WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

Today the Church remembers and celebrates the holy archangels. In the New Testament, the term “archangel” is attributed to Michael. Only later was it extended to Gabriel and Raphael, the only three archangels recognized by the Church whose names are documented in the Bible: “It should be known that the term ‘angel’ denotes the office, not the nature… Thus Michael means: Who is like God?; Gabriel: Strength of God; Raphael: Medicine of God. When something requiring great courage and strength must be accomplished, Michael is said to be sent so that it may be understood, from his action and his name, that no one can act like God. Gabriel, called Strength of God, comes to announce the one who appeared in humility to defeat the powers of evil. Raphael, which means Medicine of God, touched Tobiah’s eyes and dispelled the darkness of his blindness” (Saint Gregory the Great).

Beginning of the triduum to the guardian angel
(ends on October 1)

We are preparing for the feast of the guardian angels, which falls on October 2: if, for any reason, you were unable to begin the novena, you still have time to pray the triduum. You can find it in the book. By having us remember the guardian angels, the Church reminds us that our life, woven from fragility and preciousness, needs to be protected and accompanied. Angels exist, act, and build, and we believers, sharpening our inner vision, can see their traces…

To learn more:
• Prayers with the Angels
Mikha’el
• Novena to Saint Michael the Archangel
• Novena and chaplet to Saint Raphael the Archangel
• Novena and chaplet to Saint Gabriel the Archangel

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus

This little great Saint, whom the Church commemorates, felt inadequate, unprepared, small, too ordinary, perhaps like many of us, when faced with the great saints. It is the feeling we constantly have when we compare ourselves with the great figures and say: «But I will never be like that saint, that saint». Thérèse of the Child Jesus understood that the Lord also fills the little ones with good things. For this reason she devised the “little way of spiritual childhood”: «A completely straight, very short path, a little path that is entirely new» for going to heaven.
“Trust and love” are the two words that, like beacons, illuminated her entire path to holiness. Trust like that of the child who abandons himself into God's hands, inseparable from the strong, radical commitment of true love, which is the total gift of oneself, forever, as the Saint says while contemplating Mary: «To love is to give everything, and to give oneself» (Because I love you, O Mary).
Thus Teresa shows you and all of us that Christian life consists in living the grace of Baptism fully through the total gift of oneself to the Father's love, in order to live like Christ, in the fire of the Holy Spirit, his very love for everyone else. One cannot help but be fascinated and amazed at God's wonders in the soul of this Saint, who had the courage to abandon herself to his mercy: «If your heart condemns you for sin, God is greater than your heart».

To learn more:
• Story of a Soul

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2
Holy Guardian Angels

In your meditation, you can let yourself be guided by the words of Pope Francis: «All of us, according to the tradition of the Church, have an angel with us who guards us and helps us sense things. How many times have we heard: “But... this... I should do this, this isn't right, be careful...”: so many times! It is the voice of this companion of ours on the journey. Be sure that he will lead us to the end of our lives with his advice, and for this reason listen to his voice and do not rebel... Because rebellion, the desire to be independent, is something we all have; it is the pride that our father Adam had in the earthly Paradise: the same thing. “Do not rebel: follow his advice.”
No one walks alone, and none of us can think that we are alone - the Pope continued - because there is always “this companion.” And when we do not want to listen to his advice, to listen to his voice, it is as if we were saying to him: “Go away!”. Driving away our companion on the journey is dangerous, because no man, no woman can advise themselves. I can advise someone else, but I cannot advise myself. There is the Holy Spirit who advises me; there is the angel who advises me. That is why we need him. This is not some fanciful doctrine about angels: no, it is reality. What Jesus, what God said: “I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you, to accompany you on the journey, so that you do not go astray.”
Today, I would ask this question: what is my relationship with my guardian angel like? Do I listen to him? Do I say good morning to him in the morning? Do I say to him, “Watch over me while I sleep”? Do I speak with him? Do I ask him for advice? He is at my side. Each of us can answer this question today: what is my relationship with this angel whom the Lord has sent to watch over me and accompany me on my journey, and who always sees the face of the Father in heaven?
With a sweet and fitting connection, grandparents are also celebrated today as their grandchildren’s “guardian angels.” Let us embrace them or remember them with affection.

To learn more:
• Prayers with the Angels
• Angels. Who they are – what they do
• Message to grandparents and the elderly

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3
Beginning of the novena to Blessed Carlo Acutis

“The Eucharist is my highway to heaven,” Carlo Acutis used to say. He died at just 15 from fulminant leukemia, but this boy was able to live life to the fullest because he formed a unique friendship with Jesus.
He was beatified on October 10, 2020, in Assisi; the Church remembers him on October 12.

To learn more:
• The beloved disciple
• Carlo Acutis. The courage to go against the tide
• Carlo Acutis. Jesus’ Friend
• Via Caritatis
• The shortest ladder to climb to heaven
• Hidden in a little piece of bread

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3
Beginning of the novena to Blessed Maria Teresa Fasce

Today we can also begin praying the novena to Blessed Maria Teresa Fasce. An Augustinian nun, she lived out her vocation in the footsteps of Saint Rita at the monastery of Cascia and, always following God’s will, became a promoter of devotion to Saint Rita.

To learn more:
• Blessed Maria Teresa Fasce
• With her heart in Heaven and her feet on the ground (available from October 4)