NOVEMBER 18, 2025 – ST. ODO OF CLUNY.

• Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter & Paul, Aps. (16261854). (Current, Traditional)
• St. Rose Philippine Duchesne (1852). Virgin. (Current)

ON Christmas-eve, A.D. 877, a noble of Aquitaine implored On our Lady to grant him a son. His prayer was heard; Odo was born, and his grateful father offered him to St. Martin. Odo grew in wisdom and in virtue, and his father longed to see him shine at court. But the attraction of grace was too strong. Odo’s heart was sad and his health failed, until he forsook the world, and sought refuge under the shadow of St. Martin at Tours. Later on, he took the habit of St. Benedict at Baume, and was compelled to become abbot of the great abbey of Cluny, which was then building. He ruled it with the hand of a master and the winningness of a Saint. The Pope sent for him often to act as peacemaker between contending princes, and it was on one of those missions of mercy that he was taken ill at Rome. At his urgent entreaty he was borne back to Tours, where he died at the feet of “his own St. Martin,” A.D. 943.

REFLECTION: “It needs only,” says Father Newman, “for a Catholic to show devotion to any Saint, in order to receive special benefits from his intercession.

WORD OF THE DAY

RULE. A principle or regular mode of action, prescribed by one in authority, for the well-being of those who are members of a society. It is in this sense that the organized methods of living the evangelical counsels are called rules, as the Rule of St. Augustine or St. Benedict. A rule may also be a customary standard that is not necessarily prescribed by authority, but voluntarily undertaken in order to regulate one’s conduct for more effective moral living or more effective service of others. Finally rule may be distinguished from government, whether civil or ecclesiastical. Rule pertains to the possession or exercise of controlling power, whereas government refers more to actually causing another to obey one’s will. (Etym. Latin regula, a rule; norm; measure.)

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!)

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