Virgo Potens

The Month of the Holy Rosary October 24th

The Month of the Holy Angels October 23rd “Thus, as far as the Scripture communications go, we learn that the course of Nature, which is so wonderful, so beautiful, and at times, so fearful, is effected by the ministry of these unseen beings. Nature is not inanimate, its daily toil is intelligent; its works are duties. As our souls move our bodies, be our bodies what they may, so there are Spiritual intelligences which move those wonderful and vast portions of the natural world which seem to be inanimate; and as the gestures, speech, and expressive countenances of our friends around help us to hold intercourse with them, so in the motions of universal Nature, in the interchange of day and night, Summer and Winter, wind and storm, fulfilling His word, we are reminded of the blessed and dutiful Angels.” (Cardinal Newman) ~ Fr. Paul O’Sullivan O.P., All About the Angels (1945)

And Joseph taking the body wrapped it up in a clean linen cloth; and laid it in his own new monument which he had hewed out of a rock. Matt. 27:59-60 A REVIEW From the death of St. Joseph until the death of Her Divine Son, the sorrows of Mary accumulated and intensified until beneath—not the shadow—but beneath the cross itself the climax of human endurance in suffering was experienced by Mary. ''The sword of grief" had pierced her soul: and only the gentle but all-powerful hand of her Divine Son possessed the strength to dislodge it! He and He alone could withdraw that jagged blade from her transfixed heart. But if Mary's sorrows were unfathomable, the glories that awaited her were likewise beyond compute. And it is to the mysteries of these glories that we now progress in our study of the Holy Rosary. ~ 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 23rd

“Those events which we ascribe to chance, as the weather, or to nature, as the seasons, are duties done to the God who maketh His Angels to be winds, and His Ministers a flame of fire. For example, it was an Angel which gave to the pool at Bathsaida its medicinal quality, and there is no reason why we should doubt that other health-springs in this and other countries are made such by a like, though unseen ministry. The fires on Mount Sinai, the thunders and lightenings, were the work of Angels; and in the Apocalypse we read of the Angels restraining the winds. Works of vengeance are likewise attributed to them. The fiery law of the volcanoes which (as it appears) was the cause of Sodom and Gomorrah’s ruin, was brought about by the two Angels who rescued Lot. The pestilence in Israel, when David numbered the people, was the work of an Angel. The earthquake at the Resurrection was the work of an Angel.” “And in other parts of the Apocalypse we read how the earth was smitten in various ways by Angels of vengeance. (Cardinal Newman) ~ Fr. Paul O’Sullivan O.P., All About the Angels (1945)

He looked towards Sodom and Gomorrha, and the whole land of that country: and he saw the ashes rise up from the earth as the smoke of a furnace. Genesis 19:28 The Month of the Holy Angels October 22nd

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)