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TUESDAY
October 19, 1999
SECTION ONE vol 10, no. 199
To print out entire text of Today's issue, print this section as well as SECTION TWO
DAILY LITURGY
Today is the Feast of Jesuit missionaries Saint Isaac Jogues and Saint John de Brebeuf along with their companions incorporated into the Feast of the North American Martyrs. Tomorrow we commemorate the Twenty-ninth Tuesday in Ordinary Time and the Feast of Saint Paul of the Cross, priest and religious founder. For the readings, liturgies, meditations, and vignettes on these feasts, click on DAILY LITURGY.
Tuesday, October 19, 1999
Tuesday October 19: Feast of Saint Isaac Jogues, SJ and Saint John de Brebeuf and their companion North American Martyrs
Feast of Saint Isaac Jogues, SJ and Saint John de Brebeuf and their companion North American Martyrs
Born into a wealthy family in Orleans, France in 1607, Saint Isaac Jogues was enrolled by his parents in the Jesuit school there and became a priest of the Society of Jesus in 1636. Longing to work with the Huron Indians in the foreign missions, Isaac requested and received the assignment to go to Quebec, Canada almost immediately after ordination. The Jesuits had established missions there as the first missionaries in Canada and the upper United States after French explorer J. Cartier discovered this land in 1534. For six years he was very successful and effected many conversions among the Hurons traveling between Nova Scotia and Maryland. But in 1642 a band of Iroquois, who were the natural enemy of the Hurons, captured Isaac along with Rene Goupil and another group of Jesuits. Rene was martyred but Isaac and his companions allowed to live though they underwent hideous and inhumane torture which included mutilation. Isaac's fingers were severed and he was left to die in the wilderness but the Dutch rescued him and he was able to return to France in 1644. However he longed to be a martyr and finally secured a transfer back to Quebec in 1646. Once they had arrived Isaac and new companion Saint Jean Brebeuf set out for Iroquois country for a peace treaty had been signed. But warmongers among the Mohawks intercepted the missionaries and cruelly tomahawked them and scalped them from the neck up at Auriesville, New York on October 18 and 19, 1646. Isaac died on the 18th and Jean the next day. Over the next three years five other missionaries would join Isaac, Rene and Jean on the list of the 8 Jesuit martyrs: Noel Chabanel, Anthony Daniel, Charles Garnier, John de Lalande, and Gabriel Lallemant. Exactly ten years after Isaac's death a young Indian girl was born in the same village where Fr. Jogues was murdered. Her name: Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. In 1930 Pope Pius XI canonized the group proclaiming them the Martyrs of North America and patron saints of Canada.
Wednesday, October 20, 1999
Wednesday October 20: Twenty-ninth Wednesday in Ordinary Time Feast of Saint Paul of the Cross, priest and religious founder
Feast of Saint Paul of the Cross, Priest and Religious Founder
The Founder of the Passionists, Saint Paul of the Cross was born Paul Francis Danei on January 3, 1694 in the tiny village of Ovada, Italy near Genoa. He was the oldest child in a merchant family that had come upon hard times and so Paul learned austerity and sacrifices growing up in his family. At 19 be joined the Venetian army in their battle with the Turks, but disenchanted, left after a year. Propositioned to marry, he turned the young suitor down and opted to retreat to Castellazzo in Lombardy where he could pray. During this time he received numerous locutions and visions from the Blessed Mother which gave him purpose to what God intended for this young man. In one vision in 1720 he beheld Our Lady dressed in a black habit with the name of Jesus and His cross emblazoned on her chest. She instructed Paul to found a religious order which would be dedicated to preaching on the Passion of her Divine Son. After much investigation as to the private revelation, the bishop of Alessandria granted him permission to begin the order. Rather than jumping right in, Paul went back to Castellazzo to pray for forty days and forty nightswhile he wrote the rule for the Congregation of the Passion. Then, with his loyal younger brother John Baptist, and two other men they began living the rule and traveled to Rome to obtain papal approval from Pope Innocent XIII who refused their request in 1723. However, undaunted and prayerful, they continued to persevere and, in 1727 the Passionists were approved for the diocese by Innocent's successor Pope Benedict XIII who also ordained Paul and his brother in St. Peter's Basilica. The first Passionist house was established on Mount Argentaro, but most of the novices fell away because they couldn't live the strict rule. Still encouraged, Paul and his companions pressed on and opened the first monastery in 1737. Four years later Pope Benedict XIV gave approval for the rule for the religious institute named the Barefoot Clerks of the Holy Cross and Passion. Through Paul's tireless efforts he and his band of a few men preached throughout his country. As the fame of their preaching reached far and wide, the Passionists grew in demand. Paul was responsible for many, many conversions through his austere life and his mystic supernatural gifts of prophecy, miracles, healings and visions. Conversion of sinners was his greatest concern and to which he dedicated his life. Seeing the massive fruits reaped by the Passionist Fathers, Pope Clement XIV gave full papal approval for the congregation in 1769 and gifted to them for their headquarters the church of Sts. John and Paul in Rome. Two years later Paul was able to establish the first convent for the Passionist nuns in Corneto, Italy. He grew extremely ill in 1772 and during the last three years of his life he led a life patterned after Jesus, offering all his sufferings for the reparation of souls. He died after 80 years of service to God in Rome on October 18, 1775 and was canonized 92 years later by Pope Pius IX who celebrated this saint as "one who lived what he preached and brought the importance of Christ's Passion and Death to the people."
SIMPLY SHEEN: Do our souls have room in the inn?
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminary did so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".
"There is an estrangement of the human heart from God, as conscience bears witness. However much room there be for other guests in the soul, the Bethlehem story is still true: 'There is no room in the inn.' It is more often in souls that recognize their own misery and sinfulness that He is given room, as it was the stable rather than the inn which welcomed Him. What we call fate is actually opening the door, for He Who knocks never comes empty-handed."
Retroactive articles on Church history available from 33 to 1515 A.D. for review
To allow all readers to catch up on our popular on-going series, we present a review of the period from the time of Christ when He founded the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church to the time of the Reformation and Pope Leo X, the 217th in the Petrus line early in the sixteenth century. These are installments 1 through 106. Until we are back to full strength we will continue the archives, giving readers the opportunity to catch up To read any of the 105 installments presently available in this long on-going series, click on the Archives of THE HISTORY OF THE MASS AND HOLY MOTHER CHURCH.
September 25th Medjugorje Monthly Message
Dear children! Today again I call you to become carriers of my peace. In a special way, now when it is being said that God is far away, He has truly never been nearer to you. I call you to renew prayer in your families by reading the Sacred Scripture and to experience joy in meeting with God Who infinitely loves His creatures. Thank you for having responded to my call.
"Blessed are those servants whom the Master, on His return, shall find watching. Amen I say to you, he will gird Himself, and will make them recline at table, and will come and serve them. And if He comes in the second watch, and if in the third, and finds them so, blessed ar those servants!"
Luke 12: 37-38
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October 19, 1999 volume 10, no. 199 DAILY CATHOLIC
