Virgo Potens

And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified Him there; and the robbers, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Luke 23:33 THE CRUCIFIXION During this decade let us picture to our minds Christ, dead upon the cross! As if the indignities and brutalities to which He had been subjected were not enough to satisfy the brutish instincts of His savage foes the added obloquy of execution between two public malefactors was accorded Him! "The sword of grief" has at last been driven in, up to the very hilt, in Mary's soul. Has its penetration opened the way to resentment? No, but to gratitude, because finally the mercy of death has been accorded! His sufferings have ended—and from Mary's lips there comes only petitions pleading for pardon for His executioners! Let us gaze earnestly and long at that picture of Mary at the foot of the cross, and learn to ''forgive those who trespass against us." ~ The Rev. Mark J. Smith, S.J., The Rosary Devotions: A Thought for Every Day in October (circa 1924)

The Month of the Holy Rosary October 22nd

Cardinal Newman Follows St. Thomas The subject of angelic operations in the powers of nature has been beautifully illustrated by Cardinal Newman in one of his Parochial Sermons. “What a number of beautiful and wonderful objects does Nature present on every side to us and how little do we know concerning them. In some, indeed, we see symptoms of intelligence and we get to form some idea of what they are. For instance, about brute animals we know little but still we see they have sense and we understand that their bodily form, which meets the eye, is but the index, the outside token, of something we do not see. . . But why do rivers flow? Why does rain fall? Why does the sun warm us? and the wind, why does it blow? Here our natural reason is at fault. . . Reason tells us of no spirit abiding in what is commonly called the things of the world, to make them perform their ordinary duties. Of course, it is God’s will which sustains all; so does God’s will enable us to move also yet this does not hinder, but, in one sense, we may be truly said to move ourselves; but how do the wind and water, earth and fire move? Now here Scripture interposes, and seems to tell us that all this wonderful harmony is the work of Angels.” (Cardinal Newman). ~ Fr. Paul O’Sullivan O.P., All About the Angels (1945)

The Month of the Holy Angels October 21st

And bearing His own cross, He went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha. John 19:17 THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS To compel one condemned to death to bear the instrument of his execution upon his own shoulders was a most cruel and unusual punishment. And yet such was the fiendish hatred of the enemies of Christ that this irregular method of punishment was inflicted upon Him. Let us try to bring before our mind's eye the picture of Christ struggling under the weight of the cross, as he totters, stumbles, falls in the road, along that first and real “way of the cross.” How the dull thud of the dragging beam beats upon and bruises the ears of Mary as she hears and sees that progress! How she longs to be allowed to lend her strength to aid Him! But no! Hers is the duty to witness, to sympathize, to pray and to endure; to be the “Mother most Sorrowful.” ~ The Rev. Mark J. Smith, S.J., The Rosary Devotions: A Thought for Every Day in October (circa 1924)

The Month of the Holy Rosary October 21st

The Angels Guide the Stars, the Moon, the Sun and the Planets St. Thomas, incidentally, gives us another proof of the angelic strength. He teaches that each great star, planet, sun, and every heavenly body, even the greatest, has each a Guardian Angel who keeps it in its course and prevents any possible aberration. What prodigious energy and power does not such control demand! It is true that all the stars and heavenly bodies, by the natural direction given them by God, pursue their several courses, but these great worlds are material and therefore, as the Angelic Doctor points out, are liable to decay and deterioration. To prevent, therefore, disorder and confusion in the thousands of heavenly bodies which are whirling through space with inexpressible speed, God gives each one, in His all-wise Providence, an Angel to keep it in its course and avert the dire calamities that would result were it to stray from its allowed orbit. Few people think of all this when, on beautiful star-lit nights, they gaze on the Heavens and the myriads of stars. How fitting it would be to salute the countless Angels who guard these stars: “O glorious Angels of the stars, we love you, we thank you! Please bless us and shower on us your graces.” ~ Fr. Paul O’Sullivan O.P., All About the Angels (1945)

The Angels Guide the Stars, the Moon, the Sun and the Planets The Month of the Holy Angels October 20th

And platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand, and bowing the knee before Him, they mocked Him saying: Hail, King of the Jews. Matt. 27:29 THE CROWNING WITH THORNS What a picture this scene related by St. Matthew places before us as we recite this third decade of the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary! He Who is really our King, is thrust upon a jagged pedestal, crowned with a wreath of thorns, furnished with a reed as a sceptre, and subjected to the scorn and mockery and ribaldry of a group of soldiers who were crude and rough and pitiless! Keeping that picture before our minds, let us reflect for a moment on the sorrow and affliction that settled upon the heart of Mary as she realized the tortures to which her Divine Son was being abased! With a supreme act of self-surrender to the holy will of God she steels herself to acquiescence with the sublime submission of Her Divine Son in His obedience to the will of His heavenly Father. ~ The Rev. Mark J. Smith, S.J., The Rosary Devotions: A Thought for Every Day in October (circa 1924)

The Month of the Holy Rosary October 20th

The Month of the Holy Angels October 19th We have some examples of angelic power in the Sacred Scriptures. The Egyptians, as we read in Genesis, held God’s Chosen People in cruel bondage. God, to punish the oppressors and deliver His people, sent an Angel who slew 70,000 Egyptians in one night! On another occasion, Sennacherib, the Emperor of Assyria, sent up a mighty army against Jerusalem and demanded its surrender, mocking at the same time and insulting the God of Israel. The Almighty sent His Angel, who slew 185,000 Assyrians in a single night. The Angels could have as well slain millions of men as these few thousands. ~ Fr. Paul O’Sullivan O.P., All About the Angels (1945)

I find no cause of death in Him; I will chastise Him, therefore, and let Him go. Luke 23:22 THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR In this second of the sorrowful mysteries we see our Blessed Lord fettered to the pillar, His sacred body stripped of its clothing, and the rude soldiers with cruel thongs, lashing His tender flesh and bruising it until the blood flows. The raucous ribaldry of the reckless and unfeeling soldiers falls upon the sacred ears of Christ as a hideous accompaniment to the stinging blows that fall upon His gentle body. With our attention riveted upon this scene, and with the knowledge that our Blessed Lady was keenly aware of all that was transpiring let us recite this decade in unison with her, striving as best we may to alleviate her pain, and solace her affliction, so far as in our power lies. ~ The Rev. Mark J. Smith, S.J., The Rosary Devotions: A Thought for Every Day in October (circa 1924)

The Month of the Holy Rosary October 19th

The Month of the Holy Angels October 18th The Power of The Angels The second great faculty of the Angels is their will, and this, too, is incomparably superior to the human will. When an Angel wills, he never draws back. He wills with all his possible power, and there can be no change. His decisions are certain and irrevocable for they are made with all necessary information about what he wills. In what he does there is no struggle, no conflict; he bears down opposition with irresistible might. In this again, he is an image of God’s strength. ~ Fr. Paul O’Sullivan O.P., All About the Angels (1945)

And kneeling down He prayed.—And being in an agony, He prayed the longer. Luke 22:41,43 THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN As we devoutly recite the first decade of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary, let us strive to conjure up in our minds the picture of Jesus praying! Try to see Him kneeling on the cold ground, His elbows resting on the hard dew-damped rock, His sacred hands folded in supplication, His upturned eyes gazing piteously towards heaven, His fevered lips moving in fervent prayer. It is night. He is praying alone. The pale beams of the moon pierce the foliage and fall upon His wan face, and disclose to us the agony He is enduring. His disciples are asleep; His friends have deserted Him; one, and only one true and loyal heart is beating in love and sympathy and suffering with His—the heart of His blessed Mother! Will not that picture aid us in our effort to recite with more than ordinary devotion this first decade of the sorrowful mysteries? ~ The Rev. Mark J. Smith, S.J., The Rosary Devotions: A Thought for Every Day in October (circa 1924)

The Month of the Holy Rosary October 18th

The Month of the Holy Angels October 17th One of the greatest scholars that the world has ever seen, especially of the natural sciences, was St. Albert the Great. . . . Yet the intellect of this prodigy of science bears no comparison with the intellect of the Angels and his amazing knowledge is little when compared to that of these blessed spirits. For the Angels know all the secrets of nature, they see into the center of the Earth, into the depths of the sea; they have all natural knowledge. They know more about health and medicine than all the doctors in the world, more about the stars and the heavens than all the astronomers who ever lived or ever will live. All sciences are known to them in their most absolute perfection, besides which, God fills their intelligence with very oceans of supernatural light. ~ Fr. Paul O’Sullivan O.P., All About the Angels (1945)

How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know, that I must be about the things that are My Father's? Luke 2:49 THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES Mary's keeping of ''all these words in her heart" had not been in vain. Her years of meditation and daily experience with her Divine Son had taught her that the great purpose of His earthly sojourn was to make atonement to His heavenly Father for the sins of mankind; and in that atonement she was to be Co-Redemptrix. Pain and suffering and rejection and death were to be the portion of Jesus; and Mary's, the immolation of her heart, and the ''sword of grief" foretold by the aged Simeon, was to be driven to the very hilt into her spotless soul. With the death of St. Joseph and the desolate void in her heart created by the loss of his kindly companionship the realization sank deeper and deeper into her mind that soon she was to be deprived also of that other more intimate companionship, that, namely, of Jesus, who has now in reality to give himself up entirely to "the things of His Father." He was to be the victim she, the constant, sympathetic, super-suffering witness of His trials and death. ~ The Rev. Mark J. Smith, S.J., The Rosary Devotions: A Thought for Every Day in October (circa 1924)

The Month of the Holy Rosary October 17th

The Month of the Holy Angels October 16th The most notable savants of this Earth have amassed the knowledge of a limited number of subjects with infinite labor and long years of study. Nor may they claim the credit for all they know, for they began where others had left off, and others will continue from where they have left off. The knowledge, too, thus acquired at the cost of such labor is frequently mingled with errors, mistakes and doubts, whereas the knowledge of the Angels is clear, certain and free from all possibility of error. ~ Fr. Paul O’Sullivan O.P., All About the Angels (1945)