FEAST OF THE DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES; SAINT ROSE PHILIPPINE, DUCHESNE, VIRGIN AND SAINT ODO OF CLUNY, ABBOT – FEAST DAY ~ NOVEMBER 18TH: Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles; Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, Virgin and Saint Odo of Cluny (Odon), Abbot. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed and we pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for all parents and children, for peace, love, justice and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill, strokes, heart diseases and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases.
DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES: Today’s feast celebrates the dedications of two of the four major basilicas of Rome. This feast is a spiritual journey to two holy tombs, that of St. Peter and that of St. Paul in Rome. These two basilicas, marking the place of each apostle’s martyrdom, are the common heritage and glory of Christendom; it is, therefore, easily seen why we observe their dedication.
SAINT PETER’S BASILICA: Among the sacred places venerated by Christians from ancient times, one of the most celebrated has always been the tomb of St. Peter, at Rome. Was originally built in 323 by the emperor Constantine. The basilica was constructed over the tomb of Peter the Apostle, the Church’s first Pope. After standing for more than a thousand years, Pope Julius II ordered the building to be torn down due to structural concerns. The construction of the new church spanned over 200 years before its completion. It was dedicated on Nov. 18, 1626. It is considered the most famous church in Christendom.
SAINT PAUL’S BASILICA: This basilica is located outside the original walls of Rome. It was also originally built by the emperor Constantine though it was destroyed by fire in 1823. Donations from around the world made the reconstruction possible. Before the completion of Saint Peter´s Basilica, St Paul’s was the largest church in Rome. The Basilica was built over St. Paul´s grave. Pope Pius IX consecrated the Basilica in 1854 before an assemblage of Cardinals and Bishops who were in Rome to attend the ceremonies connected with the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. These two churches continue to draw millions of faithful pilgrims each year as well as many visitors from other faiths. The anniversaries of both dedications are united and form the object of today’s feast.
PRAYER: God, give apostolic protection to Your Church, so that as she received the first revelation about You from the Apostles she may also receive through them an increase of heavenly grace until the end of time. Amen 🙏
SAINT ROSE PHILIPPINE, DUCHESNE, VIRGIN: St. Rose Philippine Duchesne (1769–1852) was born in Grenoble, France, to a wealthy and prominent family with political connections on August 29, 1769. Her father, Pierre Francois Duchesne, was a lawyer, businessman, and prominent civic leader in Grenoble, while her mother, Rose Perier, was a member of a leading family from the Dauphine region. From the young age of eight, St. Rose had a desire to evangelize in the Americas, sparked by hearing a Jesuit missionary speak of his work there. She received a basic education at home from tutors, and religious education from her mother. Educated from age 12 at the convent of the Visitation nuns in Grenoble, Rose joined them in 1788 at age 19 without the permission or knowledge of her family, taking her religious name after St. Rose of Lima and St. Philip Neri. Initially they were violently opposed to her choice, but finally gave in. After her convent was closed during the reign of terror, she joined the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1804, which sent her to the United States in 1818 fulfilling her childhood desire to do missionary work in the New World, especially among the Native Americans. This was realized when she and four nuns traveled across the Atlantic, a journey of eleven weeks, and another seven weeks up the Mississipi river to serve in one of the remotest outposts in the region in St. Charles, Missouri.
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne was sent to the Louisiana territory as a missionary and founded a boarding school for daughters of pioneers near St. Louis and opened the first free school west of Missouri. She also began a school for Indians. From the convent and school she founded at St. Charles, Mo. — later moved to Florissant, Mo. — she traveled over a wide area, founding schools for girls, doing charitable work, and finally ministering to Native Americans. St. Rose Philippine was a hardy pioneer woman ministering in the Midwest during its difficult frontier days. At the age of seventy-one she opened several schools and served the Potawatomi Indians who gave her the name “Quah-kah-ka-num-ad,” meaning, “Woman-who-prays-always.” She is often referred to as “The Lady of Mercy,” or ” Woman Who Prays Always.” St. Rose Duchesne was a valiant missionary and a well-known benefactress. She spent her last ten years in retirement in a tiny shack at the convent in Saint Charles, Missouri where she lived austerely and in constant prayer. She died on November 18, 1852 at Saint Charles, Missouri. She was beatified on May 12, 1940 by Pope Pius XII, and canonized July 3, 1988 by Pope John Paul II. St. Rose Duchesne is the Patron Saint of Opposition of Church authorities, diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau Missouri.Saint Odo (Odon) of Cluny. Her feast day is November 18th.
PRAYER: Gracious God, You filled the heart of Rose Philippine Duchesne with charity and missionary zeal and gave her the desire to make You known among all peoples. Fill us, who honor her memory today, with the same love and zeal to extend Your Kingdom to the ends of the earth. Amen 🙏
SAINT ODO OF CLUNY, ABBOT: Saint Odo (Odon) of Cluny (878-942), was born on ca. 878 at Le Mans, France and died on November 18, 942. A saint of the Roman Catholic Church, was the second abbot of Cluny. He enacted various reforms in the Cluniac monastery system of France and Italy. Devoted to St Martin of Tours, Odo died in that city. The Benedictine Abbey of Cluny was founded in AD 910 by William I, Count of Auvergne, who installed Berno of Baume as its first abbot and placed the abbey under the immediate authority of the Pope. In this way Cluny was immune from all secular interference. Odo had been educated at the court of William. At nineteen he received the tonsure, and became a canon in the church of Saint Martin at Tours. Here he ceased reading Virgil and other profane authors, resolving only to read such books as nourished Christian devotion. He studied theology for four years at Paris and on his return to Tours devoted himself entirely to prayer and the study of the Scriptures. Reading the Rule of St Benedict, he decided to become a monk under Berno at the abbey of Baume. Soon he became a priest and when Berno became the founder and first abbot of Cluny Abbey in 910, Odo followed him there, bringing his library. On Berno’s death in 927, Odo became the second abbot of Cluny.
Odo Inspires reform: Most Benedictine monasteries up till then were independent, but those founded from Cluny remained priories subject to the mother house. In this way Cluny became the model of monasticism for over a century in both France and Italy. Odo insisted on the strict observance of silence as absolutely necessary for interior solitude and the communion of a soul with God. He also stressed humility, obedience, self-denial and especially chastity. Influence in Italy: Odo visited Italy several times between 936 and 942, founding in Rome the monastery of Our Lady on the Aventine and influenced reform in other monasteries, such as Subiaco and Monte Cassino. Death at Tours: Out of devotion to Saint Martin, Odo wanted to die at Tours, and hastened there in his last illness. He died on the 18th of November 942 and was buried there. He’s Patron Saint for rain.
Saint Odo (Odon) of Cluny, Abbot ~ Pray for us 🙏