SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 – ST. GUY, OF ANDERLECHT.

• THE MOST HOLY NAME OF MARY. (Current, Traditional)

AS a child Guy had two loves, the Church and the poor. The love of prayer growing more and more, he left his poor home at Brussels to seek greater poverty and closer union with God. He arrived at Laken, near Brussels, and there showed such devotion before our Lady’s shrine that the priest besought him to stay and serve the Church. Thenceforth, his great joy was to be always in the church, sweeping the floor and ceiling, polishing the altars, and cleansing the sacred vessels. By day he still found time and means to befriend the poor, so that his almsgiving became famous in all those parts. A merchant of Brussels, hearing of the generosity of this poor sacristan, came to Laken, and offered him a share in his business. Guy could not bear to leave the church; but the offer seemed providential, and he at last closed with it. Their ship, however, was lost on the first voyage, and on returning to Laken, Guy found his place filled. The rest of his life was one long penance for his inconstancy. About the year 1033, finding his end at hand, he returned to Anderlecht, in his own country. As he died, a light shone round him, and a voice was heard proclaiming his eternal reward.

REFLECTION: Jesus was only nine months in the womb of Mary, three hours on the Cross, three days in the sepulchre, but He is always in the tabernacle. Does our reverence before Him bear witness to this most blessed truth?

WORD OF THE DAY

PROMPT SUCCOR, OUR LADY OF. A Marian shrine in New Orleans, Louisiana. The story of this shrine began with an Ursuline nun, Mother St. Michel, exiled by the French Revolution. Wishing to join her American community, she was prevented by the Monsignor of Montpellier, France, who forbade her to leave a recently opened school. Mother St. Michel then prayed before a statue of Our Lady and Infant for prompt help; almost immediately she received a reply from Pope Pius VII, granting her request. The grateful nun arrived in New Orleans on January 1, 1810, with her statue and a few interested companions, and lost no time in spreading devotion to Our Lady under the title of "Prompt Help." When the Battle of New Orleans was in progress, Mother St. Michel asked people to join her in praying for an American victory. On the field of Chalmette, against great odds, the Americans won. Mary was then given her new title in a service of thanksgiving, her feast being formally approved by Pope Pius IX. Devotion spread rapidly. The Child and his Mother were crowned in 1894, and she was made patroness of Louisiana under her new title. Today the statue is in a new Gothic chapel under a stone canopy where pilgrims attest to many physical and spiritual miracles.

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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