Saints' Feast Days – November

• Saint Martin de Porres November 3^rd
• Saint Leo the Great, Pope November 10^th
• Saint Cecilia, Virgin & Martyr November 22^nd
• Saint Andrew The Apostle November 30^th
• Christ The King Last Sunday Ordinary Time

Background:

Martin was the son of a freed woman of Panama, probably black but also possibly of indigenous stock, and a Spanish grandee of Lima, Peru. His parents never married each other. His father abandoned the family and Martin was reared in poverty, locked into a low level of Lima's society. When he was 12, his mother apprenticed him to a barber-surgeon. After a few years in this medical apostolate, Martin applied to the Dominicans to be a “lay helper,” not feeling himself worthy to be a religious brother. After nine years, the example of his prayer and penance, charity and humility, led the community to request him to make full religious profession. His days were filled with nursing the sick and caring for the poor. It was particularly impressive that he treated all people regardless of their color, race, or status. Along with his daily work in the kitchen, laundry, and infirmary, Martin's life reflected God's extraordinary gifts: ecstasies that lifted him into the air, light filling the room where he prayed, bi-location, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures, and a remarkable rapport with animals. His Feast Day is November 3rd.

Everything, even sweeping, scraping vegetables, weeding a garden and waiting on the sick could be a prayer, if it were offered to God.

-St. Martin de Porres

Intercessory Prayer:

O GLORIOUS Saint Martin de Porres,
great Saint of the Dominican Order,
look down in mercy upon a poor soul who cries out to thee,
and deign to come to my aid in this great need,
that I may receive the consolation and succor of Heaven in all my necessities,
tribulations and sufferings, but in particular…

[Here mention your intention]

I thank thee, Saint Martin de Porres, for all the help
that thou hast given me, both now and in the past,
and I promise to be ever grateful to thee
and to make thee known to all who are in need of thine assistance.
Amen.

Background:

Elected Pope in 440, Leo consolidated the organisation of the Church and its government from Rome at a time of civil and doctrinal disorder: Attila's invasion was threatening, and the monophysite heresy was abroad. He persuaded the Huns to withdraw beyond the Danube, and negotiated with the Vandals when they seized Rome in 455. The Council of Chalcedon in 451 restated the doctrine of the incarnation, and the primacy of Peter. Many of his sermons and letters survive, and reveal him as a man of clear and forceful intellect and faith. He died about 461. His Feast Day is 10^th November.

+#begin_quote As the world attracts us with its appearance, and abundance and variety, it is not easy to turn away from it unless in the beauty of things visible the Creator rather than the creature is loved; for, when He says, 'you shall love the Lord your God from all your heart, and from all your mind, and from all your strength' (Mt. 22:37), He wishes us in nothing to loosen ourselves from the bonds of His love. And when He links the love of our neighbor also to this command, He enjoins on us the imitation of His own goodness, that we should love what He loves and do what He does.

-Pope Leo I #+end_quote

Intercessory Prayer:

God our Father,
you will never allow the powers of hell to prevail against your Church,
founded on the rock of the apostle Peter.

Let the prayers of Pope Leo the Great keep us faithful to your truth and secure in your peace.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

… St Leo the Great, Pray for Us …

Background:

It is written that as the musicians played at her wedding she ‘sang in her heart to the Lord’. She is one of seven women, excluding the Blessed Virgin, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. It is supposed that she was a noble lady of Rome who, with her husband Valerian, his brother Tiburtius, and a Roman soldier Maximus suffered martyrdom in about 230, under the emperor Alexander Severus. Her Feast Day is the 22nd of November.

Reflection:

Like any good Christian, Cecilia sang in her heart, and sometimes with her voice. She has become a symbol of the Church’s conviction that good music is an integral part of the liturgy, of greater value to the Church than any other art.

Intercessory Prayer:

Saint Cecilia, at a time in the Roman Empire when following Christ was illegal and brought with it the penalty of death, you clung to your divine Spouse without fear. Your courage and love converted your husband and his brother, and your martyrdom continues to inspire many today. Please pray for me, that I will never fear any form of suffering that is inflicted upon me because of my faith, but will follow your example and willingly lay down my life out of love for God and others.
Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr, pray for me.
Jesus, I trust in You.

Background:

St Andrew was born in Bethsaida, by the Sea of Galilee. His brother was Simon Peter. St Andrew was martyred by crucifixion for his faith and his persistent preaching of Jesus' Gospel. It is said that at his request, his Cross was X-shaped (St Andrew's cross – saltire) to acknowledge his unworthiness to meet death on the same type of cross as that of Jesus. His Feast Day is 30^th November.

"We have found the Messiah”
Andrew's words reveal a soul waiting
with the utmost longing for the coming of the Messiah,
looking forward to His appearing from heaven,
rejoicing when He does appear
and hastening to announce so great an event to others.
To support one another in the things of the spirit
is the true sign of good will between brothers,
of loving kinship and sincere affection.

-St. John Chrysostom (347-407) Father & Doctor

Intercessory Prayer:

O Glorious St. Andrew,
you were the first to recognize and follow the Lamb of God. With your
friend St. John you remained with Jesus for that first day, for your
entire life, and now throughout eternity.

As you led your brother St. Peter to Christ and many others after him,
draw us also to Him. Teach us to lead others to Christ solely out of
love for Him, and dedication in His service. Help us to learn the lesson
of the Cross and to carry our daily crosses without complaint so that they may carry us to Jesus. Amen.

… St Andrew, Pray for Us …

Background:

Pope Pius XI instituted The Feast of Christ the King in 1925, to be celebrated throughout the universal church, in his encyclical Quas Primas. He connected the increasing denial of Christ as king to the rise of secularism throughout much of Europe. At the time of Quas Primas, many Christians (including Catholics) began to doubt Christ's authority and existence, as well as the Church's power to continue Christ's authority.

Intercessory Prayer:

O Lord our God, You alone are the Most Holy King and Ruler of all nations.

We pray to You, Lord, in the great expectation of receiving from You,
O Divine King, mercy, peace, justice and all good things.

Protect, O Lord our King, our families and the land of our birth.
Guard us we pray Most Faithful One.

Protect us from our enemies and from Your Just Judgment.
Forgive us, O Sovereign King, our sins against you.

Jesus, You are a King of Mercy. We have deserved Your Just Judgment
Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive us. We trust in Your Great Mercy.

O most awe-inspiring King, we bow before You and pray;
May Your Reign, Your Kingdom, be recognized on earth.

Amen.