Saint of the Day for September 24

(February 21, 1801 - August 11, 1890)

Saint John Henry Newman's Story

John Henry Newman, the 19th-century’s most important English-speaking Catholic theologian, spent the first half of his life as an Anglican and the second half as a Roman Catholic. He was a priest, popular preacher, writer, and eminent theologian in both churches.

Born in London, England, he studied at Oxford’s Trinity College, was a tutor at Oriel College, and for 17 years was vicar of the university church, St. Mary the Virgin. He eventually published eight volumes of Parochial and Plain Sermons as well as two novels. His poem, “Dream of Gerontius,” was set to music by Sir Edward Elgar.

After 1833, Newman was a prominent member of the Oxford Movement, which emphasized the Church’s debt to the Church Fathers and challenged any tendency to consider truth as completely subjective.

Historical research made Newman suspect that the Roman Catholic Church was in closest continuity with the Church that Jesus established. In 1845, he was received into full communion as a Catholic. Two years later he was ordained a Catholic priest in Rome and joined the Congregation of the Oratory, founded three centuries earlier by Saint Philip Neri. Returning to England, Newman founded Oratory houses in Birmingham and London and for seven years served as rector of the Catholic University of Ireland.

Before Newman, Catholic theology tended to ignore history, preferring instead to draw deductions from first principles—much as plane geometry does. After Newman, the lived experience of believers was recognized as a key part of theological reflection.

Newman eventually wrote 40 books and 21,000 letters that survive. Most famous are his book-length Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine, Apologia Pro Vita Sua—his spiritual autobiography up to 1864—and Essay on the Grammar of Assent. He accepted Vatican I’s teaching on papal infallibility while noting its limits, which many people who favored that definition were reluctant to do.

When Newman was named a cardinal in 1879, he took as his motto “Cor ad cor loquitur”—“Heart speaks to heart.” He was buried in Rednal 11 years later. After his grave was exhumed in 2008, a new tomb was prepared at the Oratory church in Birmingham.

Three years after Newman died, a Newman Club for Catholic students began at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In time, his name was linked to ministry centers at many public and private colleges and universities in the United States.

In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI beatified Newman in London. Benedict noted Newman’s emphasis on the vital place of revealed religion in civilized society, but also praised his pastoral zeal for the sick, the poor, the bereaved, and those in prison. Pope Francis canonized Newman in October 2019. Saint John Henry Newman's liturgical feast is celebrated on October 9.

Reflection

John Henry Newman has been called the “absent Father of Vatican II” because his writings on conscience, religious liberty, Scripture, the vocation of lay people, the relation of Church and State, and other topics were extremely influential in the shaping of the Council’s documents. Although Newman was not always understood or appreciated, he steadfastly preached the Good News by word and example.

"...Say the Rosary every day Pray, pray a lot and offer the sacrifices for sinners. 
I'm the Lady of the Rosary, Only I will be able to help you. 
In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph."
         - Our Lady of Fatima

Come and pray the rosary live around the world.
The 15 Promises to those who pray the Holy Rosary

The practice of the Rosary dates back to the 11th century, when the illiterate religious recited Pater Nosters and Ave Marias in the place of the office in choir. These monks who could not read recited 150 Ave Marias, in lieu of the 150 psalms: this was called the Psalter of Mary. The Dominican Alain de la Roche spread the recitation of the Rosary in the 15th century. The Catholic rosary, made up of beads grouped in five decades, is the material object used for reciting the Rosary which includes joyful, luminous, sorrowful and glorious sets of mysteries.

… The word “rosary” means a crown of flowers …and comes from courtly love. A "rosarium," meaning "field of roses," denoted a collection of poems that a knight dedicated to his lady. To greet Mary with Ave Marias is like offering her roses by meditating with her on the gospel.

Pope Francis is very devoted to the Rosary. His secretary shared on Vatican Radio on March 10, 2014, that "the Pope does not waste a minute, he works tirelessly. When he feels the need for a short pause, he sits down and recites the Rosary. He prays three of them a day. He says: ‘It helps me relax.’ "

The Divine Mercy Chaplet is a relatively recent but very popular devotion revealed by Our Lord to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun. On Good Friday 1937, Christ appeared to Saint Faustina and asked her to recite this chaplet for nine days, starting on Good Friday and ending on the Octave of Easter (the Sunday after Easter Sunday), now known as Divine Mercy Sunday. Click Here for instruction as to how to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Divine Mercy Chaplet sung and prayed by Donna Cori Gibson.

Experience the Power of Divine Mercy Every Day

Start each day off right! Join tens of thousands of Catholics receiving brief, daily reflections from the Diary of St. Faustina every morning.

thedivinemercy.org/dmdsignup

Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,

and in our souls take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heavenly aid
to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.
O comforter, to Thee we cry,
O heavenly gift of God Most High,
O fount of life and fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.

Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known;
Thou, finger of God’s hand we own;
Thou, promise of the Father, Thou
Who dost the tongue with power imbue.

Kindle our sense from above,
and make our hearts o’erflow with love;
with patience firm and virtue high
the weakness of our flesh supply.

Far from us drive the foe we dread,
and grant us Thy peace instead;
so shall we not, with Thee for guide,
turn from the path of life aside.

Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow
the Father and the Son to know;
and Thee, through endless times confessed,
of both the eternal Spirit blest.

Now to the Father and the Son,
Who rose from death, be glory given,
with Thou, O Holy Comforter,
henceforth by all in earth and heaven. Amen. 

Heavenly Father,In every age, you have been our refuge.Yet again and still, we stand before you asking for your protection on your holy Church.For the victims of abuse and their families,pour out your healing and your peace.For the Bishops of this country,continue to inspire their decisions,and guide them with your Spirit.For the thousands of good and faithful priests,who have followed yourcall to serve you and your people in holiness,sustain them by your grace.For the faithful who are angry, confused, and searching for answers,embrace them with your love,restore their trust,console them with your clear Gospel message,and renew them with your sacraments.We place our Church in your hands,for without you we can do nothing.May Jesus, our High Priest and true compass,continue to lead her in every thought and action –to be an instrument of justice,a source of consolation,a sacrament of unity,and a manifestation of your faithful covenant.Grant this through that same Jesus Christ, our Lord,who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Credit:Rita Thiron,Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commission

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My Lord Jesus Christ, You who are the Doctor of doctors, the one who restores all that we think is lost.
My Lord Jesus Christ, You who are the Doctor of doctors, the one who restores
all that we think is lost. Who heals the most hardened hearts and who has all
the power to deliver from evil. There is no disease that does not bow to your
presence, that resists your creator power. That is why we ask you, to come with
strength and help us free ourselves from this terrible evil of the coronavirus.
Through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, our Holy Mother, we ask you to
protect us from the coronavirus epidemic. You are the most powerful and
merciful. You can make it happen.
Lord Jesus, we ask You to grant the leaders of the government, and above all,
the medical specialist throughout the world the graces of wisdom and
knowledge to combat the spread of the coronavirus and to find a cure for it.
Holy Virgin Mary, You who trusted in the love of the Father in the face of the
obstacles, challenges and distressing situations that you face together with the
Holy Family, we ask you at this moment to look at us with your merciful eyes,
with your eyes of a sweet mother and to help us get rid of this coronavirus
disease.
You are our refuge in moments of anguish, who can calm this anxiety. You are
the health of the sick. Therefore, we turn to You, who are the Mother of
goodness, so that, before the divine Throne, You may drop our humble request
and help us find healing and protection from this illness.
You who were protected by that Angel during your journey in the desert
protecting The Child of God, we ask you to give us also that strength and faith to
go through this time of trial in sickness.
May all the power of God’s mercy be unleashed and may he relive all the sick
from this sickness. Above all, to all the elderly, whom the coronavirus is
attacking in great magnitude.
We trust in the providence of the eternal Father, we trust that He does not
abandon any of His children, we trust that He is deploying His entire angelic
court to care for all His own, freeing us from all anxiety and putting peace in our
hearts.
O blessed Virgin Mother, protect us, relive us, console us, bring us good and
protect us from this epidemic of the coronavirus. We allow ourselves to be
covered by your mantle of love so that God may send us the strength and health
we need in this moment of anguish and despair due the coronavirus disease.
“Mercy, my God; have mercy on me, for I have sought my refuge in you; I take
refuge in the shadow of your wings until misfortune has passed. I invoke the
most High God, the God who does so much for me”. (Psalm, 57,1)
Holy Spirit of God, come with your peace to fill our hearts with peace as we go
through these dark hours. Help us to do whatever is necessary and within our
reach to fight this epidemic of coronavirus.
Bless, O Holy Spirit of power, all people who are working together to eradicate
this epidemic so that they may work together as one family of God.
Most Holy Trinity, we believe in Your absolute power that heals and restores
everything. We place all our hope in You. You are our strength and our shield; in
You our hearts trust.
Sweet Mother of God, be our refuge in the midst of this anguish. Through your
intercession, may your help each and every one of those who have fallen ill due
to this terrible epidemic of the coronavirus. Immaculate Heart of Mary, we seek
your intercession for us, for our loved ones, for our nations and for this entire
world. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Holy Virgin Mary, come and give me your company.
Holy Virgin Mary, be the salvation of my soul.
Under your protection we take refuge. Holy Mother of God. Do not despise the
pleas we make to you in our needs but deliver us from all dangers. O glorious
and blessed Virgin. Amen