Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord...
and let perpetual light shine upon her.
Please pray for the repose of the soul of Anne, grandmother to Fr. Joseph of the Pittsburgh Oratory. She died yesterday. Prayers for her family in this time of grief would also be most welcome.

On October 30, 1849
Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O., gave some catechetical instructions, of which the following notes survive:

De Dominio Seu Regno Christi—IX

1. INTROD.—Our Lord in the first place God; but also, He has redeemed us with a price.

2. Hence contrasted to this world, which is the (usurped) kingdom of Satan—god of this world.

3. Contrast the two, the mediatorial kingdom of Christ [and the kingdom of Satan] as in the Two Standards, beginning with John xvii.

4. An empire—(explain what an empire is)—Psalms ii., xliv., lxxi., lxxxvii., Isaias xliv., liv., lx., Apoc. xix.

5. (Contrast the two as in the Two Standards.) Prophecies—lamb and lion, Isaias xi. 6 , Isaias ii. 2 .

6. Spreading by meekness—unlike any other empire: strong in weakness.

7. Exemplified at this moment. State of the Pope.

8. Yet wars, etc. Yes, but the strength is not through war, etc. Explain therefore 'gathering of every kind' in but not of [the world].

9. Contrast the kingdom of Christ and Satan as in the Two Standards.

It is the seventh day...
of the Election Day Novena.

Almighty God, all things are in your hands: our nation, our communities, our families, our lives.

In this time of great decision, bless our country and its people. Prosper the efforts of the just and true, and thwart the purposes of the unjust and dishonest. Preserve our land from violence and turmoil, and keep our relationships decent and respectful.

Inspire voters, legislators, executives, and judges so our country may be a land where morality is furthered by law and authority; where life is protected, marriage is respected, and family is supported; where the innocent are spared, and the guilty are punished; where justice is tempered by mercy, and mercy fortified by justice.

Help us to keep the United States of America a land where the rule of law and respect for individual dignity are the legal foundation of a just order.

Amen.

Courtesy of Lane Core.

The Feast of St. Alonso Rodriguez, S.J.
is today. There is information on him here.
He was the subject of this poem by his fellow Jesuit, Gerard Manley Hopkins:

Honour is flashed off exploit, so we say;
And those strokes once that gashed flesh or galled shield
Should tongue that time now, trumpet now that field,
And, on the fighter, forge his glorious day.
On Christ they do and on the martyr may;
But be the war within, the brand we wield
Unseen, the heroic breast not outward-steeled,
Earth hears no hurtle then from fiercest fray.

Yet God (that hews mountain and continent,
Earth, all, out; who, with trickling increment,
Veins violets and tall trees makes more and more)
Could crowd career with conquest while there went
Those years and years by of world without event
That in Majorca Alfonso watched the door.

From Parochial and Plain Sermons
by Venerable John Henry Newman.

Scripture is supposed expressly to promise perseverance, when men once savingly partake of grace; as where it is said, "He which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ;" [Phil. i. 6.] and hence it is inferred that the salvation of the individual rests ultimately with God, and not with himself. But here I would object in the outset to applying to individuals promises and declarations made to bodies, and of a general nature. The question in debate is, not whether God carries forward bodies of men, such as the Christian Church, to salvation, but whether He has accorded any promise of indefectibility to given individuals? Those who differ from us say, that individuals are absolutely chosen to eternal life; let them then reckon up the passages in Scripture where perseverance is promised to individuals. Till they can satisfy this demand, they have done nothing by producing such a text as that just cited; which, being spoken of the body of Christians, does but impart that same kind of encouragement, as is contained in other general declarations, such as the statement about God's willingness to save, His being in the midst of us, and the like.

Sigh...
My poor confirmation name saint ! She doesn't deserve this parish !

Link courtesy of Jeff Miller.

It is the sixth day...
of the Election Day Novena.

Almighty God, all things are in your hands: our nation, our communities, our families, our lives.

In this time of great decision, bless our country and its people. Prosper the efforts of the just and true, and thwart the purposes of the unjust and dishonest. Preserve our land from violence and turmoil, and keep our relationships decent and respectful.

Inspire voters, legislators, executives, and judges so our country may be a land where morality is furthered by law and authority; where life is protected, marriage is respected, and family is supported; where the innocent are spared, and the guilty are punished; where justice is tempered by mercy, and mercy fortified by justice.

Help us to keep the United States of America a land where the rule of law and respect for individual dignity are the legal foundation of a just order.

Amen.

Courtesy of Lane Core.

The Feast of St. Gaetano Errico, M.SS.C., Priest and Founder
is today. There is information on him here.
It is also the feast of Blessed Maria Restituta Kafka, Virgin and Martyr.
To any Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary or Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity out there, blessed feast day !

On October 28, 1860
Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O., preached a sermon, of which the following notes survive:

Cardinal Virtues—Temperance

1. INTROD.—Temperance contrasted with fortitude, as within with without, and the pleasant with the painful.

2. Now to explain it. Our soul may be said to have in it two natures, and at variance, and so opposed that peace and unity implies the subjection of one to the other—as two combatants will fight till one or other is thrown.

3. Reason and passions—grief, joy, anger, desire of having, fear—all going into extreme manifestations, and needing a controller. We see it in brute animals. When they cease [?] it is not that reason governs them, but the object [that excites them] is removed.

4. Comparison of a child on horseback. On the other hand, a rider who has perfect command—the Tartars, who live on horseback.

5. Now in the case of the warfare of the soul the struggle more serious and the dangers greater, because (1) the passions have instruments, as being united to the body; (2) objects sensible; whereas the object of the reason and conscience, Almighty God, is unseen.

6. Therefore a certainty of the subjection of the soul, unless for a remarkable virtue, viz. temperance, or self-government, or control. It is the very critical, or cardinal, or most essential and directing virtue.

7. This self-rule is what makes a man; without it a man is a slave, etc.—laments and curses himself, etc.

8. Hence not heroic, but we see what it is in the saints. It is the characteristic of the saints, and thus is inflicted [sic] on us, that in its degree it is the characteristic of a man. You may have wondered why a saint is characteristically mortified.

9. In saints we specially see how it subserves the soul; their fastings, etc., etc., are to make them pray better, etc., etc.

10. I need not give instances as in the former virtues, but I will mention specially—

11. The necessity of temperance in thoughts and in words.

12. If we would have the saints assist us, let us cultivate that virtue which was their distinction.

It seems that the last place where hobbits held out...
was Indonesia.

Link courtesy of Mayor Samwise.

It is the fifth day...
of the Election Day Novena.

Almighty God, all things are in your hands: our nation, our communities, our families, our lives.

In this time of great decision, bless our country and its people. Prosper the efforts of the just and true, and thwart the purposes of the unjust and dishonest. Preserve our land from violence and turmoil, and keep our relationships decent and respectful.

Inspire voters, legislators, executives, and judges so our country may be a land where morality is furthered by law and authority; where life is protected, marriage is respected, and family is supported; where the innocent are spared, and the guilty are punished; where justice is tempered by mercy, and mercy fortified by justice.

Help us to keep the United States of America a land where the rule of law and respect for individual dignity are the legal foundation of a just order.

Amen.

Courtesy of Lane Core.

The Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles and Martyrs
is today. There is information on them here and here.
It is also the feast of St. Joachim Royo, O.P., Priest and Martyr, and St. John Dat, Priest and Martyr.

I would ask my readers...
to please pray for the repose of the soul of my father, Alexander James Lewis, who passed away on this date in 1982.

O God, Who has commanded us
to honour our father and mother,
have compassion in Thy mercy,
on the soul of my father;
forgive him his sins,
and grant that I may see him
in the joy of eternal brightness.
Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

For the Dead
(A Hymn.)
by Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O.

Help , Lord, the souls which Thou hast made,
The souls to Thee so dear,
In prison for the debt unpaid
Of sins committed here.

Those holy souls, they suffer on,
Resign'd in heart and will,
Until Thy high behest is done,
And justice has its fill.
For daily falls, for pardon'd crime,
They joy to undergo
The shadow of Thy cross sublime,
The remnant of Thy woe.

Help, Lord, the souls which Thou hast made,
The souls to Thee so dear,
In prison for the debt unpaid
Of sins committed here.

Oh, by their patience of delay,
Their hope amid their pain,
Their sacred zeal to burn away
Disfigurement and stain;
Oh, by their fire of love, not less
In keenness than the flame,
Oh, by their very helplessness,
Oh, by Thy own great Name,

Good Jesu, help! sweet Jesu, aid
The souls to Thee most dear,
In prison for the debt unpaid
Of sins committed here.

The Oratory.
1857.

It is the fourth day...
of the Election Day Novena.

Almighty God, all things are in your hands: our nation, our communities, our families, our lives.

In this time of great decision, bless our country and its people. Prosper the efforts of the just and true, and thwart the purposes of the unjust and dishonest. Preserve our land from violence and turmoil, and keep our relationships decent and respectful.

Inspire voters, legislators, executives, and judges so our country may be a land where morality is furthered by law and authority; where life is protected, marriage is respected, and family is supported; where the innocent are spared, and the guilty are punished; where justice is tempered by mercy, and mercy fortified by justice.

Help us to keep the United States of America a land where the rule of law and respect for individual dignity are the legal foundation of a just order.

Amen.

Courtesy of Lane Core.

The Feast of St. Frumentius of Ethiopia, Bishop
is today. There is information on him here.

On October 26, 1851
Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O., preached a sermon, of which the following notes survive:

On the Patrocinium B.V.M.

1. INTROD.—This festival of our Lady [is] more immediately interesting to us than any, because by it we are made over to her and she to us. [In] the Incarnation, the Assumption, etc. [we celebrate more immediately her relations to Almighty God], but [in] this [feast we call to mind particularly her relations to ourselves].

2. It is like the divine works to turn things to account. Thus, though she subserved the Redeemer, she also subserves the redeemed. Hers is a ministry to us, and it was to Him originally.

3. As a pope makes a congregation over to a cardinal, or a king gives some one a ring, etc., saying, 'Whatever you want, send the ring and you shall have it.'

4. Thus she is the fount of mercy, as a magistrate of justice, etc.

5. Hence Protestant absurdity of saying [that] we rate her more merciful than Christ. Christ is the judge also. Show what is meant by it. Can a ring be merciful?

6. As this [is] the feast most intimately interesting to us, so we hear much of this character and office in Scripture, in the Holy Fathers.

7. Gen. iii., Apoc. xii.—Advocata with clients; mother of all living. 'Behold thy mother,' John xix. 27.

8. Hence first instances in history represent her in this character—St. Gregory Thaumaturgus—St. Justina—against unbelief, against impurity respectively .

9. St. Gregory Thaumaturgus has a creed given him—St. Ignatius—St. Philip.

10. Experience of all saints.

11. Let us use it, for living, for dead, for young, for old. The two first instances [given] above are [of] a young man, a young woman.

He was orphaned at the age of twelve, and had to scrimp to support his family for most of his life...
but now the Professor comes in third on a list of deceased celebrities whose estates still bring in millions every year.

Link courtesy of TheOneRing.Net.

Mr. Luse...
has a fine post on my confirmation name Saint, inspired by a film attempting to trash her.

The first Catholic Carnival...
is up over at Living Catholicism.

It is the third day...
of the Election Day Novena.

Almighty God, all things are in your hands: our nation, our communities, our families, our lives.

In this time of great decision, bless our country and its people. Prosper the efforts of the just and true, and thwart the purposes of the unjust and dishonest. Preserve our land from violence and turmoil, and keep our relationships decent and respectful.

Inspire voters, legislators, executives, and judges so our country may be a land where morality is furthered by law and authority; where life is protected, marriage is respected, and family is supported; where the innocent are spared, and the guilty are punished; where justice is tempered by mercy, and mercy fortified by justice.

Help us to keep the United States of America a land where the rule of law and respect for individual dignity are the legal foundation of a just order.

Amen.

Courtesy of Lane Core.

The Feast of Pope St. Evaristus
is today. There is information on him here.
It is also the feast of St. Quodvultdeus, Bishop , and St. Quadragesimus, Deacon. I remember that some years ago a candidate in our RCIA chose the latter as his confirmation name- something which probably doesn't happen all that often....

Fr. Michael
posted his homily from yesterday's Noon Mass.

Here's a snippet:

I hear this at times when I hear confessions, people saying that they confess the same sins over and over again, but this is exactly the point. By undertaking what seems like the very unglamorous work of contrition and repentance, of dealing with our own mediocrity, confronting head on our own moral weakness rather than ignoring it or running from it, we encounter in a lively and real way, in a personal way, what transcends and is infinitely more glorious than and worldly glamour and glory: we encounter the loving patience and mercy of Jesus.

Congratulations...
to the Lively Writer and her husband, on the birth of their little one !

It is the second day...
of the Election Day Novena.

Almighty God, all things are in your hands: our nation, our communities, our families, our lives.

In this time of great decision, bless our country and its people. Prosper the efforts of the just and true, and thwart the purposes of the unjust and dishonest. Preserve our land from violence and turmoil, and keep our relationships decent and respectful.

Inspire voters, legislators, executives, and judges so our country may be a land where morality is furthered by law and authority; where life is protected, marriage is respected, and family is supported; where the innocent are spared, and the guilty are punished; where justice is tempered by mercy, and mercy fortified by justice.

Help us to keep the United States of America a land where the rule of law and respect for individual dignity are the legal foundation of a just order.

Amen.

Courtesy of Lane Core.

The Feast of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
is today. There is information on them here.

Salvete, flores martyrum !

St. Philip Neri, to the students of the English College,who were preparing to return home to nearly certain torture and death.

Our martyrs in the sixteenth century, and their successors and representatives in the times which followed at home and abroad, hidden in out-of-the-way nooks and corners of England, or exiles and refugees in foreign countries, kept up a tradition of fervent prayer for their dear England down almost to our own day, when it was taken up from a fresh beginning.

Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman, C.O.

A visit to the website of Tyburn Convent might be appropriate.

From Parochial and Plain Sermons
by Venerable John Henry Newman

Let us take a very different instance, the instance of a penitent sinner as set before us in the parable of the Publican and Pharisee. I need hardly say which of the two was the most pleasing to God—the Publican; whereas the Pharisee was not accepted by Him. Now what did the Pharisee do? He did not even go so far as to behave in an unseemly, extravagant way: he was grave and solemn, and yet what he did was enough to displease God, because he took too much upon himself, and made too much of himself. Though grave and solemn, he was not reverent; he spoke in a haughty, proud way, and made a long sentence, thanking God that he was not as other men are, and despising the Publican. Such was the behaviour of the Pharisee; but the Publican behaved very differently. Observe how he came to worship God; "he stood afar off; he lift not up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner." [Luke xviii. 13.] You see his words were few, and almost broken, and his whole conduct humble and reverent; he felt that God was in heaven, he upon earth, God All-holy and Almighty, and he a poor sinner.

Now all of us are sinners, all of us have need to come to God as the Publican did; every one, if he does but search his heart, and watch his conduct, and try to do his duty, will find himself to be full of sins which provoke God's wrath. I do not mean to say that all men are equally sinners; some are wilful sinners, and of them there is no hope, till they repent; others sin, but they try to avoid sinning, pray to God to make them better, and come to Church to be made better; but all men are quite sinners enough to make it their duty to behave as the Publican. Every one ought to come into Church as the Publican did, to say in his heart, "Lord, I am not worthy to enter this sacred place; my only plea for coming is the merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour." When, then, a man enters Church, as many do, carelessly and familiarly, thinking of himself, not of God, sits down coldly and at his ease, either does not say a prayer at all, or merely hides his face for form's sake, sitting all the while, not standing or kneeling; then looks about to see who is in the Church, and who is not, and makes himself easy and comfortable in his seat, and uses the kneeler for no other purpose than to put his feet upon; in short, comes to Church as a place, not of meeting God and His holy Angels, but of seeing what is to be seen with the bodily eyes, and hearing what is to be heard with the bodily ears, and then goes and gives his judgment about the sermon freely, and says, "I do not like this or that," or "This is a good argument, but that is a bad one," or "I do not like this person so much as that," and so on; I mean when a man acts in all respects as if he was at home, and not in God's House,—all I can say is, that he ventures to do in God's presence what neither Cherubim nor Seraphim venture to do, for they veil their faces, and, as if not daring to address God, praise Him to each other, in few words, and those continually repeated, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth.

(BTW, this is from his Anglican days, before he came to believe in the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and the presence of Our Lord in the Tabernacle.)

My Domestic Church
has a sad, beautiful post on brave parents who gave their dying newborn the best chance at life that they could, rather than aborting her.

Lane Core
has asked us to pray an Election Day Novena, beginning today . Here is the text he suggests:

Almighty God, all things are in your hands: our nation, our communities, our families, our lives.

In this time of great decision, bless our country and its people. Prosper the efforts of the just and true, and thwart the purposes of the unjust and dishonest. Preserve our land from violence and turmoil, and keep our relationships decent and respectful.

Inspire voters, legislators, executives, and judges so our country may be a land where morality is furthered by law and authority; where life is protected, marriage is respected, and family is supported; where the innocent are spared, and the guilty are punished; where justice is tempered by mercy, and mercy fortified by justice.

Help us to keep the United States of America a land where the rule of law and respect for individual dignity are the legal foundation of a just order.

Amen.

If it were not Sunday...
today would be the feast of St. Anthony Mary Claret, C.M.F., Archbishop and Founder. To any Claretians out there, blessed feast day !

Music at the Noon Mass
Processional Hymn: "At the Name of Jesus"
Offertory: "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say"- Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)
Communion Hymn: "Come Down, O Love Divine" - Down Ampney, arr. Ralph Vaughn Williams (1872-1958)
Recessional Hymn: "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy"