Wednesday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

Saint: Saint Aidan(-651); Saint Raymond Nonnatus (1204-1240)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 73 This Rule Only a Beginning of Perfection

Mass: 1 Cor 3:1-9; Resp Ps 33; Lk 4:38-44 

From heaven the Lord looks down.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, HOPE OF THE DYING,

PRAY FOR US.

We are God's co-workers; you are God's field, God's building.

(1 Cor 3:9)

It is powerful what Saint Paul writes to us in his First Letter to the Corinthians. We have a job to do. And in our Gospel for today, the crowds want Jesus to stay with them. He must be on His way, though, as He says: To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I was sent (Lk 4:43). Let us do our part then and build the Kingdom of God on earth. The Holy Father offers inspiration and encouragement.

If you want to live, if you want to enjoy life, remember that you are a creature, that you are not the criterion of good and evil, and that the choices you make will have a consequence, for others, and for the world; you can make the earth a magnificent garden or you can make it a desert of death.

(Pope Francis, Wednesday General Audience Catechesis, August 31, 2022)

United in faith and prayer, we keep going. The Lord is our help and our shield. 

SAINT AIDAN,

SAINT RAYMOND NONNATUS,

PRAY FOR US.

NB. This last day of August concludes our official devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. However, it is always helpful to turn to the Immaculate Heart of our Mother, Mary. 💖

Today's photo: Our soul waits for the Lord.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Tuesday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Saint Jeanne Jugan (1792-1879); Saint Margaret Clitherow, nee Middleton (1556-1586); Saint Anne Line, nee Heigham (1565?-1601); Saint Margaret Ward (-1588); Blessed Ghebre Michael (1790-1855); Saint Fiacre; Saint Edmund Arrowsmith (1585-1628)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 72 The Good Zeal of Monks

Mass: 1 Cor 2:10b-16; Resp Ps 145; Lk 4:31-37

©

The Lord is faithful in all His works.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE, 

HEART OF MARY, COMFORT OF THE SAD,

PRAY FOR US.

Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, 72:11)

It is a good day, dear faithful readers. Saint Benedict gives us his beautiful Chapter 72 on the Good Zeal of Monks, Jesus is busy rebuking demons (Lk 4:35), and there are many glorious saints to invoke. God is praised. 

With the "mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16), may we be about good zeal, that zeal "which separates from evil and leads to God and everlasting life" (RB 72:2), and go with some words from Pope Francis, preached this past Sunday in L'Aquila, Italy, on the occasion of the Celestinian Pardon (Perdonanza Celestiniana), a celebration established in 1294 by Pope Celestine V.

The saints' lives are a privilege vantage point from which we can glimpse the good news that Jesus came to proclaim - namely, that God is our Father and each of us is loved by Him. This is the heart of the Gospel, and Jesus is the proof of this Love - His incarnation, His face.

(Pope Francis, Feast of Celestinian Forgiveness, Mass, homily, L'Aquila, Italy, August 28, 2022)

And news of Him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.

(Lk 2:16)

SAINT JEANNE JUGAN,

SAINT MARGARET CLITHEROW,

SAINT ANNE LINE,

SAINT MARGARET WARD,

BLESSED GHEBRE MICHAEL,

SAINT FIACRE,

SAINT EDMUND ARROWSMITH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Peppers abound in our greenhouse of delight. The Lord is holy in all His works.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Monday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

The Passion of Saint John the Baptist

Saint: Saint Beatrice of Nazareth, Flemish Cistercian Nun (1200-1268)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 71 Mutual Obedience

Mass: Jer 1:17-19; Resp Ps 71 or 1 Cor 2:1-5; Resp Ps 119; Mk 6:17-29

For Saint Beatrice of Nazareth: Songs 8:6-7 or 1 Cor 13:4-13; Resp Ps 44; Jn 17:20-26

May your right hand show you wondrous deeds.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, VICTIM OF LOVE,

PRAY FOR US.

I have made known to them Your name and I will make it known, that the love with which You loved me may be in them and I in them.

(Jn 17:26)

We are honored to commemorate Saint Beatrice of Nazareth, erstwhile Beguine turned Cistercian nun and foundress of Our Lady of Nazareth Abbey, our motherhouse in Brecht, Belgium. It was from there that the founding group of 12 nuns came to Redwoods in 1962. 

First, we learn something about Beatrice:

Though she was born of parents who were great in God's eyes, adorned with the reputation of being very religious, she was more sublime than the sublime and more perfect than the perfect. She exalted their glory by her own virtues, and made them illustrious by the more copious light of her perfection.

(The Life of Beatrice of Nazareth, 1200-1268, trans. Roger DeGanck, Cistercian 1991, p. 21)

And now something from Beatrice from The Seven Manners of Holy Love:

There are seven manners of loving which come down from the highest place and which return again to the summit from which they came.

The first manner is an active longing which proceeds from love. It must rule a long time in the heart before it can thoroughly expel all opposition and it should act strongly and skillfully, and progress eagerly in this ...

The soul desires to lead its whole life so as to work, grow, and ascend to a greater height of love and closer knowledge of God, until it reaches that perfection for which it is fully made and called by God.

(Beatrice of Nazareth, The Seven Manners of Holy Love, in The Life of Beatrice, Book Three, p. 289, 291)

SAINT BEATRICE OF NAZARETH,

SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST, 

PRAY FOR US.

NB. Father Roger DeGanck, ocso, monk of Westmalle Abbey, was the first and longtime chaplain for the nuns of Redwoods. RIP.

Today's photo: Bee on flower, for Saint Beatrice of Nazareth. God, your God, has anointed you.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

In other years: Saint Augustine of Hippo, Bishop, Doctor of the Church (354-430)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 70 The Presumption of Defending Another in the Monastery

Mass:  Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Resp Ps 68; Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a; Lk 14:1, 7-14

The just exalt and rejoice before God.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, ABYSS OF HUMBLENESS,

PRAY FOR US.

My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. 

Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.

(Sirach 3:17-18)

About humility, it occurred to me that part of it is keeping things in perspective. There are several ways to go about that and one is to turn to our Profession of Faith:

I believe in One God,

the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible ...

(The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed)

Another is to go outside and look at the beauty of God's wondrous works. I took my own advice ☺and managed to capture several photos of flowers and more to share with you in the coming days.

Yet another is to turn to one of my favorite lines from the psalmist: Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it (Ps 127:1).

We go forth, united in faith and prayer, and take the lowest place (Lk 14:10). It takes a lot less energy than doing otherwise. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all those who humble themselves will be exalted (Lk 14:11). Whoever boasts should boast in the Lord.

Beginning with our misery, humility makes us take our gaze off ourselves in order to turn it toward God, to the one who can do everything and who even obtains for us what we could not succeed in obtaining on our own. "All things can be done for one who believes."
(Pope Francis, homily, Mass for the Celestine Feast of Forgiveness, L'Aquila, Italy, August 28, 2022)

Even as a boy I had heard of eternal life promised to us through the humility of the Lord our God, who came to visit us in our pride, and I was signed with the sign of His cross, and was seasoned with His salt even from the womb of my mother, who greatly trusted in you.

(Saint Augustine, Confessions, XI, 17)

SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO,

SAINT MONICA,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Sing praise to God, chant praise to His name.   

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Saturday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

Saint: Saint Monica (331-387)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 69 The Presumption of Defending Another in the Monastery

Mass: 1 Cor 1:26-31; Resp Ps 33; Mt 25:14-30

Our soul waits for the Lord.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, FLOODED WITH GRACE,

PRAY FOR US.

Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.

(1 Cor 1:31)

Today we commemorate Saint Monica, the wife of a not so virtuous no initial fan of Christianity husband, and the mother of initially not so virtuous Augustine turned Saint Augustine, recognized as a Doctor of the Church in 1298, along with Saint Gregory the Great, Saint Ambrose, and Saint Jerome. How's that for a mouth full! ☺ Shortly before Monica's death, she and her son were in Ostia on the Tiber, which happens to be one of favorite places to visit when in Rome (see today's photo). Mother and son made their way to Ostia in the late 4th century to rest, escape the noisy crowd, and prepare for a journey on the sea. We know from Augustine's Confessions that one day, they stood by themselves at a window that overlooked the garden in the courtyard of the house. Alone there, mother and son enjoyed a pleasant conversation, forgetting the past and pushing on to what is ahead. It goes like this:

We were asking one another in the presence of Truth-for you are the Truth-what it would be like to share the eternal life enjoyed by the saints, which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, which has not even entered into the heart of man. We desired with all our hearts to drink from the streams of your heavenly fountain, the fountain of life ...

But you know, O Lord, that in the course of our conversation that day, the world and all its pleasures lost all their attraction for us. My mother said: "Son, as far as I am concerned, nothing in this life gives me any pleasure. I do not know why I am still here, since I have no further hopes in this world. I did have one reason for wanting to live a little longer: to see you become a Catholic before I died. God has lavished His gifts on me in that respect, for I know that you have even renounced earthly happiness to be His servant. So what am I doing here?"

(From the Confessions of Saint Augustine, bishop, in Office of Readings, August 27)

Saint Monica, a woman with deep faith and of outstanding virtue, is a profound witness and wonderful example of a Christian mother. She is great inspiration for all the faithful, wives, mothers, or otherwise. She certainly inspires me. May Saint Monica intercede for all wives and mothers, especially those with husbands or children who have abandoned the faith or may even despise the faith.  We think too of Servant of God Elisabeth Leseur whose husband despised the faith. By Elisabeth's witness and prayer, her husband Felix became a Dominican priest after Elisabeth died! With God all things are possible. United in faith and prayer, and by the grace of God, we go forth. 

For great you are, Lord, and you look kindly on what is humble, but the lofty minded you regard from afar. Only to those whose hearts are crushed do you draw close. You will not let yourself be found by the proud, not even by those who in their inquisitive skill count stars for grains of sand, or measure the expanses of Heaven, or trace the paths of the planets.

(Saint Augustine, Confessions) 

SAINT MONICA,

SAINT AUGUSTINE,

SERVANT OF GOD ELISABETH LESEUR,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Hi from Anna and Gertrude, at the entrance to Ostia Antica in 2015. The Lord is our help and our shield.

 

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Friday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Blessed Dominic Barberi (1792-1849); Saint David Lewis (1616-1679); Our Lady of Czestochowa; Saint Caesarius of Arles (c.470-542); Blessed Jacques Retouret (1746-1794); Saint Teresa of Jesus' Transverberation (?)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 68 The Assignment of Impossible Tasks

Mass: 1 Cor 1:17-25; Resp Ps 33; Mt 25:1-13

Praise from the upright is fitting.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, OCEAN OF GOODNESS,

OUR LADY OF CZESTOCHOWA,

PRAY FOR US.

For the foolishness of God is stronger than human strength.

(1 Cor 1:25)

We are with one of my favorite chapters of the Holy Rule today, Ch 68. Assignment of Impossible Tasks. Saint Benedict teaches about what to do when given a "burdensome task or something [you] cannot do" (RB 68:1). If this happens, the monk "with complete gentleness and obedience", should "accept the order given him." If the monk is overburdened or feels as if she is unsuited for the work, she should, at the appropriate time, and without pride, obstinance or refusal, talk to the Abbess about it. However, if the Abbess holds course, the monk should recognize that this is best for her, and "trusting in God's help, he must in love obey" (RB 68:5). I think again of dear Father Paschal, OSB, of happy memory, who had a motto, "Say 'Yes' and think about it later." This is how I started to play the organ some years ago. I was told the community needed another organist; did I think I could learn how to play. Well, why not, I thought. So I went for it. And I found out I could play. No concert organist, I did manage to provide the necessary service. God provides so trust in God always; He is our source of strength. Listen, as we hear the echo of Saint Paul: "For the foolishness of God is stronger than human strength." United in faith and prayer, we go for it.

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

(1 Cor 1:18)

NB. Among our saints of the day is Blessed Dominic Barberi who received many Anglicans into full communion with the Church, including now Saint John Henry Newman. God is praised!

BLESSED DOMINIC BARBERI,

SAINT JOHN HENRY NEWMAN,

SAINT DAVID LEWIS,

SAINT CAESARIUS OF ARLES,

BLESSED JACQUES RETOURET,

SAINT TERESA OF THE TRANSVERBERATION,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Thursday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Saint Louis (1214-1270); Saint Joseph Calasanz, Priest (1557-1648); Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified Baouardy (1846-1878)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 67 Brothers Sent on a Journey

Mass: 1 Cor 1:1-9; Resp Ps 145; Mt 24:42-51

They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, SOURCE OF COMPASSION,

PRAY FOR US.

God will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, and by Him you were called to fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

(1 Cor 1:8-9)

The words above from Saint Paul are more than a little comforting and encouraging. Let's hear from two more of our saints, these of the day. May they intercede for us so that we heed Jesus' warning: Stay awake! For you do not know on which day the Lord will come (Mt 24:42).

The first from Saint Louis of France, crowed king as a boy, he was known for his charity, prudence and justice. The following is for one of his children.

My dearest son, my first instruction is that you should love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your strength. Without this there is no salvation. Keep yourself, my son, from everything that you know displeases God, that is to say, from every mortal sin. You should permit yourself to be tormented by every kind of martyrdom before you would allow yourself to commit a mortal sin.

(From a spiritual testament to his son by Saint Louis, in Office of Readings, August 25)

And the following is one of my favorites, from Joseph of Calasanz who worked for the education of the poor. He was the founder of the Pious Schools that provided free education to the sons of the poor. The following is a call to all teachers, especially in these times when teaching the truth is not without a few obstacles. Keep going with your eyes fixed on the things that are above!

All who undertake to teach must be endowed with deep love, the greatest patience, and, most of all, profound humility. They must perform their work with earnest zeal. Then through their humble prayers, the Lord will find them worthy to become fellow workers with Him in the cause of truth.

(Saint Joseph Calasanz)

SAINT LOUIS,

SAINT JOSEPH CALASANZ,

SAINT MARY OF JESUS CRUCIFIED BAOUARDY,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Every day will I bless you.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Feast of Saint Bartholomew

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 66 The Porter of the Monastery

Mass:  Rev 21:9b-14; Resp Ps 145; Jn 1:45-51

Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, HOPE OF THE AGONIZING,

PRAY FOR US.

There is no duplicity in him.

(Jn 1:47)

Today we commemorate Saint Bartholomew, who by tradition has been identified with Nathanael of John's Gospel. As the first disciples of Jesus begin to be called, Philip listens to Jesus' command: Follow me (Jn 1:43). Philip makes haste and finds Nathanael, a skeptical Nathanael (Jn 1:46), and off they go to find the Lord. As Jesus saw Nathanael from afar, he sees each one of us from afar. Jesus looks for us and keeps on looking, even before a friend like Philip takes us to Him. Jesus says to each of us: Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree (Jn 1:48). Yes, Jesus sees each one of us. We go to Him, then, and follow. May He find no duplicity in us.

You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.

(Jn 1:49)

SAINT BARTHOLOMEW, PATRON SAINT OF THE SICK,

SAINT PHILIP, 

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Martyr red for Saint Bartholomew and all martyrs. Mary, Queen of Martyrs, Health of the Sick, pray for us.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Tuesday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Saint Rose of Lima, Patron Saint of South America (1586-1617); Saint Eugene (-c. 618); Saint John Wall (1620-1679)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 65:11-22 The Prior of the Monastery 

Mass: 2 Thess 2:1-3a, 14-17; Resp Ps 96; Mt 23:23-26

Say among the nations, the Lord is king.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, FULL OF GRACE,

PRAY FOR US.

I find it true, something that Servant of God Rose Hawthorne (1851-1926) wrote: "A brief sentence written by a saint will be moral provender for a good Catholic for many a day-his own heart will develop the words, as the saint's calculated simplicity intended, into a long sermon." At least that is what I find when I look to the saints for inspiration as I do more than occasionally. And our saints, those formally recognized, and the ones next door, have plenty to teach us, primarily by their witness but also by what they say or write, sometimes stated in brief, while other times more at length. 

We look to two saints today. First, Saint Rose of Lima, the first person in the Americas to be canonized, she is the patron saint of South America. That job certainly keeps her busy. Saint Rose is also the patron saint of gardeners, florists, and those suffering from family difficulties. Refusing to marry, Rose became a third-order Dominican as a young woman, and it is said that she lived most of her life in a tiny hermitage in her parents' garden. She was also known for practicing austere penances, not unusual for the times in which she lived. As a result, she received many graces, and had much to say about the value of suffering. We all suffer, whether we like it or not. We don't need to go looking for it though, as suffering will come our way, in one way or another. It's best we just pick up our cross and carry it. As I wrote the other day, Jesus certainly picked up His and He helps us carry ours. In any case, Jesus said more than once that the primary condition of discipleship is that we pick up our cross, carry it, and follow Him. Grace abounds! We go forth and carry on, united in faith and prayer..

Without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the heights of grace. The gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase.

(From the writings of Saint Rose of Lima, virgin, in Office of Readings, August 23)

Speaking of saints and other holy people, we get this one from William of Saint Thierry, Benedictine, Abbot, and eventual Cistercian (1085-1148), used as the proclamation for today's midday prayer:

O Lord, though you have made the darkness of our ignorance and human blindness the secret place that hides your face, nevertheless your pavilion is round about you, and some of your saints undoubtedly were full of light. They glowed and they gave light because they lived so close to your light and your fire.

And to help us through the day, and week for that matter, we thank Saint Paul and company for the following:

May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through His grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.

(2 Th 2:16-17)

SAINT ROSE OF LIMA,

SAINT JOHN WALL,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: From the archives (2019), a rose for Saint Rose of Lima. The Lord shall rule His peoples with constancy.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Monday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Saint: Saint John Kemble (1599-1679)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 65:1-10 The Prior of the Monastery

Mass: 2 Titus 1:1-5, 11-12; Resp Ps 96; Mt 23:13-22

Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.

MARY, MOTHER AND QUEEN,

HEART OF MARY, THRONE OF GLORY, 

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

MARY, QUEEN OF ANGELS,

PRAY FOR US.

Blessed are you who have believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord will be fulfilled.

(Communion Antiphon, Mass)

Welcome to Monday and the Queenship of Mary. All day, and all week, let us turn to Mary, Queen of heaven and earth, for help. She will take us to the heart of her Son, Jesus Christ.

From the earliest ages of the Catholic church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petitions and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven. And never has that hope wavered which they placed in the Mother of the Divine King, Jesus Christ; nor has that faith ever failed by which we are taught that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, reigns with a mother's solicitude over the entire world, just as she is crowned with heavenly blessedness with the glory of a Queen ...

Let all Christians, therefore, glory in being subjects of the Virgin Mother of God, who, while wielding royal power, is on fire with a mother's love.

(Pope Pius XII, Ad Caeli Reginam, Encyclical on Proclaiming the Queenship of Mary, October 11, 1954)

BEHOLD, I AM THE HANDMAID OF THE LORD.

She is loved

and praised

and honored by all.

For men and for angels,

she is

-after God-

the first [object of] love

and praise

and honor.

The whole church of the saints

proclaims her praises:

The daughters of Sion saw her

and declared her highly blessed;

the queens of concubines praised her.

Nor does she herself pass over in silence this grace of

 such great favor:

All generations, she says,

will call me blessed.

(Baldwin of Forde, 1125-1190, in Mary Most Holy: Meditating with the Early Cistercians, p. 354)

SAINT JOHN KEMBLE,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: For our Lady, Mother and Queen. Sing to the Lord a new song.

 

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

In other years: Pope Saint Pius X (1835-1914)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 64:7-24 The Election of an Abbot

Mass: Is 66:18-21; Resp Ps 117; Heb 12: 5-7, 11-13; Lk 13:22-30

Glorify Him, all you peoples!

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, REFUGE OF SINNERS,

PRAY FOR US.

So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.

(Hebrews 12:12-13)

I read a line from a homily recently, preached by an Abbot at a monk's Solemn Profession. It's a simple line that speaks volumes: "We are transformed only by being limited." In a way, it is a commentary on Jesus' answer in today's Gospel, to a voice from the crowd who asked, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" (Lk 13:23). Jesus replied: Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough (Lk 13:24). No one said discipleship was going to be easy. Jesus certainly didn't. We are meant to pick up our cross and carry it. Jesus certainly picked up His and helps us to carry ours. The "road to glory", as dear Father Paschal, OSB, of happy memory aptly called it, is narrow. The Gospel way limits us in ways that we would have never expected. If we just take the first and greatest commandment, which also happens to be Saint Benedict's first tool of goods, namely, to love the Lord our God with your whole heart, your whole soul and all your strength, and the second, to love your neighbor as yourself (Rule of Saint Benedict, 4:1-2/Mt 22:37-39; Mk 12:30-31; Lk 10:27), we will be limited and busy at that. We put aside our needs and wants and look to God for strength, mercy, and compassion and then extend it to our neighbor, without exception. We "try to be the first to show respect to the other, supporting with greatest patience one another's weaknesses of body or behavior, and earnestly competing in obedience to one another." Furthermore, "no one is to pursue what she judges better for herself, but instead, what she judges better for someone else" (Rule of Saint Benedict, 72:4-7). The good news is that we do this together, united in faith and prayer, and we will be transformed. The "Lord shows us the way of life" (RB Prologue 20). We look to the Lord, and "clothed then with faith and the performance of good works, let us set out on this way, with the Gospel for our guide, that we may deserve to see Him who has called us to His kingdom" (RB Prologue 20-21). We go forth "and prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may He bring us all together to everlasting life" (RB 72:11-12).

Therefore we intend to establish a school for the Lord's service. In drawing up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome. The good of all concerned, however, may prompt us to a little strictness in order to amend faults and to safeguard love. Do not be daunted immediately by fear and run away from the road that leads to salvation. It is bound to be narrow at the outset. But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God's commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love. Never swerving from His instructions then, but faithfully observing His teaching in the monastery until death, we shall through patience share in the sufferings of Christ that we may deserve also to share in His kingdom. Amen.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, Prologue 45-50)

POPE SAINT PIUS X,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: I managed to get a few good shots Friday morning in our garden of delights. This one kicks us off and inspires us to go out to all the world and tell the good news.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Saint: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercian Abbot, Doctor of the Church "Doctor Mellifluus" (1090-1153)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 64:1-6 The Election of an Abbot

Mass: Ezk 43:1-7ab; Resp Ps 85; Mt 23:1-12

For the Feast of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: Wisdom 7:7-10, 15-16 or Sirach 39:8-14; Resp Ps 19 or 37; Ph 3:17-4:1; Mt 5:13-19 or Jn 17:20-26

The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, SEAT OF MERCY,

PRAY FOR US.

Therefore I prayed, and prudence was given me; 

I pleaded and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.

(Wisdom 7:7)

The "Doctor Mellifluus," "the last of the Fathers, but certainly not inferior to the earlier ones," was remarkable for such qualities of nature and of mind, and so enriched by God with heavenly gifts, that in the changing and often stormy times in which he lived, he seemed to dominate by his holiness, wisdom and most prudent counsel.

(Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Doctor Mellifluus the Last of the Fathers, May 24, 1953)

How fitting and right it is that as we commemorate the great Cistercian Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Benedict writes on the election of the abbot, "Goodness of life and wisdom in teaching must be the criteria for choosing the one to be made abbot ..." (Rule of Saint Benedict, 64:2). Saint Bernard knew that God "is the guide of Wisdom and the director of the wise, for both we and our words are in His hand, as well as prudence and knowledge of crafts" (Wisdom 7:16). Therefore, Pope Pius XII could write: Saint Bernard's "teaching was drawn, almost exclusively, from the pages of Sacred Scripture and from the Fathers, which he had at hand day and night in his profound meditations" (Doctor Mellifluus). 

We end with two quotations from Saint Bernard, the first I am unable to find a source for at the moment, the second from a letter of his. In God we trust. 😊

You will find something more in the woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.

(Saint Bernard of Clairvaux)

We wear ourselves with our scribbling to each other, but is the spirit ever weary of loving? We find rest in those we love, and we provide a resting place in ourselves for those we love.

(Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Letter 90)  

SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: For Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, from Saint Bernard Catholic Parish, Eureka, CA.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Saint John Eudes, Priest (1601-1680); Saint Ezekiel Moreno (1848-1906); Saint Oswin (-651)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 63: 9-19 Community Rank

Mass: Ezk 37:1-14; Resp Ps 107; Mt 22:34-40

The Lord satisfied the longing soul.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY,

PRAY FOR US.

HEART OF JESUS, KING AND CENTER OF ALL HEARTS,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!

I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life. I will put sinews upon you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put spirit in you so that you may come to life and know that I am the Lord.

(Ezk 37:4-6)

Dear Jesus, with your heart all-loving and lovable, a clean heart create for me, renew in me a steadfast spirit (Ps 51:12). Breathe life into our dry and weary bones, bring us to life so that we love you, the Lord, our God, with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. And love our neighbor as ourselves (Mt 22:37-39/Rule of Saint Benedict, 4:1-2). 

I ask you to consider that the Lord Jesus Christ is your true head and that you are a member of His body. All that is His is yours: heart, breath, body, soul and all His faculties. All of these you must use as if they belonged to you, so that in serving Him you may give Him praise, love and glory ... 

You are one with Jesus as the body is one with the head. You must, then, have one breath with Him, one soul, one life, one will, one mind, one heart. And He must be your breath, heart, love, life, your all. 

(From a treatise on the admirable Heart of Jesus by Saint John Eudes, priest, in Office of Readings, August 19)

SAINT JOHN EUDES,

SAINT EZEKIEL MORENO,

SAINT OSWIN,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: This red Fuchsia flower from Saint Bernard Parish fits for Saint John Eudes, devoted as he was to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love, have mercy on us. Heart of Mary, pray for us.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Blessed Victoria Rasoamanarivo (1848-1894); Saint Alberto Hurtado Chruchaga (1901-1952)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 63:1-9 Community Rank

Mass: Ezk 36:23-38; Resp Ps 51; Mt 22:1-15

A clean heart create for me, O God.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, COMFORT OF THE AFFLICTED,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you,

taking from your body your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts.

(Ezk 36:26)

We can always open our hearts a little more to receive the love and mercy of God. Our Lord is calling each one of us. When we hear His voice, may we not harden our hearts, but open wide and listen instead. We want to be ready. United in faith and prayer, we keep going. 

Many are invited, but few are chosen.

(Mt 22:1-16)

We end with a sweet little prayer from The Catholic Devotional: A Collection of Prayers and Inspiration for Every Catholic (Apostolic Publishing Company, 2022), p. 52, a gift I found at Saint Bernard Catholic Parish, Eureka, CA.

For Dependence on God

Lord, what we know not, teach us.

Lord, what we have not, give us.

Lord, what we are not, make us.

Amen.

BLESSED VICTORIA RASOAMANARIVO,

SAINT ALBERTO HURTADO CHRUCHAGA,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: More beauty from Saint Bernard Catholic Parish, Eureka, CA, this time a delightful Fuschsia flower. 

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Saint: Blessed Angelus Mazzinghi (c. 1386-1438)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 62 The Priests of the Monastery

Mass: Ezk 34:1-11; Resp Ps 23; Mt 20:1-16

Only goodness and kindness will follow me.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, FASTENED TO THE CROSS WITH JESUS CRUCIFIED,

PRAY FOR US.

Hear the word of the Lord ...

I myself will look after and tend my sheep.

(Ezk 34:7, 11)

As Jesus, the True Shepherd looks after His sheep, it is of His concern who gets this, and who gets that. There is no need for us to harbor envy or jealousy over what others receive from Him. We are grateful, take what is ours, and go (Mt 20:14). The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want ... And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come.

Everyone has his own gift from God, one this and another that.

(1 Cor 7:7)

BLESSED ANGELUS MAZZINGHI,

PRAY FOR US.

NB. I am sorry that I was a bit mixed up with the daily readings from the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict, getting ahead of myself with yesterday's quotation from the chapter on community rank. Things should be in order now. By the grace of God go I.😕

Today's photo: It so happens that I was gifted with a visit to Saint Bernard Catholic Parish in Eureka, CA. Not only will the visitor find hospitable people and a beautiful church, the visitor will also find the grounds loaded with magnificent flowers. In preparation for Saturday's commemoration to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, we begin today with a few things that can be found on the parish grounds. He guides me in right paths.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Saint Stephen of Hungary, First King of Hungary, Patron Saint of Hungary (969-1038); Saint Rock (-1378); Blessed Maria Sagrario of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga (1881-1936)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 61:6-14 The Reception of Visiting Monks 

Mass: Ezk 28:1-10; Resp Ps (Dt 32); Mt 19:23-30

Surely, the Lord shall do justice for His people.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, HOLOCAUST OF DIVINE LOVE,

PRAY FOR US.

The younger monks, then, must respect their seniors, and the seniors must love their juniors ...

they should each try to be the first to show respect to the other.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, 58:10, 17/Rom 12:10)

With Saint Benedict's teaching from the 6th century, and Saint Stephen's counsel for his son Emeric in the 10th-11th century, all the faithful are given sound advice.  O, the beauty of our faith tradition. Let us be thankful.

Be merciful to all who are suffering violence, keeping always in your heart the example of the Lord who said: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. Be patient with everyone, not only with the powerful, but also the weak ... 

Be humble in this life, that God may raise you up in the next. Be truly moderate and do not punish or condemn anyone immoderately. Be gentle so that you may never oppose justice. Be honorable so that you may never voluntarily bring disgrace upon anyone. Be chaste so that you may avoid all the foulness of lust like the pangs of death.

(From admonitions to his son by Saint Stephen, in Office of Readings, August 16)

With God all things are possible ...

Everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, the last will be first.

(Mt 19:26, 29-30)

SAINT STEPHEN OF HUNGARY,

SAINT ROCK,

BLESSED MARIA SAGRARIO OF SAINT ALOYSIUS GONZAGA,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: More than a few things around here are healthy and green. Discard not the work of your hands, Lord.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 61:1-5 The Reception of Visiting Monks

Mass: Rev 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab; Resp Ps 45; 1 Cor 15:20-27; Lk 1:39-56

The Queen stands in her place.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

MARY, QUEEN ASSUMED INTO HEAVEN,

MARY, QUEEN OF ANGELS,

MARY, QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH,

HEART OF MARY, THRONE OF GLORY,

PRAY FOR US.

The Immaculate Virgin Mary, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.

(Pope Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus Most Bountiful God, November 1, 1950)

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

(Rev 12:1)

Foremost on this special Monday, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, congratulations and best wishes to all Cistercians on the patronal feast of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance. All Cistercian monasteries are dedicated to Mary, Mother of God. God is praised. Our Lady of the Redwoods, Our Lady of Nazareth, Our Lady of Klaarland, pray for us.

With two texts to share then, the first a meditation from Amadeus of Lausanne, the second, a prayer from Pope Saint John XXIII.

Let us gaze

upon her glory

and, entering into the depth of so great a light,

with swelling heart and unspeakable joy

let us hasten

through the vivid brightness of the paths,

saying with Solomon,

Her paths are lovely

and all her ways are peaceful.

First of all,

she was deemed worthy

to be adorned

with the beauty of all the virtues.

Secondly,

she was united to the Holy Spirit

in a bond of wedlock.

Thirdly,

she was found the Mother of the Savior.

Fourthly,

a sword pierced her soul

and by the flesh taken of her flesh

the ruin of the lost world

is restored.

Fifthly,

she rejoices in her Son

arising and ascending 

above the heaven of heavens

to the right hand of the Father.

Sixthly,

she is caught up from this world

and as the Lord hastens to meet her

she is placed above the denizens of heaven.

Seventhly,

she will be completed

when the fulness of the Gentiles shall have entered

and all Israel shall be saved.

For beyond what is appropriately said or believed,

she rejoices

in the general salvation of the elect,

knowing that it was for them

that the Son of God

took flesh from her.

Then, therefore,

will she be fulfilled,

God providing a better thing,

lest without us

she should not be made perfect.

(Amadeus of Lausanne, Cistercian Abbot, c. 1110-1159, in Mary, Most Holy: Meditating with the Early Cistercians)

To Our Lady, the Gate of Heaven

Immaculate Virgin,

radiant image of purity and grace,

whose appearance scatters the shades of overhanging night

and restores to us the splendors of heaven,

look graciously down upon your children

and all who love you and gather around you.

Star of Dawn, prepare us to welcome the Sun of Justice,

whom you brought into the world.

Gate of Heaven, teach our hearts to desire the things of heaven.

Mirror of Justice, preserve in us

the love of divine grace so that,

living humbly and happily

in obedience to our Christian calling,

we may always enjoy the Lord's friendship

and your motherly consolations.

Amen.

(Pope Saint John XXIII, 1881-1963)

Hail, Mary, full of grace.

Today's photo: Mary, Queen of Angels, by Sister Protasia Schindler, OSB. Used with kind permission of the Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel, OR. So shall the king desire your beauty; for He is your Lord.

© Gertrude Feick 2022