Catholic devotions for the 31st August

Scroll down for today's

Saint of the Day
Reading of the Martyrology
Dedication of the Month
Dedication of the Day
Rosary
Five Wounds Rosary in Latin
Seven Sorrows Rosary in English
Latin Monastic Office
Reading of the Rule of Saint Benedict
Celebration of Mass
Reading from the School of Jesus Crucified

Feast of Saint Raymond Nonnatus

On the left of this busy composition St Raymond Nonnatus is depicted on his knees in front of his deathbed. He is supported by two angels holding a communion cloth ready for him to receive the viaticum (or last communion) from the hands of St Peter Nolasco. A number of angels and Mercedarian brethren line the processional route, their turned heads establishing a strong diagonal line towards the upper right-hand corner of the canvas, where Nolasco is standing, illuminated by two taper-bearing angels. Nolasco is dressed in liturgical vestments, having just celebrated mass in order to bring his dying colleague the sacrament.

This painting formed part of a group of six canvases that Pacheco produced from 1600 onwards illustrating the life of St Peter Nolasco to decorate the main cloister of the newly rebuilt Mercedarian Convent in Seville (the building that today houses its main art museum, the Museo de Bellas Artes). The Mercedarian Order had been founded by Nolasco in 1230 with the explicit mission of raising funds to ransom Christians taken captive by the Islamic populations of Spain and North Africa. By the beginning of the seventeenth century, it had begun to press the case for the canonization of its founding members, including Peter Nolasco and Raymond Nonnatus. The latter, whose name means literally ‘not born’ because of his caesarean birth, had been appointed by Nolasco as the second Superior of the Order. Along with the efforts in Rome to secure these canonizations, leading artists were commissioned to produce a visual hagiography of the Order, with Nolasco finally being declared a saint in 1628, and Nonnatus, in 1657.

Source

The Reading from the Martyrology

August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

The Coming Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Thursday is the Day dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament

The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary are prayed on Thursday

The Rosary in Latin 

Chaplet of the Five Holy Wounds of Christ in Latin 

Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady in English

 Latin Monastic Office for today from Le Barroux in France     Texts also provided

The Reading of the Rule of Saint Benedict for August 31

LXXIII. De hoc quod non omnis iustititiae observatio in hac sit Regula constituta

l Regulam autem hanc descripsimus, ut hanc observantes in monasteriis aliquatenus vel honestatem morum aut initium conversationis nos demonstremus habere. 

2 Ceterum ad perfectionem conversationis qui festinat, sunt doctrinae sanctorum patrum, quarum observatio perducat hominem ad celsitudinem perfectionis. 

3 Quae enim pagina aut qui sermo divinae auctoritatis veteris ac novi testamenti non est rectissima norma vita humanae?

4 Aut quis liber sanctorum catholicorum patrum hoc non resonat ut recto cursu perveniamus ad creatorem nostrum?

5 Necnon et Collationes Patrum et Instituta et Vitas eorum, sed et Regula sancti patris nostri Basilii, 

6 quid aliud sunt nisi bene viventium et oboedientium monachorum instrumenta virtutum. 

7 Nobis autem desidiosis et male viventibus atque neglegentibus rubor confusionis est.

8 Quisquis ergo ad patriam caelestem festinas, hanc minimam inchoationis regulam descriptam, adiuvante Christo, perfice, 

9 et tunc demum ad maiora quae supra commemoravimus doctrinae virtutumque culmina, Deo protegente, pervenies. Amen.

Chapter 73. The whole observance of justice is not contained in the Rule

1 We have written this rule so that by following it in the monasteries we may show that we have somewhat grasped the honorable conduct and beginnings of this way of life. 

2 But for those who aspire to the perfection of this way of life, there are the teachings of the holy fathers, the observance of which leads to the heights of perfection. 

3 For what page or word is there in the divinely inspired Old and New Testaments that is not a very direct norm for human life?

4 Or what book of the holy Catholic Fathers does not unmistakably proclaim the direct way by which we can reach our Creator? 

5 And the Conferences of the Fathers, their Institutes and their lives, as well as the Rule of our holy father Basil - 

6 what are these but instruments of virtue for well-living and obedient monks? 

7 But to us, who are lazy, live badly, and are negligent, they bring the shame of disgrace.

8 Whoever you are, then, hasten toward your heavenly home; fulfill, with Christ's help, this little rule for beginners which we have written: 

9 and then, under God's protection, you will at last reach the higher summits of doctrine and virtue of which we have spoken above. Amen.

Today's Celebration of the Mass

Meditation for the 31st Day of the Month from the School of Jesus Crucified

Jesu Christi Passio sit semper in cordibus nostris

May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts