gate.

Prayer:

Look down upon our weakness, almighty God; and since the weight of our own deeds bears us down, may the glorious intercession of Blessed Ignatius, Thy Bishop and Martyr, protect us. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal


Writing by St. Ignatius:

I am writing to all the churches to let it be known that I will gladly die for God if only you do not stand in my way. I plead with you: show me no untimely kindness. Let me be food for the wild beasts, for they are my way to God. I am God's wheat and bread. Pray to Christ for me that the animals will be the means of making me a sacrificial victim for God.

No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sake is my one desire.

The prince of this world is determined to lay hold of me and to undermine my will which is intent on God. Let none of you here help him; instead show yourselves on my side, which is also God's side. Believe instead what I am now writing to you. For though I am alive as I write to you, still my real desire is to die. My love of this life has been crucified, and there is no yearning in my for any earthly thing. Rather within me is the living water which says deep inside me: "Come to the Father." I no longer take pleasure in perishable food or in the delights of this world I want only God's bread, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, formed from the seed of David, and for drink I crave his blood, which is love that cannot perish.

Pray for me that I may obtain my desire. I have not written to you as a mere man would, but as one who knows the mind of God.

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Should I Attend Mass?

If you ask yourself that question than read this site. Part of it: "For every Mass we hear with devotion, Our Lord sends a saint to comfort us at death (revelation of Christ to St. Gertrude the Great)."

Mary once told her faithful servant Alain: "My Son so loves those who assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that, if it were necessary, He would die for them as many times as they've heard Masses."

Image Source: Believed to be in the public domain

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Not a Normal Sunday: Lost Rosary

Today was scheduled to be a normal Sunday where I just go to Mass and not have to participate. So, I brought my rosary and a great St. Padre Pio prayer book with prayers to the Eucharist (one of the litany of the Blessed Sacrament, my favorite litany.) About 5 minutes before the start of Mass, Father came over to me and said the lector had not showed up, so he asked if I could lector since I am a lector some Sundays.

I served as a lector on shorthand notice. But, after Mass I went back to my first pew and found out that my Rosary and prayer book were taken by someone. I haven't found them yet and only can pray I ever will. Please say a prayer that I might get these back. That was a very special Rosary, and I don't think I can ever replace that prayer book.

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Free Prayer Cards

I sent away for these prayer cards of Pope John Paul ll and Pope Benedict XVI and only had to include a self-addressed stamped envelope. I printed the form out and just filled it in and mailed it away. I recently got the prayer cards and liked them very much, so I thought others here may also want to send away for them.


And if you are looking for beautiful holy cards, please remember to check out "Holy Cards for Your Inspiration."

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St. Teresa of Avila

"Let nothing trouble you, let nothing make you afraid. All things pass away. God never changes. Patience obtains everything. God alone is enough." -- St. Teresa of Avila

Memorial (1969 Calendar): October 15
Double (1955 Calendar): October 15

Today the Church remembers and celebrates the life of St. Teresa of Avila (also called St. Teresa of Jesus). St. Teresa was born on March 28, 1515, in Spain, and she loved Our Lord since her youth. St. Teresa would even play "hermit" in her garden. At the age of 12, St. Teresa's mother died, and she prayed for Our Blessed Mother Mary to be her new mother. St. Teresa was very weakened by a serious illness in her youth, and she was healed through the intercession of St. Joseph. At 17 she left home and entered a religious order but her father would not accept it initially. Finally, after seeing the conviction in his daughter, he consented to her entering the consecrated life.

St. Teresa was soon ill again, and she never fully recovered. During this time of spiritual growth, St. Teresa received many visions approved as authentic following examinations by Dominicans and Jesuits, including Saint Francis Borgia.

She founded a reformed convent after thinking her current one was too lax in the rule. She suffered much along with St. John of the Cross for this long work of restoring the primitive Rule. 

St. Teresa was a mystic and a great writer, who wrote the Interior Castle.

On October 4, 1582, St. Teresa of Avila died in the arms of her secretary and close friend Blessed Anne of Saint Bartholomew. Her body is incorruptible. She was canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. While a great saint, we should not consider her a Doctor of the Church.

Traditional Reading at Matins:

The virgin Teresa was born at Avila in Spain, of parents illustrious for nobility and virtue. She was brought up by them in the fear of God; and while still very young, she gave admirable promise of her future sanctity. While reading the acts of the holy martyrs, she was so enkindled with the fire of the Holy Spirit, that she ran away from home, resolved to cross over to Africa, and there to lay down her life for the glory of Jesus Christ and the salvation of souls. She was brought back by her uncle; but her heart still burned with the desire of martyrdom, which she endeavored to satisfy by alms-deeds and other works of piety, weeping continually to see herself deprived of that happy lot. On the death of her mother, she begged the Blessed Virgin to be a mother to her; and she gained her request, for, ever afterward the Mother of God cherished her as a daughter. In the twentieth year of her age, she joined the nuns of St. Mary of Mount Carmel; and spent eighteen years in that monastery, enduring severe illnesses and many trials. While she was thus courageously battling in the ranks of Christian penance, she was deprived of the support of heavenly consolations, in which the saints usually abound even on this earth.

She was adorned with angelic virtues, and her charity made her solicitous not for her own salvation alone, but for that of all mankind. Inspired by God, and with the approbation of Pius IV, she restored the Carmelite rule to its primitive severity, and caused it to be thus observed first by the women and then by the men. The all-powerful blessing of our merciful God was evident in this work; for, though destitute of all human aid, and moreover opposed by many of the great ones of the world, the virgin was able, in her poverty, to build thirty-two monasteries. She wept continually over the blindness of infidels and heretics and offered to God the voluntary maceration of her body to appease the divine anger, on their behalf. Her heart burned like a furnace of divine love; so that once she saw an angel piercing it with a fiery dart, and heard Christ say to her, taking her hand in his: Henceforward, as my true bride, thou shalt be zealous for mine honor. By our Lord’s advice, she made the exceedingly difficult vow, always to do what she conceived to be most perfect. She wrote many works, full of divine wisdom, which arouse in the minds of the faithful the desire of their heavenly country.

Whereas Teresa was a pattern of every virtue, her desire of bodily mortification was most ardent; and in spite of the various maladies which afflicted her, she chastised her body with hairshirts and iron chains, scourged herself with sharp disciplines or with bundles of nettles, and sometimes rolled among thorns. She would often speak thus to God: O Lord, let me either suffer or die; for she considered that as long as she was absent from the fountain of life, she was dying daily and most miserably. She was remarkable for her gift of prophecy and was enriched to such a degree by our Lord with his divine favors, that she would often beg him to set bounds to his gifts, and not to blot out the memory of her sins so speedily. Consumed by the irresistible fire of divine love rather than by disease, after receiving the last Sacraments, and exhorting her children to peace, charity, and religious observance, she expired at Alba, on the day she had foretold; and her most pure soul was seen ascending to God in the form of a dove. She died at the age of sixty-seven, in the year 1582, on the Ides of October according to the corrected Roman calendar. Jesus Christ was seen present at her death-bed, surrounded by angels; and a withered tree near her cell suddenly burst into blossom. Her body has remained incorrupt to the present day, distilling a fragrant liquor; and is honored with pious veneration. She was made illustrious by miracles both before and after her death; and Gregory XV enrolled her among the saints.

Prayer:

Graciously hear us, O God our Savior, and grant that as we rejoice in the festival of blessed Teresa, Thy Virgin, so we may be nourished by her heavenly teaching, and grow in loving devotion towards Thee. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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Looking for a Miracle?

Then today could be your day. Today is October 13 and the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima in 1917, which was witnessed by thousands. It is truly an amazing miracle.

Read on the Miracle and visit the photo source

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The Miraculous Medal

The Miraculous Medal is a devotion to the Virgin Mary called the "Miraculous" Medal for the many miracles associated with those that wear it. It is one of my favorite medals to wear.

The Miraculous Medal came to the world through an Apparition of the Virgin Mary to Catherine Labouré in Paris, France in 1830. In Mary's second apparition, she asked that "a medal should be struck in this image. The people wearing it will receive my indulgence and those who piously say this short prayer will enjoy my very special protection".

One of the most famous conversions due to the miraculous medal was that of Alphonse Ratisbonne, an anti-Catholic Jewish banker. He received a vision of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. After his conversion, he became a priest and worked for the conversion of the Jewish people.

Click here to read Fr. John Hardon's testimony of a miracle brought about in front of him because of the Miraculous Medal. 

English Translation of the Traditional Prayer Said by the Priest to Bless the Miraculous Medal:

The priest who is to bless the sacred medal of the Immaculate Conception, vested in surplice and white stole, says:

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Almighty and merciful God, who by the many appearances on earth of the Immaculate Virgin Mary were pleased to work miracles again and again for the salvation of souls; kindly pour out your blessing + on this medal, so that all who devoutly wear it and reverence it may experience the patronage of Mary Immaculate and obtain mercy from you; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.

The priest sprinkles the medal with holy water, and presents it to the person, saying:
Take this holy medal; wear it with faith, and handle it with due devotion, so that the holy and immaculate Queen of heaven may protect and defend you. And as she is ever ready to renew her wondrous acts of kindness, may she obtain for you in her mercy whatever you humbly ask of God, so that both in life and in death you may rest happily in her motherly embrace.

All: Amen.

The priest continues:

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly)

P: And lead us not into temptation.

All: But deliver us from evil.

P: Queen conceived without original sin.

All: Pray for us.

P: Lord, heed my prayer.

All: And let my cry be heard by you.

P: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, who willed that your Mother, the blessed Virgin Mary conceived without sin, should become illustrious through countless miracles; grant that we who ever seek her patronage may finally possess everlasting joys. We ask this of you who live and reign forever and ever.
All: Amen.

AN ACT OF CONSECRATION TO OUR LADY OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL

Virgin Mother of God, Mary Inmmaculate, we dedicate and consecrate our selves to thee under the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. May this Medal be for each one of us a sure sign of thy affection for us and a constant reminder of our duties toward thee. Ever while wearing it, may we be blessed by thy loving protection and preserved in the grace of thy Son. O most powerful Virgin, Mother of our Savior, keep us close to thee every moment of our lives. Obtain for us, thy children, the grace of a happy death; so that, in union with thee, we may enjoy the bliss of heaven forever. Amen.

V. O Mary, conceived without sin,
R. Pray for us who have recourse to thee. ( 3 times.)

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Do You Want to Save Someone's Life?

Well, Priests for Life has a new brochure called You can save someone's life today (PDF file). Please pass along the information inside especially pregnany numbers. If you can't read that here is a HTML version.

Abortion is not a choice; it is murder. If you are pregnant don't think you don't have other options. God created us all to live in happiness, and only He has the right to take life being the Creator of Life. What if Mary hadn't had Jesus? Think about how much of a saint any unborn child can become. Trust in God and know that abortion is death. God is calling all to life. Trust in Him since He believed in you to the death.

Carenet/Heartbeat 1-800-395-HELP
Crisis Pregnancy Helpline 1-888-4-OPTIONS
Birthright 1-800-550-4900
National Life Center 1-800-848-LOVE
Bethany Christians Services 1-800-238-4269

Image Source: Believed to be in the public domain, source unknown

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