May We Be as Free as Simeon and Anna

Ring Around the Rosie, by Edward Henry Potthast

By Suzanne M. Lewis

Step into any Catholic church, early on a weekday morning, and you will observe a ragtag contingent of volunteers reporting for duty. Many of these, with gray heads and bent backs, will shuffle or limp, often with the help of a cane. Their presence is easy to overlook in the Sunday crowd, who arrive to fulfill an obligation; but at daily Mass we can clearly see the faces of the free men and women in our midst. And most of those faces are wrinkled.

If God were to come to earth and mix his life into ours, according to a schedule, at precise addresses in every city and town across America, could you imagine any appointment more important for you to keep? Could you imagine wanting anything more than to show up each day for this stupendous, recurring miracle?

* * *

When my Grandma was in her eighties, one of her daughters noticed dust bunnies lurking in the corners of her house. In a shaming tone, my aunt said, "Mom, I remember when you used to get down on your hands and knees to scrub the baseboards with a toothbrush! Now look at what's become of your home. How could you let it get like this?" Grandma replied, "Did it ever occur to you that I was out of my mind when I did that?" Then she broke into gales of laughter at the very thought of her past lunacy.

* * *

As I grow older, I'm struck by the elderly people who play a part in the stories surrounding Jesus's birth and earliest life: Elizabeth and Zechariah, Gaspard (the grizzled magus), and then Simeon and Anna. A long established tradition in the Church also imagines St. Joseph as an old man.

These Gospel figures remind us of Abraham and Sarah, who followed God's challenge to "count the stars," while each† laughed in delighted wonder at the astonishment of an "impossible" child.

Simeon and Anna bear a gift for the rest of us. When given a choice between the busyness and demands of ordinary life, they each chose instead, day in and day out, to keep their appointment with wonder. We can follow their example. This is freedom.

* * *

One morning, as our motley band filed out after daily Mass, some small children noticed that it had rained while we were inside. My friend Wayne, who was 93, stopped dead in his tracks as the kids ran past him to jump in the puddles. Wayne stood and stared, his mouth open with surprise and his eyes full of joy as the happy children stomped and splashed water with abandon. He stayed like that until the game was over and the kids had been bundled away to their car. Then he turned to me, laughed, and said, "God must feel as delighted when he looks at us as I feel when I see those children play in the puddles! He loves us and enjoys us so much!"

* * *

February 2, 2021 marks the five year anniversary of 501(c)3 nonprofit status for Revolution of Tenderness. On this day, we renew our pledge to take up God's challenge to count the stars, and we are dead earnest in our commitment to laugh at the wonder of new life and light that Christ constantly pours out and leaves puddled everywhere around us.

Most of all, we promise never to let dust bunnies disturb our sanity.

† Please see: Genesis 17:17: "Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed..." and also Genesis 21:6: “Then Sarah said, 'God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.'"

Feast of St. Charles, Final Day of the Double Novena

Two great men each died on November 3. Charles Borromeo passed away on that day in 1594, and exactly 45 years later, on a different continent, Martin de Porres died in 1639. Their lives overlapped by 15 years, but they never met; most likely neither one ever heard of the other. Here are the prayers for Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five, Day Six, Day Seven [All Saints Day], Day Eight, and Day Nine.
Scroll further down to find today’s novena prayers.

Many are familiar with how St. Charles risked personal contagion during the plague of Milan in order to give medical and financial help to the sick and dying. What is not well known, though, is that for as long as he put himself at risk for infection, he practiced social distancing to make sure that he didn’t pass the plague onto others. His biographer, Giovanni Pietro Giussano, reported: “For himself , he acted as if he were actually an infected person , allowing no one to come near him or wait upon him , and having a rod carried before him when he went abroad , in order to keep off every one from himself and his assistants.” Charles would place this rod, which was over six feet long, on the ground between himself and anyone who wanted to approach him. St. Charles also instituted an alternative to public prayer assemblies: “seven times a day, when the cathedral bells rang, the residents of Milan, now homebound, would come to their windows and doors and sing prayers and litanies. The effect was, it seems, not unlike contemporary instances of quarantined residents joining in communal serenades: the voices of some ‘three hundred thousand souls,’ Giussano wrote, ‘resounding and echoing, calling all heaven to help in that court of misery’” (Matthew Guerrieri, Boston Globe music critic).

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St. Charles used his own family funds to support the needs of the impoverished and to set up hospitals and hospices for the sick and dying during the plague of Milan. Through his intercession, and that of master fundraiser, St. Martin de Porres, we are confident in reaching our goal for Revolution of Tenderness’s end of year campaign. Please give generously.

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The Prayers:

St. Charles Borromeo
Day Nine [Feast of St. Charles Borromeo]:

“When you pray the [psalms], think about the words you are saying and the Lord to whom you are speaking. When you take care of other people, meditate on how the Lord’s blood has washed them clean so that all that you do becomes a work of love. This is the way we can easily overcome the countless difficulties we have to face day after day, which, after all, are part of our work: in meditation we find the strength to bring Christ to birth in ourselves and in others.”   [Charles Borromeo, Homily]

You, Lord, who have the power to renew the heavens, the earth, and all things, give to all of us that new heart, that new spirit which you promised us through the mouth of your prophet: And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you (Ezekiel 36:26). Bestow it upon us, Lord, with such abundance that it will produce in us, efficaciously and constantly, new resolutions, new customs, a new way of life, and in the end, that eternal renewal which the new Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, already came into the world to bring us. With this help, our heart shall be enlarged, reforms will no longer seem hard, nor your service burdensome. But the yoke will be sweet and the weight of your holy commandments light to us. We ask this through your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
[Charles Borromeo, “Booklet of Reminders”]

Preserve in the midst of your people,
we ask, O Lord, the spirit with which you filled
the Bishop Saint Charles Borromeo,
that your Church may be constantly renewed
and, by conforming herself to the likeness of Christ,
may show his face to the world.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

St. Martin de Porres
Postlude:

To you Saint Martin de Porres, we prayerfully lift up our hearts filled with serene confidence and love. Mindful of your unbounded and helpful charity to all levels of society, we offer our petitions to you. Pour out upon our families the precious gifts of your generous intercession; show to the people of every race and every color the paths of unity and of justice; implore from our Father in heaven the coming of his kingdom, so that through mutual benevolence in God, people may live in the peace of Christ.

Blessed is the man who is found without fault,
who does not make gold his life's object,
who does not put his trust in wealth.
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

Who is this man that we may praise him,
for he has done wonders in his life?
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

O God, who led Saint Martin de Porres
by the path of humility to heavenly glory,
grant that we may so follow his radiant example in this life
as to merit to be exalted with him in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
[Collect for the Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Roman Missal]

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

Martin de Porres Litany in Honor of His Feast Today

Portrait of St. Martin de Porres, c. 17th century, painted during his lifetime; Monastery of Rosa of Santa Maria in Lima

The Litany of St. Martin de Porres

Lord, have mercy,
Christ have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us,

God the Father of Heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary,
Pray for us.
St. Martin, ever in the presence of God,
Pray for us.
St. Martin, faithful servant of Christ, etc.
St. Martin, lover of the Holy Eucharist,
St. Martin, devoted to our Blessed Mother,
St. Martin, spiritual patron of Americans,
St. Martin, raised from the depths to a heavenly mansion,
St. Martin, honored son of Saint Dominic,
St. Martin, lover of the Most Holy Rosary,
St. Martin, apostle of mercy,
St. Martin, winged minister of charity,
St. Martin, miraculously conveyed to far-distant lands,
St. Martin, freed from the barriers of time and space,
St. Martin, seeking the conversion of sinners,
St. Martin, protector of the tempted and repentant,
St. Martin, helper of souls in doubt and darkness,
St. Martin, compassionate to the sorrowful and afflicted,
St. Martin, consoler of the discouraged and unfortunate,
St. Martin, peacemaker in all discords,
St. Martin, touched by all suffering,
St. Martin, comforter of the sick and dying,
St. Martin, angel to hospitals and prisons,
St. Martin, worker of miraculous cures,
St. Martin, guardian of the homeless child,
St. Martin, humbly hiding God-given powers,
St. Martin, devoted to holy poverty,
St. Martin, model of obedience,
St. Martin, lover of heroic penance,
St. Martin, strong in self-denial,
St. Martin, performing menial tasks with holy ardor,
St. Martin, gifted with prophecy,
St. Martin, symbol of interracial brotherhood,

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.

V. Pray for us, Saint Martin,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let Us Pray.

O God, who exalts the humble, you ushered St Martin into your heavenly Kingdom. Grant through his merits and intercession that we may follow his example of humility on earth and so be exalted with him in Heaven, through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

St Martin’s Feast (Double Novena, Day 9)

Two great men each died on November 3. Charles Borromeo passed away on that day in 1594, and exactly 45 years later, on a different continent, Martin de Porres died in 1639. Their lives overlapped by 15 years, but they never met; most likely neither one ever heard of the other. Here are the prayers for Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five, Day Six, Day Seven [All Saints Day], and Day Eight.
Scroll further down to find today’s novena prayers.

Yesterday we listened to a short oratorio, composed by Marc Antoine Charpentier, to honor St. Charles Borromeo and his deeds of love during the Milanese plague. Today we’ll look at a very different piece of music, Black Christ of the Andes, composed and performed by jazz giant, Mary Lou Williams, in 1962, the same year that St. Martin de Porres was canonized:

“‘St. Martin de Porres,’ begins with a choir singing a cappella. The chords — dense and full of satisfying tensions — showcase Williams' previously underutilized aptitude for vocal arrangement. As they sing the saint's name, the choir slows down, masterfully swelling on the vowels as if to prove their devotion. When Williams finally enters on the keys, she does so with an Afro-Latin groove, perhaps a nod to the heritage of the hymn's subject.
It is the perfect, haunting invitation to the world of this recording, which feels unexpected and refreshing at every turn. ‘Mary Lou Williams is perpetually contemporary,’ Duke Ellington once said. ‘She is like soul on soul.’ Black Christ of the Andes feels like soul on soul, perhaps in ways beyond what Ellington intended by the phrase. The entire composition is concerned with salvation, the wellbeing of our souls”
(Jenny Gathright, for NPR).

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During the 2020 Festival of Friendship, Revolution of Tenderness hosted a free concert of Mary Lou Williams’ compositions, played by jazz pianist Deanna Witkowski and her Trio. This concert was acclaimed by all who tuned in for it, and was just one of the many excellent free programs that we organized this year. Please support our end of year campaign so that we can continue to provide free concerts.

We have an added gift for you today: a beautiful litany to St. Martin de Porres that you can recite in honor of his feast.

The Prayers:

St. Charles Borromeo
Day Eight:

“You must realize that for us nothing is more necessary than meditation. We must meditate before, during and after everything we do. The prophet says: ‘I will pray, and then I will understand.’"   [Charles Borromeo, Homily]

You, Lord, who have the power to renew the heavens, the earth, and all things, give to all of us that new heart, that new spirit which you promised us through the mouth of your prophet: And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you (Ezekiel 36:26). Bestow it upon us, Lord, with such abundance that it will produce in us, efficaciously and constantly, new resolutions, new customs, a new way of life, and in the end, that eternal renewal which the new Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, already came into the world to bring us. With this help, our heart shall be enlarged, reforms will no longer seem hard, nor your service burdensome. But the yoke will be sweet and the weight of your holy commandments light to us. We ask this through your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
[Charles Borromeo, “Booklet of Reminders”]

Preserve in the midst of your people,
we ask, O Lord, the spirit with which you filled
the Bishop Saint Charles Borromeo,
that your Church may be constantly renewed
and, by conforming herself to the likeness of Christ,
may show his face to the world.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

St. Martin de Porres
Day Nine:

“In the banquet of life Martin took the lowest seat at the table. Overjoyed to be at the banquet, he chose to sit with the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable. And, at that end of the table, he shared with his neighbors whatever he had. As a result, when in 1639 he went home to the Lord, the Good Shepherd spread before him the banquet of eternal life. At that banquet, Martin was invited to sit at a very high place, close to Jesus himself and to his Mother Mary, surrounded by the saints and angels.”
   [Archbishop William Lori]

Blessed is the man who is found without fault,
who does not make gold his life's object,
who does not put his trust in wealth.
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

Who is this man that we may praise him,
for he has done wonders in his life?
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

O God, who led Saint Martin de Porres
by the path of humility to heavenly glory,
grant that we may so follow his radiant example in this life
as to merit to be exalted with him in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
[Collect for the Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Roman Missal]

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

San Carlo and San Martín, Day 6

Two great men each died on November 3. Charles Borromeo passed away on that day in 1594, and exactly 45 years later, on a different continent, Martin de Porres died in 1639. Their lives overlapped by 15 years, but they never met; most likely neither one ever heard of the other. Here are the prayers for Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, and Day Five.
Scroll further down to find today’s novena prayers.

Throughout our novena, we have been considering connections and confluences between St. Charles and St. Martin, but today we cannot help but think about St. Francis of Assisi when we read about St. Martin’s ability to communicate with animals and to tame wild bulls.

Both Francis and Martin valued begging as an important spiritual discipline. Because St. Francis and his brothers subsisted on whatever they could raise through begging, their association was called a “mendicant order;” meanwhile Martin approached the wealthy Spanish nobles of Lima to ask for funds to support the orphanage and the medical clinic he founded. Each saint was a catalyst for the free flow of money across castes and classes.

Being able to approach wealthy donors in freedom and confidence requires great humility. Perhaps the power to connect with animals is a sign of a saint’s simplicity or a gift that results from radical humility.

The full-length version of this image shows Martin with his animal friends

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We are full of wonder and gratitude to announce that, due to the generosity of our most committed donors, we have already received over $8,000 in gifts; this brings us more than halfway to our end of year campaign goal of $14,000. We need you to join us in fostering dialogue and healing in the public sphere. Your contribution makes you a standard-bearer in the cause to build a culture of encounter and mutual respect. Please contribute to our end of year campaign today. Revolution of Tenderness is a 501(c)3 nonprofit. All donations are tax-deductible.

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The Prayers:

St. Charles Borromeo
Day Five:

If your job is teaching and preaching, then study diligently and apply yourself to whatever is necessary for doing the job well. Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head.  [Charles Borromeo, Homily]

You, Lord, who have the power to renew the heavens, the earth, and all things, give to all of us that new heart, that new spirit which you promised us through the mouth of your prophet: And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you (Ezekiel 36:26). Bestow it upon us, Lord, with such abundance that it will produce in us, efficaciously and constantly, new resolutions, new customs, a new way of life, and in the end, that eternal renewal which the new Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, already came into the world to bring us. With this help, our heart shall be enlarged, reforms will no longer seem hard, nor your service burdensome. But the yoke will be sweet and the weight of your holy commandments light to us. We ask this through your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
[Charles Borromeo, “Booklet of Reminders”]

Preserve in the midst of your people,
we ask, O Lord, the spirit with which you filled
the Bishop Saint Charles Borromeo,
that your Church may be constantly renewed
and, by conforming herself to the likeness of Christ,
may show his face to the world.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

St. Martin de Porres
Day Six:

There are many “accounts of the wonders Martin worked with animals. ... For example, when the novices brought two bulls into the convent for a mock bullfight and the antagonized bovines started to attack for real, Martin came to the rescue—by reasoning with the bulls. They heard him out and obeyed. Giving them a snack, Martin instructed the elder bull to let the younger eat first, as was the common practice in the convent. The bull respectfully complied, and nuzzled Martin as if kissing his habit.” [Jordan Zajac, O.P.]

Blessed is the man who is found without fault,
who does not make gold his life's object,
who does not put his trust in wealth.
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

Who is this man that we may praise him,
for he has done wonders in his life?
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

O God, who led Saint Martin de Porres
by the path of humility to heavenly glory,
grant that we may so follow his radiant example in this life
as to merit to be exalted with him in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
[Collect for the Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Roman Missal]

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

Day Five of the Double Novena

Two great men each died on November 3. Charles Borromeo passed away on that day in 1594, and exactly 45 years later, on a different continent, Martin de Porres died in 1639. Their lives overlapped by 15 years, but they never met; most likely neither one ever heard of the other. Here are the prayers for Day One, Day Two, Day Three, and Day Four.

Scroll further down to find today’s novena prayers.

“There were only a few… who could remember the plague, which fifty-three years before had ravaged the greater part of Italy and particularly the Milanese provinces where it was – and still is – called ‘the plague of St. Carlo.’
”Such is the power of charity! It could make the memory of one man stand out over the varied and solemn memories of a general disaster, because it inspired that man with feelings and actions more memorable even than the evils themselves: it could stamp him on people’s minds as a symbol of all their misfortunes, because it had urged and thrust him forward into all of them as their guide, help, example, and voluntary victim; it could turn a general calamity into almost a personal triumph for him; and name it after him as if that calamity had been a conquest or a discovery.”
[Alessandro Manzoni, The Betrothed, page 477]

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This coming Sunday, November 1st, in honor of All Saints’ Day, we will begin releasing the videos from the 2020 Festival of Friendship. We will host a watch party for our first two videos, “Like a Boss: Presentation on St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, and St. Teresa of Calcutta” and “A Cloud of Witnesses: Gracie Morbitzer’s Icons of Modern Saints.” We hope that by making these videos available through our youtube channel, our friends in other time zones will be able to enjoy the extraordinarily convivial experience of our Festival.

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The Prayers:

St. Charles Borromeo
Day Four:

Listen, and I will tell you. If a tiny spark of God’s love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown out. Keep the stove tightly shut so that it will not lose its heat and grow cold. In other words, avoid distractions as well as you can. Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter.
[Charles Borromeo, Homily]

You, Lord, who have the power to renew the heavens, the earth, and all things, give to all of us that new heart, that new spirit which you promised us through the mouth of your prophet: And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you (Ezekiel 36:26). Bestow it upon us, Lord, with such abundance that it will produce in us, efficaciously and constantly, new resolutions, new customs, a new way of life, and in the end, that eternal renewal which the new Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, already came into the world to bring us. With this help, our heart shall be enlarged, reforms will no longer seem hard, nor your service burdensome. But the yoke will be sweet and the weight of your holy commandments light to us. We ask this through your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
[Charles Borromeo, “Booklet of Reminders”]

Preserve in the midst of your people,
we ask, O Lord, the spirit with which you filled
the Bishop Saint Charles Borromeo,
that your Church may be constantly renewed
and, by conforming herself to the likeness of Christ,
may show his face to the world.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

St. Martin de Porres
Day Five:

“Saint Martin, always obedient and inspired by his divine teacher, dealt with his brothers with that profound love which comes from pure faith and humility of spirit. He loved people because he honestly looked on them as God's children and as his own brothers and sisters.”
[St. John XXIII]

Blessed is the man who is found without fault,
who does not make gold his life's object,
who does not put his trust in wealth.
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

Who is this man that we may praise him,
for he has done wonders in his life?
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

O God, who led Saint Martin de Porres
by the path of humility to heavenly glory,
grant that we may so follow his radiant example in this life
as to merit to be exalted with him in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
[Collect for the Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Roman Missal]

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

Double Novena, Day 3

[Left to right] St. Charles Borromeo, by Luca Giordano; St. Martin de Porres, Giles Priere, 1990

Two great men each died on November 3. Charles Borromeo passed away on that day in 1594, and exactly 45 years later, on a different continent, Martin de Porres died in 1639. Their lives overlapped by 15 years, but they never met; most likely neither one ever heard of the other. You can find the prayers for the first day here. And here are the prayers for Day Two. God’s sense of time is different from ours: his ways are not our ways. Don’t worry about beginning a day “late” or if you need to double up the prayers on any given day. God isn’t standing over us with a calendar, ready to scold us if we miss a day. He loves it when we pray. Period. Scroll further down to find today’s novena prayers.

St. Charles Borromeo: When the bubonic plague struck Milan, in August of 1576, the governor and most of the rich inhabitants fled the city. By contrast, Charles Borromeo, who had been out of town for a funeral, hastily returned to Milan. Described by Desmond Seward as “Tall, painfully thin, with piercing eyes, Cardinal Borromeo was one of the sights of Milan, celebrating Mass in gorgeous vestments at the Duomo’s high altar, tramping through the meaner streets to visit the sick and the dying. Accessible to all, he was a father to the city’s poor, selling his furniture to feed them, and an uncompromising ascetic who slept on straw and lived on bread and water…”

Once back in Milan, Cardinal Borromeo dedicated himself to reducing the human costs of the plague. Rev. Prosper Guéranger reported: “In the absence of local authorities, he organized the health service, founded or renewed  hospitals, sought money and provisions, decreed preventive measures. Most importantly though, he took steps to ensure spiritual help, assistance to the sick and the burial of the dead. Unafraid of  being infected, he paid in person, by visiting hospitals, leading penitential processions, being everything to everyone, like a father and true shepherd” (L’anno liturgico – II. Tempo Pasquale e dopo la Pentecoste, Paoline, Alba 1959, pp. 1245-1248).

Today let’s pray particularly for the shepherds of the Church, and all other religious and secular leaders, that they may seek out and implement wise and effective methods to decrease the human toll of the current pandemic.

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The Revolution of Tenderness needs your help. We are in the final days of our 8th Festival of Friendship, an experience that has enriched and sustained our lives in wholly unexpected and beautiful ways. We are not asking you to sell your furniture, as St. Charles did! But please be generous toward our end of year campaign, through Network for Good. Every donation is tax deductible.

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A note on the sources for the prayers: the introduction and first prayer for each day of the St. Charles’ novena come from a booklet he wrote to provide spiritual healing for his people in the time of the plague. These prayers struck us as so fitting, given our current plague, that we have incorporated them. To introduce the St. Martin novena prayers, we have quoted from the writings of the Peruvian saint’s many admirers. Otherwise, we have turned to the liturgical texts from the Roman Missal and the Liturgy of the Hours to furnish the best prayers for our novenas, just as we did in honor of St. Jude.

The Prayers:

St. Charles Borromeo
Day Two:

Be charitable and prudent with all the members of your household, treating them and making sure they are treated well, with love, and seeing to it that they are not maltreated.

Do not speak injurious language either to your children or to any other person.

Rather make an effort with divine grace to restrain anger and taking offense in adverse circumstances which arise during the day in the house or outside

.
[Charles Borromeo, “Booklet of Reminders”]

You, Lord, who have the power to renew the heavens, the earth, and all things, give to all of us that new heart, that new spirit which you promised us through the mouth of your prophet: And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you (Ezekiel 36:26). Bestow it upon us, Lord, with such abundance that it will produce in us, efficaciously and constantly, new resolutions, new customs, a new way of life, and in the end, that eternal renewal which the new Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, already came into the world to bring us. With this help, our heart shall be enlarged, reforms will no longer seem hard, nor your service burdensome. But the yoke will be sweet and the weight of your holy commandments light to us. We ask this through your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
[Charles Borromeo, “Booklet of Reminders”]

Preserve in the midst of your people,
we ask, O Lord, the spirit with which you filled
the Bishop Saint Charles Borromeo,
that your Church may be constantly renewed
and, by conforming herself to the likeness of Christ,
may show his face to the world.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

St. Martin de Porres
Day Three:

“Rose of Lima, like her friend, Martin de Porres, who lived four blocks away in the Dominican priory, joined forces to make sure that no one would be left out of the banquet hall of God’s love and mercy.  God’s heart does not exclude anyone.  All that life offers us is a gift.  All that God offers us is a gift.  Our response is to join hands around the table of God’s infinite love, the table where Jesus breaks open his body and pours out his blood, and give thanks.  The Eucharist is not a place of exclusion.  In the wedding banquet of God’s Son, all are welcome.”
[Rev. Brian Pierce, OP]

Blessed is the man who is found without fault,
who does not make gold his life's object,
who does not put his trust in wealth.
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

Who is this man that we may praise him,
for he has done wonders in his life?
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

O God, who led Saint Martin de Porres
by the path of humility to heavenly glory,
grant that we may so follow his radiant example in this life
as to merit to be exalted with him in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
[Collect for the Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Roman Missal]

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

Revised St. Charles and St. Martin Novenas, Day 2

[Left to right] St. Charles Borromeo, by Luca Giordano; St. Martin de Porres, Giles Priere, 1990

Two great men each died on November 3. Charles Borromeo passed away on that day in 1594, and exactly 45 years later, on a different continent, Martin de Porres died in 1639. Their lives overlapped by 15 years, but they never met; most likely neither one ever heard of the other. You can find the prayers for the first day here. God’s sense of time is as different from ours as his ways are not our ways. Don’t worry about beginning a day “late” or if you need to double up the prayers on any given day. God isn’t standing over us with a calendar, ready to scold us if we miss a day. He loves it when we pray. Period. Scroll further down to find today’s novena prayers.

From the founding of Revolution of Tenderness, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that organizes and supports many educational and cultural initiatives, including the Festival of Friendship, we named St. Martin de Porres as our Director of Development. We hired him for the job because, in 16th Century Peru, Martin founded a children’s hospital and an orphanage in Lima, thanks to his ability to interest wealthy patrons in these projects. Each year since our founding, we have prayed novenas to ask for this saint’s help in finding donors who will support our revolution of tenderness. And each year, St. Martin has come through for us! This year, as you pray the double novena with us, please prayerfully consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our work.

A note on the sources for the prayers: the introduction and first prayer for each day of the St. Charles’ novena come from a booklet he wrote to provide spiritual healing for his people in the time of the plague. These prayers struck us as so fitting, given our current plague, that we have incorporated them. To introduce the St. Martin novena prayers, we have quoted from the writings of the Peruvian saint’s many admirers. Otherwise, we have turned to the liturgical texts from the Roman Missal and the Liturgy of the Hours to furnish the best prayers for our novenas, just as we did in honor of St. Jude.

The Prayers:

St. Charles Borromeo
Day One:

When you are sitting by the fire with your family, standing and walking about the house, rising in the morning and retiring at night, and in a word always and everywhere, you must by good observance of God’s precepts and rule of Christian life have at heart Christ’s teaching and example from the Gospels.
[Charles Borromeo, “Booklet of Reminders”]

You, Lord, who have the power to renew the heavens, the earth, and all things, give to all of us that new heart, that new spirit which you promised us through the mouth of your prophet: And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you (Ezekiel 36:26). Bestow it upon us, Lord, with such abundance that it will produce in us, efficaciously and constantly, new resolutions, new customs, a new way of life, and in the end, that eternal renewal which the new Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, already came into the world to bring us. With this help, our heart shall be enlarged, reforms will no longer seem hard, nor your service burdensome. But the yoke will be sweet and the weight of your holy commandments light to us. We ask this through your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
[Charles Borromeo, “Booklet of Reminders”]

Preserve in the midst of your people,
we ask, O Lord, the spirit with which you filled
the Bishop Saint Charles Borromeo,
that your Church may be constantly renewed
and, by conforming herself to the likeness of Christ,
may show his face to the world.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

St. Martin de Porres
Day Two:

“When Martin became a Dominican lay brother, he soon became a one-man charity agency in the city of Lima. This dark skinned friar in his black and white habit traveled the streets of a cruel and indifferent city, to bring healing and compassion to the Indian outcast, the abandoned slave, and the forgotten child. During the day St. Martin de Porres was a man of action, during the night he was a man of prayer, a mystic. For more than 40 years he lived out his calling as ‘Father of the Poor.’”
[Rev. Cyprian Davis, OSB]

Blessed is the man who is found without fault,
who does not make gold his life's object,
who does not put his trust in wealth.
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

Who is this man that we may praise him,
for he has done wonders in his life?
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

O God, who led Saint Martin de Porres
by the path of humility to heavenly glory,
grant that we may so follow his radiant example in this life
as to merit to be exalted with him in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
[Collect for the Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Roman Missal]

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

Revised St. Charles and St. Martin Novenas

[Left to right] St. Charles Borromeo, by Luca Giordano; St. Martin de Porres, Giles Priere, 1990

Two great men each died on November 3. Charles Borromeo passed away on that day in 1594, and exactly 45 years later, on a different continent, Martin de Porres died in 1639. Their lives overlapped by 15 years, but they never met; most likely neither one ever heard of the other. Scroll down for today’s novena prayers.

Why does the Catholic liturgical calendar honor holy people on the anniversary of their deaths? The usual human practice is to commemorate a person’s life on the day it began – not when it ended. In fact, the Church only marks the births of three figures in sacred history: Jesus Christ; his mother, Mary; and John the Baptist; moreover, their deaths or passings receive greater consideration than their births. Think, for example, about how the three-day solemnity of Easter overshadows our observation of Christmas. On the other hand, the liturgical calendar is brimming with celebrations to mark the deaths of numerous holy men and women. Attention to the anniversary of a saint’s death does not mean we somehow relish death. Rather, we appreciate that in the life of a saint, the moment of death is not a defeat but an immense victory. We glorify the passing of a holy person because we recognize it as a greater birth: his or her entrance into a mysterious, luminous, and eternal life that we’ve each been promised.

How fascinating it would be to see the world from God’s perspective: panning out so far that we could take in the vast reaches of the cosmos all at once while simultaneously zooming in on the particular details of each person’s life, no matter what time period she inhabits! Imagine one eye as a telescope powerful enough to observe the whole of reality and the other equipped with an infinite number of microscopes, trained everywhere, in all times at once. And everything God sees receives an unimaginably attentive and unwaveringly absorbed gaze of tenderness, of love.

God would have thus been watching Charles and Martin at the same time and with the same sense of divine, parental delight. In Italy, Charles (or Carlo) grew up the scion of a family so wealthy that it owned two islands – each with a castle on it! – in Lake Maggiore, near Milan. Martin’s (or Juan Martín) single mother, a freed Black slave, raised him in Peru, where they suffered extreme poverty. In some sense, we could say that Charles had to overcome the inconvenience of his wealth in order to follow the path that could bring him fully to life. Perhaps we could even call Martin’s poverty, and the evils of racism he suffered, a strange “advantage;” these objectively harmful circumstances increased his capacity for compassion and strengthened his humanity.

Over the next nine days we will journey with each of these men, training our gaze on each of their lives at once, in order to get some small taste of God’s view of our human drama.

One note: though both men died on November 3rd, the Church in the United States observes St. Charles’ feast day on November 4th. For our purposes, we have added an additional “preparatory” day to the beginning of St. Charles’ novena so that we can finish in time for his liturgical memorial. Each day of the novenas, we will post new information about our two holy men to this blog. Tomorrow we will tell you why this pair of saints is so meaningful to our work at Revolution of Tenderness.

A note on the sources for the prayers: the introduction and first prayer for each day of the St. Charles’ novena come from a booklet he wrote to provide spiritual healing for his people in the time of the plague. These prayers struck us as so fitting, given our current plague, that we have incorporated them. To introduce the St. Martin novena prayers, we have quoted from the writings of the Peruvian saint’s many admirers. Otherwise, we have turned to the liturgical texts from the Roman Missal and the Liturgy of the Hours to furnish the best prayers for our novenas, just as we did in honor of St. Jude.

We will post biographical notes and daily novena prayers each day for ten days. We hope you will take this double journey with us!

We invoke these two holy men’s help as we turn our attention to the upcoming fundraising season. If you find these prayers helpful to you, or if your lives were enriched through participating in the Festival of Friendship, or if you simply want to support our mission, to provide humanities education and free cultural events in Appalachia and beyond, we ask you to please consider supporting us through Network for Good (Network for Good allows you to join the Revolution through either a one-time or regular tax-deductible donation to support the work of Revolution of Tenderness) or Patreon (Patreon offers a three-tiered opportunity for regular, tax-deductible giving. Each tier offers exclusive bonuses — from shout-outs on the Revolution of Tenderness Podcast to free books and Revolution of Tenderness items emblazoned with the colorful Borromean rings).

The Prayers:

St. Charles Borromeo
Preparatory Day:

The hand of God has been so kind to us in the scourge of pestilence with which he has visited us in these times, that we can also well understand how he seeks only our conversion and life, not our death.
[Charles Borromeo, “Booklet of Reminders”]

You, Lord, who have the power to renew the heavens, the earth, and all things, give to all of us that new heart, that new spirit which you promised us through the mouth of your prophet: And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you (Ezekiel 36:26). Bestow it upon us, Lord, with such abundance that it will produce in us, efficaciously and constantly, new resolutions, new customs, a new way of life, and in the end, that eternal renewal which the new Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, already came into the world to bring us. With this help, our heart shall be enlarged, reforms will no longer seem hard, nor your service burdensome. But the yoke will be sweet and the weight of your holy commandments light to us. We ask this through your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
[Charles Borromeo, “Booklet of Reminders”]

Preserve in the midst of your people,
we ask, O Lord, the spirit with which you filled
the Bishop Saint Charles Borromeo,
that your Church may be constantly renewed
and, by conforming herself to the likeness of Christ,
may show his face to the world.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

St. Martin de Porres
Day One:

“What for others could have easily turned into a life of bitterness and anger, for Martin became an opportunity for holiness. Martin entrusted the chaos and the poverty of those early years to God, who took the Spanish and African threads of his heart and wove them into a beautiful tapestry of love. Perhaps Martin’s greatest gift was his capacity to let God turn his suffering into compassion.”
[Rev. Brian Pierce, OP]

Blessed is the man who is found without fault,
who does not make gold his life's object,
who does not put his trust in wealth.
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

Who is this man that we may praise him,
for he has done wonders in his life?
- His future will be secure in the Lord.

O God, who led Saint Martin de Porres
by the path of humility to heavenly glory,
grant that we may so follow his radiant example in this life
as to merit to be exalted with him in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
[Collect for the Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Roman Missal]

Our Father, Mail Mary, Glory Be

Revolutionary of Tenderness: Padre Pio

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

By guest writer, Ian Richard Shaefer

Growing up, when we’d visit my Italian-American mother’s relatives, a photo of Padre Pio was like a refrigerator to me: every house had one, but I never gave it much thought. At the same time, my very German paternal grandmother has kept a Padre Pio prayer book under her well-used rosary for as long as I remember. I never was particularly drawn to the charming smile of the sweet old Capuchin. His famous quote, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry,” seemed to me more like an inspirational bumper sticker than the deeply powerful truth I now understand it to be.

            Frankly, I was too comfortable. Fourteen-year-old me had his struggles and moments of suffering but was never really forced to face them as much as I would ten years later. Returning from one of the most beautiful years of my life as a student in Milan, Italy, and about to start a career in the United Nations in Rome, my life hit a hard brick wall when my doctors found a rare sort of tumor in my heart. My heart, the most vulnerable part of me that there is!

            From this devastating low, something – rather, someone – helped me up, put my nervously shaking hand in his bloody one, pointed to an empty tomb, and smiled at me with his charming smile. I don’t mean that Padre Pio visited in some mystical apparition, though. Rather, he kept visiting in the reality around me, and I simply began to pay attention. Little things prompted me to learn more about him: a painting at my parish by one of Padre Pio’s cousins; a chapel established in a nearby town; cards mailed from friends and family.

            All of these things increasingly felt like calls from a friend that I had been ignoring. Finally, in my need, I did answer; over time, I began to build a relationship with Padre Pio. Watching movies, reading about him online and in books, and going to pray at his chapel inspired my parents and I to make a pilgrimage to San Giovanni Rotondo after my chemotherapy treatments finished. There, I met the physical Padre Pio – not only in his relics, but also in the community that to this day carries on his simple, hopeful, and concrete works of love.

            I am now in the midst of a second battle with cancer, and while I’m grateful that things seem less threatening than the first time, my same fears remain. I’m consoled by the novena I’ve been praying, in anticipation of Padre Pio’s feast day, because I know he won’t withhold his help. I keep close to Padre Pio, who in his suffering with the stigmata has helped me see that God sometimes chooses to show His love with wounds. I remember that quote, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry,” and I try my best to live it. And I’d definitely put it on a bumper sticker on my car.