Saints, Crankiness, and Sanctity

St. Jerome's feast day was today. Jerome is noted for his tremendous dedication to the work of translating the entire Bible from several languages into Latin. Latin was the "common" language of the Roman empire in his day. The Pope at the time commissioned Jerome to do the work of translating. It seems Jerome had a cranky personality. He is sometimes pictured as working in a cave. More artists have him seated at a desk surrounded by manuscripts, and his faithful lion resting at his feet. Jerome must have had some persuasive powers in order to find rabbis and experts in languages of the Middle East to assist him. He found time to have a correspondence with Augustine of Hippo, the famous St. Augustine. The two remain as great saints who had many widely differing opinions. Their exchange of letters gives us hope for sanctity--if they could make it, so can we! May we be as devoted to a prayerful reading of the Word of God as was St. Jerome and his contemporary, St. Augustine. Lectio Divina is a way of praying the Scriptures. Sister Elena Bossetti's book on Lectio Divina are a wonderful way to pray with the Bible, You can find her titles on the web at www.pauline.org.

Many news outlets give us sound bytes of our Holy Father, Pope Francis. His recent interview given in Italy and then transmitted in various languages is available at this link: Pope Francis; Interview from America Magazine http://www.americamagazine.org/pope-interview.
It will take time to read it all, but it's worth the effort. Pope Francis by his word and example is teaching us how to live the Gospel today.

October 1st the Church commemorates St. Theresa Martin, a Carmelite cloistered nun. She died in Lisieux, France at the age of 24. She is commonly known as "The Little flower," or St, Theresa of the Child Jesus, or St. Theresa of Lisieux. Theresa is known for her "Little Way." Her spirituality was based on love of God expressed by doing each little task in life with extraordinary love. She did not accomplish "big" things in life. She did great things instead by offering each moment of her life to God as a cheerful giver. She had a missionary heart although she never left her cloistered community in France. She offered her daily work, joys and sacrifices for many holy intentions. She shows us a "do-able", day-to-day sanctity. May she intercede for us and help us become saints with the daily opportunities we encounter.

October is the month of the Holy Rosary when we pray the rosary more often. As one commentator said, "The rosary is like carrying the gospel in your pocket. When you pray it, you are reviewing all of the life of Jesus and Mary." There are many books and pamphlets out to help us meditate the rosary. The prayers of the Rosary are compared to a crown of roses offered to Our Lady in homage, and to represent the love we offer to God and which we show by loving and serving our neighbor.Have a wonderful and blest Month of the Rosary.