Saint Feast Days of September and October

by Rev. Gabriel Baltes, O.S.B.  |  10/06/2024  |  A Message from Our Pastor

Dear Parishioners,

The autumn weeks of September and October are especially rich with the unique array of saints’ days that are celebrated during this time. On September 8 we commemorate the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, only one of three birthdays that are featured in the liturgical year. September 21, is the feast of the apostle and evangelist (once tax collector) St. Matthew.

Given how violently tax collectors were despised by their own Jewish people, this day assures us that conversion is possible for anyone – both those who are despised and those who do the despising. September 23 honors the beloved Padre Pio whose visible signs of Christ’s Passion (i.e., the stigmata) invite us to look beyond what we immediately see in others to discover what sufferings they endure below the surface of the skin.

On September 27 we recognize St. Vincent de Paul as he calls the church to be mindful of the poor and marginalized. On September 28 we acclaim Good King Wenceslaus of Bohemia who also served the poor and who was murdered, and martyred by his own brother. September 30 is a day to say “Thank You” to Saint Jerome, the brilliant scripture scholar who translated the entire Bible (Old & New Testament) into Latin thereby giving the church a singular translation that was used for over 1,500 years. September 29 directs us heavenward as we honor St Michael, the angel who does battle with evil, St. Gabriel, who announced the good news of salvation to Zechariah and Mary, and St. Raphael the angel who intercedes on humanity’s behalf for healing.

October offers us more saintly lives to ponder beginning the first day of the month with St. Therese whose “Little Way” to holiness has inspired countless individuals to live their lives in a deep awareness of God’s unconditional love. October 2 is yet another day to celebrate angels, particularly the Guardian Angels whom God has assigned to each of us to watch over and guides us on life’s perilous journey. Who doesn’t love St. Francis of Assisi, patron of animals who is also summons us to take urgent steps to preserve our planet as a gift from God the Creator. October 7 celebrates Mary under the title of “Our Lady of the Rosary” – the form of devotional prayer that is perhaps most quintessentially “Catholic.” St. John Paul II is greeted with joyful acclaim on October 22. While he was pope he re-translated the texts of the Mass, revised the Code of Canon Law, gave the church the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary as well as a new scriptural version of the Stations of the Cross. He promulgated the new Catechism of the Catholic Faith and instituted the ever popular Word Youth Days. There was a time I wondered whether this pope might even add a new book to the Bible. Ha, ha. Then October 28, we honor the apostles Simon and Jude -- Simon who was a zealot, and Jude who became the patron saint of the hopeless.

There are other saints too whose commemorations punctuate these fall days all of which are brought together in a grand chorus praise on November 1 the solemnity of all the saints. Some of these saints have been named by the church, while others are unknown and remain hidden as they pray ceaselessly on our behalf. This great company of witnesses should be a never ending source of hope and courage for us because the same reality that fashioned them into saintly men and women is the same reality that fashions us as well, namely Grace.

The glory of these days, with their golden leaves and radiant sunsets, call us to, not only anticipate the glory of heaven where we will one day join these saints, but to live this life in such a way that gives our present world a much needed vision of that world yet to come.