November Saints and Feasts

Feast Day: November 1

"It is good for us to let ourselves be provoked by the saints, who never had half measures here on earth and who from there above ‘cheer’ us, so that we choose God, humility, meekness, mercy and purity, because we are impassioned about heaven rather than earth… It is not a question of doing extraordinary things, but of following this path every day that takes us to heaven, to our families, to our homes.” (Pope Francis, Angelus of 11/1/18)

Feast Day: November 2

In keeping with this widespread custom of remembering the dead in November, the monks especially remember individual deceased family members, friends, and benefactors in their prayers and in the Masses on All Souls' Day. In addition, during the entire month of November, beginning on All Souls' Day, the Monastery keeps a silver box on the high altar containing the names those faithful departed mentioned to the Monastery for prayer remembrance, and Masses are offered during the month for these souls. If you would like the names of your loved ones added to those remembered in prayer by the monks, please place their names in the silver box on the altar.

The photo to the right is of a cross in a choir stall in the Abbey church. Following a practice of St. Louis Abbey, a cross is left at the place of a recently deceased monk for thirty days. This image was of the cross in the stall of Brother Francis Crowley.

Feast Day: November 4

“My beloved parents gave me the name Karol (Charles), which was also my father's name. … How often I have knelt before his relics in Milan Cathedral; how often I have thought about his life, contemplating in my mind the gigantic figure of this man of God and servant of the Church, Charles Borromeo, Cardinal, Bishop of Milan, and a man of the Council. He is one of the great protagonists of the deep reform of the 16th century church, carried out by the Council of Trent, which will always remain linked with his name. Moreover, he was a servant of souls, who never let himself be intimidated; a servant of the suffering, of the sick, of those condemned to death. My Patron Saint!” (Pope Saint John Paul II, November 4, 1978)

Feast Day: November 5

We join our confreres across the EBC in prayer for relatives and benefactors who have died. Benedict XVI notes: “St Augustine says something which is a great thought and a great comfort here. He interprets the passage from the Psalms (105.4) ‘Seek his face always’ as saying: this applies ‘forever’; to all eternity. God is so great that we never finish our searching. He is always new. With God there is perpetual unending encounter, with new discoveries and new joy” (Last Testament).

Illustration by Jose Soares

Feast Day: November 9

This Basilica, called “mother and head of all churches of the City and the World,” first constructed after the Edict of Milan granted Christians freedom to practice faith, is the cathedral church of Rome and seat of the Roman pontiff. “Honoring the Basilica (expresses) love and veneration for the Roman Church, which, as St. Ignatius of Antioch affirms, ‘presides over the charity’ of the entire Catholic communion.” (Pope Benedict, Nov 9, 2008)

Feast Day: November 11

The story of Martin – fourth century soldier, hermit, monk, and bishop – sharing half of his cloak with a beggar is well known, and is associated with the origins of the words “chaplain” and “chapel,” which are said to derive from the “cappalenu,” the reliquary used to carry his cloak, which by the 8^th century had become a cherished relic. Many French people saw Martin’s intercession at work in the Armistice of 1918.

Feast Day: November 13

The number of Benedictine saints is large: “At the beginning of the fourteenth century the order is estimated to have comprised the enormous number of 37,000 monasteries. It had up to that time given to the Church no less than 24 popes, 200 cardinals, 7,000 archbishops, 15,000 bishops, and over 1,500 canonized saints.” (Catholic Encyclopedia) Seven more centuries have only added to this sanctified group. You can find them listed at archive.osb.org, from Abbo to Zosimus, all gathered under one faith and one Rule.

Feast Day: November 14

We pray particularly for the departed of this monastic community. 

Feast Day: November 16

This Benedictine nun of the thirteenth century is the only female saint to receive the title “Great,” awarded that title by Benedict XIV in the 18^th century. Benedict XVI said of her: “…She was an exceptional woman, endowed with special natural talents and extraordinary gifts of grace, the most profound humility and ardent zeal for her neighbor’s salvation. She was in close communion with God both in contemplation and in her readiness to go to the help of those in need… Gertrude was an extraordinary student, she learned everything that can be learned of the sciences of the trivium and quadrivium, the education of that time; she was fascinated by knowledge and threw herself into profane studies with zeal and tenacity, achieving scholastic successes beyond every expectation… she devoted herself to writing and popularizing the truth of faith with clarity and simplicity, with grace and persuasion, serving the Church faithfully and lovingly so as to be helpful to and appreciated by theologians and devout people.” And she is the patroness of the Manquehue community of women that has served us here at the Abbey over the past few years.

Feast Day: November 18

The importance of St. Peter’s Basilica, as well as that of St. Paul outside the Walls, is celebrated in this feast. The feast calls our attention to these pillars of the Christian faith, as well as the sacred spaces we have available to commemorate them, edifices built at the sites of their graves. The Emperor Constantine ordered the construction of the original churches at these sites in the 4^th century.

Feast Day: November 20

This pious king of 9^th century England is said to have retired for a year to memorize the entire psalter, and died a martyr at the hands of the invading Danes, proclaiming his faith despite the cruel tortures to which he was subjected.

Feast Day: November 21

The apocryphal Protoevangelium of James recounts the story the childless Joachim and Anne, blessed by the Lord with the child Mary, bringing the three-year old child to the Temple in Jerusalem to consecrate her to God. This day reminds us of the holiness of Mary and is an ancient feast, being celebrated at least from the 6^th century, universally since the 16^th century.

Feast Day: November 22

One of seven women, together with our Lady, who are commemorated in the canon of the Mass, Cecilia is the patroness of musicians. Cecilia was a 2^nd century Roman martyr, whose home is said to have been in Trastevere. She is frequently depicted with musical instruments of all varieties, and so has a particular connection to the liturgy. We have little concrete historical information about her, but much devotion. Legend tells us she was a young Christian betrothed against her will to a Roman named Valerian who was converted through her influence, later to be martyred. She distributed her possessions to the poor, and asked that her home become a church. Though struck three times on the neck with a sword, she lived on for three days.

Feast Day: November 23

Clement represents another saint with the special honor of mention in the canon of the Mass. Indeed, he is considered the first “Apostolic Father” of the church, fourth in the 1^st century line the proceeds from St. Peter himself, leading the early church from 88-99 AD. Tertullian tells us that he was consecrated by St. Peter. His writings were held in high regard by the early church, nearly gaining canonical status.

Last Sunday of Ordinary Time

We complete the liturgical year this week, heralding Christ the King. “It has long been a common custom to give to Christ the metaphorical title of ‘King,’ because of the high degree of perfection whereby he excels all creatures. So he is said to reign ‘in the hearts of men,’ both by reason of the keenness of his intellect and the extent of his knowledge, and also because he is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind. He reigns, too, in the wills of men, for in him the human will was perfectly and entirely obedient to the Holy Will of God, and further by his grace and inspiration he so subjects our free will as to incite us to the most noble endeavors. He is King of hearts, too, by reason of his ‘charity which exceedeth all knowledge,’ and his mercy and kindness, which draw all men to him. For never has it been known, nor will it ever be, that man be loved so much and so universally as by Jesus Christ. But if we ponder this matter more deeply, we cannot but see that the title and the power of King belong to Christ as man in the strict and proper sense too. For it is only as man that he may be said to have received from the Father ‘power and glory and a kingdom,’ since the Word of God, as consubstantial with the Father, has all things in common with him, and therefore has necessarily supreme and absolute dominion over all things created.” From Pope Pius XI, “Quas Primas,” the encyclical inserting this feast into the universal calendar. December 11, 1925.

Feast Day: November 30

Pope Benedict notes that, “the first striking characteristic of Andrew is his name: it is not Hebrew, as might have been expected, but Greek, indicative of a certain cultural openness in his family that cannot be ignored.” Andrew according to John’s gospel previously a disciple of John the Baptist, is the apostle known as the “Protoclete” – the first called – a title still familiar in the Orthodox traditions. Tradition tells us Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross.