Today… and Looking Ahead to the Weekend
Angelus
V/. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
R/. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
V/. Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
R/. Be it done unto me according to your Word.
Hail Mary…
V/. And the Word was made Flesh,
R/. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary…
V/. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
R/. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, Your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ Your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.[1]
“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” (Lk 1: 28)
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” (Lk 1: 42).[2]
Today and tomorrow are days to remember the Institution of the Angelus of Our Lady.[3]
June 28: Institution of the Angelus of Our Lady, Europe, 1456
The institution of the Angelus occurred on June 28th or 29th about 1456 by Pope Callistus. The Turks had been threatening Europe and it was the Pope’s request that the Faithful recite the Angelus for the safety of Christendom against the Turks and for peace. The Angelus was first recited about sunset, a general practice throughout Europe in the first half of the 14th century, recommended by Pope John XXI. The morning Angelus seems to have started somewhat later, again, for peace. The recitation of the midday Angelus began sometime in the 14th or 15th century; it was called the “Peace Bell.”
This present-day custom of reciting the Angelus is a short practice of devotion in honor of the Incarnation, repeated three times each day; morning, noon, and evening, at the sound of the church bell. It is curious how the Angelus is associated historically with the invasion of the Turks, again, in 1683, when they laid siege to Vienna. Emperor Leopold of Austria fled and begged for assistance and help from John Sobieski, a great Polish general, who gathered his army and hastened to the rescue, stopping at one of Our Lady’s shrines in Poland for blessing.
On September 11, Sobieski was on the heights of Kahlenberg, near Vienna, and the next day engaged in battle with the Turks. Brilliantly leading his troops, he forced the Turks into a trap, but the number of the foe was so great that he could not penetrate their ranks; then Sobieski’s cavalry turned in retreat, interpreted by the Turks as flight. The Turks rushed forward but were re-attacked. The shouts and cries of Sobieski’s men threw terror into the Turks when they learned that Sobieski himself, “The Northern Lion,” was on the battlefield, for he had defeated the Turks in Poland on previous occasions, and they feared him; therefore, the Turks fled panic-stricken. The battle raged for a time; all along the front was Sobieski everywhere commanding, fighting, encouraging his men, and urging them forward. The Turks were finally defeated, Vienna and Christendom saved, and the news was sent to Pope Innocent XI in Rome.
Institution of the Angelus
Sobieski was a humble man, for in the height of his greatest victory, in a letter to Pope Innocent XI, he said it was God’s cause he was fighting for and Mary’s honor. His message to the Pope on the victory read: “I came, I saw, but God and Mary conquered.”
The day after the Battle, Sobieski entered Vienna victoriously. Later he pursued the Turks into Hungary, again attacking and defeating them. The Turkish threat to Europe had vanished forever, or at least until the 21st century. Pope Innocent XI, after the battle of Vienna, requested the whole Christian world to recite the Angelus for peace. The Angelus takes on a special significance today because Communism has duplicated, in many respects, the pattern of the Turkish invasion of Europe. In our own time, we see the peaceful Moslem invasion of Europe, which once again, Poland is resisting.
The 500th anniversary of the institution of the Angelus by Pope Callistus III was a reminder to recite the centuries-old prayer for peace and the protection of the Christian world from the Red menace of Communism and the enemies of Western Civilization.[4]
I share this with you for numerous reasons. Besides the obvious importance of the Angelus, the above text mentions Sobieski and the Battle of Vienna and that battle connects to the Feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrated on September 12th. For those who follow this blog closely, you know that date is when Our Lady of Eunice was established in 2019.
That’s today and tomorrow, but what about the rest of the week? What about this weekend?
If you’re solely in the world, then tomorrow is hump day and you’re probably thinking ahead to the long holiday weekend, and rightfully so. It’s been a rough couple of years for many people and the opportunity to have a barbecue and hang out is a welcomed breath of fresh air. But I’m going to ask you to shift your focus to a different opportunity that is presenting itself this weekend as well.
Thursday is June 30th and the last day of the month. What many people may not know is it was the day the first 2,000 Miraculous Medals were distributed in 1832. Many miracles occurred with the first distribution and so it’s a day to remember in my opinion. I’d had something quite miraculous of my own happen on this day several years ago and it’s how I learned of the medal and its distribution.
This weekend is not only the First Friday and First Saturday of the month, it is also the Feasts of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, AS WELL AS the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.
Now you might be thinking to yourself: “It’s not the Feast Day of the Visitation this Saturday, it’s May 31st!”
Well, it was celebrated on July 2nd in calendars of old from 1263–1969. I celebrate it on May 31st but how can I abandon over 700 years of what was celebrated by our ancestors? Seems silly to ignore all that history and energy. Maybe it’s just me but I doubt I’m alone on this.
I’m not going to go over the importance of the First Five Fridays and Saturdays Devotions as I’ve covered it extensively already. Here’s a link from another source you can use for the First Saturday Devotions, as it is what Jesus requested for world peace.[5]
[1] https://www.usccb.org/prayers/angelus
[2] https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/angelus-383
[3]
https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=cst19560622-01.2.26&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN--------
[4] https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/institution-of-the-angelus.html