St. Odo of Cluny

St. Odo of Cluny – November 18th

This French saint was not a very holy young man when he first began his service to the Church. He was more interested in music than in divine things. But one day, this young student realized how different his life was from the perfect life taught by the Rule of St. Benedict. So Odo entered a monastery, and tried to please God in every way. Sometimes, however, his kind heart caused him to do unwise things, but as he grew older, he learned to be more prudent.

St. Odo was forty-eight when he became Abbot of Cluny, which was to be the most famous monastery in Europe. Many other monasteries copied Odo’s way of keeping all the monks fervent and close to God. He was called to Rome by the Holy Father to try to keep peace between two angry kings. He was invited to many monasteries by Abbots who wanted his advice. Yet he still found time to write several books, hymns and holy poems.

All through his life, St. Odo showed charity to those who were opposed to him. Once a peasant tried to kill him with a rock, shouting that Odo’s monks owed his money. Odo escaped, and then went to pay the man the money he had demanded. He thought no more about the matter until he heard that he king had ruled the peasant’s right arm should be cut off in punishment. At once the Saint went to court and persuaded the ruler to set the man free.

Just before he died, St. Odo wrote a hymn in honor of St. Martin of Tours, whose great charity he had always imitated.

Today I will try hard to imitate the charity of this saint in words and deeds.

Bl. Philippine Duchesne

Bl. Philippine Duchesne – November 17th

This Saint, who labored for Christ in the United States, was born into a wealthy French family. As a youngster, there was nothing especially holy about Philippine. In fact, she often did her best to get her own way and was apt to command everyone else to do what she wanted. In school, her favorite subject was history, and she later became very interested in stories about the American Indians.

At the age of seventeen, Philippine entered the convent, but she was not allowed to take her vows when the time came, because of the French Revolution. All the Professed Sisters were forced by the Revolutionaries to leave the country, and Philippine had to go home. Still she did not give up her desire to belong to Jesus, and several years later she joined the newly Society of the Sacred Heart.

Mother Philippine Duchesne’s great desire was to be a missionary, but she was fifty before she was sent to the United States, which was still a mission land at this time. In Mississippi, she and a small group of Sisters started a free school for the children of poor families, both white and Indian. The work was hard, because of the different languages and ways of the people. But despite the many difficulties, Mother Duchesne never lost her youthful enthusiasm, even though she did become less commanding and more gentle as she grew older.

Mother Duchesne was a real heroine who went through terrible journeys, nearly died from yellow fever and overcame all kinds of obstacles to open Convents in the New World. Then when she was seventy-one, she resigned her position as Superior and went off to open a school among her beloved Indians. She died at the age of eighty-three in a tiny room in which she had chosen to live in great poverty.

I will ask Our Divine Lord to increase my faith and confidence in Him, especially when things are hard.

Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King

Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King
Last Sunday of October
Taken from, “Divine Intimacy,” by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., pp.1161-1163

PRESENSE OF GOD – O Jesus, Prince of Ages, King of Nations, be the sole Ruler of my mind and heart.

MEDITATION

1. The liturgy today is truly a triumphant hymn celebrating the Kingdom of Christ. From the First Vespers of the Feast, the figure of Jesus is majestically portrayed, seated on a royal throne and dominating the entire world; “His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and all kings shall serve and obey Him…. He shall sit and rule and shall speak peace unto the nations.”

The Mass opens with the apocalyptic vision of this extraordinary King whose majesty is intimately linked to His immolation for the salvation of souls…. “The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power and divinity and wisdom and strength and honor. To Him belong glory and power forever and ever.”(Introit).

In the Epistle (Col. 1, 12-20) St. Paul enumerates the titles which make Christ King of all kings: He is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature; for in Him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.” These titles belong to Jesus Christ inasmuch as He is God, perfect image of the Father, exemplary cause of all earthly and heavenly creatures and, at the same time, Creator, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, of all that exists, for nothing has existence without Him, but “all things were created by Him and in Him…by Him all things consist.”

Then come His titles to Kingship as Man: “He is the Head of the Mystical Body, the Church…. Through Him [God]…reconciled all things unto Himself, making peace through the Blood of His Cross.” He, who is already our King by reason of His divinity, is also King through His Incarnation, which has constituted Him the Head of all humanity, and through His Passion, by which at the price if His Blood He has regained our souls, which already belonged to Him as His creatures.

Jesus is our King in the full sense of the word: He has created us, redeemed us, vivified us by His grace, He nourishes us with His Flesh and Blood, He governs us with love, and by love He draws us to Himself. In the face of such considerations, the cry of St. Paul rises spontaneously from our heart: “Giving thanks to God the Father…who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption…the remission of sins.”

2. In today’s Gospel (Jn. 18, 33-37) we have the most authoritative proclamation of the Kingship of Christ, since it comes from His own lips in that most solemn moment during the trial which preceded His Passion. Pilate explicitly questioned Him on the subject: “Art Thou the King of the Jews?” Jesus did not reply directly to this first question; actually, He is not King of any one determined nation; His Kingdom has nothing to do with the kingdoms of the earth. But to Pilate’s second and more precise question, “Art Thou a King then?” Jesus replied unhesitatingly: “Thou sayest it; I am a King.” He proclaims His Kingship in the most formal manner before the highest civil authority in Palestine; He proclaims it, not in the midst of an enthusiastic crowd, nor in the triumph of His miracles, but bound with chains, before him who is about to condemn Him to death, before being dragged to Calvary where, from the heights of the Cross, above His thorn-crowned head, will appear for the first time the title of His royalty: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (Jn. 19, 19). He had fled when the enthusiastic crowd wished to make Him their King; now He proclaims Himself King in the midst of the unspeakable humiliations of His Passion, thus affirming in the clearest manner that His Kingdom is not of this world, that His Kingdom is so sublime that no dishonor, no insults can eclipse it. But by this act Jesus also tells us that He prefers to manifest his Kingship far more as a conquest of His Blood than as a title belonging to Him in virtue of His divine nature.

We should go to meet this divine King with all the yearning of our soul. He presents Himself to us under an appearance so human, so loving, so welcoming, stretching out His arms on the Cross to invite all to come to Him, showing us the wound in his side as the symbol of His Love. Far from trying to escape His dominion, we should beseech Him to be the sole Ruler of our mind and heart, and the complete master of our will. We should submit ourselves and all that belongs to us to “His most gentle rule” (Collect).

St. Gertrude the Great

St. Gertrude the Great - Patroness of the West Indies - November 16th


Gertrude entered a Convent in Saxony when she was very young and under the care of St. Mechtildis, she grew to be a very happy and holy nun.


Gertrude was a likeable, intelligent young woman who did very well in Latin studies. In fact, she liked the study of religion less than her other subjects her other subjects at first. But when she was twenty-six, Jesus appeared to her and told her that from now on, she would think only of loving Him and trying to become perfect. Now she began to study the Holy Bible with deep delight and became very learned in our holy religion.


Jesus appeared to St. Gertrude many times. He showed her His own Sacred Heart and twice He let her rest her head on this Heart of His. Because of her great love for Jesus, her divine Spouse, St. Gertrude tried to correct her every fault, not matter how small. She trusted in Him with her whole heart and was full of peace and joy.


St. Gertrude had a great devotion to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and loved to receive Holy Communion often, even though in those days, it was not the custom. She was also very devoted to St. Joseph, and foster-father of Jesus.


St. Gertrude wrote many beautiful prayers, which have been very helpful in teaching many souls. After suffering for about ten years, but always very cheerfully, St. Gertrude went to join the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who had made her His spouse.


I will have a picture of the Sacred Heart enthroned in my bedroom. Also, I will spread devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

St. Albert the Great

St. Albert the Great - Patron of Scientists - November 15th

This Saint was born in a castle on the Danube River in Swabia. He went to the University of Padua and there he decided to become a Dominican. His uncle tried to persuade him not to enter, but Albert entered anyway, as God wanted. His father, the Count of Bollstadt, was very angry, and it was thought that might make Albert come out. The young monk was moved to another monastery, however, and his father did not pursue him.

St. Albert loved to study. He especially was interested in natural sciences-physics, geography, biology, and so forth-and of course in the study of religion and the Holy Bible. He used to go out to watch the ways of animals and write down what he saw, just as scientists do today. He wrote a great number of books on these subjects, as also on philosophy, and was a very popular teacher in different schools.

One of St. Albert’s pupils was the great St. Thomas Aquinas, and when Thomas died, St. Albert learned of it directly from God. He had guided St. Thomas in beginning his great works in Philosophy and Theology and he defended his teachings after Thomas died.

As he grew older, St. Albert grew more holy. Before, he had expressed his deep thoughts in his writings. Now he expressed them in tears, in his whole way of living for God.

Two years before his death, St. Albert’s memory failed him and his end came very peacefully while he was sitting in his chair with his fellow Dominicans. St. Albert is the Patron Saint of students and natural sciences.

I will try to force myself to study well, especially my religious subjects.

St. Lawrence O’Toole

St. Lawrence O’Toole – November 14th

Lawrence was an Irishman and the son of a chief of the Murrays. When he was only ten years old, a neighboring king made a raid on his father’s territory and carried the lad away. The boy had a lot to suffer for two years, until his father forced the king to give him up to the care of a bishop. When he did, the Murray chief hurried to see his son, and great was their happiness at being together again.

The chief wanted one of his sons to enter the service of the Church, and while he was wondering which one it might be, Lawrence told him with a laugh that he need not wonder any more. “It is my desire,” said Lawrence, “to have for my inheritance the service of God in the Church.” So his father took him by the hand and gave him into the care of the bishop.

Lawrence O’Toole became a priest and the Abbot of a great monastery. When food became very scarce in the whole neighborhood of the monastery the good abbot gave great quantities away to keep the people from starving. He had many problems to handle as head of the monastery because there were those who criticized him for being too strict. But he kept right on guiding his monks in the way of mortification and perfection, despite the criticism. Then, there was the problem of the robbers and outlaws who lived in the nearby hills. Yet nothing discouraged the fearless Lawrence O’Toole.

He became so famous that before long he was chosen to be Archbishop of Dublin. In this new position, he lived as holy a life as ever. Every day, he invited many poor people to be his guests at table, and he helped many others besides. Lawrence dearly loved his people and Ireland, his country, and he did all he could to keep it at peace.

Once a madman attacked him as he was going up to the altar to say Mass, and he was knocked unconscious to the floor. Yet he came to his senses right away, had the wound washed at once, and then went right ahead with the High Mass. God had preserved him from harm!

After years of labor for the Church, St. Lawrence O’Toole became very ill. When they asked him if he wanted to make a will, the holy Archbishop smiled and answered, “God knows that I don’t have a penny in the world.” He had long ago given everything he had to others, just as he had given himself completely to God.

We should do our duty to please God alone and to gain Heaven. Criticism should never stop us.

St. Stanislaus Kostka

St. Stanislaus Kostka - Patron of Youth - November 13th

This Polish youth was sent to a Jesuit school at Vienna with his older brother Paul. The two boys were not at all alike, however. Stanislaus had the courage to keep pure and to avoid bad language. He did well in his studies and the other boys admired his devotion at prayer. Paul, instead, was hard on his younger brother because he himself was not leading a good life.

After two years of patiently putting up with Paul’s bullying, Stanislaus became so ill that he was close to death. The man who owned the boarding house in which they lived was an enemy of the Catholic faith and refused to let a priest bring Holy Communion to the sick youth. Stanislaus prayed in desperation and God sent two angels to him with the Blessed Sacrament. Later, the Blessed Mother herself appeared to the Saint to tell him to enter the Society of Jesus. Stanislaus had already thought of that, so he asked to be admitted into the Society. But the Superior at Vienna dared not accept him because Stanislaus’ powerful father would be furious. The boy refused to give up. He stole away secretly and set out on foot to walk all the way to Rome, to ask the Superior General himself. On the way he stopped at the Jesuit house where St. Peter Canisius was superior.

St. Peter tested Stanislaus by setting him to wait on the seminarians at table and to clean their rooms. The holy young man served the students so humbly and respectfully that everyone was amazed.

At Rome, Stanislaus was accepted even though his father had written a very angry letter, telling him that he was following a profession not good enough for a nobleman’s son. But the seventeen-year-old saint answered respectfully that he must follow his vocation. He knew it was a far higher profession than any career his father could give him.

In the Jesuit college at Rome, St. Stanislaus performed every duty cheerfully and well. His face seemed to glow when he entered church, because of his great love for Jesus. But before his year of Novitiate was up, the holy Novice fell sick. No one thought his illness was serious, but the Saint was already thinking of going to Heaven. He told a priest friend that he hoped to be there for the next Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother into Heaven. And so it happened.

Early the morning of August 15th, the Feast of Our Lady’s Assumption, the sick young man whispered that he could see Our Lady coming with angels to take him home to Heaven.

One month after St. Stanislaus’ death, his brother Paul arrived in Rome, intending to force him to return. What was his surprise on finding Stanislaus dead! And what remorse he felt! From that time on, Paul began to live a good life, and he willingly testified to the virtues of his holy brother.

I will ask the Blessed Mother to let me know in which state of life Jesus wants me.

St. Nilus the Elder

St. Nilus the Elder – November 12th

Nilus was an important official in the great city of Constantinople. From St. John Chrysostom, he learned to love God so much that he wanted to serve Him. Nilus was married and had two children, yet he felt that God wanted him to become a monk. His good wife agreed that they should separate so as to serve the Lord with their whole hearts. Nilus took his son Theodulus and went to live with the monks of Mt. Sinai.

A few years passed in peace and happiness. Then a troupe of cruel raiders swept down upon the monastery and killed many of the monks. When they rode off, they carried Theodulus with them. His poor father, St. Nilus, followed them, hoping to be able to buy his son back from the raiders. He had many terrible experiences trying to find his son, but at last he found him living with a bishop. This bishop had bought the boy from the raiders in order to save him and Theodulus was working in the service of the Church. Before Nilus and his son left, the good bishop ordained them priests, since they were both ready.

St. Nilus was so wise that many people asked his advice. He wrote many, many letters in reply to priests, monks and high officials, and from these letters we know how holy St. Nilus was.

To a man who had decided to live on a pillar just to make people think he was holy, St. Nilus wrote: “Every man who exalts himself will be humbled!”

This Saint had to undergo many troubles and temptations in his life, but with prayer, he was always victorious. That is why he knew how to help so many other people overcome temptations and live good lives.

Even though people of the world can become saints, they have many dangers to overcome. If God calls me closer to Him, I will leave all my dear ones to follow Him generously.

St. Martin of Tours

St. Martin of Tours – November 11th

This soldier saint entered the Roman army in Italy when he was only fifteen. Although his parents were pagans, he began to study the Christian religion. Those who study the Christian religion are called catechumens until they are baptized.

One very cold winter day, Martin and his comrades came upon a poor beggar at the gate of the city of Amiens. The man’s only clothes were nothing but rags and he was shaking with cold. The other soldiers passed him by, but Martin felt that it was up to him to help the beggar. Having nothing with him, he drew his sword and cut his long cloak in half. Some laughed at his funny appearance as he gave one half to the beggar, but other felt ashamed of their own selfishness. That night, Our Lord Jesus Christ, wearing the half of the cloak that Martin had given away, appeared to him!

“Martin, still a catechumen, has covered me with this garment,” Jesus said. Right after this wonderful event, St. Martin went to be baptized.

A few years later, the Saint left the army and became a disciple of St. Hilary, the Bishop of Poitiers, France. Because of his strong opposition to the Arian heretics in various cities, Martin had to go into exile. But he was happy to live in the wilderness with other monks, and when the people of Tours asked for him as their bishop, he refused. The people would not give up, however. They got him to come to the city to visit a sick person, and once he was there, they took him to the Church!

As Bishop of Tours, St. Martin did all he could to rid France of paganism. He prayed, he worked, he preached everywhere.

Our Lord let Martin know when his death was near. As soon as his followers heard of it, they began to weep and to beg him not to leave them. So the Saint prayed: “Lord, if Your people need me yet, I will not refuse the work. Your will be done.” He was still laboring for the Divine Master in a far-off part of his diocese when death finally came.

St. Martin’s tomb became one of the most famous shrines in a Europe.

I will try to imitate the charity of St. Martin.

St. Andrew Avellino

St. Andrew Avellino – November 10th

This Italian priest was a skillful lawyer before he decided to devote himself only to the care of souls. One day he was defending a friend of his in court and he caught himself telling a lie. That evening, as he was reading the Holy Bible, he came upon these words: “The lying mouth kills the soul.” The more the Saint thought about these words, the more he realized that he had not given enough thought to the things of God.

At the age of thirty-five, he joined a Congregation of priests called Theatines. He worked so hard for souls that he soon became Novice Master and then Superior. St. Charles Borromeo had such a high opinion of him that he asked for him at Milan. In the city of Piacenza he converted many noble ladies and inspired many to become Brides of Christ. It is said that St. Andrew “turned the city upside down.”

The Saint lived until he was eighty-nine, even though he suffered terrible pains for fifty years and always found it hard to walk. Yet he had never taken a carriage or slowed down in his work for God. On the last day of his life, he got up as usual to say Mass. He was so weak that he could hardly reach the altar, but he tried anyway. Just as he started Mass, he fell ill for the last time. That afternoon he died peacefully with his brethren all around him.

This saint told one lie, and after he read the Bible, he was very sorry and did much penance. I too will think over the words of the Bible, “The lying mouth kills the soul,” and will try very hard never to tell any lies.