The Daily Decade

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. George, begs the intercession of S. Charles Borromeo for his namesake Charles Rehovsky, submitted by Bladesmith, a long-time listener we gained from our rambunctious sponsors at Exodus Americanus.Today's reflection is on the sins of Avarice and Envy, where they originate in the human heart ("deceitful above all things and desperately wicked"), why they are worse than Gluttony and Lust because of their innate human qualities, making idols of worldly things and arrogating to us properties which are not our natural right.

Today's Daily Decade, originally intended for Holy Saturday, begs the intercession of S. Margaret of Scotland for listener Lisa's husband to come to the full knowledge and embrace of the Faith. Today's reflection is on the means God provides us to conquer these basest of sins we have been discussing, Gluttony and Lust, and cultivate their opposites - namely, the gift and discipline of Fasting.

Today's Daily Decade for Maundy Thursday begs intercession of S. Monica, who lived for her family and attained to sainthood through her impact on her husband and children, for Judy, a mother of four who has been diagnosed with cancer.Today's reflection is on the virtues that sit opposite the deadly sins of lust and gluttony, and how to seek the narrow gate through which chastity and temperance lead us away from the ephemeral pleasures of this world to the eternal joy of the Kingdom.

Today's Daily Decade, for Spy Wednesday, begs intercession once again on behalf of VAL's father, for his perfect healing and full recovery; we ask the intercession of S. Elizabeth of Hungary, famous in her lifetime as one who never refused to aid the sick. Today's reflection is on the most common and basic of the seven cardinal or Deadly sins, namely gluttony and lust, what they have in common, why the Fathers and Doctors of the Church typically spoke of them in one breath and recommended for them similar penances.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Saturday of Passion Week, begs the intercession of S. Mary Magdalen for Samuel Alan, a long-time listener and one whom we share with the admirable gentlemen of the Godcast; Samuel has asked for help with the virtues of purity and humility.Today's reflection is on the remedy of Sin, which is Penance, and what is needed for worthy penance, namely contrition, which we, depending on our state in life or the depth of the abyss of our sin, must cultivate daily in our prayer.

Today's Daily Decade, for Thursday of Passion Week, begs the intercession of S. Alphonsus Ligouri on behalf of Hermano Alfonso and his family and friends, that their Passiontide be fruitful and meritorious.Today's reflection considers the three kinds of sinner and the figures representing each in our Lord's Passion: the faithless, the ignorant, and the treacherous, and how Our Lord addressed Himself - and regards - each one.

Today's Daily Decade, for Tuesday of Passion Week, offers prayers for the Catholics of Spain, and the preservation of the great Cross erected at the Valley of the Fallen in Spain.Today's reflection begins our new series on Sin, and the turning it represents away from God for created things, and the call we are all to answer as Christians and as fallen men to keep turning back towards God that we might be facing Him in our last hour.

Today's Daily Decade, for Passion Sunday, begs the intercession of S. Elizabeth the mother of S. John the Baptist, on behalf of a group of women encountered by listener Teresa who are barren by choice having willingly rejected maternity. Today's reflection considers S. Mary of Egypt, great penitent, and the lesson she gives us on our sinfulness, the salutary fear of God's Judgement, and the glorification of God we give in our repentance and working to merit His Mercy.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. John of Capistrano, begs the intercession of S. John of Patmos on behalf of VAL's father, who has been placed on oxygen and is waning in strength. Today's reflection is on S. Therese of Lisieux and her "Little Way" as a means of seeking Christ as the Blessed Mother and S. Joseph "sought [him], sorrowing", uniting ourselves to the sorrows behind even the greatest joys of the Holy Family.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of the Annunciation, begs the intercession of S. Anthony the Great for a homeless man known to listener agaperealm on the Fediverse, to find God's protection.Today's reflection is on S. Peter Celestine and the persecutions he suffered as a result of his life and his decisions, especially his resignation of the Papacy, to pursue a eremetic life dedicated solely to loving God.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of Pope S. Zachary, we beg the intercession of S. Anthony, whose vocal chords and tongue were incorrupt because of the edification of his sermons, on behalf of the fiance of Petite, longtime listener and frequent petitioner, for him to overcome health issues and for his faith to be strengthened.Today's reflection is on the Assumption, what it is and what it means, why purity is the keystone to a Christian life that ends in a Christian death, and how S. Maria Goretti exemplifies this lesson, showing at a tender age the advanced wisdom that our virtues are not our own, but belong to God - and, if they are great enough, they will carry us to Him when He demands them of us.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. Euphrasia, virgin and martyr, begs the intercession of S. Stephen Protomartyr for the conversion of the friends and enemies alike of listener Copperhead Jenkins. Today's reflection focuses on S. Louis IX, King of France, and the way in which his life exemplified the virtues of the three people who awaited the Messias in the Presentation - the obedient Mother of God, the fervent Simeon the God-seer, and the humble Anna the last prophetess.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. Eulogius, begs the intercession of King S. Louis IX, an exemplar of filial piety, on behalf of the mother of listener TG, who is struggling with a very serious health concern.Today's reflection considers the three-fold calvary of the life of S. Jane Frances de Chantal, and the way in which she bore her crosses with humility and in the employment of her talents and abilities, teaching us how to graduate from calvary to calvary until we finally are united with Our suffering Savior.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. John of God, begs the intercession of S. Joseph the Worker on behalf of the husband of listener Mevelyn, for help with his work and his duties of his state in life. Today's reflection focuses on S. Bernard, and how his life and work takes the mundane, the worldly, and the human and elevates it to the service of God, a true manifestation of the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost.

Today's Daily Decade, on this Feast of Ss. Perpetua & Felicity, begs the intercession of S. Simeon the God-seer on behalf of Teresa, a frequent listener and petitioner.Today's reflection considers S. Jean-Marie Vianney, and the way in which his simplicity and humility made God manifest to his flock as much as if the Nativity had taken place in the parish of Ars.

Today's Daily Decade, on the Feast of S. Casimir, offers prayers for the repose of the soul of Arthur, brother of listener Carol, who passed unexpectedly this week. Today's reflection focuses on S. Elizabeth of Hungary, a pious and holy queen who was persecuted for her zeal terribly by her in-laws, and accepted her cross with the same silence and humility with which Our Lord accepted His own Crown of Thorns.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. Albin d'Anger, begs the intercession of S. William the Abbot, client of the Norman King of Sicily, for Norman, Sharon, and their family.Today's reflection is two-part; before the Rosary we prepare for Lent with a brief discussion of our Lenten disciplines and the use of Lent and after the Rosary turn to S. John of the Cross and what his Dark Night of the Soul reveals to us about the experience of the Ascension in our spiritual life.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, begs the intercession of S. Therese of Lisieux on behalf of a dual intention from Petite, a long-time listener, for assistance against scrupulosity and for baby Bobby, who was recently admitted to the NICU and baptized in extremis . Today's reflection considers S. Teresa of Avila, famous reformer of the Carmelite order and mystic, whose ecstasies mirror the experience of S. John the Baptist during the Visitation, and the example she calls us to follow in savoring the things that are of God rather than of the world.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. Tarasius, begs the intercession of S. Rita of Cascia on behalf of a nameless couple struggling in their marriage. Today's reflection considers the life of S. Stanislas Kostka and the example he sets for us of perfect innocence suffering the oppression of terrible persecution with holy silence, eager to be pleasing to God.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of the Chair of S. Peter at Antioch, begs the intercession of S. Christopher to pray for the young daughter of the one of the founders of t S. Michael's Operations. who went into the NICUU earlier this week. Today's reflection is on S. Ignatius of Loyola, and his unique quality as a man who is born again in Christ and seeks to bring numberless others to the font of the Faith

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. Euchere d'Orleans, begs the intercession of S. Francis of Assisi for Jane Doe, a listener on the fediverse who seeks God's aid in bearing her burdens. Today's reflection focuses on S. Nicholas Owen and how he imitates the Blessed Virgin Mary's fiat mihi at the Annunciation, choosing a life of God's glory and hardship rather than worldy comfort and comparative ease.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. Simeon of Jerusalem, offers prayers for the repose of the soul of the aunt of listener Tadano, who passed away last week. Today's reflection deals with S. Athanasius of Alexandria, great defender of the faith and implacable opponent of the Heresiarch Arius, who chose the hard and lonely path to the glory of God instead of going along with the tepidity of his age.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. John of Matha, begs the intercession of S. Ignatius of Loyola on behalf of long-time listener and friend of the prayercast Patrick, who has been presented with a life-changing opportunity and desires discernment.Today's reflection is on obstacles, challenges, difficulties, and trials, the way they prepare us for - and lead us to - the eternal joy of Heaven, and why we should be concerned whenever we feel like we are coasting along just a little too easily.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. Titus, begs the intercession of S. Monica of Thagaste for the special intention of Jared, who asks for his wife's conversion to the Faith. Today's reflection is on living in the moment, and what moment to live in, how to do this and how to avoid it as a Christian in a world that demands of us the opposite of God's desire in every moment.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. Andrew Corsini, begs the intercession of S. Christopher on behalf of his namesake, whose mother Angela has asked for prays effecting his conversion to the Faith. Today's reflection is on the good works that toughen us up to bear our crosses in hands full of the callouses of virtue that have pushed out the softness and sensitivity of our pride and fallen nature.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. Brigid of Kildare, begs the intercession of S. John the Baptist on behalf of listener Sheila, who asks that her grandchildren be baptized in the Holy Catholic Church by those rites best known and loved by her and our forebears. Today's reflection is on those who have been given the special grace of God's favour by being taken up by Him body and soul, both Our Lady, Assumed into Heaven, as well as Henoch and Elias, caught up into Paradise until the dread time of Judgement when they shall return to complete their work.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. Martina, begs the intercession of S. Joseph the Worker and S. John the Apostle for the intention of listener Apricot, whose fiancé recently took new work and who is soon to be formally received into the Holy Church. Today's reflection is on the role of motherhood in the life and salvation of the Blessed Mother, and the model she and her Divine Son offer us.

Today's Daily Decade for the Feast of S. Peter Nolasco, begs the intercession of S. Joseph in his capacity as patron & gaurantor of a happy death, for His Lordship +Richard Williamson, who is on his deathbed. Today's reflection is on the Cross and the way we make our lives little Ways of the Cross, fulfilling the closing prayer of the Angelus that we may "by His Passion and Death be brought to the glory of His Resurrection".

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of the Conversion of S. Paul, offers prayers of thanksgiving for prayers answered and begs the intercession of S. John Chrysostom for the well-being of Walrus Aurelius, a close friend of the show. Today's reflection is about the gift that the coming of the Holy Ghost represents to us, to take us, Judas when we Sin, and offer us the opportunity again and again to turn as Peter turned, back towards Christ.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of Ss. Vincent & Anastasius, begs the intercession of S. Jean-Marie Vianney on behalf of Samuel, a listener who is seeking discernment in his vocation. Today's reflection is on virtue, heroism, and sainthood, and the principle that binds the three together and allows us to discern true heroes from the all-too-often empty use of that word

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of Pope S. Fabian & S. Sebastian, begs the intercession of S. Blaise on behalf of the proprietor of the SERVIAM Telegram channel, whose wife and young daughter were admitted to the hospital with symptoms of RSV pneumonia. Today's reflection is on the Saints, who help us gain the crown of Heaven by imitating Our Lord in bearing patiently the crown of thorns this world places on the just.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. Anthony the Great. begs the intercession of S. Gerard Majella on behalf of Louis and Lauren as well as an anonymous couple, both of whom have premature babies currently in intensive care. Today's reflection is on the visceral and grotesque nature of the Scourging, and why this is so appropriate given what sins the Scourging places upon Our Lord as He proceeds to Calvary.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of Pope S. Marcellus I begs the intercession of S. Joseph on behalf of David, who is looking at job prospects and improvement of his working situation. There are some audio quality issues at the beginning of the episode but they resolve as we pray the Rosary. I've attempted to fix them, but I hope you will be able to bear with them. Today's reflection is on Christ's promise that he will be with us to the consummation of the world, and what that means for us, what our consummation - what our perfection - is to be, and how we can become model citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of S. Paul the Hermit, begs the intercession of S. Jane Frances de Chantal on behalf of listener Lando's cousin and her children, who are beginning the journey back to the Faith. Today's reflection is on family and its meaning in the eyes of God. Our family is the first place where we learn the virtues that make us Christians, where we learn the challenges that face us as Christians, and how to overcome those challenges, how to Bear our cross, and live in such a way to be worthy to share ultimately in the glory of Christ's Resurrection.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of Pope S. Hyginus, offers prayers for Stuka and Teresa, who have separately begged prayers on behalf of recalcitrant and unbelieving family members. We beg the intercession of the Holy Angels Michael and Gabriel, and the Holy Guardian Angels. Today's reflection looks to the prefigures of Christ in the Old Testament prophets, particularly their universal struggle with patience for the stiff-necked and constantly rebellious Hebrew race, and how the recalcitrance of Mankind shapes Our Lord's Agony in the Garden.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Wednesday after Epiphany, offers prayers for an anonymous friend whose father, a life-long atheist, is in danger of death. We ask the intercession of Ss. Monica, Helen, and Olga, all of whom effected the conversion of their sons to have compassion on this wayward son and inspire him to return to the altar of his God, "the joy of his youth". Today's reflection focuses on God's Mercy, and the contrast between the Mercy of God which He in His infinite Love tempers with Justice, and the justice of man which he in his weakness he sometimes tempers with mercy.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of the Epiphany, offers prayers for Iperoreo and his family, who are unbelievers and anti-clericals. We beg the intercession of the Blessed Mother of God and S. Joseph, her most chaste spouse that the scandals of men no longer obscure the Truth of God in their eyes. Today's reflection considers the meaning and force of the phrase "full of grace", and in what way this first great title given the Blessed Mother by the Archangel Gabriel offers us an exemplary path to follow to our salvation.

Today's Daily Decade encourages us to "rejoice evermore" and "pray without ceasing", and to reflect on what these mean and how close these two calls of S. Paul are in meaning and intent. The more we pray, the more we rejoice, the closer we draw to sainthood. God love you!

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of St. Gabriel the Archangel, offers prayers for Austin and his family, who were in a car wreck on Christmas Eve, and he is currently wheelchair bound. We offer the prayers of the sick for his perfect healing and the care and health of his entire family. Today's reflection draws us near to a bit of mysticism, as we travel through the Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross, and the persons each Word addresses and for whom each is spoken - from the crucifiers of Christ, which we all are in sin, to the repentant thief, whom we become in repentance, to the Blessed Mother and St. John, models for those whom we are called to become as Christians, to Christ Himself as we perfect our Christian lives. May these last two weeks of Lent be opportunity enough for us to discover who we are and where we stand in relation to the Crucified Christ.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of St. Katarina of Sweden, daughter of the famed St. Bridget of Sweden, offers prayers for the nation of Nigeria on behalf of a listener there. We beg the intercession of St. Frumentius [I accidentally said "St. Fulgentius", confusing the Apostle of the Ethiopians with the great hero of Ruspe in modern Tunisia - but the saint I was describing was the first preacher to bring the Faith south of the Sahara], and the many nameless martyr-saints Nigeria has collected over the years, for the total conversion of the country, the defeat of the Saracen who kidnap and corrupt their children, and the purification of the darkened hearts of any and all pagans who continue to exercise power over Christians. Today's reflection considers the Crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the model she provides as a mother to all women as well as the role she plays as Patron Saint of all Christians, pointing the way to the ideal manhood, whose core vocation is authority, and the ideal womanhood, whose core vocation is maternity.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of St. Benedict, offers prayers for the end of Infanticide in the Western world and for God's Justice upon those who facilitate it, aid and abet its proponents, and all of us who tolerate it passively. We beg the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, chiefly responsible as they are for begging mercy for poor sinners. Today's reflection opens with this very subject, the disavowal of responsibility, contrasted with the way in which the Blessed Mother, herself blameless by nature, sought her Son "sorrowing" - sorrowing for His loss, but not bewailing her suffering for her own sake. How often do we ask "why?" when we mean "why me?", instead of asking God to reveal His design so we can better conform ourselves to it?

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of St. Patrick of Ireland, offers prayers for the perfect healing and fully recovery of the father of listener VAL. We offer the Latin prayers for the sick from the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. Today's reflection is on the joy and hope of the Way of the Cross, considering the Saints that were sanctified by their witness and participation in the crucifixion, from St. Longinus who helped to crucify Our Lord to St. Simon of Cyrene who aided Him reluctantly, to St. Veronica who risked her life to give Him comfort. 

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of Pope St. Zachary I, offers prayers for Melanie, a friend of listener Kevin. We beg the intercession of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, an exemplary woman who faced many kinds of trials and took divers and sundry opportunities to manifest holiness, for the general welfare of Melanie and the grace of God upon her and those responsible for her well-being. Today's reflection continues our theme of divine joy in the midst of human sorrow, the meaning of sorrow, compassion, and pain in our fallen world, and the example of the Assumption to help us pierce the veil of human sorrow to find joy wherever God is glorified. I have to admit I missed a spectacular opportunity to make reference to the icon Joy of All Who Sorrow and examine why Our Lady is given that title by Slavic Christians. Perhaps we'll revisit it in the future!

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of St. Euphrasia, offers prayers for the young lady hosting the Alithea Xeniplothike channel on Telegram, that she might discern her vocation clearly and faithfully. We beg the intercession of Ss. Benedict and Scholastica, two great monastics who, though brother and sister, were called separately by God to live a life pleasing to Him in a monastery. Today's reflection turns to the Blessed Mother and Holy Simeon in the Temple, and the way sorrow of this world mingles with joy - particularly, how this should motivate us to seek the unalloyed joy of Heaven, our native home, the way a feeling of nostalgia draws us back to that which is good but no longer with us, we must have a nostalgia for God - longing to be with Him, knowing we can never truly be perfectly with Him as long as we are here.  Advisory: I had to use a different pair of headphones to record, so the background noise is a little worse than usual. Long-time listeners will remember when every episode sounded like this, speaking of nostalgia! We'll be back to normal Wednesday.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of the Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste, offers prayers for Stefaniya's father, his full recovery and perfect healing. We offer the prayers of the sick, for recovery of bodily health, from the end of the Rite of Extreme Unction. Today's reflection is two-pronged, discussing both the authority found in the Crown of Thorns as well as the example Christ sets for us to imitate in our own pursuit of Salvation, the meaning of which is only available to us because of the descent of God to us, first as the Messias and then as the Holy Ghost who makes the meaning of Our Lord's teachings clear to us, and His way is simple: putting aside ourselves.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of St. John of God, offers prayers for Marta and her unborn baby, for their health and safety. We beg the intercession of St. Gerard, whose patronage is expectant mothers, especially those who are anxious or experiencing difficult pregnancy. Today's reflection focuses on the messages of hope we have before us in this second week of Lent, the way God reveals Himself and the way to Him in the Nativity, the Descent of the Holy Ghost, and the Crown of Thorns, but mostly how He offers us proof of His love through the special way He gives us the grace necessary to seek and find him by means of the Holy Ghost.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of Ss. Perpetua & Felicity, offers prayers for the baptism of Sheila O'Brien's three grandchildren. We beg the intercession of Ss. Monica and Augustine to enlighten the understanding and enkindle the affection of the parents of these children to the necessity of Baptism not only for their children's sake, but indeed for their own. Today's reflection deals with the personal nature of our God, how that personality manifests itself in the Incarnation, and why the Nativity fundamentally changes how we approach sin and repentance, especially as we come into this second week of Lent.

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of St. Cunegundis of Luxembourg, offers prayers for Ilya, a Russian tanker known to a listener, who fell in battle in the Ukraine. We offer for him the Latin Requiem prayers. Today's reflection considers the desperate need we all seem to have for hope, and how hopeless and absurd the world can seem when our suffering lacks the meaning that only Christ can give it - and, in turn, why the scourging, by which Christ takes upon himself all the sins of the flesh, gives meaning to our suffering in a special way, and is a source for us of both eternal as well as mundane Hope. 

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of St. Albinus, offers prayers for Johnny, a little boy who is in the hospital suffering terribly from a disease that has robbed him of his ability to walk, talk, eat, and breathe. We beg the powerful intercession of the Blessed Mother on his behalf as well as that of his family. Today's reflection is on the Ascension and the hope it provides us in times of temptation, especially on our Lenten journey, and the echo it offers of the fourth of Christ's Last Words - "my God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" 

Today's Daily Decade, for the Feast of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows and the first Monday in Lent, offers prayers for Jack, his return to the Faith and healing of heart and mind. We beg the intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower of Jesus, for childlike faith and the warming of love that has grown cold. Today's reflection considers the Blessed Virgin's decision to leave Galilee and go to her cousin's house in Judah to tend to Elizabeth and share Elizabeth's isolation for the remaining 3 months of her pregnancy, preparing the way for St. John as St. John would prepare the way for her Son, Our Lord Jesus.