Catholic devotions for the 10th October
Scroll down for today's
Saint of the DayReading 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
Francis Borgia (1510-1572) gave up incredible wealth, power and privilege as a Spanish nobleman to enter the Society of Jesus where his experience brought him to leadership as the third superior general of the young Society of Jesus. The oldest son of the third duke of Gandía, Borgia was born in the family palace in Valencia. His great grandfather on his father's side was Pope Alexander VI, and his mother's grandfather was King Ferdinand the Catholic.
Like other young nobles he was trained for life at court and in 1522 was appointed page to his cousin Catherine, the sister of Emperor Charles V who invited him back to court after he studied philosophy for three years. In 1529 he married Leonor de Castro of Portugal, Empress Isabella's first lady-in-waiting. The 20 year-old Borgia was honored by the Emperor who named him Marquis of Llombai and placed him in charge of the imperial household. During the next 10 years Francis and Eleanor had eight children and lived in great familiarity with Charles and Isabella until the Empress unexpectedly died May 1, 1539.
Her death led directly to Borgia's conversion when Francis accompanied the funeral cortege to the burial place in the royal chapel in Granada. When the coffin was opened, he saw not the beautiful face of the 36-year-old queen but a face beyond recognition. Not wanting to serve another master who would die, he began to devote himself to prayer and penance.
After he returned from Granada, he was appointed Viceroy of Catalonia in June 1539 and then became the fourth duke of Gandía after his father died four years later. He returned to the family palace to manage his estates, but when his wife Leonor died March 27, 1546, he resolved to dedicate the rest of his life to God's service. He was familiar with the Jesuits, having founded a Jesuit college in Gandía and being a personal friend of Father Peter Favre whom he asked to inform Ignatius of his decision. Ignatius welcomed him into the Society but recommended that he tell no one until he arranged affairs for his children and finished studying theology. Meanwhile, the founder of the Jesuits encouraged the duke to continue living as a nobleman. Francis pronounced his vows as a Jesuit on Feb. 1, 1548 and on Aug. 20, 1550 earned a doctorate in theology from the university which he himself had founded.
Since 1550 was a Holy Year, Francis took the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Rome so he could visit Ignatius and arrange his public entrance into the Society of Jesus. He left his home in Gandía, never to see it again, and lodged in the Jesuit residence in Rome with Ignatius rather than taking Pope Julius III's offer to stay in the Borgia apartments in the Vatican. After living as a Jesuit from the end of October until early February 1551, he returned to Spain where he resigned his title in favor of his son, Carlos. As soon as he received the Emperor's letter accepting his resignation, Francis donned the Jesuit cassock. He was ordained a priest on May 23 and celebrated his first Mass in the chapel in the Loyola family home.
For a few years Borgia worked as an ordinary parish priest. In 1554 he was named Commissary General in Spain, with power over provincials in Spain and Portugal. He founded Spain's first novitiate, at Simancas, and set up over 20 schools. He did not attend the first general congregation, convened almost two years after Ignatius died, but did return to Rome in 1561 at Pope Pius IV's request. He was chosen to be vicar general when Father James Laínez, who succeeded Ignatius as superior general, attended the last session of the Council of Trent. Upon Laínez's return, Borgia became assistant for Spain and Portugal, and then was elected to succeed Laínez after his death in 1565.
Borgia served as the third superior general of the Jesuits for seven years and devoted himself to revising the Society's rules, expanding its missions in India and the Americas, and shepherding the growth of the young Society.
His final project was a mission to Spain accompanying Cardinal Michele Bonelli in an effort to secure Spain's help against the Turks. The two churchmen left Rome in June 1571 and arrived in Barcelona by the end of August. Borgia was overwhelmed by the reception he received from people who had known him as a nobleman and honored his choice of religious life. In December Borgia left Spain for France to continue the diplomatic mission, but he fell ill from fever and pleurisy because of the unusually cold. He had to spend weeks resting in Turin on the return trip to Rome and then stayed with relatives in Ferrara during the summer. Finally he set out for Rome on Sept. 3, 1572, going to bed immediately upon his arrival. His final illness lasted three days before the 61-year-old general died during the night of September 30.
The Reading from the Martyrology
This Day, the Tenth Day of October
At Rome, blessed John Leonardi, confessor, founder of the Congregation of Clerks Regular of the Mother of God. He was illustrious by his labours and miracles, and through his instrumentality missions were established by the Propaganda.
In the island of Crete, blessed Pinytus, most noble among the bishops. He was bishop of Gnosia, and flourished under Marcus Antoninus Verus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus. He left in his writings, as in a mirror, a vivid delineation of himself.
At Cologne, in the persecution of Maximian, St. Gereon, martyr, with three hundred and eighteen others, who patiently bowed their necks to the sword for the true religion.
In the neighborhood of the same city, the holy martyrs Victor and his companions.
At Bonn, in Germany, the holy martyrs Cassius and Florentius, with many others.
At Nicomedia, the holy martyrs Eulampius, and his sister, the virgin Eulampia, who, hearing that her brother was tortured for Christ, rushed through the crowd, embraced him and became his companion. Both were cast into a caldron of boiling oil, but being quite uninjured, they terminated their martyrdom by decapitation with two hundred others, who, impressed by the miracle, had believed in Christ.
At York, in England, the holy bishop Paulinus, disciple of the blessed Pope Gregory. Being sent thither by that Pope with others to preach the Gospel, he converted king Edwin and his people to the faith of Christ.
At Piombino, in Tuscany, St. Cerbonius, bishop and confessor, who, as St. Gregory relates, was renowned for miracles, both during life and after death.
At Verona, another St. Cerbonius, bishop.
At Capua, St. Paulinus, bishop.
At Rome, St. Francis Borgia, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, celebrated for the austerity of his life, the gift of prayer, and for the firmness with which he renounced the dignities of the world, and refused those of the Church.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Omnes sancti Mártyres, oráte pro nobis. ("All ye Holy Martyrs, pray for us", from the Litaniae Sanctorum, the Litany of the Saints)
Response: Thanks be to God.
October is the Month of the Most Holy Rosary
Devotion to the Rosary for 10th October
'And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God' Luke 1.35.
THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES
While reciting the first five decades of the Rosary our Holy Mother the Church asks us to contemplate in succession the gladness and joy that thrilled Mary as she realized the privilege of her marvelous and sacred motherhood of the Holy One, promised of old as the Redeemer of mankind! The holy rapture and sacred ecstacy that accompanied every episode from the Annunciation to the Finding in the Temple prepared and strengthened Mary for the desolation and 'sword of grief" that later was to pierce her soul. Contemplation of these sacred mysteries strengthens our trust in Mary and secures us against the danger of presumption when we are blessed with spiritual joy and consolation. Mary accepted her joys with serenity, ours should be accepted with gratitude and humility.
HYMN
''Mother dear, O! pray for me,
Whilst far from heaven and thee
I wander in a fragile bark.
O'er life's tempestuous sea;
O Virgin Mother, from thy throne,
So bright in bliss above.
Protect thy child and cheer my path
With thy sweet smile of love.
Chorus: — ''Mother dear, remember me And never cease thy care 'Till in heaven eternally. Thy love and bliss I share.
"Mother dear, O! pray for me
Should pleasure's siren lay
E'er tempt thy child to wander far
From Virtue's path away;
When thorns beset life's devious way
And darkling waters flow,
Then Mary, aid thy weeping child,
Thyself a mother show."
Tuesday is the Day dedicated to the Holy Angels
Tuesdays, in addition to honoring the Angels, are the day for honoring the Holy Face and honoring St. Anthony of Padua. On the Tuesday after St. Anthony's death, the day his funeral cortege took his body to the church, many miracles took place, so this day is commemorated in his honor. A special Novena to St. Martha is also made on nine consecutive Tuesdays (or on all Tuesdays) by some Catholics.
Abends, will ich schlafen gehn,
vierzehn Engel um mich stehn:
zwei zu meinen Häupten,
zwei zu meinen Füßen,
zwei zu meiner Rechten,
zwei zu meiner Linken,
zwei, die mich decken,
zwei, die mich wecken,
zwei, die mich weisen
zu Himmels Paradeisen!
When at night I go to sleep,
Fourteen angels watch do keep,
Two my head are guarding,
Two my feet are guiding;
Two upon my right hand,
Two upon my left hand.
Two who warmly cover
Two who o’er me hover,
Two to whom ’tis given
To guide my steps to heaven.
Abends, will ich schlafen gehn,
vierzehn Engel um mich stehn:
zwei zu meinen Häupten,
zwei zu meinen Füßen,
zwei zu meiner Rechten,
zwei zu meiner Linken,
zwei, die mich decken,
zwei, die mich wecken,
zwei, die mich weisen
zu Himmels Paradeisen!
When at night I go to sleep,
Fourteen angels watch do keep,
Two my head are guarding,
Two my feet are guiding;
Two upon my right hand,
Two upon my left hand.
Two who warmly cover
Two who o’er me hover,
Two to whom ’tis given
To guide my steps to heaven.
The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary are prayed on Tuesday
"I would like to remind you that the Rosary is a biblical prayer, all filled with the Holy Scriptures." It is a prayer from the heart, in which the repetition of the Ave Maria directs the thought and affection towards Christ, and thus is made a confident prayer to Him and our Mother. It is a prayer that helps to meditate on the Word of God and assimilate the Eucharistic Communion, on the model of Mary who kept in her heart everything Jesus did and said and even His Presence. "
Benedict XVI
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 October 10
62 Duodecimus humilitatis gradus est si non solum corde monachus, sed etiam ipso corpore humilitatem videntibus se semper indicet;
63 id est, in opere Dei, in oratorio, in monasterio, in horto, in via, in agro, vel ubicumque, sedens, ambulans vel stans, inclinato sit semper capite, defixis in terram aspectibus,
64 reum se omni hora de peccatis suis aestimans, jam se tremendo judicio repraesentari aestimet;
65 dicens sibi in corde semper illud quod publicanus ille evangelicus fixis in terram oculis dixit: Domine, non sum dignus, ego peccator levare oculos meos ad caelos; 66 et item cum propheta: Incurvatus sum et humiliatus sum usquequaque.
Chapter 7 Humility
62 The twelfth step of humility is that the monk, not only in his heart, but by means of his own body always indicates his humility to those who see him - 63 that is, at the Work of God, in the oratory, in the monastery, in the garden, on the road, in the field, or wherever he may be, whether sitting, walking, or standing - with head always inclined and gaze fixed on the ground,
64 estimating at every hour his sins, he should estimate himself as present at the terrible judgment ,
65 saying always in his heart what the publican in the Gospel said with eyes fixed on the earth: Lord, I am not worthy, sinner that I am, to lift my eyes up to heaven (Luke 18:13); 66 and again, with the prophet: I am bent down and humbled in every way (Ps 38:7-9; Ps 119:107).
Today's Celebration of the Mass
Saint Francis Borgia, feastday today
Jesus XPI Passio sit semper in cordibus nostris
May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts
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