Oct 9 – Memorial for Sts. Denis, Bishop, and Companions, Martyrs; Memorial for St. John Leonardi, Priest
St. Denis (d. 258) was a missionary to Paris, and its first bishop. His success roused the ire of local pagans, and he was imprisoned by the Roman governor. He was martyred in the persecutions of Valerius with Sts. Eleutherius and Rusticus. Legends have grown up around his torture and death, including one that has his body carrying his severed head some distance from his execution site. St. Genevieve built a basilica over his grave. His feast was added to the Roman calendar in 1568 by Pope St. Pius V, though it has been celebrated since 800.
- Patron Saint Index
St. John Leonardi (1541–1609) was the founder of the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca. He was born in Lucca, Tuscany in 1541 and ordained a priest in 1572. He first dedicated himself to the Christian formation of young people in his parish of Lucca. Then he founded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
In 1574, he founded a community charged to deepen faith and devotion; this foundation occurred as part of the movement known as the Counter-Reformation. He worked with this community to spread the devotion to the Virgin Mary, to the Forty Hours and to frequent Communion.
This foundation received approval from Pope Paul V in 1614. He took his work to Rome where he became friends with St. Philip Neri, who held him in high regard for his qualities of firmness and judgement, and entrusted him to delicate works such as the reform of the Benedictan congregation of Montevergine.
He then founded with J. Vives the seminary of the Propagation of the Faith. He died in 1609, after dedicating himself to his brothers suffering from the influenza epidemic that was raging in Rome at that time.
The final Rule of his community was published in 1851. Two houses of the Clerks of the Mother of God were opened when he died; three others were opened during the 17th century. He was beatified in 1861 and canonised in 1938.
- Patron Saint Index, Wikipedia
Gal 2:1-2,7-14
Lk 11:1-4
“Lord, teach us to pray…”
When I was schooling, I had a Math teacher who was intimidating. She was the school’s disciplinarian and sitting through one of her lessons was like treading on eggshells. You never knew when she would lash out; but when she did, it was like a tropical thunderstorm — loud and sudden, with enough gale force to scare you from now till next week. No one dared to speak to her or approach her.
Before Jesus, it seemed like there was always a ‘barrier’ between man and God. You could not ‘approach’ God unless you were first chosen by Him (think Moses and Elijah), you had to be clean and clean of sin; therefore, it would seem like priests were the only privileged ones who could have such a communion with God.
But Jesus became a bridge between us and God. Jesus became a way for us to reach out to God directly. Jesus came and called all manner of people to follow him — tax collectors, prostitutes, Gentiles, the sick, the reviled. He was the first instance, if you will, of inclusivity. He showed us that God still wanted to reach out to us, to accept us, no matter the baggage that we carried, and no matter our past. Suddenly, God became ‘accessible’ by all and to all, and not just to chief priests. This idea of having such close communion with God might have seemed so foreign at the time, but Jesus made it possible.
When the disciples observed Jesus praying to God, they wanted to learn how to do that. Sure, they must have known the prayers and the rites of the day; but watching Jesus going off alone to a quiet place and praying to God, speaking with Him, bringing nothing but his whole self, must have made them curious at first about how Jesus approached God. And that curiosity must have led to craving a similar relationship with God – one where it was just you and God, with no one to judge you but Him. True, He is The Almighty Father but that made being in God’s presence more sobering, yet comforting, knowing that He who made the Heavens and earth still cared about us, despite our insignificance and weakness.
And so, Jesus taught the disciples how to pray the Lord’s Prayer. It was a simple prayer, yet covered everything that we need to seek God. Prayer is our communication with God. God wants us to unburden our hearts to Him and when our hearts are lighter, He will fill it with His peace (see Philippians 4:6-7). The tears that we shed alone during prayer, the cries of frustration – only He sees and hears it. It is when we are alone with God that we can be vulnerable; it is in our vulnerability that we are one with God.
“Then you shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” (Jeremiah 29:12)
(Today’s OXYGEN by Annette Soo)
Prayer: Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Thanksgiving: Heavenly Father, thank you for hearing our prayers. You alone know what is in our hearts, You alone know the depths of our prayers. We surrender our prayers to You in the faith that whatever we ask in Jesus’ name, we shall receive. Amen.
OXYGEN 
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