Saturday thoughts
Laura DeMaria
Two things to mention this Saturday morning: one is that the novena to St. Jude starts today, per Pray More Novenas. St. Jude, as you probably know, is the patron saint of lost causes. I can think of a few of those. Please pray for me, and I will pray for you.
The other thing is, there is wonderful hubbub around the canonization of Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman, which occurred a week ago, which means I am learning much about him. The more I learn about this man, the more I love him, and his very ordinary, but brilliant spirituality. It has been noted that he was not a mystic, a stigmatist, or anything like that that would mark him as somehow different. In fact, he was very much the proponent of holiness achieved through commitment to doing the ordinary extraordinarily well.
From Fr. Matt Fish, Cardinal Newman wrote: “Do not lie in bed beyond the due time of rising; give your first thoughts to God; make a good visit to the Blessed Sacrament; say the Angelus devoutly; eat and drink to God’s glory; say the Rosary well; be recollected; keep out bad thoughts; make your evening meditation well; examine yourself daily; go to bed in good time; and you are already perfect.”
This also leads me to the thinking I have been doing about how lay people can (and must) have an order to life, just as those in religious life do. I am reading St. Francis de Sales’s Introduction to the Devout Life and think Newman would agree with him on many points.
Bishop Barron has featured Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman in his “Pivotal Players” series and between now and October 31, you can catch the full one-hour episode for free here. It is simple and impactful in that Bishop Barron way - definitely recommend.
Have a very glorious weekend.