Episode Details

The Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis, observed on September 17, commemorates the miraculous event in 1224 when St. Francis of Assisi, while deep in prayer and contemplation on Mount La Verna, received in his body the sacred wounds of Christ’s Passion, becoming the first known saint to bear the stigmata. This mystical grace, bestowed two years before his death, was seen as the crowning seal of his conformity to Christ Crucified, uniting him more perfectly to the sufferings of the Savior he so ardently loved. The feast celebrates not only this extraordinary sign of divine favor but also Francis’s profound humility, penance, and burning charity, holding him forth as a model of total union with Christ through love and sacrifice.Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year, a monumental fifteen-volume work, offers a comprehensive exploration of the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, guiding readers through the spiritual and historical richness of the Church’s worship. Written in the 19th century, the series provides daily meditations, historical context, and liturgical texts for the Mass and Divine Office, covering the entire cycle of seasons—Advent, Christmas, Lent, Passiontide, Easter, and the Time after Pentecost—as well as feast days of saints. Guéranger’s work, rooted in a deep contemplative spirit, aims to immerse the faithful in the Church’s prayerful life, emphasizing the unity of faith through the axiom lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of prayer is the law of belief"), and remains a cherished resource for Catholics seeking to deepen their spiritual lives. Dom Prosper Guéranger (1805–1875) was a French Benedictine monk, liturgical scholar, and founder of the Solesmes Abbey, renowned for his pivotal role in reviving the Benedictine Order in France and restoring the Roman liturgy after the disruptions of the French Revolution. Born in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, he entered the priesthood in 1827 and, inspired by a vision to restore monastic life, reestablished the Benedictine community at Solesmes in 1833, becoming its first abbot. A staunch defender of ultramontanism and traditional Catholic worship, he also championed the revival of Gregorian chant, significantly influencing the liturgical renewal movement.