How St. Louis de Montfort Changed the Rosary

April 28^th, Feast of St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Have you ever noticed that there is no separate bead for the Glory be prayer in the Rosary? Containing 59 beads, the Rosary string has specific beads only for the 53 Hail Marys and the six Our Fathers. Although certain methods of praying the Rosary will assign the Glory be or Fatima prayers to one bead or another, there is clearly no universally solidified practice – in many places the Glory be will be prayed on the “chain” between the final Hail Mary bead of one decade and the Our Father bead of the following decade.

The cause for this slight “confusion” (if we can call it that) as to in which place the Glory be is to be prayed is found in the fact that the Rosary did not originally include the Glory be (or, of course, the Fatima prayer). This little prayer was added by the great Apostle of the Rosary, St. Louis Marie de Montfort, showing the essentially Trinitarian character of his Marian devotion.

Who was St Mark? And Why is he pictured as a lion?

April 25^th, Feast of St Mark the Evangelist

In the Roman Martyrology for April 25^th, we find: “At Alexandria, the [heavenly] birthday of Blessed Mark the Evangelist, he, for the faith of Christ, being stretched and bound with cords, was dragged over the rocks, and grievously tormented. Afterwards, being shut up in prison, he was first comforted by an angelic vision, and at last by the appearance of the Lord Himself, by whom he was called to the heavenly kingdom in the eighth year of Nero.”

In honor of this great saint and evangelist, we do well to consider certain details of his person. Who was he? Is he John Mark? Was he a priest? Had he ever met Jesus? Why is he presented under the figure of a lion?

Who was Saint Mark?

While there are some who maintain that St Mark the Evangelist was among the 72 disciples and had for a time lapsed from the true faith only to be re-converted and reconciled through St Peter some time after Pentecost, it is better to assert that St Mark had never known Christ during his earthly life but was converted to the faith by St Peter some time in the first years after Pentecost. This is the most natural read of Sacred Scripture, when St Peter testifies that St Mark is his spiritual son (“Mark, my son”, 1 Peter 5:13).

Some maintain that the young man who followed our Lord after his arrest in the Garden but who was then seized by the soldiers and abandoned his garment to flee away naked into the night (cf. Mark 14:51) is St Mark the Evangelist, but nothing in the text indicates this. Indeed, while it is clear that this young man must not have been one of the Apostles (who had already fled), there is no indication that he is the Author of the Gospel either. Rather, it is more probably that he was either some other disciple of the Lord who had only just come upon the scene, or with less probability, he may have been John Mark (who is supposed to have been the man who owned the house in which the Last Supper took place).

Indeed, another common confusion is to identify St Mark the Evangelist with John Mark who was a disciple of St Paul and traveled with St Paul and Barnabas in their missionary journeys through Greece. John Mark is referred to by St Paul in his Letter to Philemon as well as in Colossians 4 and 2 Timothy 4. However, that John Mark is not the same as Mark the Evangelist is clear from this point: St Mark the Evangelist was the close disciple of St Peter and was with St Peter in Rome at the same time that John Mark was with St Paul in Greece. Indeed, the ancient tradition connects St Mark the Evangelist with the cities of Aquileia in Italy and Alexandria in Egypt – John Mark, on the other hand, is not known to have preached the Gospel in these places.

Thus, following Father Cornelius a Lapide, it is perhaps best to assert that St Mark the Evangelist was an Hebrew and likely a priest of the tribe of Levi (as St Bede the Venerable teaches). He was converted to Christianity and baptized by St Peter some time after Pentecost, and accompanies the Prince of the Apostles even to Rome. Later, he was sent by St Peter to preach the Gospel in Egypt and was Bishop of the Church in Alexandria. Here he gave witness to Christ through martyrdom.

Why is St Mark pictured as a lion?

And as for the likeness of their faces: there was the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side of all the four: and the face of an ox, on the left side of all the four: and the face of an eagle over all the four. (Ezekiel 1:10)

The Church interprets the four living creatures as symbolic of the four Evangelists. Borrowing from Ezekiel and from the Book of Revelation, we see St Matthew pictured as a man, St Mark as a lion, St Luke as an ox, and St John as an eagle. Why is St Mark represented by the figure of a lion?

The images of the four Evangelists are taken in large part from the manner in which they begin their Gospels. As St Matthew begins with the human geneology of Jesus, he is pictured as a man. St John soars to the heights of the eagle with In the beginning was the Word,  and St Luke calls to mind the sacrificial offering of the ox beginning with the sacrifice which Zachariah offered in the Temple. Thus also St Mark, who opens with the mighty roar of St John the Baptist’s call to repentance, is pictured under the powerful image of the lion.

An additional meaning which could be signified by the lion relates to a tradition which considers St Mark as the founder of monastic life and of the desert fathers. Since St Mark is the father of the Church of Alexandria and since this Church produced the great movement of consecrated religious life as hermit, anchorite, monk, or nun, St Mark is rightly considered by St Jerome and John Cassian to be the founder of monasteries and hermitages. Now, lions are often connected with the desert fathers and other ancient monks -- whether we think of St Paul the Hermit and St Anthony of Egypt (whose graves were dug by lions), or of St Jerome (pictured with the lion he cured), or even St Blase (who as a hermit was surrounded by lions and other wild beasts). Therefore, the image of the lion calls to mind St Mark's connection with Alexandria and his role as the spiritual father of religious life in the Church.  

Additional notes to support our thesis above:

St Jerome (Catalogue of Ecclesiatical Writers: “Mark was a disciple and interpreter of St Peter. At the request of the brethren at Rome, he wrote a short Gospel, based upon what he had heard St Peter relate. This, when Peter had heard, he approved of, and sanctioned its being read in the Church […] Mark took his Gospel, which he had compiled, and went to Egypt. He first preached Christ at Alexandria, and founded a Church there, which possessed such great purity of doctrine and life that it influenced all followers of Christ by its example.”

Again, St Jermone (Introduction to the Commentary on Matthew): “Mark, the interpreter of the Apostle Peter, who indeed had not himself seen the Lord, the Saviour, but had heard his master’s preaching, related according to the truth of the things which were done, rather than the order in which they were done.”

Clement of Alexandria (tom. 6, in Biblioth. Patr. in Edit. Parisiensi.): “Mark, the follower of Peter, when Peter was preaching the Gospel publicly at Rome, in the presence of certain knights of Caesar’s household, and was advancing many testimonies about Christ, being requested by them, wrote from the things which were spoken by Peter a Gospel, which is called that according to Mark.”

What's with Catholics and bones? Why we venerate the relics of saints

Relics at the Church of St John Cantius, Chicago

November 9^th – Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? … For the temple of God, which you are, is holy.

As we praise God for the dedication of the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and of Sts. John the Baptist and the Evangelist on the Lateran, commonly known as St. John Lateran’s, we have a moment to consider that the soul is truly the temple of the Most High God.

Further, reflecting upon how the exterior place of worship (the church) is a symbol for the interior place of worship (the soul), we will further consider how the dedication of a church recalls the theological basis of the Catholic veneration of the relics of the saints.

Keeping the Apostles straight: Which Simon? And, Which Judas?

October 28^th, Feast of Sts Simon and Jude

The Church honors two of her Apostles in a single feast, as Sts Simon and Jude were united in their last ministry and martyrdom. According to the Traditional Roman Martyrology, St. Simon first preached in Egypt and Jude in Mesopotamia, but they both ultimately came to Persia where they suffered martyrdom.

It is interesting to note that these two Apostles share names with two others of the Apostles – Simon called Peter, and Judas who betrayed the Lord. We will consider how the Church has added “nick-names” to our two Apostles so as to distinguish them from the others: Simon is called the “Zealot” and the “Canaanite”, while Judas is commonly referred to as “Thaddeus”.

St. Ignatius of Antioch, the child who is greater in the kingdom of heaven

October 17^th, Feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch

At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them, And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:1-4)

According to an ancient tradition, St. Ignatius of Antioch was the child whom Christ took and presented to the apostles as the example of the one who is greater in the kingdom of heaven. From that day the child, who was most beloved by the Savior and favored with the divine embrace, was also marked as the one upon whom lions would feast in the Roman Colosseum.

Turning to a sermon of the gentle Doctor, St. Francis de Sales, we will consider the example of this great bishop and martyr.

St. Augustine's mistress and son, and a lesson from his conversion

The conversion of St. Augustine, by Fra Angelico

August 28^th, Feast of St. Augustine

The greatest of the Fathers of the Church, the Doctor of Grace, St. Augustine was not always so saintly. This is well known. Until his thirty-second year, the future Bishop of Hippo was not baptized nor did he live a life worthy of the true Faith.

St. Augustine, in the time before his conversion, had contracted an illicit relationship with an unnamed woman and, from this union, came a son. What became of these two – this mother and son – after St. Augustine’s conversion?

What brought about this great conversion in Augustine?

The sufferings of the damned compared to the suffering of St. Bartholomew

21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Luke 13:22-30

“I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!” And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

Saturday, August 24^th, the Church celebrated the feast of St. Bartholomew, the apostle who gave his life in service of the Gospel through the most gruesome torment of being flayed alive. In this Sunday’s Gospel, our Savior tells us that many will strive to attain salvation but will fall short and, not taking the narrow road which only a few find, will instead take the broad road to eternal damnation.

As we consider the horrible pains which St. Bartholomew endured, we recognize that these sufferings are nothing as compared to the torments which the damned will suffer in hell. The reason is threefold.

St. Scholastica: The little sister who wanted to stay up all night, talking with her big brother

February 10^th, Feast of St. Scholastica

Whether St. Scholastica was older or younger than her twin St. Benedict, she seems to embody the personality of a darling little sister.

Hardly anything is known of her life, but the story of her final visit with the brother whom she loved offers us a marvelous example of both prayer and fraternal charity in these final days before the season of Lent.

What St. Paul saw on the road to Damascus, and what mystics see

5^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

[Christ] appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that, Christ appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once […] After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.

As St. Paul was traveling to Damascus in order to persecute the Church of Christ there, he experienced a most unique encounter with the Risen Jesus. As this event changed his own life, so too did it change both the Church and the world forever – since it was through St. Paul that God brought the Gospel to the nations.

However, what exactly was this encounter on the way to Damascus? Is St. Paul’s experience comparable to a vision? Did Jesus appear to St. Paul in the same way that he appeared to St.Faustina, for example? Or in the same way that he has appeared to many of the saints throughout history?

Upon consideration, we will see that St. Paul’s experience was most unique – something which will not be repeated until the end of time. And this is why the Apostle says that he was as one born abnormally, because an event like this apparition will never happen again.

Four Illustrious Virgins: St. Agatha, et aliae

February 5^th, Feast of St. Agatha

In the Roman Canon, the Church commemorates four of the most noble and pure virgins of the early Church – Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, and Cecilia. The latter two were the first inserted in the Eucharistic Prayer as they are two of the great virgin martyrs of Rome, while the former were inserted under Pope St. Gregory the Great who promoted the cult of these virgin martyrs of Sicily.

From among the seven women mentioned in the Roman Canon, these four stand out as the illustrious virgins of the early Church. We mention the other three: Felicity was a Roman mother martyred together with her seven children, Perpetua the noble married martyr of Carthage, while Anastasia was the Roman widow and martyr whose memory is especially recalled on Christmas morning.

Focusing on Agatha, we do well briefly to consider the history and cult of these four virgin martyrs.

Why we call him "The Angelic Doctor"

January 28^th, Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas

The Common Doctor, St. Thomas is often referred to as “Aquinas” after his hometown of Aquino. His most beloved title, however, is the “Angelic Doctor” – and it is this designation which inspires the greatest devotion to the saintly Dominican theologian.

Why is St. Thomas Aquinas properly called the “Angelic Doctor”, the “Angelic Thomas”, and the “Angel of the Schools”?

St. Philemon, Bishop and Martyr

Sts. Archippus, Appia (Apphia), and Philemon

Tomorrow, Thursday of the thirty-second week in Ordinary Time, the Church reads from the Letter of St. Paul to Philemon. This is the shortest of St. Paul’s letters, and is nearly the shortest book of the Bible. With a mere 445 words, only the second and third Letters of St. John are shorter.

Yet, as the Apostle was inspired by the Holy Spirit to send Philemon this Letter, we do well to consider the life and identity of this saint.

St. Martin: Advent, Peace, and Chapels

November 11^th, Feast of St. Martin

“Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptized; he has clothed me.”

Thus, in a vision, spoke our Savior before his angels attesting to the divine election of the Roman soldier Martin. St. Martin of Tours is one of the most beloved saints of the early Church. He was one of the first post-Apostolic era saints venerated without being crowned a martyr, since he died of sickness. Thus, the Church praises him saying that he received a martyrs crown without suffering a martyr’s death.

There are three details about St. Martin that will help us to appreciate the great significance this saintly Bishop has for the Church and the world today.

What's in a name? St. Jude Thaddeus

October 28^th, Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude

Today we celebrate the feast of Sts. Simon and Jude. While Simon was from Cana and is called the Zealot, Jude is known as Thaddeus. This “Jude” is distinct from Judas the Iscariot who betrayed our Lord – this “Jude” is among the “brethren of the Lord”, a cousin of our Savior.

One small disappointment about the new translation is in the rendering of St. Jude’s name in the list of the apostles in the Roman Canon. While the Latin sates Thaddaei, the English reads “Jude”. Certainly, Thaddeus is the same Jude brother of James, the author of the last biblical epistle. Yet, it is rather disheartening that the new English translation follows the old in changing the name from “Thaddeus” to “Jude”.

When we consider the meaning of the name (or rather, the nickname) “Thaddeus”, we will see why the Church has chosen to invoke the Saint under this title during the Mass – and why the English ought to follow this tradition.

The martyrdom of the sons of Zebedee

Sts. James (right) and John (left) as children

29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Mark 10:35-45

Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” [James and John] said to him, “We can.”

The sons of Zebedee, by way of their mother, request of the Savior to be seated one on his right and the other on the left in his kingdom. The good Jesus, seeing their zeal (for which reason they were called the “Sons of Thunder”) and recognizing their need for yet further purification, calls these two apostles to lay down their lives in service of the Gospel.

James and John were the first of the apostles to ask for the cup of martyrdom, and each received that cup in a privileged manner.

The Rosary, "Luke on a chain"

October 18^th, Feast of St. Luke

During the month of October, we thank God for giving us the Most Holy Rosary through our Blessed Lady. Have you ever noticed that the Rosary is based more on the writings of St. Luke than on those of any other biblical author?

This is part of what makes the Rosary such a precious prayer – it is one of the best ways of meditating upon Sacred Scripture and is, thereby, a means of entering into truly contemplative prayer. Recognizing the scriptural roots of the Rosary, we might even call it “St. Luke on a chain”.

St. Teresa of Avila: Why you can't seem to progress in the spiritual life

October 15^th, St. Teresa of Jesus

St. Teresa of Avila is the “Doctor of Prayer”, most especially for her classic work on Christian prayer, “The Interior Castle”. However, while many people desire to grow in the life of prayer, they are often confused as to what must be done. How do I pray well? What method should I use?

Sadly, many modern(ist) Catholics (including even some priests) have turned to eastern forms of meditation – like centering prayer or yoga – rather than to the true tradition of Christian prayer. If we understand St. Teresa’s key insight about prayer and the interior life, we can clearly see how far eastern meditation is from true prayer.

Christ was like St. Francis

October 4^th, Feast of St. Francis

The Poor Man of Assisi is often called the Mirror of Christ, for he was as another Christ (alter Christus) present among us. St. Francis was a true Christian, “Christ-like” to the core.

G.K. Chesterton, in his excellent work on the Saint, makes the following observation (very much in his classic, witty fashion): If St. Francis is said to be like Christ, then Christ must necessary be just so much like St. Francis.

The following paragraphs are excerpts from the eighth chapter of G.K. Chesterton’s excellent biography of St. Francis (which can be read online [here]).

Why did Jesus call Sts. James and John the "sons of thunder"?

July 25^th, Feast of St. James the Greater

And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and [Jesus] named them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder (Mark 3:17)

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. James the Greater, who was the brother of St. John the Evangelist. This is the St. James who was first among the Apostles to be martyred (by Herod in Jerusalem) and whose relics are venerated in Compostella, Spain.

St. James the Greater was not called “the brother of the Lord” (that is St. James the Less), but he and his younger brother St. John were called Boanerges or “sons of Thunder”. Why did Jesus give them this designation?

The fiery style of the sons of Zebedee

There are certainly several incidents recorded in the Gospels which indicate the fiery preaching style of Sts. James and John. Certainly, these two were burning in their evangelical zeal, even to the point of some slight imperfection – this impetuousness was, of course, purified through their experience of our Savior’s Passion and Resurrection (as well as in the descent of the Holy Spirit).

The Breastplate of St. Patrick

March 17^th, Feast of St. Patrick

St. Patrick, though born in Scotland, is the Patron Saint of Ireland. At the young of sixteen, he was captured by Irish pirates and taken to the land of the pagan druids. During his six years of slavery, St. Patrick learned the Celtic language as well as many of the details of the druidic religion and culture. This would serve him well when he returned to convert the land to the true Faith.

After escaping from slavery, St. Patrick went to England and there studied for the priesthood. Being ordained a bishop, St. Patrick requested of Pope Celestine I that he be sent back to Ireland, this time not as a slave but as an Apostle! Returning to pagan Ireland, St. Patrick preached the Gospel throughout the land.

St. Patrick’s “Lorica” [i.e. Deer Cry] or “Breastplate” refers to the prayer for divine protection which St. Patrick offered in preparation for his participation in the victory of Christ over paganism in Ireland.