Tuesday, Oct. 9, 27th Week in Ordinary Time
Most depictions of St. Denis show him carrying his head. Third from left, Last Communion (left panel) and Execution of St. Denis (right panel); and next to it, St. Denis with Rusticus and Eleutherius.
ST. DENIS & COMPANIONS (d Paris ca 250), Martyrs
St. Denis was a bishop sent from Rome to Gaul (Roman France) to re-Christianize Lutetia (ancient Paris) which had fallen back to paganism after the persecutions of Decian. he is generally considered the first Bishop of Paris. According to legend, Denis so alarmed the pagan kings by his conversions that he and his inseparable companions, Rusticus, a priest, and Eleutherius, a deacon, were beheaded on the hill now called Montmartre ('mount of martyrs'). After being beheaded, Denis is said to have picked up his head and walked with it, preaching, until he finally died at the spot where centuries later St. Genevieve would build the basilica in his name - the Church where the Kings of France have been buried since Carolingian times. St. Denis is the patron saint of Paris. He is also one of the fourteen Holy Helpers, a group of saints popular in the Middle Ages as intercessors for various causes. Denis is invoked particularly against diabolical possession and headaches. His feast has been celebrated since the 9th century.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/100912.cfm
BLESSED JOHN HENRY NEWMAN (England,1801-1890)
[G/]Anglican Priest, Convert to Catholicism, Theologian, Writer, Cardinal
This is the third year that England celebrates the feast day of Blessed John Henry Newman. Oct. 9 was declared as his feast day when Benedict XVI canonized him on Sept. 19, 2010.[/G}
NB: Except for those Blesseds from the past whose feasts have been incorporated into the liturgical year of the universal Church, the feast days of contemporary Blesseds are generally celebrated only in their country of origin.
AT THE VATICAN TODAY
No events announced for the Holy Father.
The second day of the Synodal Assembly's general congregations (morning and afternoon session).
The Press Office has released the full text of the Holy Father's meditation at the opening of the first
general congregation yesterday morning.
[I will post the translation in the corresponding post box above as soon as I can.]
The Vatican publishing house, LEV, has released the Holy Father's brief Foreword and some excerpts from
Vol. 3 of JESUS OF NAZARETH, "The childhood of Jesus".
Briefing by Mons. Rino Fischella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization,
on the formal opening of the Year of Faith on Oct. 11.
The Holy Father has accepted the resignation of the Bishop of Iquique (Chile), Mons. Marco Antonio Órdenes Fernández,
under can. 401 § 2 of the Code of Canon Law.
[Ordenes Fernandez has been accused of sexual offenses against minors.]
One year ago...
The Holy Father made a pastoral visit to Lamezia Terme, in southwestern Italy, and to nearby
Certosa San Bruno, the Carthusian monastery to which the founder of the order, St. Bruno of Cologne,
retired and eventually died, and where he is buried.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 09/10/2012 15:15]