October at the Shrine

October is a month packed with special celebration for the worldwide church as well as for the shrine.

October begins with the commemoration of St. Thérése of Lisieux and ends with All Hallows Eve, the night of spirits who do not so much haunt streets as inspire hearts.  Spread throughout the month is the feast of: Francis of Assisi, who rebuilt the church and inspired centuries of holy souls; Teresa of Avila, mighty doctor of the church and reformer of the Carmelites; Anthony Claret, missionary, founder, archbishop of Cuba, and chaplain to the Queen of Spain; Simon, Jude, and Luke, apostles and evangelist; Ignatius of Antioch, one of our earliest bishops, a martyr in Rome; Margaret Mary Alacoque, Visitation contemplative, who with her Jesuit friend Claude La Colombière bequeathed the Sacred Heart devotion to the church.

October is also special for the shrine. The shrine celebrates the feast of St. Thérése in a special way since the Monastery and the Church were originally dedicated to St Teresa of the Child Jesus, the patroness of the missions. But as divine providence intervened, Mary Our Mother of Perpetual Help became the patron of the shrine.

The whole month of October is also special for the shrine as it is Rosary month. During the whole month, the rosary is recited daily at the shrine. During the rosary, there is a meditation on the life of Mary especially about the lessons that we can derive from her life for us today.

On October 4th the shrine celebrates the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.with a blessing of animals. After the morning mass, some devotees bring their beloved pets–dogs, cats, hamsters, bird, turtles and others for the blessing. This began in 2005. Since then it has become a yearly tradition in the shrine.

A big day in October is the celebration of the feast of St. Gerard Majella on October 16th.  St. Gerard was a Redemptorist brother who despite being always frail in health was so passionate in giving all his time and talents to the poor and in prayer to God.  He is the patron of pregnant mothers and children. After the morning mass, there is a blessing of pregnant mothers and children and the distribution of medals of St. Gerard for free.

We are grateful for the shining example and legacy the saints have left us.  In spite of their human weakness and shortcomings, they were able to fully maximize their potentials in service to God and to others.  This offers us hope that we too we can become saints if only we freely open ourselves to God’s power in our lives.  As Matthew Fox said:

“Saint applies to each of us. All who are attempting to imitate the Christ in their lives merit the title of ‘saint.’ Some do it more fully than others and are willing to let go of more to get the job done.”

October, too, is the month where most of the Sundays have a special dedicated celebrations besides its liturgical celebrations. The 2nd Sunday, October 11 this year, is Indigenous Peoples’ Sunday. The 3rd Sunday, October 18, is World Mission Sunday. The 4th Sunday, October 25 is Prison Awareness Sunday.

Renovated Shrine of Sta. Teresita

Fr. ‘Dinny’ Dennis Grogan was the builder of the Baclaran convent who had a fervent devotion to Sta. Teresita. He must be very pleased today as he looks down from heaven to see the renovated Shrine of Sta. Teresita and the many people who, at the moment, are visiting it day and night. I am sure he would be laughing at the antics of the little children trying to get coins from their mothers and grand mothers to drop into the water, which now surrounds the statue.

Fr. Dennis Grogan, CSsR, builder of the Baclaran convent

One child was heard saying “Mama, What will I wish for? What will I wish for?” And another “Nanay, may WISH WATERS sila.” Of course the next sentence was “Nanay, coins, coins, dali”. The fish, that inhabit the water, have also come in for a lot of attention. One child brought his own fish and asked if he could put it with the others.

Since it was a little smaller than the others were, it was suggested that he put it in the smaller pool where the water gathers when it comes from the filter. He agreed and promised (or was it threatened) to come back each day and check on its progress. When asked where he got the money to buy it, he simply said that he sacrificed his ‘Baon’. Since then other children have also brought along their fish.

The renovated Shrine was re-blessed on the Feast of Sta. Teresita on October 1st, 2007. I am sure Sta. Teresita will come up with a few answers to prayer on that day. However I don’t know whether she can make all the wishes come true. I fear some of them may be contradictory, some of the parents may be wishing that the wishes of their children don’t ever come true.

Let’s leave it to Sta. Teresita. According to Fr. Grogan the Monastery and Church would never have been built if it were not for her help.

John Maguire, CSsR

(This article is an excerpt from the book National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help: Tips, Trivia and Tribute by John Maguire, Joey Echano, et. al., soon to be published)

October – Rosary Month in the Shrine

The shrine observes the whole month of October as Rosary month. During the whole month, the rosary is recited daily (except Wednesday and Sunday) by various church groups at the shrine. Within the rosary, there is a meditation on the life of Mary especially about the lessons that we can derive from her life for us today.

The Catholic church dedicates the month of October to the Most Holy Rosary. This is primarily due to the fact that the liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated annually on October 7. The church instituted this feast to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in gratitude for the protection that she gives the Church in answer to the praying of the Rosary by the faithful.

The Rosary is one of the most popular prayer devotion of Catholics. Legend tells us that the Rosary as a form of prayer was given to St. Dominic (1170-1221) by Mary, the Mother of Our Lord. In the Middle Ages, it became a substitute for the Divine Office for the lay monks and devout lay persons who did not know how to read. Instead of the 150 psalms, they would pray 150 “Our Fathers” counting them on a ring of beads known as the crown or “corona.” Later, with the growth of popularity of Marian devotion in the twelfth century, the “Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary” developed now substituting 150 “Hail Marys” in place of the “Our Fathers.”

It is important to note that the Rosary is primarily a scriptural prayer. As Pope Pius XII (papacy: 1939-1958) stated, the Rosary is ” a compendium of the entire Gospel” (AAS 38 [1946] p. 419). The Rosary draws its mysteries from the New Testament and is centered on the great events of the Incarnation and Redemption.

At the end of October, the shrine culminates the rosary month with a special celebration. The shrine usually organizes a living rosary. The shrine assemble devotees mostly children and youth into the physical form of a Rosary, where each one represents one prayer bead, and the group recites the prayers together.

The Living Rosary reminds us that we are not alone in our prayers. Just like in the praying of novena, our individual prayer can become something much bigger when we join it with the prayers of others. The living rosary also reminds us that the rosary is not just something we pray but more importantly something we live as our partaking in the great redeeming mystery of the life of Jesus and Mary.

 

October at the Shrine

October is a month of giants in the church as well as for the shrine.

October begins with the commemoration of St. Thérése of Lisieux and ends with All Hallows Eve, the night of spirits who do not so much haunt streets as inspire hearts.  Spread throughout the month is the feast of: Francis of Assisi, who rebuilt the church and inspired centuries of holy souls; Teresa of Avila, mighty doctor of the church and reformer of the Carmelites; Anthony Claret, missionary, founder, archbishop of Cuba, and chaplain to the Queen of Spain; Simon, Jude, and Luke, apostles and evangelist; Ignatius of Antioch, one of our earliest bishops, a martyr in Rome; Margaret Mary Alacoque, Visitation contemplative, who with her Jesuit friend Claude La Colombière bequeathed the Sacred Heart devotion to the church.

October is also special for the shrine. The shrine celebrates the feast of St. Thérése in a special way since the Monastery and the Church were originally dedicated to St Teresa of the Child Jesus, the patroness of the missions. But as divine providence intervened, Mary Our Mother of Perpetual Help became the patron of the shrine.

The whole month of October is also special for the shrine as it is Rosary month. During the whole month, the rosary is recited daily at the shrine. During the rosary, there is a meditation on the life of Mary especially about the lessons that we can derive from her life for us today.

On October 4th the shrine celebrates the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.with a blessing of animals. After the morning mass, some devotees bring their beloved pets–dogs, cats, hamsters, bird, turtles and others for the blessing. This began in 2005. Since then it has become a yearly tradition in the shrine.

A big day in October is the celebration of the feast of St. Gerard Majella on October 16th.  St. Gerard was a Redemptorist brother who despite being always frail in health was so passionate in giving all his time and talents to the poor and in prayer to God.  He is the patron of pregnant mothers and children. After the morning mass, there is a blessing of pregnant mothers and children and the distribution of medals of St. Gerard for free.

We are grateful for the shining example and legacy the saints have left us.  In spite of their human weakness and shortcomings, they were able to fully maximize their potentials in service to God and to others.  This offers us hope that we too we can become saints if only we freely open ourselves to God’s power in our lives.  As Matthew Fox said:

“Saint applies to each of us. All who are attempting to imitate the Christ in their lives merit the title of ‘saint.’ Some do it more fully than others and are willing to let go of more to get the job done.”