Feast Of Saint Michael The Archangel - 29 September

Quoted from www./library/feast-of-saint-michael-the-archangel/ [1]:

(A Sermon of Pope Saint Gregory the Great)

We speak of nine orders of Angels, because we know, by the testimony of Holy Scripture, that there are the following: Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Dominations, Thrones, Cherubim and Seraphim. Nearly every page of Scripture witnesses to the fact that there are Angels and Archangels. The prophetic Books, as has been noted often, speak of Cherubim and Seraphim. Four more orders are enumerated by Saint Paul the Apostle, writing to the Ephesians, when he says, “Above all Principality, and Power, and Virtue, and Dominion (Domination).” And again, writing to the Colossians, he says, “Whether Thrones, or Dominations, or Principalities, or Powers.” When, then, we add the Thrones to those he mentions to the Ephesians, there are five orders, to which are to be added Angels, Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim, certainly making nine orders of Angels in all.

It must be realized that “Angel” is the name of their office, not of their nature. For the holy Spirits of the heavenly homeland are always Spirits, but they cannot always be called Angels; they are Angels only when they are announcing something. And so the Psalmist (Psalm 103:4) says, “Who makest Thy Angels Spirits,” as if he said plainly that, when He wills, He uses as Messengers those Spirits who are always His. Those who announce less important things are called Angels, and those who announce the highest things are called Archangels. And so not any Angel but the Archangel Gabriel was sent to Mary; for this ministry, it was fitting to have the highest Angel, since he was to announce the greatest news to all. These Archangels are also given special names to describe their particular virtue. For Michael means “Who is like to God?” Gabriel means “Strength of God,” and Raphael “Medicine of God.”

Whenever something is to be done needing great power, Michael is sent forth so that from his action and his name we may understand that no one can do what God can do. Hence that old cruel enemy who through pride desired to be like God, saying, “I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the Most High,”(Isaias 14:13-14) is shown at the end of the world, left to his own strength and about to undergo the final punishment, as destined to fight with Michael the Archangel, as Saint John says, “And there was a great battle in Heaven: Michael and his Angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought, and his angels: And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in Heaven.” (Apocalypse 12:7-8). Similarly, Gabriel was sent to Mary; he who is called “Strength of God” came to announce Him Who deigned to appear in humility to conquer the powers of the air. And Raphael is interpreted, as we said, “Medicine of God,” for when he touched the eyes of Tobias to do the work of healing, he dispelled the night of his blindness.

[1] www./library/feast-of-saint-michael-the-archangel/

Feast Of Saint Matthew: Apostle and Evangelist - 21 September

Quoted from catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com [1]:

St. Matthew, the holy Apostle and Evangelist, was born at Cana in Galilee, where our Lord wrought his first miracle, by changing water into wine. The Gospel says that he was a publican or tax-collector, an office greatly despised by the Jews, first, because they considered themselves a free people, and thought the government had no right to exact taxes from them; and secondly, because those who were in this office generally defrauded the people, extorting from them more than was lawful. Hence they were classed and counted among the public sinners.

One day, when Matthew was sitting in his custom-house, in the discharge of his duty, Christ passed with His disciples, and seeing Matthew, He looked lovingly on him and said: "Follow me!" Enlightened and moved by divine grace, Matthew arose, and following Christ, invited Him into his house, where he prepared a banquet for Him, to which he invited many publicans and sinners, that they might hear the instructions of the Saviour and be converted. The Pharisees complained of it to the disciples of the Saviour, saying; "Why does your master eat with publicans and sinners? " Christ answered for His disciples and said: "They that are well need not the physician, but they that are sick." By these words, He desired to intimate that they had no cause to murmur at His associating with sinners, as one could not reasonably reprove a physician for being with the sick; and He had come into the world to convert sinners, as a physician goes to heal the sick. When the feast was ended, Matthew followed Christ and was numbered by Him among the Apostles. Having received the Holy Ghost, on the day of Pentecost, he labored like the other Apostles for the conversion of the Jews....

[1] http://www.catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/St.%20Matthew%20popup.html#:~:text=Feast%20Day%3A%20September%2021st%20St.%20Matthew%2C%20the%20holy,his%20first%20miracle%2C%20by%20changing%20water%20into%20wine., italics original.

Feast Of The Stigmata Of Saint Francis Of Assisi - 17 September

Quoted from groups.google.com [1]:

Francis imitated Christ so perfectly that towards the end of his life

our Lord wished to point him out to the world as the faithful imitator

of the Crucified, by imprinting His five wounds upon his body.

Two years before his death, when, according to his custom, Francis had

repaired to Mt. La Verna to spend the 40 days preceding the feast of

St. Michael the Archangel in prayer and fasting, this wonderful event

took place. St. Bonaventure gives the following account of it:

"Francis was raised to God in the ardor of his seraphic love, wholly

transformed by sweet compassion into Him, who, of His exceeding

charity, was pleased to be crucified for us. On the morning of the

feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, as he was praying in a

secret and solitary place on the mountain, Francis beheld a seraph

with six wings all afire, descending to him from the heights of

heaven. As the seraph flew with great swiftness towards the man of

God, there appeared amid the wings the form of one crucified, with his

hands and feet stretched out and fixed to the cross. Two wings rose

above the head, two were stretched forth in flight, and two veiled the

whole body.

"Francis wondered greatly at the appearance of so novel and marvelous

a vision. But knowing that the weakness of suffering could nowise be

reconciled with the immortality of the seraphic spirit, he understood

the vision as a revelation of the Lord and that it was being presented

to his eyes by Divine Providence so that the friend of Christ might be

transformed into Christ crucified, not through martyrdom of the flesh,

but through a spiritual holocaust.

"The vision, disappearing, left behind it a marvelous fire in the

heart of Francis, and no less wonderful token impressed on his flesh.

For there began immediately to appear in his hands and in his feet

something like nails as he had just seen them in the vision of the

Crucified. The heads of the nails in the hands and feet were round and

black, and the points were somewhat long and bent, as if they had been

turned back. On the right side, as if it had been pierced by a lance,

was the mark of a red wound, from which blood often flowed and stained

his tunic."

Thus far the account of St. Bonaventure. Although St. Francis strove

in every way to conceal the marvelous marks which until then no man

had seen, he was not able to keep them a complete secret from the

brethren. After his death they were carefully examined, and they were

attested by an ecclesiastical decree. To commemorate the importance of

the five wounds, Pope Benedict XI instituted a special feast which is

celebrated on September 17th, not only by all branches of the

Franciscan Order, but also in the Roman missal and breviary.

[1] https://groups.google.com/g/alt.religion.christian.catholic/c/m6wzn-oEUmk?pli=1

Feast Of The Seven Sorrows Of The Blessed Virgin Mary - 15 September

Quoted from Catholic Education Resource Center [1]:

The title, Our Lady of Sorrows, given to our Blessed Mother focuses on her intense suffering and grief during the passion and death of our Lord. Traditionally, this suffering was not limited to the passion and death event; rather, it comprised the seven dolors or seven sorrows of Mary, which were foretold by the Priest Simeon who proclaimed to Mary, This child [Jesus] is destined to be the downfall and the rise of many in Israel, a sign that will be opposed and you yourself shall be pierced with a sword so that the thoughts of many hearts may be laid bare (Luke 2:34-35). These seven sorrows of our Blessed Mother included the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt; the loss and finding of the child Jesus in the Temple; Mary's meeting of Jesus on His way to Calvary; Mary's standing at the foot of the cross when our Lord was crucified; her holding of Jesus when He was taken down from the cross; and then our Lord's burial. In all, the prophesy of Simeon that a sword would pierce our Blessed Mother's heart was fulfilled in these events. For this reason, Mary is sometimes depicted with her heart exposed and with seven swords piercing it. More importantly, each new suffering was received with the courage, love, and trust that echoed her fiat, let it be done unto me according to Thy word, first uttered at the Annunciation....

[1] https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/the-feast-of-our-lady-of-sorrows.html

Feast Of The Exaltation Of The Holy Cross - 14 September

Quoted from Learn Religions [1]:

History of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

After the death and resurrection of Christ, both the Jewish and Roman authorities in Jerusalem made efforts to obscure the Holy Sepulchre, Christ's tomb in the garden near the site of His crucifixion. The earth had been mounded up over the site, and pagan temples had been built on top of it. The Cross on which Christ had died had been hidden (tradition said) by the Jewish authorities somewhere in the vicinity.

Saint Helena and the Finding of the True Cross

According to tradition, first mentioned by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem in 348, Saint Helena, nearing the end of her life, decided under divine inspiration to travel to Jerusalem in 326 to excavate the Holy Sepulchre and attempt to locate the True Cross. A Jew by the name of Judas, aware of the tradition concerning the hiding of the Cross, led those excavating the Holy Sepulchre to the spot in which it was hidden.

Three crosses were found on the spot. According to one tradition, the inscription Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum ("Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews") remained attached to the True Cross. According to a more common tradition, however, the inscription was missing, and Saint Helena and Saint Macarius, the bishop of Jerusalem, assuming that one was the True Cross and the other two belonged to the thieves crucified alongside Christ, devised an experiment to determine which was the True Cross.

In one version of the latter tradition, the three crosses were taken to a woman who was near death; when she touched the True Cross, she was healed. In another, the body of a dead man was brought to the place where the three crosses were found, and laid upon each cross. The True Cross restored the dead man to life....

 

[1] https://www.learnreligions.com/feast-exaltation-of-the-holy-cross-542472, bold and italics original.

Feast Of The Nativity Of The Blessed Virgin Mary - 8 September

Quoted from franciscan media [1]:

The Church has celebrated Mary’s birth since at least the sixth century. A September birth was chosen because the Eastern Church begins its Church year with September. The September 8 date helped determine the date for the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8.

Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s birth. However, the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James   fills in the gap. This work has no historical value, but it does reflect the development of Christian piety. According to this account, Anna and Joachim are infertile but pray for a child. They receive the promise of a child who will advance God’s plan of salvation for the world. Such a story, like many biblical counterparts, stresses the special presence of God in Mary’s life from the beginning.

Saint Augustine connects Mary’s birth with Jesus’ saving work. He tells the earth to rejoice and shine forth in the light of her birth. “She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through her birth the nature inherited from our first parents is changed.” The opening prayer at Mass speaks of the birth of Mary’s Son as the dawn of our salvation, and asks for an increase of peace.

[1] https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/nativity-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary, italics original.