Catholic devotions for the 9th 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 John Henry Newman
An account of his conversion on this day 1845
The story of the life at Littlemore has to be yet entirely told; and it would be impossible to glean from Newman's scanty allusions in the Apologia any idea of its primitive austerities and observances. Lent was a season of real penance for the inmates of the monastery. They had nothing to eat each day till five, and then the solitary meal was of salt fish. No wonder Dr. Wootten, the Tractarian doctor, told them they must all die in a few years if things went on so; no wonder Dalgairns had a serious illness, after which relaxations were made. A breakfast of bread-and-butter and tea was taken at noon, the monks standing up at a board—a real board, erected in the improvised refectory, and called in undertones by the fastidious Old Adam left in them a "trough." The "chapel" was hardly more pretentious than the dining-room. At one end stood a large crucifix, bought at Lima by Mr. Crawley, a merchant living at Littlemore. It was what was called "very pronounced"—with the all but barbaric realism of Spanish religious art. A table supported the base; and on the table were two candles lighted at prayer-time by Newman himself; and necessary, for Newman had veiled the window and walls with his favourite red hangings. Of an altar there was no pretence; the village church at Littlemore being Newman's own during the first years of his residence. A board ran up the centre of the chapel, and in a row on either side stood the disciples for the recitation of Divine Office; "the Vicar" standing by himself a little apart. The Days and Hours of the Catholic Church were duly kept; and the only alterations made in the Office was that the saints were invoked with a modification of Newman's making—the Ora pro nobis being changed in recitation to Oret.
Among the visitors to Littlemore, the year before the visit, was Father Dominic himself. He came, passing through Oxford, and presented himself at Newman's door as one watching with keen interest Anglican development in Christian doctrine. "A little more grace was needed!" he said. An Italian, new to the language, was permitted the pun. Newman took him to Littlemore church; and there the Father fell on his knees, doubtless to pray for the happy issue of these strange workings of divine grace in the heart of Oxford—in the heart of the very flower of the University which Protestantism had appropriated, and fenced in, and planted about
If on the night of October 8, 1845, any dons or proctors were prying round the "monastery" (even Newman could not persist in calling it a "parsonage-house" after he had ceased to be the parson), they must have seen a strange sight—a "monk" indeed! Father Dominic, the Passionist, was that night to reach the consummation of those hopes he had held almost from the days when he watched his sheep on the Apennines: those hopes that he might get to northern Europe and preach to Protestantism the full Gospel of CHRIST. The years passed, and the shepherd lad found himself a priest, and was sent to England—and to Aston in Staffordshire. And now Dalgairns, who had already been received by Father Dominic at Aston, and who had returned to find "the Vicar" at the last gasp of Anglicanism, and Ambrose St. John also reconciled to the Church by Monsignor Brindle at Prior Park, suggested that the Passionist should again visit Littlemore. He came, dripping wet from his journey through torrents of rain. "Remember the guard, sir," petitioned the streaming guard as the passenger alighted from the coach outside the "Mitre." "Yes," said the Father, much edified, "I will remember you in my Mass." Newman knelt before him. The Father bade the neophyte rise, "conscious," says one of his friends, "of a great miracle of grace."
Father Dominic, after spending some hours in Newman's "cell," visited Bowles and Stanton (a young clergyman, formerly of Brasenose, who had resigned his living to come to Littlemore), both to be received with Newman. The padre's bow to the Pietà—it was a German coloured print—as he entered Bowles's room, was a part of his pious simplicity. Newman said of him he had met no one in whom so much simplicity combined with so much shrewdness—a common Italian type which he must have encountered often enough afterwards. "My dear brother," Father Dominic began to Bowles, "I am surprised that you should dwell in a Church which has no ideas." What followed is hardly remembered now; but need for controversy there was none. The watering and the planting and the grafting (a great deal of that) had been done: now came the harvesting.
One little incident may be recorded as almost comic. On the evening before their reception into the Church, Father Dominic went into the chapel with the catechumens and recited Office with them. But when they came to the record of how St. Denis, after his martyrdom, put his head under his arm and walked about, Father Dominic cried, "Stop," and skipped it over. He thought such legends might be a difficulty to beginners. But he did not know his men; for who was more familiar with miracles and the authority assigned to them than the author of those Essays which had made Macaulay exclaim, "The times require a Middleton"?
The three neophytes, when they entered the curious chapel for their reception, stood in a line together. Function there was none; and Ritualism hid her head. The bowl of baptism was of domestic, not of ecclesiastical, pattern; and all else was of a piece.
Then Father Dominic gave a little address, saying his Nunc dimittis. Dalgairns and St. John went into Oxford, to the primitive Catholic chapel—St. Clement's—and borrowed from the old priest, Father Newsham, an altar-stone and vestments, so that Father Dominic might say Mass the next morning for the first and only time at Littlemore. At that Mass the neophytes received their First Communion. The fervour of Father Dominic, when he made his thanksgiving, greatly impressed the converts, who had not been accustomed in Anglicanism to witness emotion in public prayer.
Oakeley, one of Newman's young disciples, who subsequently exchanged the Anglican ministry for the Catholic priesthood, tells the tale of the day after: "It was a memorable day, that 9th of October, 1845. The rain came down in torrents, bringing with it the first heavy instalment of autumn's sear and yellow leaves. The wind, like a spent giant, howled forth the expiring notes of its equinoctial fury. The superstitious might have said that the very elements were on the side of Anglicanism—so copiously did they weep, so piteously bemoan the approaching departure of its great representative. The bell which swung visibly in the turret of the little Gothic church at Littlemore gave that day the usual notice of morning and afternoon prayers; but it came to the ear in that buoyant, bouncing tone which is usual in a high wind, and sounded like a knell rather than a summons. The monastery was more than usually sombre and still. Egress and ingress there were none that day; for it had been given out, among friends accustomed to visit there, that Mr. Newman 'wished to remain quiet.' One of these friends who resided in the neighbourhood, had been used to attend the evening 'Office' in the oratory of the house, but he was forbidden to come 'for two or three days, for reasons which would be explained later.' The ninth of the month passed off without producing any satisfa6tion to the general curiosity. All that transpired was that a remarkable-looking man, evidently a foreigner and shabbily dressed in black, had asked his way to Mr. Newman's on the day but one before; and the rumour was that he was a Catholic priest. In the course of a day or two the friend before mentioned was readmitted to the evening Office, and found that a change had come over it. The Latin was pronounced for the first time in the Roman way, and the antiphons of our Lady, which up to that day had always been omitted, came out in their proper place. The friend in question would have asked the reason of these changes, but it was forbidden to speak to any of {63} the community after night prayers. Very soon the mystery was cleared up by Mr. Newman and his companions appearing at Mass in the public chapel at Oxford."
Father Dominic left at the end of a three days' visit. As he went back to Oxford, he must have recalled a passage in the life of the founder of the Passionists, St. Paul of the Cross. It tells how he fell into a trance, at the end of which he was asked what vision he had seen, and answered, "Oh, the wonderful works of my children in England!" Confessor and penitent met once again at Maryvale. But the Passionist had done his work. In 1849 he was travelling by rail, with one companion, when his mortal illness seized him, and he died upon the platform of Reading station, blessing England with his latest breath. By some chance—little knowing they were fulfilling the holy man's prayer that he might, like his LORD, die in desolation—the people who were near, and who might have helped him, feared some infection, held aloof and refused shelter to his corse. Thus died this lover of our country, the humble apostle who reconciled to the Catholic Church him whom her Head afterwards named "the Light of England."
The Reading from the Martyrology
This Day, the Ninth Day of October
At Paris, the birthday of the holy martyrs Denis the Areopagite, bishop, Rusticus, priest, and Eleutherius, deacon. Denis was baptized by the Apostle St. Paul, and consecrated first bishop of Athens. Then going to Rome, he was sent to Gaul by the blessed Roman Pontiff Clement, to preach the Gospel. He proceeded to Paris, and after having for some years faithfully filled the office entrusted to him, he was subjected to the severest kinds of torments by the prefect Fescenninus, and at length, being beheaded with his companions, completed his martyrdom.
The same day, the commemoration of the holy patriarch Abraham, father of all believers.
At Julia (now Borgo-San-Donnino), near Parma, on the Claudian road, St. Domninus,martyr, under the emperor Maximian. As he was trying to escape the raging persecution, he was overtaken by his pursuers, and being transpierced with a sword, died gloriously.
At Cassino, St. Deusdedit, abbot, who was cast into prison by the tyrant Sicardus, and being there consumed with hunger and misery, yielded up his soul.
In Hainaut, St. Gislenus, bishop and confessor, who, resigning his See, led the monastic life in a monastery built by himself, and was distinguished by many virtues.
At Valencia, in Spain, St. Louis Bertrand, of the Order of Preachers, who, being filled with the apostolic spirit, confirmed, by the innocence of his life and the working of many miracles, the Gospel which he had preached in America.
At Jerusalem, the Saints Andronicus, and Athanasia, his wife.
At Antioch, St. Publia, abbess, who, whilst Julian the Apostate was passing by, sang with her religious these words of David : "The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold;" and: "Let them that make them, become like unto them." By the command of the emperor, she was struck on the face and severely rebuked.
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
“One day through the Rosary and the Scapular I will save the world.”
-Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Dominic
“Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world.”
-Our.Lady.of.Fatima, 1917
“No one can live continually in sin and continue to say the Rosary. Either he will give up the sin or he will give up the Rosary”
-Bishop Patrick Boyle
“Those who say the Rosary frequently and fervently will gradually grow in grace and holiness and will enjoy the special protection of Our Lady and the abiding friendship of God.”
-Bishop Hugh Boyle
“The Family that prays together, stays together.”
-Father Patrick Peyton
“If families give Our Lady fifteen minutes a day by reciting the Rosary, I assure them that their homes will become, by God’s grace, peaceful places.
-Father Patrick Peyton
“If our age in its pride laughs at and rejects Our Lady’s Rosary, a countless legion of the most saintly men of every age and of every condition have not only held it most dear and have most piously recited it but have also used it at all times as a most powerful weapon to overcome the devil, to preserve the purity of their lives, to acquire virtue more zealously, in a word, to promote peace among men.”
-Pope Pius XI
“The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.” .
-St. Francis de Sales
“If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I assure you that in spite of the gravity of your sins, you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory. Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in Hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and save your soul, if and mark well what I say — if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon of your sins.”
-St. Louis de Montfort
“Those who say the Rosary daily and wear the Brown Scapular and who do a little more, will go straight to Heaven.”
-St. Alphonsus Ligouri
“Among all the devotions approved by the Church none has been favored by so many miracles as the devotion of the most Holy Rosary. ”
-Pope Pius IX
“The Rosary is the scourge of the devil”
-Pope Adrian VI
“The Rosary is the best therapy for these distraught, unhappy, fearful, and frustrated souls, precisely because it involves the simultaneous use of three powers: the physical, the vocal, and the spiritual, and in that order.”
-Archbishop Fulton Sheen
“The Rosary is a treasure of graces”
-Pope Paul V
“The Rosary is THE WEAPON.”
-St. Padre Pio
“The Rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our redeemer, who loves His Mother.”
-St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort
“If there were one million families praying the Rosary every day, the entire world would be saved.”
-Pope St. Pius X
“There is no surer means of calling down God’s blessing upon the family than the daily recitation of the Rosary.”
-Pope Pius XII
“We put great confidence in the Holy Rosary for the healing of evils which afflict our times.”
-Pope Pius XII
Monday is the Day dedicated to the Holy Ghost & the Souls in Purgatory
The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary are prayed on Monday
"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 9
60 Undecimus humilitatis gradus est, si cum loquitur monachus, leniter et sine risu, humiliter cum gravitate, vel pauca verba et rationabilia loquatur, et non sit clamosus in voce;
61 sicut scriptum est: Sapiens verbis innotescit paucis.
Chapter 7 Humility
60 The eleventh step of humility is that when speaking the monk does so gently and without laughter, humbly and with gravity, speaking few but reasonable words, and that his voice is not clamorous:
61 as it is written, A wise man is known by his few words. (The Sentences of Sextus 145)
Today's Celebration of the Mass
Saint Dominic Barberi who fulfilled the love for England of Saint Paul of the Cross
Jesus XPI Passio sit semper in cordibus nostris
May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts
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