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To: All

Ordinary Time: October 6th

Optional Memorial of St. Bruno, priest; Bl. Marie Rose Durocher, virgin

Daily Readings for: October 06, 2015
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, who called Saint Bruno to serve you in solitude, grant, through his intercession, that amid the changes of this world we may constantly look to you alone. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.


Lord, who enkindled in the heart of Blessed Marie Rose Durocher the flame of ardent charity and a great desire to cooperate in the mission of the Church as a teacher, grant us that same active love, so that, in responding to the needs of the world today, we may lead our brothers and sisters to the blessedness of eternal life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Old Calendar: St. Bruno, confessor ; Other Titles: Eulalie Durocher

St. Bruno was born in 1030 in Cologne, Germany. He became a priest and achieved fame as a professor of theology at Rheims. He decided to leave the world and pursue a life of complete solitude and prayer. He established his hermitage in Chartreuse, near Grenoble, France. Soon he attracted disciples and he established the first monastery of Carthusian monks. Pope Urban II called him to Rome, but later Bruno was able to establish a second monastery in Italy. He died in 1101 at Calabria. This feast is celebrated today both in the Ordinary Form and the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Born at St. Antoine in Quebec, Canada, Eulalie Durocher was the youngest of ten children. Assisting her brother, a parish priest, for 12 years she helped establish the first Canadian parish Sodality for young women. She lived a life of great poverty and remained unswerving in her concern for the poor. In 1843, she founded the Sisters of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary, dedicated to Christian education. This Order first came to the U.S. in 1859.


St. Bruno
St. Bruno, born in Cologne about 1030, was the founder of a religious Order, the Carthusians. His mother was St. Matilda, patroness of Maude, widow of King Henry I. Excepting St. Norbert, he is the only German having that honor. His contemporaries called him the light of the Church, the flower of the clergy, the glory of Germany and France. Early in life he was a canon at Cologne and Rheims. The persecution by the simoniacal archbishop of Rheims, Manasses, hastened his resolve to enter a life of solitude (1084). Legend puts it this way. A famous professor had died. While the Office of the Dead was being chanted at his funeral, he suddenly raised himself up from the coffin and said: "By the just judgment of God have I been accused, judged, damned." Thereupon Bruno renounced the world. He received from Hugo, bishop of Grenoble, a site called Chartreuse (from the color of the surrounding hills) as a place of residence.

The Order founded by Bruno is one of the strictest in the Church. Carthusians follow the Rule of St. Benedict, but accord it a most austere interpretation; there is perpetual silence and complete abstinence from flesh meat (only bread, legumes, and water are taken for nourishment). Bruno sought to revive the ancient eremitical way of life. His Order enjoys the distinction of never becoming unfaithful to the spirit of its founder, never needing a reform. Six years after initiating the foundation, Bruno was called to Rome by Pope Urban II as personal counselor. He complied with a heavy heart. However, when the Pope was forced to flee to Campania because of Emperor Henry IV, Bruno found a wilderness similar to that of Chartreuse at La Torre; there he made a second foundation, which blossomed into a flourishing community. Here in September, 1101, he became severely ill. Having called together his followers, Bruno made a public confession and died on October 6, 1101, at the age of seventy-one.

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: diabolic possession; Ruthenia.

Symbols: flowering crucifix; chalice and host; death's head; scroll with words O bonitas; star on his breast; seven stars; white scapular; olive branch; holding a book and illuminated by a ray of light.

Things to Do:


Blessed Marie Rose
Born October 6, 1811 at St. Antoine in Quebec, Canada, Eulalie Durocher was the tenth of eleven children. She was drawn to the religious life, but turned away because of her frail health. For 12 years she assisted her brother, a parish priest, as a housekeeper. With encouragement of the bishop, in 1843 she founded the Sisters of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary, taking the name Marie-Rose. Her religious order was dedicated to Christian education, especially for the poor. She died on October 6, 1849 of natural causes. This Order first came to the U.S. in 1859. Marie-Rose was beatified on May 23, 1982 by Pope John Paul II.

Patronage: Bodily ills; loss of parents; illness; frail health.

Symbols: Lilies; lilies of the valley; white rose (these flowers are symbols of virginity); book (symbol of monastic rule).

Things to Do:


35 posted on 10/06/2015 6:35:06 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
The Word Among Us

Meditation: Jonah 3:1-10

Saint Bruno, Priest (Optional Memorial)

God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath. (Jonah 3:9)

Wow! It took Jonah only one day to bring the entire city of Nineveh to its knees in repentance. And he had only one message: “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed” (Jonah 3:4). Just that one vague threat of total destruction—from a reluctant prophet, no less—turned the entire city around. Imagine the scene as everyone in the land put on sackcloth and sat in ashes as they cried out words of repentance. And it wasn’t just the people. They also clad their livestock in rags and made the cattle cry out (perhaps by braying?) to God for forgiveness.

If we look at this story with a realist’s eyes, we can see that the Book of Jonah most likely falls into the category of a fable more than an accurate historical account. With its fantastical fishes, its hapless and moody hero, and its comedic touch (a ravenous worm that devours a shade tree overnight—Jonah 4:6-8), the book relies on exaggeration to make its point.

So what is that point? As the next chapter spells out, it’s that God is far more compassionate and caring than we can imagine. Again and again in this book, we see him pardoning, teaching, cajoling, even playing practical jokes on people in the hopes that they will turn away from sin and embrace his commands.

Despite the Ninevites’ over-the-top fear of the “blazing wrath” of God, even despite Jonah’s threat of the city’s total collapse, God shows himself to be “gracious and merciful … slow to anger, abounding in kindness, repenting of punishment” (Jonah 3:9; 4:2). He is playful, not peevish; merciful, not maniacal; kind, not cranky. He is a good God who wants to see everyone—even pagans—healed, whole, and happy.

In two months, Pope Francis will open a Holy Year of Mercy. For an entire year, he will call us to rediscover how merciful, kind, loving, and gracious our heavenly Father is. As we approach this special year of grace, keep the story of Jonah in mind. Remember that God is always ready to forgive. He is always ready to welcome you into his warm embrace. He loves you!

“Father, I am overwhelmed by your mercy. Help me to receive your love today so that my life can be a witness to your goodness and kindness.”

Psalm 130:1-4, 7-8
Luke 10:38-42

36 posted on 10/06/2015 6:41:24 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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