November 22, 2022
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Visions of the Sacred Heart
For two years between 1673 and 1675, a Visitation nun by the name of Margaret Mary Alacoque had multiple visions. In one of those visions, she said Jesus gave her 12 promises to those who venerated the Sacred Heart.
They include the promise to give them graces they would need in life, bring peace to their families, comfort them in their trials, give them a secure refuge during life and in death, bless their undertakings, bring mercy to sinners, make lukewarm souls more fervent, allow fervent souls to grow in holiness and perfection, bless every place where the image of Sacred Heart is shown, and give priests the gift of influencing hardened hearts, honor in the Sacred Heart those who honor it, and provide eternal happiness. Not everybody believed her, and Margaret Mary endured a lot of skepticism, which is somewhat understandable. Some of the other nuns were hostile to her, theologians who came to visit suggested she was delusional, but she stuck to her guns and eventually they came around.
Born in France in 1647, she served as novice mistress and assistant superior, until her death in 1690, at the age of 43. While being anointed, she said: “I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus.”
She was canonized in 1920.
The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated on the eighth day of the Feast of Corpus Christi, nineteen days after Pentecost Sunday. You’ll have to look that up.
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We get a little newsletter from a troupe of characters called, "Nuns 4 Fun." They are most famous for their silly plays about growing up Catholic. You may remember, "Late Nite Catechism" or "Bible Bingo" or "Mother Superior's Ho-Ho-Holy Night." They are saterical and funny, and each month they mail us their "St. of the Month," and their "Like 'nun' other"... I thought I would share....
This month is particularlly "Halloween" appropriate!
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October - I think our crazy friends over at Nuns4Fun.com have lost their minds on this one...
Saint* Christina the AstonishingShe was a strange girl. She had seizures and one day she appeared to be dead. But at her own funeral, she sat up in her coffin. Then she told everybody she had died, she went to hell and purgatory, and then she went to heaven.
But God told her to go back to Earth and keep living. So she woke up in her coffin. But from that day on, she told everybody she couldn’t stand the smell of human flesh. In fact, she would climb high into trees, sit in the church rafters, anything to get away from people.
Not surprisingly, she’s the patron saint of Therapists and Lunatics.
[*So, after further reading, apparently the 'paperwork' was never finished for Christina, and she was never officially canonized. Follow this link for more of her ASTONISHING life.]
Saint Winifred of WalesShe has a pretty simple story. She was a beautiful girl and there was a wealthy man who wanted to marry her, but she didn’t want that. There are a lot of saint stories like this. There are lots of MeToo stories in the Bible. But Winifred is a little special. See the guy had her beheaded and her head fell to the ground and where it fell, a stream of water gushed forth. Like the Lourdes of Wales.
At some point, Winifred’s uncle found her head in the stream and re-attached it. Yes, he put it back on her body and she lived for many more years.
Where do you think they got the idea for that Re-Animator movie?
(Serious link: Winifred of Wales.)
Saint WilgefortisPatron saint of the best Halloween costume. She was about to be married off to some awful guy her father picked, and she didn’t want it. So she prayed and prayed to God to make her ugly. And when she woke up, she had a full beard. Menopause overnight!
Of course, the guy left her at the altar. And her father was so mad, he had her crucified. Her holy card shows her on the cross, with her full beard. It confused many, who thought the image was Jesus on the cross, but it’s not. She’s called Wilgefortis in Wales, but she’s known as Unencumber in England and Liberata in Italy.
She’s also the patron saint against unwanted suitors and trying husbands. -
Origin Story of Halloween
One can’t think of October without thinking of Halloween.
The origin of Halloween can be traced to the festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in, which rhymes with cow-in), meaning summer’s end. The ancient Gaelic festival celebrated the end of the harvest and the beginning of the “dark half” of the year.
The ancient Celts believed that the veil between the living and the dead was at its thinnest during Samhain. This was an ideal time to communicate with the dead. The Celts also believed that ghosts could pass through the veil and damage their crops. So they built huge bonfires to ward off the spirits.
In later years, the Irish used hollowed-out, candlelit turnips carved with a demon’s face to frighten away spirits. They brought this idea with them to the United States, where they used pumpkins instead of turnips. Thank goodness for that!
When the Romans took over some of the Celt lands, they borrowed some of the traditions, too. Including that Samhain celebration. Who wouldn’t! Bonfires, dancing in the moonlight, enjoying a bit of the harvest.
Now fast forward to the Roman Catholic Church, which changed up the whole holiday, creating All-Hallows Eve, and All Saints’ Day, and eventually All Souls’ Day. Halloween is part of a trilogy, or trinity, of celebrations.
And the whole tradition made it to the U.S., where we enjoy parties, trick-or-treating, scary movies, and trying to spook our friends! Oh, and honor the Saints and the Souls. Can’t forget them.
OCTOBER is also the Official Month of the Holy Rosary
It’s officially October, which means it’s officially the month of the Holy Rosary! Are you as excited as we are to celebrate?
These three quotes will help you understand why the Church sets aside an entire month out of every year to focus on praying the Holy Rosary.
“The Rosary is the ‘weapon’ for these times.”
– St. Padre Pio
“One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, Our Lady will save the world.”
– St. Dominic
"There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.”
– Sister Lucia dos Santos
The devotion to the Rosary is the key to overcoming the problems that our world is facing. -
Like Nun-other - still kicking at 102!!!! (as of 5/22)How many nuns do you know who have a bobblehead figure made of their likeness? How many do you know who have TWO bobbleheads?
Meet Sr. Jean Dolores Schmidt, Loyola University’s basketball mascot and biggest fan. Simply known as Sr. Jean, she’s the chaplain for the Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team and a religious sister of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary . This year, as the Ramblers made it to the Final Four in the NCAA (college basketball) tournament, Sr. Jean became a national figure. How many other 99-year-old nuns can say that?Sr. Jean was born on August 21, 1919 in San Francisco and considered becoming a nun while she was in third grade. As a student at St. Paul's High School , she played on the girl’s basketball team. After graduating from high school in 1937, she entered the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary convent in Iowa. After living and teaching in Los Angeles, Sr. Jean moved to Chicago and taught at Mundelein College, which was right across the street from Loyola.She became the Team Chaplain for the Ramblers in 1994, and has been their good luck mascot ever since. Ultimately, Loyola lost to Michigan, but nobody doubts that Sr. Jean won’t be there rooting them on next season! -
Like 'nun'-other: Sister Clare of Assisi
The daughter of a count and countess, Clare was destined for a different life when she met St. Francis of Assisi while he was preaching in the streets. At the age of 15, she had refused to be married. Taken with this man, Clare began actively following his teachings. They became fast friends. One day she confided that she had a desire to live for God.On Palm Sunday in 1212, her bishop presented Clare with a palm, which she took as a sign. In the middle of the night, when she was 18 years old, Clare ran away from her palace home and entered religious life.
She eventually took the veil from St Francis at the Church of Our Lady of the Angels in Assisi, Italy.
After that, Clare founded the Order of Poor Ladies, and led it for 40 years. She wrote their Rule of Life, the first set of monastic guidelines known to have been written by a woman.
Everywhere the Franciscans established themselves throughout Europe, the Poor Clares joined them, eventually opening orders in several countries. Leading lives of prayer and silence, they had no money, and relied upon charity to get by.
To this day, the Poor Clares are a cloistered order of nuns.
Clare died at the age of 59 in 1253, after a long illness. After her death, her followers changed their name from the Order of Poor Ladies to the Poor Clares. Here’s an interesting tidbit. Apparently, when she was too ill to attend Mass, Clare could see and hear Mass on the wall of her bedroom. Remember, this was in 1253.
So when this new-fangled medium of television was invented, Pope Pius XII needed a patron saint, so he turned to Clare. She could see and hear Mass on her wall? Sounded like television to those Vatican researchers. That’s why St. Clare is the patron saint of television [and as time moved on, also the computer and internet].