October 26, 2025
All Saints’ Day is Saturday, November 1, and is normally a Holy Day of Obligation. Because this year All Saint’s Day falls on a Saturday it is not obligatory, although there will be a feast day Mass at 9:00 am. This day commemorates all the blessed in heaven. In the 4th century, groups of martyrs, and later other saints, were honored on a common day in various places. In 609 or 610, the Pantheon, a pagan temple in Rome, was consecrated as a Christian church in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the martyrs and later all saints. In 835, Pope Gregory IV fixed November 1 as the date for observing All Saints’ Day. All Souls’ Day, which follows All Saints’ Day on November 2, is the annual commemoration of all the faithful departed. Because this year All Soul’s Day falls on a Sunday, it will be celebrated at all the Sunday Masses. The dead were prayed for from the earliest days of the Church. Commemorating all the faithful departed on the day after All Saints’ Day was begun in the Abbey of Cluny by Saint Odilio in 998. Five years later, it was recommended and approved by Pope Sylvester II. From the 11th to the 14th century the feast gradually spread throughout Europe. By celebrating All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day back-to-back, the Christian belief in the communion of saints could be more clearly expressed. Throughout the world, numerous customs and pious traditions were associated with the celebrations in honor of the dead. They are remembered with special prayers, decorations, foods, lights and the visiting and maintenance of graves. In our parish, the names of all the faithful departed parish family members is placed on the Altar for the month of November. Then those names are placed under the Altar cloth through the next October, thus being remembered at every Mass celebrated for an entire year. May the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen. Gay Snell
October 19, 2025
Saturday, October 18, was the Feast of Saint Luke. Saint Luke is one of the 4 Gospel writers and whose Gospel is being proclaimed at Sunday Mass this liturgical year. “In Revelation four beasts give endless praise before the throne of God: a man, an ox, a lion, and an eagle. Tradition holds that these signify the four Evangelists. (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) Luke is the ox, the symbol of strength and sacrifice.” (Magnificat Page 277) Saint Luke’s Gospel gives us a picture of Mother Mary, perhaps in her own words and he may have been the first artist to have painted her, a tradition dating back to the 6th century. Saint Luke not only wrote his Gospel but is credited with writing the Acts of the Apostles. He was a physician, an artist, and an historian, but he never met Jesus in person. He talked to many eyewitnesses to the events of Jesus’ Life, Death and Resurrection and became a believer. He wrote his Gospel so others would come to know and love Jesus. He was the one person who is said to have remained with Saint Paul during his imprisonment and until his death. Saint Luke died at around age 84 and is buried in the Basilica de Santa Justina in Padua, Italy. Saint Luke, pray for us.
This week on Wednesday, we commemorate Saint John Paul II. He was born in Wadowice, Poland, and was elected pope in 1978. He survived an assassination attempt in 1981, offering his attacker forgiveness. He suffered from Parkinson’s disease but continued to travel and teach. He died on April 2, 2005, the vigil of the feast he had inaugurated, Divine Mercy Sunday. He was canonized on April 27, 2014, by Pope Francis.
Gay Snell
October 12, 2025
October is the month of the Holy Rosary (a prayer second only to Holy Mass). October 7 was the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, a term revealed to the Children of Fatima in October 1917. The Rosary is a form of mental and vocal prayer centered on mysteries or events in the lives of Jesus and Mary—the Mysteries of our Redemption. Use of Rosary beads in praying the Rosary is to aid in counting the prayers without distraction. At Fatima, Our Lady requested frequent recitation of the Rosary. When Our Lady appeared to Saint Bernadette at Lourdes in 1858 she was carrying a Rosary and together they prayed the Rosary. In praying the Rosary one may gain a Plenary Indulgence (Removal of temporal punishment due to sin whose guilt has already been forgiven…) “To pray the Rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and his Mother.” “Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.” (Saint John Paul II) Gay Snell
October 5, 2025
Saturday, October 4, was the Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. He is the founder of the Franciscans and is one of the Church’s most popular saints. He is also admired by non-Catholics. He was the son of a wealthy merchant and was a leader among his carefree, pleasure-seeking peers. In 1205 he went off to war, was taken hostage, and later became seriously ill. Twice Francis experienced a vision of Jesus that prompted him to change his lifestyle. At the Portiuncula, a small chapel, he heard an image of the crucified Christ speak to him: “Go, Francis and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin.” He took these words literally and using the money he obtained by selling some of his father’s goods, he repaired the church. He began to spend his time among the poor and the sick. People flocked to hear him preach. Eleven of his boyhood friends left their homes and joined Francis. The Franciscan Order was founded on April 16, 1209. In 1210, Francis and his friends went to Rome to receive the approval of Pope Innocent III. In 1212, Francis and Saint Clare founded the first community of “Poor Ladies,” now known as Poor Clares. On Christmas 1223, Francis built a life-size creche and began the custom of placing Nativity scenes in churches and homes. He received the stigmata (the wounds of Christ) on September 17, 1224, died in 1226, and was canonized (made a saint) in 1228. Saint Francis was an ordained deacon. His life and ministry were characterized by joyous worship, a reverence for nature, and concern for the poor and sick. Saint Francis, pray for us. Gay Snell
