• St. Gall (635). Priest, Religious. (Historical)
• St. Gerard Majella (1755). Patron or Patroness, Religious. Patron of expectant mothers. (Historical)
• St. Hedwig (1243). Patron or Patroness, Widow. Patroness of Silesia. (Current, Traditional)
• St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1690). Religious, Virgin. (Current)

ST. GALL was born in Ireland soon after the middle of the sixth century, of pious, noble, and rich parents. When St. Columban left Ireland, St. Gall accompanied him into England, and afterward into France, where they arrived in 585. St. Columban founded the monastery of Anegray, in a wild forest in the diocese of Besançon, and two years afterward another in Luxey. Being driven thence by King Theodoric, the Saints both withdrew into the territories of Theodebert. St. Columban, however, retired into Italy, but St. Gall was prevented from bearing him company by a grievous fit of illness. St. Gall was a priest before he left Ireland, and having learned the language of the country where he settled, near the Lake of Constance, he converted to the faith a great number of idolaters. The cells which this Saint built there for those who desired to serve God with him, he gave to the monastery which bears his name. A synod of bishops, with the clergy and people, earnestly desired to place the Saint in the episcopal see of Constance; but his modesty refused the dignity. He died in the year 646.

REFLECTION: “If any one would be My disciple,” says our Saviour, “let him deny himself.” The denial of self is, then, the royal road to perfection.

WORD OF THE DAY

INTENTION. An act of the will tending effectively to some good, proposed by the mind as desirable and attainable. It differs from simply willing, which is the desire for an end without concern about the means. Intention means desiring not only some good but also the means of obtaining this good. An intention may be actual, virtual, habitual, or interpretative.

Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon SJ (Get the real one at Eternal Life — don’t accept an abridged or edited version of this masterpiece!)

October, Month of the Rosary

Maria Magnificata. Short Meditations for October, the Month of the Rosary. 16th Day — Simeon’s Prophecy to Mary.