Christus Regnat

1 of 2 August 30th~ St. Rose of Lima, Virgin St. Rose, the first canonized saint of the New World, was born at Lima in 1586. She received the name of Isabella in Baptism, but one day her mother saw a beautiful rose drooping over the baby's cradle, and ever afterwards called her Rose. She was an obedient child; her mortifications were most severe. She prayed, worked, and wept for the conversion of sinners; she excelled in her love for holy purity. (continued)

2 of 2 AUGUST 30 — ST. FIAKER, ANCHORITE. Divine Providence conducted him to St. Faro, who was the Bishop of Meaux, and eminent for sanctity. When St. Fiaker addressed himself to him, the prelate, charmed with the marks of extraordinary virtue and abilities which he discovered in this stranger, gave him a solitary dwelling in a forest called Breuil, which was his own patrimony, two leagues from Meaux. In this place the holy anchorite cleared the ground of trees and briers, made himself a cell, with a small garden, and built an oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin, in which he spent great part of the days and nights in devout prayer. He tilled his garden, and labored with his own hands for his subsistence. The life he led was most austere, and only necessity or charity ever interrupted his exercises of prayer and heavenly contemplation. Many resorted to him for advice, and the poor for relief. But, following an inviolable rule among the Irish monks, he never suffered any woman to enter the enclosure of his hermitage. St. Chillen, or Kilian, an Irishman of high birth, on his return from Rome, visited St. Fiaker, who was his kinsman, and having passed some time under his discipline, was directed by his advice, with the authority of the bishops, to preach in that and the neighboring dioceses. This commission he executed with admirable sanctity and fruit. St. Fiaker died about the year 670, on the 30th of August. REFLECTION. — Ye who love indolence, ponder well these words of St. Paul: " If any man will not work, neither let him eat." ~ Pictorial Lives of the Saints (1878) St. Fiaker, pray for us.

AUGUST 30 — ST. FIAKER, ANCHORITE St. FIAKER was nobly born in Ireland, and had his education under the care of a bishop of eminent sanctity, who was, according to some, Conan, Bishop of Soder, or the Western Islands. Looking upon all worldly advantages as dross, he left his country and friends in the flower of his age, and with certain pious companions sailed over to France, in quest of some solitude in which he might devote himself to God, unknown to the rest of the world. (continued)

2 of 2 AUGUST 30 — ST. ROSE OF LIMA, Virgin She was distinguished for the remarkable austerity of her innocent life. Her usual food was an herb, bitter as wormwood. When compelled by her mother to adorn her head with a wreath of roses, she so adjusted the chaplet on her brow that it was transformed into a crown of thorns. And, to render herself distasteful to the host of suitors who were attracted by her beauty, the spouse of Christ strove to disfigure the lovely complexion to which she owed her name. Rejecting all proposals of marriage, St. Rose maintained by the labor of her hands her beloved parents, whom reverses of fortune had sadly reduced. She took the habit of the Third Order of St, Dominic, and died in 1617. —— ✿ —— First flow'ret of the desert wild, Whose leaves the sweets of grace exhale, We greet thee, Lima's sainted child, Rose of Ameriea! all hail ! ~ ANON. —— ✿ —— Favorite Practice To avoid rash vows or resolutions. ~ Short Lives of the Saints (1884) St. Rose of Lima, ora pro nobis.

AUGUST 30 — ST. ROSE OF LIMA, Virgin THIS first canonized female saint of the New World was born at Lima in Peru, in 1586, and was baptized Isabella; but because of the lovely roseate bloom upon her cheeks when an infant in the cradle, she was called by the name of Rose. A flower of sanctity whose fragrance has filled the whole Christian world, St. Rose is the patroness of America, the St. Theresa of transatlantic Spain. (continued)

2 of 2 AUGUST 30 — ST. ROSE OF LIMA At an early age she took service to support her impoverished parents, and worked for them day and night. In spite of hardships and austerities, her beauty ripened with increasing age, and she was much and openly admired. From fear of vanity she cut off her hair, blistered her face with pepper and her hands with lime. For further security she enrolled herself in the Third Order of St. Dominic, took St. Catherine of Siena as her model, and redoubled her penance. Her cell was a garden hut, her couch a box of broken tiles. Under her habit Rose wore a hair-shirt studded with iron nails, while, concealed by her veil, a silver crown armed with ninety points encircled her head. More than once, when she shuddered at the prospect of a night of torture, a voice said, " My Cross was yet more painful." The Blessed Sacrament seemed almost her only food. Her love for it was intense. When the Dutch fleet prepared to attack the town, Rose took her place before the tabernacle, and wept that she was not worthy to die in its defence. All her sufferings were offered for the conversion of sinners, and the thought of the multitudes in hell was ever before her soul. She died a.d.1617, at the age of thirty-one. REFLECTION. — Rose, pure as driven snow, was filled with deepest contrition and humility, and did constant and terrible penance. Our sins are continual, our repentance passing, our contrition slight, our penance nothing. How will it fare with us? ~ Pictorial Lives of the Saints (1878) St. Rose of Lima, pray for us.

AUGUST 30 — ST. ROSE OF LIMA This lovely flower of sanctity, the first canonized Saint of the New World, was born at Lima in 1586. She was christened Isabel, but the beauty of her infant face earned for her the title of Rose, which she ever after bore. As a child, while still in the cradle, her silence under a painful surgical operation proved the thirst for suffering already consuming her heart. (continued)

NOVENA to ST. PIUS X (August 25th ~ September 2nd) Day 5 ~ August 29th Glorious Pope of the Eucharist, St. Pius X, thou didst seek to "restore all things in Christ." Obtain for me a true love of Jesus so that I may only live for Him. Help me to acquire a lively fervor and a sincere will to strive for sanctity of life, and that I may avail myself of the riches of the Holy Eucharist, which is sacrifice and sacrament. By thy love for Mary, my Mother and Queen, inflame my heart with a tender devotion to her. Blessed model of the priesthood, obtain for us holy and dedicated priests and increase vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Dispel confusion, hatred and anxiety. Incline our hearts to peace so that all nations will place themselves under the reign of Christ the King. (Here mention your request) Amen. Pope St. Pius X, pray for us.

NOVENA to ST. STEPHEN of HUNGARY (August 24th ~ September 1st) Day 6 ~ August 29th Grant unto Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that even as Thy blessed Confessor Stephen, while he was a King upon earth, was her forwarder, so now that he is a glorious Saint in heaven, he may be her defender. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. St. Stephen of Hungary, pray for us.

Nine Month Novena for Impossible Requests To be prayed from March 25th to December 25th Day 158 - August 29th Pray the Hail, Holy Queen. ℣ Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. ℟ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray. Most holy Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand times we greet thee, a thousand times we praise thee, for the joy thou hadst when God wast incarnated in thee. Because thou art so powerful a Virgin and the Mother of God, grant what we ask of thee for the love of God. Here state your first request. Repeat the prayers above, stating your second request, then repeat the prayers above, stating your third request. Continue by praying once, each: the Memorare; the Hail Mary. End by praying: Blessed and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, in Heaven, on earth and everywhere. Amen.

2 of 2 August 29th~ The Beheading of St. John the Baptist The Gospel of the Mass recounts his martyrdom. He died because his sanctity as precursor of Christ was intolerable to the immoral Herodias. He anticipated in his death the humiliations of Calvary, but he was rewarded by having his praises spoken by the Savior Himself, even if Jesus and his disciples did not actually assist at his funeral, as some legends maintain. August 29th~ St. Sabina, Martyr St. Sabina, a Roman widow of high birth, suffered martyrdom under Emperor Hadrian, early in the Second Century, and was buried in the same grave with St. Seraphia, her maid-servant, who had instructed her in the Faith. ~ The New Roman Missal (1937) St. John the Baptist, pray for us. St. Sabina, pray for us.

1 of 2 August 29th~ The Beheading of St. John the Baptist Besides the chief feast of St. John the Baptist, that of his nativity, the Church commemorates on the twenty-ninth of. August, his glorious death and birth into heaven. Ever since the Fourth Century in Africa, in the East, in Syria, and in many places all over the world, the beheading of St. John the Baptist has been commemorated on August 29th. When in 362, pagans violated the tomb and burned his remains, some parts were saved by monks, and taken to St. Athanasius at Alexandria. The head is said to have been preserved at Jerusalem, and may later have been brought to Rome. (continued)

2 of 2 AUGUST 29 — THE BEHEADING OF ST. JOHN BAPTIST But on Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask of him. But she, being instructed before by her mother, said, Give me here in a dish the head of John the Baptist. And the king was struck sad: yet because of his oath, and for them that sat with him at table, he commanded it to be given her. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought in a dish, and it was given to the damsel; and she brought it to her mother.”—ST. MATTHEW xiv. 3-12. —— ✿ —— . . . . . . Ah! kneel before Him, meek and grave, And show the necklace Herod gave. . . . . . . . . That circlet round thy shining throat Is dearer to Him far than gold: And when thou say’st “Forgive them, Lord!” Thy voice shall stir Him, as of old. ~ From “Domus Dei” —— ✿ —— Favorite Practice To avoid rash vows or resolutions. ~ Short Lives of the Saints (1884) St. John the Baptist, ora pro nobis.

AUGUST 29 — THE BEHEADING OF ST. JOHN BAPTIST “FOR Herod had apprehended John,and bound him, and put him in prison, because of Herodias, his brother's wife. For John said to him, it is not lawful for thee to have her. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the people, because they esteemed him a prophet. (continued)

2 of 2 AUGUST 29 — THE BEHEADING OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST He was received by the people as the true herald of the Most High God, and his voice was, as it were, a trumpet sounding from heaven to summon all men to avert the divine judgments, and to prepare themselves to reap the benefit of the mercy that was offered them. The tetrarch Herod Antipas having, in defiance of all laws divine and human, married Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, who was yet living, St. John the Baptist boldly reprehended the tetrarch and his accomplice for so scandalous an incest and adultery, and Herod, urged on by lust and anger, cast the Saint into prison. About a year after St. John had been made a prisoner, Herod gave a splendid entertainment to the nobility of Galilee. Salome, a daughter of Herodias by her lawful husband, pleased Herod by her dancing, insomuch that he promised her to grant whatever she asked. On this, Salome consulted with her mother what to ask. Herodias instructed her daughter to demand the death of John the Baptist, and persuaded the young damsel to make it part of her petition that the head of the prisoner should be forthwith brought to her in a dish. This strange request startled the tyrant himself; he assented, however, and sent a soldier of his guard to behead the Saint in prison, with an order to bring his head in a charger and present it to Salome, who delivered it to her mother. St. Jerome relates that the furious Herodias made it her inhuman pastime to prick the sacred tongue with a bodkin. Thus died the great forerunner of our blessed Saviour, about two years and three months after his entrance upon his public ministry, about a year before the death of our blessed Redeemer. REFLECTION. — All the high graces with which St. John was favored sprang from his humility; in this all his other virtues were founded. If we desire to form ourselves upon so great a model, we must, above all things, labor to lay the same deep foundation. ~ Pictorial Lives of the Saints (1878) St. John the Baptist, pray for us.

AUGUST 29 — THE BEHEADING OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST St. JOHN THE BAPTIST was called by God to be the forerunner of his Divine Son. In order to preserve his innocence spotless, and to improve the extraordinary graces which he had received, he was directed by the Holy Ghost to lead an austere and contemplative life in the wilderness, in the continual exercises of devout prayer and penance, from his infancy till he was thirty years of age. At this age, the faithful minister began to discharge his mission. Clothed with the weeds of penance, he announced to all men the obligation they lay under of washing away their iniquities with the tears of sincere compunction; and proclaimed the Messiah, who was then coming to make his appearance among them. (continued)

NOVENA to ST. PIUS X (August 25th ~ September 2nd) Day 4 ~ August 28th Glorious Pope of the Eucharist, St. Pius X, thou didst seek to "restore all things in Christ." Obtain for me a true love of Jesus so that I may only live for Him. Help me to acquire a lively fervor and a sincere will to strive for sanctity of life, and that I may avail myself of the riches of the Holy Eucharist, which is sacrifice and sacrament. By thy love for Mary, my Mother and Queen, inflame my heart with a tender devotion to her. Blessed model of the priesthood, obtain for us holy and dedicated priests and increase vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Dispel confusion, hatred and anxiety. Incline our hearts to peace so that all nations will place themselves under the reign of Christ the King. (Here mention your request) Amen. Pope St. Pius X, pray for us.

NOVENA to ST. STEPHEN of HUNGARY (August 24th ~ September 1st) Day 5 ~ August 28th Grant unto Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that even as Thy blessed Confessor Stephen, while he was a King upon earth, was her forwarder, so now that he is a glorious Saint in heaven, he may be her defender. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. St. Stephen of Hungary, pray for us.

Nine Month Novena for Impossible Requests To be prayed from March 25th to December 25th Day 157 - August 28th Pray the Hail, Holy Queen. ℣ Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. ℟ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray. Most holy Virgin of the Incarnation, a thousand times we greet thee, a thousand times we praise thee, for the joy thou hadst when God wast incarnated in thee. Because thou art so powerful a Virgin and the Mother of God, grant what we ask of thee for the love of God. Here state your first request. Repeat the prayers above, stating your second request, then repeat the prayers above, stating your third request. Continue by praying once, each: the Memorare; the Hail Mary. End by praying: Blessed and praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, in Heaven, on earth and everywhere. Amen.

2 of 2 August 28th~ The Feast of St. Augustine Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church His mother, St. Monica, died seven months later when, with her son. she was about to return to Africa. St. Augustine remembered her always in his prayers and offered the Holy Mass for her soul. He was made bishop of Hippo in 395, and established a common life for his clergy. The rule of St. Augustine is drawn from his 211th epistle which he wrote for nuns and which later was adapted for the men. He is one of the few saints who was appreciated even during his lifetime; his contemporaries recognized his sanctity and his learning. No council was held at that time in Africa of which the Bishop of the small city of Hippo was not the leading spirit. He died in 430. His body was saved by African bishops from the profanation of the Vandals. It was taken first to Sardinia, and then to Pavia, where it is still preserved in Ciel d'Oro. ~ The New Roman Missal (1937) St. Augustine, pray for us.