Catholic devotions for the 8th October
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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
Feast of Saint Mechtildis of Magdeburg
A celebrated medieval mystic, b. of a noble family in Saxony about 1210; d. at the Cistercian nunnery of Helfta near Eisleben, c. 1285. She experienced her first inspirations at the age of twelve, when, as she herself states, she was greeted by the Holy Ghost. From that time, the greeting was repeated daily. Under this inspiration she desired to be despised by all without, however, deserving it, and for this purpose left her home, where she had always been loved and respected, to become a Beguine at Magdeburg in 1230. Here, under the spiritual guidance of the Dominicans she led a life of prayer and extreme mortification. Her heavenly inspirations and ecstatic visions became more frequent and were of such a nature that they dispelled from the mind of her confessor all doubt as to their Divine origin. By his order she reluctantly wrote her visions. Shortly after 1270 she joined the Cistercian nuns at Helfta, where she spent the remaining twelve years of her life, highly respected as one signally favoured by God, especially by her namesake St. Mechtilde of Hackeborn and by St. Gertrude the Great. Mechtild left to the world a most wonderful book, in which she recorded her manifold inspirations and visions. According to her assertion, God ordered the title of the book to be "Vliessende lieht miner gotheit in allu die herzen die da lebent ane valscheit", i.e. "Light of my divinity, flowing into all hearts that live without guile". The work is commonly styled "Das fliessende Licht der Gottheit". She wrote her inspirations on separate sheets of paper, which she handed to the Dominican, Henry of Halle, lector in Rupin. The original, which was written in Low German, is not extant, but a South German translation, which was prepared by Henry of Nördlingen about the year 1344 is still preserved in the original manuscript in the library of Einsiedeln, Codex 277. Mechtild began the work in 1250 and finished the sixth volume at Magdeburg in 1264, to which she added a seventh volume at Helfta. A Latin translation of the six volumes written at Magdeburg was made by a Dominican, about the year 1290, and is reprinted, together with a translation of the seventh volume, in "Revelationes Gertrudianse ac Mechtildianae", II (Paris, 1877), 435-707. The manuscript of Einsiedeln was edited by Gall Morel, O.S.B., who also translated it into modern German (Ratisbon, 1809). Other modern German translations were prepared by J. Muller (Ratisbon, 1881) and Eseherich (Berlin, 1909).
The Reading from the Martyrology
This Day, the Eighth Day of October
St. Bridget, widow, who, after visiting many holy places by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, died at Rome on the 23d of July. Her body was taken to Sweden on the 7th of this month.
The same day, the birthday of the blessed Simeon, an aged man, who, as we read in the Gospel, took our Lord Jesus in his arms.
At Caesarea, in Palestine, in the reign of Decius, St. Reparata, virgin and martyr, who, refusing to sacrifice to idols, was subjected to various kinds of torments, and finally struck with the sword. Her soul was seen to leave her body in the shape of a dove, and ascend to Heaven.
At Thessalonica, St. Demetrius, a proconsul, who, for having brought many to the faith of Christ, was pierced with spears by order of the emperor Maximian, and thus ended his martyrdom.
In the same place, St. Nestor, martyr.
At Seville, in Spain, St. Peter, martyr.
At Laodicea, in the time of Diocletian, St. Artemon, a priest, who gained the crown of martyrdom by fire.
In the Diocese of Laon, St. Benedicta, virgin and martyr.
At Ancona, Saints Palatias and Laurentia, who were sent into exile in the persecution of Diocletian, under the governor Dion, and sank under the weight of toil and misery.
At Rouen, St. Evodius, bishop and confessor.
At Jerusalem, St. Pelagia, surnamed the Penitent.
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
“O name of Mary! Joy in the heart, honey in the mouth, melody to the ear of her devout clients!” St. Anthony of Padua (12th-13th centuries, Doctor of the Church)
“Never has it been known, dearest Lady and Mother, that anyone who fled to your protection was left unaided.” Bl. Nuno Alvares Pereira (14th-15th centuries)
“I declare that our Blessed Founder (St. Francis de Sales) also told me that while he was still a student he made a vow to say the Rosary every day of his life in honor of God and of the Blessed Virgin to obtain deliverance from a grievous temptation which molested him and from which he was delivered. He always carried it in his belt as a sign that he was the servant of Our Lady, he persevered until death in saying it and always said it with great devotion, spending an hour in so doing, for he meditated while saying it.” St. Jane Frances de Chantal (16th-17th centuries)
”The faults of children are not always imputed to the parents, especially when they have instructed them and given good example. Our Lord, in His wondrous Providence, allows children to break the hearts of devout fathers and mothers. Thus the decisions your children have made don’t make you a failure as a parent in God’s eyes. You are entitled to feel sorrow, but not necessarily guilt. Do not cease praying for your children; God’s grace can touch a hardened heart. Commend your children to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When parents pray the Rosary, at the end of each decade they should hold the Rosary aloft and say to her,’With these beads bind my children to your Immaculate Heart’, she will attend to their souls.” St. Louise de Marillac (16th-17th centuries)
“In the evening before you go to sleep, hold your beads, doze off reciting them. Do like those babies who go to sleep mumbling, ‘Mama, Mama’!” St. Bernadette Soubirous (19th century)
“The Rosary is a long chain that links heaven and earth. One end of it is in our hands and the other end is in the hands of the Holy Virgin…The Rosary prayer rises like incense to the feet of the Almighty. Mary responds at once like a beneficial dew, bringing new life to human hearts.” St. Therese of Lisieux (19th century, Doctor of the Church)
“The rosary, like the crucifix, is always to be found in the Catholic household.” Bl. Ildefonso Schuster (19th-20th centuries)
“If you want peace in your heart, in your home, in your country, assemble together every night and say the Rosary.” Pope St. Pius X (19th-20th centuries)
“Airplanes must have runways before they can fly. What the runway is to the airplane, the rosary beads are to the prayer – the physical start to gain spiritual altitude.” Ven. Fulton Sheen (19th-20th centuries)
“The Rosary is a great test of faith. What the Eucharist is in the order of sacraments, that the Rosary is in the order of sacramentals – the mystery and the test of faith, the touchstone by which the soul is judged in its humility. The mark of the Christian is the willingness to look for the Divine in the flesh of a babe in a crib, the continuing Christ under the appearance of bread on an altar, and a meditation and a prayer on a string of beads. The more one descends to humility, the deeper becomes the faith. The Blessed Mother thanked her Divine Son because He had looked on her lowliness. The world starts with what is big; the spirit begins with the little, aye, with the trivial! The faith of the simple can surpass that of the learned, because the intellectual often ignores those humble means to devotion, such as medals, pilgrimages, statues, and Rosaries. As the rich, in their snobbery, sneer at the poor, so the intelligentsia, in their sophistication, jeer at the lowly. One of the last acts of Our Lord was to wash the feet of His Disciples, after which He told them that out of such humiliation true greatness is born.” Ven. Fulton Sheen
“There is seemingly much repetition in the Rosary; but actually this is no more wearying or monotonous than a man’s telling a woman ‘I love you’ for the 20th time. Since there is a new moment in time to be redeemed by love, his words may be the same, but the meaning of each avowal is slightly different. So, in the Rosary, we say over and over to God, ‘I love You. I love You. And I love You.” Ven. Fulton Sheen (19th-20th centuries)
Sunday is the Day dedicated to the Resurrection and the Holy and Undivided Trinity
Sundays are, of course, the day for renewing Christ's once and for all Sacrifice during the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass. Because Christ rose from His tomb on Sunday, Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sundays, or "the Lord's Day." On this day we fulfill God's Third Commandment, to "remember the sabbath day (which means "rest", not "Saturday"), to keep it holy." We refrain from unecessary servile work and fulfill our "Sunday Obligation" to attend Mass.
The Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary are prayed on Sunday
"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 8
59 Decimus humilitatis gradus est, si non sit facilis ac promptus in risu, quia scriptum est: Stultus in risu exaltat vocem suam.
Chapter 7 Humility
59 The tenth step of humility is that one is not easily or promptly moved to laughter, for it is written: The fool raises his voice in laughter (Sir 21:23).
Today's Celebration of the Mass
Saint Brigid, whose Feastday today
Out of her immense love for Christ's Passion, which she had since childhood, St.Bridget prayed for a long time sincerely wanting to know how many wounds Jesus had suffered during His terrible Passion. Rewarding her patience, one day while St.Bridget was praying in the Church of St.Paul in Rome, Jesus appeared to her and said, "I received 5480 Wounds upon My Body. If you wish to honor them in some way, recite fifteen Our Fathers and fifteen Hail Marys' with the following Prayers, which I Myself shall teach you. Do this each day for an entire year. When the year is finished, you will have honored each of My Wounds."
Jesus XPI Passio sit semper in cordibus nostris
May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts
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