FEAST OF THE SEVEN JOYS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY; SAINT MONICA, WIDOW AND SAINT CEASARIUS OF ARLES, BISHOP ~ FEAST DAY – AUGUST 27TH: Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Saint Monica, Widow and Saint Ceasarius of Arles, Bishop. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed and we pray for those who mourn. We pray for all mothers, all wives, those going through difficulties marriages, troubled children, alcoholics and abuse victims. We pray for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world and also pray for the poor and needy. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏
FEAST OF THE SEVEN JOYS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY: The feast of The Seven Joys of Our Lady (also known as The Franciscan Crown Rosary) is a very special feast of the Franciscan Order. The Franciscan Crown Rosary, properly known as “The Franciscan Crown of Our Lady’s Joys” dates back to approximately the year 1422. According to tradition, as related by the famous Franciscan historian Father Luke Wadding, a very pious young man who had been admitted to the Franciscan Order in that year was saddened and had decided to return to the world and quit the cloister. Before his entry into the Order, it was his custom to adorn a statue of the Blessed Virgin with a wreath of fresh and beautiful flowers. Now, he was unable to continue his act of piety and devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Our Lady appeared to him and prevented him from taking such a step as he had planned. “Do not be sad and cast down, my son,” she said, “because you are no longer permitted to place wreaths of flowers on my statue. I shall teach you to change this pious practice into one that will be far more pleasing to me and more meritorious to your soul. In place of the flowers that soon wither and cannot always be found, you can weave for me a crown from the flowers of your prayers that will always remain fresh and can always be had.” When Our Lady had disappeared, the overjoyed Novice at once began to recite the prayers in honor of her Seven Joys, as she had directed. While he was deeply engrossed in this devotion, the Novice Master happened to pass by and saw an angel weaving a marvelous wreath of roses. After every tenth rose, he inserted a golden lily. When the wreath was finished, the angel placed it on the head of the praying Novice. The Novice Master demanded the Novice tell him the meaning of this vision. The joyful Novice complied. The good priest was so impressed that he immediately made it known to his brethren. Thus, the practice of reciting the Franciscan Crown of Our Lady’s Joys soon spread as a favorite devotion of the Friars. Pope St. Pius X authorized them to celebrate this feast in 1906. Our Lady’s joys are seven and are celebrated within the octave of the feast of her Immaculate Heart. The original day was the Sunday after the octave of the Assumption, but in 1914 it was transferred to the octave day itself; and in 1942, when the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was assigned to that day, that of the Seven Joys was moved to August 26 or 27. The Franciscans celebrate this feast August 27 and the Conventuals on August 26.
The Seven Joys of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary: (1) The Annunciation of the Angel to Mary; (2)The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth; (3)The Nativity of Our Lord; (4)The Adoration of the Magi; (5)The Finding of Jesus in the Temple; (6)The Resurrection of Our Lord and (7)The Crowning of Our Lady, Mary, in Heaven as Queen. At each decade it is well to reflect on the sweet joy Our Lady experienced on the occasions indicated. Said in this way, the rosary will be very pleasing to Mary, and you will learn to love it more and more.
How to Pray This Devotion: The Franciscan Rosary of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary is recited in its honor the Franciscan Crown which is composed of seven decades of one Our Father and ten Hail Marys each. At the end two Hail Marys are added. It is concluded with the Our Father and Hail Mary. The last Our Father and Hail Mary are prayed for the Holy Father’s intentions in order to gain the indulgence. The seventy-two Hail Marys correspond to the seventy-two years the Blessed Virgin is supposed to have lived and when she died and was assumed into Heaven. The seven decades need not be recited at once, but the single decades may be separated provided that the whole Rosary is said on the same day. One need not meditate on the mysteries of this Rosary. It suffices to pray the single decades in honor of the respective mystery. Devotion to the seven joys of Mary is a beautiful counterpart to the seven sorrows and helps balance a person’s spiritual life, recognizing that existence is not just filled with sorrows, but also contains many joys in this life and the life to come. Our Lady’s Sorrows are also seven and are celebrated twice during the year — on the Friday before Good Friday and on September 15.
THE MEMORARE: Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen🙏
PRAYER: O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, didst prepare a worthy dwelling place for Thy Son; we beseech Thee, that, as by the foreseen death of the same Thy Son, Thou didst preserve Her from every stain, so mayest Thou grant us also, through Her intercession, to come to Thee with pure hearts. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen 🙏
SAINT MONICA, WIDOW: St. Monica (331-387 A.D.), is the mother of St. Augustine (whose feast we celebrate tomorrow, August 28th). St. Monica’s holy example and fervent intercession led to one of the most dramatic conversions in Church history. St. Monica was born into a Catholic family in 331, in the North African city of Tagaste located in present-day Algeria. She was raised by a maidservant who taught her the virtues of obedience and temperance. Early in life she struggled with alcoholism, sneaking draughts of wine from the family cellar, before being caught and overcoming the habit. She was later given in marriage to an ill-tempered and adulterous pagan Roman official, Patricius, who had disdain for his wife’s religion. She suffered greatly on account of her husband, and that of her unkind mother-in-law with whom she lived. St. Monica dealt patiently with his distressing behavior, which included infidelity to their marriage vows and she fervently prayed for their conversion over the course of many years. Her patience and kindness became a source of encouragement to other unhappy housewives with whom she came in contact.
St. Monica experienced a greater grief when her husband, Patricius would not allow their three children – Augustine, Nagivius, and Perpetua – to receive Baptism. When Augustine, the oldest, became sick and was in danger of death, Patricius gave consent for his Baptism, but withdrew it when he recovered. St. Monica’s long-suffering patience and prayers eventually helped Patricius to see the error of his ways, and he was baptized into the Church one year before his death in 371. Her oldest son, however, soon embraced a way of life that brought her further grief, as he fathered a child out of wedlock in 372. One year later, he began to practice the occult religion of Manichaeism. In her distress and grief, Monica initially shunned her oldest son. However, she experienced a mysterious dream that strengthened her hope for Augustine’s soul, in which a messenger assured her: “Your son is with you.” After this experience, which took place around 377, she allowed him back into her home, and continued to beg God for his conversion. But this would not take place for another nine years. In the meantime, St. Monica sought the advice of local clergy, wondering what they might do to persuade her son away from the Manichean heresy. One bishop, who had once belonged to that sect himself, assured St. Monica that it was “impossible that the son of such tears should perish.” These tears and prayers intensified when Augustine, at age 29, abandoned St. Monica without warning as she passed the night praying in a chapel. Without saying goodbye to his mother, Augustine boarded a ship bound for Rome. Yet even this painful event would serve God’s greater purpose, as Augustine left to become a teacher in the place where he was destined to become a Catholic. Under the influence of the bishop St. Ambrose of Milan, Augustine renounced the teaching of the Manichees around 384. St. Monica followed her son to Milan, and drew encouragement from her son’s growing interest in the saintly bishop’s preaching. After three years of struggle against his own desires and perplexities, Augustine succumbed to God’s grace and was baptized in 387.
Shortly before her death, St. Monica shared a profound mystical experience of God with Augustine, who chronicled the event in his “Confessions.” Finally, she told him: “Son, for myself I have no longer any pleasure in anything in this life. Now that my hopes in this world are satisfied, I do not know what more I want here or why I am here.” The only thing I ask of you both,” she told Augustine and his brother Nagivius, “is that you make remembrance of me at the altar of the Lord wherever you are.” St. Monica died at age 56, on August 27, 387 AD, Ostia Antica, Italy as she and her son gazed at the sea and discoursed about the joys of the blessed. She is remembered and honored for her outstanding Christian virtues, particularly the suffering caused by her husband’s adultery, and her prayerful life dedicated to the reformation of her son, who wrote extensively of her pious acts and life with her in his Confessions. Popular Christian legends recall Saint Monica weeping every night for her son Augustine. In modern times, she has become the inspiration for the St. Monica Sodality, which encourages prayer and penance among Catholics whose children have left the faith. She is the patron saint of wives, mothers, married women, difficult marriages, conversions, alcoholics and abuse victims, disappointing children, victims of adultery or unfaithfulness, victims of (verbal) abuse, and conversion of relatives.
PRAYER: God, Comforter of the afflicted, You accepted St. Monica’s tears to bring about the conversion of her son St. Augustine. Through their intercession, grant that we may have contrition for our sins and experience the grace of Your pardon. Amen 🙏
SAINT CAESARIUS OF ARLES, BISHOP: St. Caesarius of Arles (470-542) was born at Chalon-sur-Saone in 470 of a good Gallo-Roman family. He entered the monastery of Lerins at the age of twenty and in 503 he was chosen Bishop of Arles. He led an austere life as a monk which he retained as a devout Bishop. This devout Bishop played a prominent role in the ecclesiastical administration of southern Gaul and established the claim of Arles to be the primatial See in Gaul. The most important problem for St. Caesarius was the efficiency of the bishop’s fulfillment of his pastoral duties. By that time, preaching had already become part of the standard church service in Gaul; many bishops recognized the importance of such a means of educating morality and encouraged it. However, Caesarius’ enthusiasm was outstanding in its own way, and he urged his clergy to preach as often as possible, in the church and outside it, to the willing and the opposing. St. Caesarius’ sermon topics generally dealt with moral issues.
St. Caesarius formed the clergy and organized his diocese and zealously defended the church against heresy. He fought strenuously against Arianism and was largely instrumental in securing the condemnation of Semi-Pelagianism at the Council of Orange in 529 (one of several over which he presided by order of the Pope). He stressed brevity and clarity of language in his sermons that have come down to us and he, himself was a celebrated preacher. He founded a nunnery where his sister was and wrote a Rule for it. The modernity of his Rule can be seen in its provisions. In this Rule, it provided that every nun learn to read and write, and it also established that the nuns should be allowed to choose their Abbess. It has for a long time remained the frame of life for a great number of religious.
St. Caesarius is considered to be of the last generation of church leaders of Gaul that worked to promote large-scale ascetic elements into the Western Christian tradition. St. Caesarius is depicted as having the reputation of a “popular preacher of great fervour and enduring influence”. Among those who exercised the greatest influence on Caesarius were Sts. Augustine of Hippo, Julianus Pomerius, and John Cassian. St. Caesarius died on August 27, 542 AD
PRAYER: God, Light and Shepherd of souls, You established St. Caesarius as Bishop in Your Church to feed Your flock by his word and form it by his example. Help us through his intercession to keep the faith he taught by his word and follow the way he showed by his example. Amen 🙏