My mother and the October colors of my hometown October brings beautiful weather and beautiful saints. I grew up in Pennsylvania, where autumn brought cool, clear air after hot and humid summers, along with spectacular fall foliage. Here in San Francisco, October brings blue and sunny skies after weeks of dripping cold fog. October’s good weather, however, along with October’s Saints, are only a foretaste of heaven.
The City in which St. Francis and St. Therese live now is not San Francisco. It has no need of sun or moon, writes St. John, for “the Lamb of God is its light.” The great feasts of October spur us on to That City. St. Therese opened the month yesterday, calling to us from heaven on October 1, followed by the Guardian Angels today. October gives us St. Francis (the patron of our city) and St. Bruno (after whom San Francisco’s southern mountain is named), St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II, the great mystics St. Teresa of Avila and St. Margaret Mary, the martyr bishop of Antioch St. Ignatius the martyr bishop of Paris St. Denis, the martyr missionaries John de Brebuf, Isaac Jogues and their companion North American Martyrs, St. Luke the Beloved Physician and St. John Capistrano (after whom my favorite Mission is named), along with other shining saints.
The City in which St. Francis and St. Therese live now is not San Francisco. It has no need of sun or moon, writes St. John, for “the Lamb of God is its light.” The great feasts of October spur us on to That City. St. Therese opened the month yesterday, calling to us from heaven on October 1, followed by the Guardian Angels today. October gives us St. Francis (the patron of our city) and St. Bruno (after whom San Francisco’s southern mountain is named), St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II, the great mystics St. Teresa of Avila and St. Margaret Mary, the martyr bishop of Antioch St. Ignatius the martyr bishop of Paris St. Denis, the martyr missionaries John de Brebuf, Isaac Jogues and their companion North American Martyrs, St. Luke the Beloved Physician and St. John Capistrano (after whom my favorite Mission is named), along with other shining saints.
Fr. Peyton's original Rosary Rally in San Francisco, October 1961, which drew the largest crowd in the City's history But October’s crowning feast is that of the Holy Rosary, October 7. The rosary is our dearest companion and ladder to heaven, the greatest of all devotions and our defensive weapon against the evil one’s attacks. By praying the rosary, every day, we come under Our Lady’s protective and beautiful mantle; we rest safely in the grace of Christ our Lord. I will tell the story of Lepanto, Our Lady of Victory, at my 11:30 Mass this Sunday, but you can read this story for yourself (or listen to it) on the internet, most beautifully in GK Chesterton’s epic poem Lepanto. I beg all of you who can, who are reading this blog within fifty miles of San Francisco, to attend our annual Rosary Rally with Archbishop Cordileone this Saturday at 10am in the cathedral. He will bear the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of San Francisco to UN Plaza, where we will pray a final rosary and be invested in the scapular. Twelve priests will be hearing confessions. Our Lady of Victory, Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!
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