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OCTOBER
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"You
crown the year with Your goodness, abundance flows in Your steps, (Psalm 64).
And so returns October, a bough laden with fruit for our purpose here, the fruit
of sanctity.
Many illustrious names
are found on the calendar this month. |
| 15th
October: | The
big date for Teresian Carmelites is the 15th, when we commemorate our foundress,
St. Teresa of Jesus. |
Teresa
was born in Avila in 1515. La Madre is a national figure in Spain, one of the
'greats' of history in any century.
Apart
from her sanctity, there is her immense literary output in an age without typewriter
or computer. Late into the night, her quilled pen scratched along; whether describing
mystical prayer, or dealing with business matters, personal correspondence with
kings, prelates and ordinary folk, or thanking for gifts received, she gave her
full attention to each one. |  |
She
was so grateful that she said of herself: "I could be suborned with a sardine".
Then
there were her incredible journeys in mule-carts across the sierras to found houses
of prayer, where many young women were gathered to her, searching for God in a
life of prayer. Her books on prayer are spiritual classics. Among the best known
are: The Way of Perfection; The Life; The Foundations and The Interior Castle. |
 | With
all that, she was the most human and womanly of saints. Her wit and wisdom are
proverbial. She might even be proclaimed the patron saint of friendship, if that
title had not already been given to St. Aelred. |
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1st
October: 
| Then,
on October 1st, is commemorated the French daughter of St. Teresa, Thérèse
of Lisieux, the Little Flower, a title given her in the 1920s by the Americans.
Little Oak might be more to the point, for she withstood many a spiritual storm,
as she admitted herself.
Once she had overcome the sensitiveness of childhood,
she went from strength to strength. Pope Pius X1 called her "The greatest
saint of modern times". |
Jesus'
own words were realized in her: "Whoever becomes as a little child is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven". (Matt 18:4). Trust is characteristic
of a child. Thérèse said of herself that what pleased God most in
her was her love for her littleness and the blind trust she had in His mercy.
She also said that if she had on her conscience all the sins one could commit,
broken hearted with sorrow she would throw herself into God's arms, certain of
His mercy. It is not easy for us to realize the impact her spirituality of childhood
had on the Church of her day. It was something of a breakthrough to learn that
sanctity does not consist in the extraordinary, or in heroics, but only in love
lived in ordinary paths. She said that, at the end, she would appear before God
"with empty hands".
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* * * * * * 2nd
October: | October
2nd is the feast of the Guardian Angels. |
| To
some people angels are but myths. Nothing could be further from the truth. Angels
have an intrinsic connection with the cosmos; they are the highest rung on the
ladder of creation - mineral, plant, animal, human, angel. |  |
Like us, they have free will and self determination,
so we can speak of bad angels as well as of good ones, hence the need for discernment
on our part.
That each of us has a personal angel is attested to by Jesus
Himself, when He warns not to despise children for "their angels see the
face of My Father in Heaven". (Matt. 18:10).
Angels are active in
the world. When we are at Mass we are accompanied by millions of angels. They
will surround us at all times if we ask them. Asking is necessary, for they respect
our freedom and will never 'gate-crash'. We should ask them for a listening ear
to catch their promptings and a docile heart, attentive to God's will.
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