FEAST OF THE DAY WEDNESDAY, 7 OCTOBER, 2026 OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY This feast was instituted by Pope St. Pius V in thanksgiving for the great naval victory over the Turks at the battle of Lepanto on this day in the year 1570, a favor due to the recitation of the Rosary. This victory saved Europe from being overrun by the forces of Islam. Lepanto, perhaps the most complete victory ever gained over the Ottoman Empire, on October 7, 1571, is commemorated by the invocation "Help of Christians," inserted in the Litany of Loretto. At Belgrade the Turks were defeated on the Feast of Our Lady at Nives in 1716. A second victory gained that year on the Octave of the Assumption determined Pope Clement XI to command the Feast of the Rosary to be celebrated by the universal Church. Leo XIII added the invocation "Queen of the most Holy Rosary, pray for us," to the Litany of Loretto. The Feast is in reality a great festival of thanksgiving for the signal and countless benefits bestowed on Christendom through the Rosary of our blessed Queen. In modern times successive popes have urged the faithful to pray the Rosary. It is a form of contemplative prayer, mental and vocal prayer, which brings down God's blessing on the Church. It is a biblically inspired prayer which is centered on meditation on the salvific mysteries of Christ in union with Mary, who was so closely associated with her Son in his redeeming activity. PRAYER: Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. THE 15 PROMISES GRANTED TO THOSE WHO RECITE THE HOLY ROSARY The Blessed Virgin Mary promised to Saint Dominic and to all who follow that "Whatever you ask in the Rosary will be granted." She left for all Christians Fifteen Promises to those who recite the Holy Rosary. Imparted to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan 1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4. The Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means. 5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish. 6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church. 8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenititude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise. 9. I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven. 11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities. 13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14. All who recite the Rosary are my sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters of my only Son Jesus Christ. 15. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination. O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary: Pray for us.
The rosary is such a little, simple prayer , a child could learn to pray it very easily. Perhaps because it is such a little thing it caused very many people to despise it. After Vatican 2 for instance it was one of the very first thing many people dumped. Even today a Seminarian who likes to say the rosary an be a subject of deep suspicion. Fulton Sheen was asked one time about people who said that they were bored by or felt they did not get anything out of the Mass. He replied that what you get out of the Mass is what you take into it. I think the same could be said of the Rosary. What you get out is what you put in. Our Lady has spoken about saying it with intent, slowly and with meaning. It is the same with anything in life, what we put in is what we get out. It , for instance we are cooking , the more time and effort and though we put into the meal the better the meal will turn out. The same with the Rosary. It is not magic. They say Padre Pio never stopped saying the rosary, that it was as if the beads were part of his hands. He seems to have said them particularly for the souls in purgatory. https://aleteia.org/2019/10/25/5-thoughts-from-padre-pio-on-the-rosary/ 5 Thoughts from Padre Pio on the Rosary Be gone Satan Satan wants to destroy this prayer, but in this he will never succeed. The Rosary is the prayer of those who triumph over everything and everyone. It was Our Lady who taught us this prayer, just as it was Jesus who taught us the Our Father. Holding Mama’s hand In times of darkness, holding the Rosary is like holding your Blessed Mother’s hand. Pray the Rosary every day. Abandon yourself in the hands of Mary. She will take care of you. Right beside her The attention must be on the “Hail Mary” and to the greetings which you give to the Virgin and on the mysteries which you contemplate. She is present in all the mysteries and she participated in everything with love and pain. Always and often Love our Lady and make her loved; always recite the Rosary and recite it as often as possible. A prayer to Our Lady from Padre Pio: Have pity on me! May one compassionate look of yours revive me, purify me and lift me up to God; raising me from the filth of this world that I may go to Him Who created me, Who regenerated me in Holy Baptism, giving me back my white stole of innocence that original sin had so defiled. Dear Mother, make me love Him!
SAINT OF THE DAY THURSDAY, 8 OCTOBER, 2026 SAINT HUGH / UGO Also called: Sant Ugo Canefri or Sant Ugo Canefro RELIGIOUS (1168-1233) Saint Hugh was born about 1168 at Alessandria (Italy), he became a knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. After lengthy campaigning in the Holy Land, he was elected Master of the Commandery of St. John di Prè in Genoa (Italy) and worked in the infirmary nearby. He was renowned for miraculous powers over the natural elements. He is believed to have died in 1233*. Saint Hugh is one of the most highly venerated saints of the Order, although neither his origins nor the date of his birth are known. He was the Commander at Genoa and administered his Hospital in the best of fashions. That did not keep him from being an edifying, religious "exercising religion toward God and his neighbours". It is well known how much sacrifice and devotion that phrase can contain. According to the portrait that Grandmaster Cardinal Fra Hugh de Loubenx Verdala gave the Order, an authentic portrait made while the saint was still alive, we know that the latter was thin, with an ascetic face, and small in stature. But he was quite comely and amiable toward all. His mortification was not onerous for others. He slept on a board, in a corner of the basement of the Hospital; he served the poor with love and tact, giving them food, money, spiritual comfort and brotherly love. He washed their feet. He took care of them, and when they died, he buried them. The eight-pointed cross was not only on his cloak; he wore it in his heart. So great was his zeal that he girded himself with an iron belt placed next to his body. He fasted the whole year round, eating nothing cooked in Lent. Each day he recited the office and heard Mass with such fervour that he often fell into ecstasy and was raised from the floor in the sight of all. His prayer was evidently continuous, and God rewarded him for it by a gift of working miracles. These miracles were outstanding and attested by the Archbishop of Genoa, Otto Fusco, as well as by four venerable canons who frequented the house of the saint and witnessed his marvellous deeds. On one of those sultry Italian days, when the sun crushes nature with burning heat, some women were in the common room of the infirmary washing the linen of the sick. The water supply failed, for the fountain of the monastery had dried up. They were dismayed, therefore, at having to fetch the water necessary for their task from a great distance. They complained among themselves discreetly - that is, with great outcries - so that the saint heard them and came to them to inquire about the cause of their complaints. Seeing him, they begged him to give them water, and, as he declined, they cried: "What? You wouldn't be able to get any from God?" "We must pray". "Oh! that's all we do. Hear us". "I am not the Lord; He said that faith makes miracles. Have you faith?" They insisted; he resisted.They wept, saying that they would die of exhaustion because of the work and the heat. He hardly believed that, but through charity, after having invoked the Master of Nature, the saint made the sign of the cross and the waters gushed from the rock of the fountain, to the astonished cries of the servants. On another occasion, the worthy Knight was saying his prayers one evening at the top of the tower of the Hospital which dominated the port of Genoa. A violent storm was raging and the venerable man noticed in the distance, through the curtain of rain and the tossing waves and clouds, a ship which was having difficulties in reaching the harbour. It was in imminent danger of perishing. Stirred to the bottom of his heart by the peril of the unfortunate sailors, Hugh fell to his knees amid the thunder and lightning and began to pray with tears streaming down his cheeks. Then, confidently, he arose and facing the ship which was about to sink he made a great sign of the cross. "Immediately a great calm occurred". The winds died down, the sea became slack, and the moon shone in the clear sky. When the galleon, thus saved, entered the port, it found the sailors who had gathered to come to its aid and who had not yet recovered from their surprise at the sudden subsiding of the storm. Some of them had seen the saving gesture of the saint. They all went in procession to the church of the Hospital to sing their thanksgiving to God and to his servant. In spite of his austerity, the Chevalier Hugh followed the laws of civility. He would sometimes invite friends to lunch. One day, Nicolas Pigliacaro, his guest, noticing with surprise that as there was nothing to drink on the table, got up to fetch water from the spring. Now, it happened that after grace and the sign of the cross made by the venerable host over the food, the water had changed into excellent wine. On four different occasions this miracle was repeated. Nicolas assures us of it. And did not Brother Hugh of Sabezana, accompanied by the wife of a doctor of the Hospital, discover the Commander praying in the garden, his head surrounded by an aureole of fluttering and warbling birds, in the light of the Lord! The woman took it upon herself to tell everyone about the event. Finally, there was in Genoa an unfortunate man possessed by the devil. The saint charitably went to visit him. On his approach, the possessed man went into convulsions and began to shout: "Hugh! do not torment me any more! I am ready to depart". And so it was. The mere sight of the venerable man had overcome Satan. Brother Hugh died venerated by all (October 8, 1233), and was buried in the church of St. John of Jerusalem in Genoa. But, ardent in the service of his brothers during his earthly life, he continued to help them in his eternity. The same Pigliacaro tells us that a woman who had fallen under the power of the devil was carried to the tomb of the venerable man, and that evening, she vomited a very black and very foul-smelling toad; after that event, she was calm and free of her ills forever. Later, there was a man whose leg tendons had contracted so much that he could not move. He had himself borne to the holy tomb, where he stayed for five days and five nights. His persevering prayer was finally heard. Cured, he devoted himself to the service of the Hospital for the remainder of his life as he had vowed to do. And it happened that, nailed to her bed by gout, Dame Orto had not left her room for six years. Shortly after the death of St. Hugh, because of his miracle-working fame, she wished to try his power. Supported and led by her friend, Donna Maria, and Canon William della Barma of the cathedral of Genoa, together with one of the latter's confrères, she came to lay her supplication before the Blessed Knight, who courteously granted her wish. Cured, she took the habit of the Order and served the poor of the Hospital during the rest of her life, as was done by the three witnesses of the miracle.We are not astonished, therefore, that after such wonders, of which Archbishop Fusco was himself the guarantor, the feast of the saint has been celebrated on the day of his entrance into heaven, and that in all the churches of Genoa. Formerly a great procession was held to carry the head of the venerable man through the city, the recipient of his favours, which returned to him in devotion all the good he had done for it. The office which honoured him was that of the Confessors not Pontiffs. We shall piously recite the beautiful liturgical prayer composed especially for St. Hugh: "Oh, Lord, Who hast granted to Thy servant Hugh to cause in Thy name, by the sign of the cross, to gush from a very hard stone a spring of living water, to drive away demons and cure the sick, grant us, we pray Thee, that, rendering our homage to him, we may feel its beneficent effects. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen". May his faith - capable of moving mountains - his charity, vigilant and tireless, as well as his other daily virtues, especially his gentleness and courtesy, be for us an invigorating example! And imitating him here below, may we share in his eternal glory a glory - of prayer in a cloud of singing birds! PRAYER: O God, who gave to St. Hugh power to heal the sick by the sign of the cross, give us the spirit of your own love, to serve you in our sick brothers and sisters. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Another saint I had never heard of before! It would make a really great film, the warrior who became a saint. There are not all that many warrior saints so it is lovely to discover another one. It should become as no surprise that a warrior would be very powerful against Satan. Listening to modern day exorcists something that really usually comes across is that they are kind of men's men, warriors. Lovely to see because in so many of today clergy we do not always get the impression we are dealing with real men. If we do not get this impression of them being real men then it would be hard to accept them as Spiritual Fathers. So sad.
SAINT OF THE DAY FRIDAY, 9 OCTOBER, 2026 SAINT LOUIS BERTRAND SPANISH DOMINICAN PRIEST (1 January 1526 - 9 October 1581) Believed to be a relative of St. Vincent Ferrer, Saint Louis Bertrand, on the very day of his birth, January 1, 1526, was baptized at the same font where St. Vincent received the sacrament a century and a half before him. St. Louis Bertrand was exceptionally pious as a child, reciting daily the Office of Our Lady and attending different churches in order to conceal from the knowledge of others his frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist. He was received into St. Dominic's order when he was nineteen years old and was ordained before he was twenty-two. He filled many offices in the Order, most notably that of master of novices. By the practice of outstanding virtue, self-denial and penance, he furnished for his novices a perfect model for their imitation. In the year 1562, St. Louis Bertrand was sent from his native Valencia, Spain, to South America, where he worked for seven years among the Indians in the northwestern part of the continent, among the tribe of the Caribs in the Caribbean Islands, and among the natives on the Isthmus of Panama. During these missionary years he was favored with the gift of tongues. While speaking to the natives in Castilian, he was understood by all and often spoke in languages with which he was naturally unfamiliar. His preaching was accompanied by many miracles and prophecies. He once raised a girl to life by the application of a Rosary and often attributed to the intercession of Our Lady the miraculous powers he manifested. After returning to his native land, St. Louis Bertrand again occupied administrative positions in the Order and won the esteem and friendship of St. Teresa of Avila. The Saint died a holy death after suffering a long and painful illness. Many prodigies accompanied his passing. During the process of beatification, witnesses testified that shortly after his death a heavenly perfume arose from his body, that a light which glowed for several minutes proceeded from his mouth and illuminated his whole cell, and that seraphic music was heard in the church before his funeral. The body of the Saint, which remained incorrupt for over three hundred fifty years, was maliciously destroyed during the Spanish revolution of 1936. PATRON: Caribbean Vicariates, Colombia, Dominican Novices. PRAYER: Almighty and merciful God, You filled the heart of St. Louis Bertrand, with a zeal of preaching through good deeds and words. Enkindle in us the virtues of humility and patience so we too may obediently do your will faithfully. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, the perfect example of obedience, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen.
It must have been so hard for these men and women to have been sent from Spain to South America knowing that they would never ever see their families or homeland again. In Ireland we call it the Green Martyrdom. They could only do this because they believed on what they were doing. They really believed that if the pagans did not receive the Faith they would go to hell. We no longer believe this, that the Faith matters. We believe everyone will get to heaven anyway. That there is no hell , or even sin. Hence we have little or no missionaries. Why bother?
