Tuesday, October 10, 27th Week in Ordinary Time
Second and third from left: St. Francis contemplating worldly glory, by Alonso Cano, 1624; St. Francis performing an exorcism, Goya, 1788.
ST. FRANCISCO DE BORJA (Francis Borgia) (b Spain 1510, d Rome 1572), Husband/Father/Widower, Jesuit Priest, Third Jesuit Superior-General
Great grandson of Pope Alexander VI, grandson of King Ferdinand of Aragon, and son of the Duke of Gandia, Francisco was raised in the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, whom he accompanied on two military expeditions. At age 19, he married a noblewoman and they had eight children. Meanwhile, he rose in court to become viceroy of Catalonia. A friend and adviser to his contemporary, Ignacio de Loyola, he joined the Jesuit order in 1548 after his wife died. He was ordained in 1551. He became a notable preacher and was given charge of the Jesuit missions in the Orient and in the West Indies. He became the Jesuit Superior-General in 1565. Under him, the society established missions in Florida, New Spain and Peru, and greatly developed its internal structures. He re-introduced daily meditation to the Jesuit rule when he felt they were being too involved in their work at the expense of their spiritual growth. Because of the changes he made, he has sometimes been called the 'second founder' of the Jesuit order. He worked with St. Pope Pius V and St. Charles Borromeo in the Counter-Reformation. He died in Rome but his remains were brought to Madrid in 1901. He was beatified in 1624 and canonized in 1670.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/101012.cfm
AT THE VATICAN TODAY
General Audience - The Holy Father spoke to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square about Vatican-II, as the Church
prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of its opening tomorrow, and recalled his own experience as a participant
and witness of the four-year event.
In the afternoon, the Holy Father attended the fifth general congregation of the Synodal Assembly during
which His Grace Mons. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Church of England, addressed
the assembly as a Fraternal Dalegate. Afterwards, he had a private audience with the Holy Father.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 11/10/2012 02:34]