Saturday, Oct. 16, 28th Week in Ordinary Time
ST. MARIE-MARGUERITE D'YOUVILLE (Canada, 1701-1771)
Wife, mother and widow; Founder of the Grey Nuns; first native-born Canadian saint
By coincidence, the feast day of Canada's first native-born saint comes on the eve of the canonization of the country's first male
native-born saint, Brother Andre Bessette. Like Brother Andre, Marguerite Dufrost was born in Quebec province and did all her work
in Montreal. She had to interrupt her schooling at age 12 to help her widowed mother raise her siblings. At 20, she married a man who
turned out to be a gambler, bootlegger, and adulterer. They had six children, four of whom died in infancy; both surviving sons became
priests. She was widowed at 28 and had to open a store to support herself and her children, and spent what she could to help those
poorer than herself. In 1737, when both her sons were grown and enrolled in a seminary, she and some friends founded the Sisters of
Charity of the General Hospital of Montreal, where they had been helping to care for the poor. In 1747, they took over hospital
operations, with Marguerite as director. Over the years, the sisters, who came to be known as the Grey Nuns of Montreal, resorted to
other projects like making clothes for soldiers, to keep the hospital running. Soon, the poor of Montreal knew that in time of need, "Go to
the Grey Nuns - they never refuse to help". The General Hospital set a standard for medical care and Christian compassion. When it was
destroyed by fire in 1766, the Grey Nuns rebuilt it. After Mother Marguerite's death, the order expanded and now works throughout
Canada, the USA, Africa and South America. Pope John XXIII, who beatified her in 1959, called her 'mother of universal charity'. She
was canonized in 1990.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/101610.shtml
Today's OR has no papal photos, but carries the text of his message for World Food Day yesterday. There is
a front-page essay on Blessed John Henry Newman by his leading biographer Ian Ker, and a summary of consensus
expressed so far in the special synodal assembly for the Middle East, including the interventions on Thursday
of two Islamic guest speakers from Lebanon and Iran, representing Sunni and Shia Islam, respectively - they
both said that Muslims view the exodus of Christians from the Middle East as a loss because of the part they
play in Arab societies. Page 1 international news: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu approves new building
permits in East Jerusalem; and the US dollar hits its lowest values so far.
THE POPE'S DAY
The Holy Father met today with
- H.E. Bronisław Komorowski, President of the Republic of Poland, with his wife and delegation
- Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, Archbishop of Cracow, with
Mons. Józef Michalik, Archbishop of Przemyśl of the Latins,
and president of the Polish bishops' conference, and
Mons. Stanisław Budzik, Auxiliary Bishop of Tarnów, secretary-general of the conference.
- Mons. Kazimierz Nycz, Archbishop of Warsaw
- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops (weekly meeting)
This evening at 6 p.m., the Holy Father will attend a concert in his honor at Aula Paolo VI with
the participants of the current Synodal assembly. A German orchestra and choir, with German
soloists, will perform the Verdi
Requiem.
The Holy Father has named four fairly recent Curial heads as members of the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith:
- Mons. Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood
(till 2008, he was Secretary of the CDF)
- Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
- Mons. Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
He has also named a new director for the Sistine Chapel Choir - Salesian priest Marco Palombello,
a professor at the Pontifical Salesian University and founder of Rome's Inter-University Choir.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 16/10/2010 21:38]