October 28th - Feast of Ss. Simon and Jude
St. Simon the zealot
Patron of tanners
St. Simon the Apostle, one of the Twelve, was called the "the zealot"
owing to his zeal for the old law, which he showed before becoming a
follower of Jesus. He is usually pictured with a saw, the weapon with
which he was martyred.
St. Judas Thaddeus
Patron of lost causes
St. Judas Thaddeus, also called "Jude" to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot,
was one of the Twelve Apostles and a relative of Jesus and of the Apostle James
("the brother of the Lord"). St. Jude is depicted holding a club, the weapon of his
martyrdom, as well as a flame over his head, representing his presence at
Pentecost. The icon he holds is called "The Image of Edessa", an impression of
the God-Man's face on a piece of cloth. St. Jude gained his role as the patron
of desperate cases by presenting this image to the ailing King Abgar of Edessa,
effecting a miraculous healing.
Saturday of Our Lady
St. Alcuin of York
Eminent medieval educator and liturgist
The practice of celebrating Holy Mass and the Divine Office each Saturday
in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary (in the absence of a feast or a feria of higher rank) is attributed to St. Alcuin of York. Alcuin developed a full
weekly set of votive masses (one for each day of the week save Sundays)
and helped to standardize the translation of the Bible and the readings of
the Mass throughout Europe. St. Alcuin was a wonderful preserver of ancient
knowledge and a defender of the Truth against heresy, in particular the
heresy of Adoptionism.
November 1st - All Saints Day
All Saints
All Ye Holy Angels, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors,
Virgins. The little and the great, the venerated and the unknown, intercede
for us to the Lord our God
One of the highest solemnities in the Church calendar, the feast of All Saints
honors all the holy ones in Heaven, both those who have and have not been raised
to the altar. In this great feast we hopefully call upon the intercession of all
those who now enjoy their eternal reward.
November 2nd - Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day)
All Souls
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, give them eternal rest
The celebration of a feast in honor of the souls of faithful Christians in Purgatory
goes back at least as far as the sixth century in Benedictine monasteries. The
"Commemoratio Omnium Fidelium Defunctis Ordinis Nostri" is still part of the Benedictine
Missal today, occurring in November. The tradition of commemorating all the Holy Souls
on the day following All Saints Day may have originated with Benedictine monk
St. Odilo of Cluny.
November 4th
St. Charles Borromeo
Patron of seminarians
If we wish to make any progress in the service of God we must begin every day
of our life with new eagerness. We must keep ourselves in the presence of God as much
as possible and have no other view or end in all our actions but the divine honor.
November 10th
The Dedication of the Archbasilica of Our Savior
St. John Lateran
Quam terribilis est [ . . . ] locus iste! Non est hic aliud nisi
domus Dei, et porta caeli.
(Genesis 28:17)
Those were the words of Jacob when he woke up from his dream of the ladder with the angels ascending and descending upon it. Terrible is this place—it is nothing short of the house of God, and the gate of heaven.
November 10th
St. Martin of Tours
Patron of soldiers
Happy Veterans' Day!
St. Martin, pray for all veterans, both living and dead.
November 13th
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
Patron of orphans
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the great Italian missionary, was the first American
citizen to be canonized. She adopted the name Xavier from St. Francis
Xavier, the patron of missions, because of her lifelong desire to be a
missionary.
November 14th
St. Josaphat of Polotsk
Great promoter of Christian Unity
St. Josaphat, pray for us.
November 15th
St. Albert the Great
Master of learning and teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas
Saint Albert the Great, pray for us.
November 16th
St. Gertrude the Great
Blessed dwelling-place of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
St. Gertrude was a 13th-century Benedictine abbess, mystic and visionary of
profound sanctity and great intelligence. The secrets of the Sacred Heart
were revealed to her in visions, long before the devotion to the same would
be popularized by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. St. Gertrude composed this
marvelous prayer to one's guardian angel:
O, most holy Angel of God, appointed by God to be my guardian, I give thee thanks for all the benefits which thou hast ever bestowed on me, body and soul. I praise and glorify thee that thou hast condescended to assist me with such patient fidelity, and to defend me against all the snares of my enemies. Blessed be the hour in which thou wert assigned me for my guardian, my defender and my patron. In acknowledgement and return for all thy loving ministries to me, I offer thee the infinitely precious and noble heart of Jesus, and resolve ever to obey thee henceforth, and most faithfully to serve my God. Amen.
November 17th
St. Gregory Thaumaturgus
The Wonderworker
The third-century Church Father, St. Gregory the Wonder-Worker, is among
other things a great model of faith to us. Gregory earned his name through
his multitude of miracles, most notably the time when he wanted to build a
church and, finding a mountain in the very place where he intended to erect
that church, commanded the mountain to be removed, and it was removed.
He believed that what he said would come to pass, and it came to pass.
November 19th
St. Elizabeth of Hungary
The Princess who loved poverty
Born the daughter of the King of Hungary, Elizabeth was a pious girl who
always desired poverty and to love the poor. Shortly before her death she
became a Third Order Franciscan in Germany and tended to the sick.
November 21st
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The greatest feast of the dedication of a church in the Church Calendar
Today we celebrate the dedication of a temple greater than any
other—the temple in which God Himself was pleased to dwell.
It is a long held belief in the church that Mary, at a very young age, left
her parents to live in the shadow of the temple and serve the Lord.
November 28th
St. Catherine Labouré
Visionary of the Miraculous Medal
I knew nothing. I was nothing. For this reason God picked me out.