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Greetings!
On October 7, in this beautiful month of our Mother, we celebrate Magnificat's 32nd Anniversary. Oh, the graces, blessings and conversions we have received and witnessed in those wonderful years! May God continue to pour out His most extravagant love and graces on you, who so generously give of yourselves for those to whom you minister through Magnificat.
Love in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
For a print-friendly version of this newsletter, click here.
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Volume 10 Issue 13
Fall Edition
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Holy Father's Monthly Intentions
 October
General: People in Despair That those feeling so crushed by life that they wish to end it may sense the nearness of God's love.
Mission: World Mission Day That the celebration of World Mission Day may help all Christians realize that we are not only receivers but proclaimers of God's word.
November
General: Suffering Priests That priests who experience difficulties may find comfort in their suffering, support in their doubts, and confirmation in their fidelity.
Mission: Latin American Churches That as fruit of the continental mission, Latin American Churches may send missionaries to other Churches.
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October 7: Feast of the Most Holy Rosary, Our 32nd Anniversary!
The feast of the Most Holy Rosary was instituted to implore the help of Our Lady on behalf of the Church and her children and especially to thank the Lord for the protection He gave them in delivering them from the army of the infidels. The battle raged while the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary were reciting the prayers prescribed by their statutes.
The Pontiff, St. Pius V, who had exhorted the faithful to pray to the Virgin for the triumph of the Christian forces, learned through a revelation from God that victory had been obtained. In memory of the event, he decreed that thanks be rendered to the Blessed Virgin every year on October 7, because on that date in 1571 (a Sunday) the Christians won the famous naval victory over the Turks at Lepanto, destroying their sea power.
Two years later (1573), Pope Gregory XIII ordered that the feast be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday of October, under the title of Queen of the Holy Rosary. After another victory of the Christians over the Turks (August 5, 1716 in Hungary) Pope Clement XI made the feast of the Holy Rosary universal to perpetuate the memory of the Virgin's protection. Finally, in the year 1888, Pope Leo XIII established for this feast a proper Office and Mass, and he added to the Litany of the Most Blessed Virgin the invocation:
Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us.
(Mary Mother and Model by Rev. James Alberione, S.T.D.)
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Prayerful CST Planning Meeting
by Paulette Renaudin
 | | Planning Meeting |
The week of August 11-16 found the new CST team in Palm Desert, CA for a working week of prayer and planning sessions thanks to Donna Ross, who coordinated this gathering. It was only the second time in the history of the ministry that this has been done. It was an opportunity for us to bond together as a new team in person as opposed to the weekly WebEx Meetings.
We felt blessed by the Palm Desert Service Team who prepared "desert survival bags" for us, stayed up late to pick us up at the airport, brought us a delicious working lunch, and got up very early (4:30 am) to bring us back to the airport!
 | | Diane Bates at the Drawing Board |
Each day started with the Rosary and Mass at the beautiful St. Francis of Assisi Church. The first morning we met with a woman who gave us a 3 hour presentation on decision-making. Her expertise in this area showed us that you could think in many directions for one important decision, and gave us many new decision-making tools! We actually referred back to her handouts all week. The week flew by but we were able to cover many topics for discussion in an in-depth manner. We also worked on the next International Conference which will be held September 24-27, 2015 in Washington, D.C.!
A highlight, for all of us, was a visit to the Indio, CA Chapter, Maria, Reina de la Paz, one of our Spanish Chapters with Gloria Gomez as Coordinator. The Chapter hosted a prayer meeting and dinner for us on Wednesday.
 | | CST with Indio and Palm Desert Service Teams |
We found an instant communication of hearts, with the Holy Spirit helping bridge our two languages! We entered Gloria's home and were greeted by a "sea of blue." All the members had on royal blue shirts with the Magnificat logo and the name of their Chapter, a donation from the Bob Hope Golf Classic!
We immediately started hugging each member and we felt the love of Jesus poured out on us through them. One lady even told us she felt Marilyn Quirk's presence with us. After the prayer meeting, we enjoyed an authentic Mexican dinner cooked by the Chapter members.
They have had six Magnificat breakfasts so far. They said their first meal reminded them of their first love of Our Lord and Our Lady. We were also joined that night by Angela Martinez and Noreen Fortier, Coordinator and Asst. Coordinator of the Palm Desert Chapter. Before we left to go back to our hotel, they encircled us and sang, "Make me a Channel of your Peace in Spanish and English which brought us to tears once again. This was a Visitation experience, par excellence!!
We all left renewed in spirit and recommitted to the ministry! The fruits of this meeting will be encountered for a long time into the future of the ministry.
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Taking a Deeper Look at the "Our Father" in this Year of Faith
By Kay Burkot
Asst. Coordinator - Pittsburgh Chapter
Our Father - This is how Jesus told us to address God. We have become so familiar with calling God our Father that we take it for granted. But think of the privilege we have, and how by addressing God as our Father, what that says about our relationship with the Creator of the universe. We (Christians) are the only people that know God as Father. Jesus invites us into a father/child relationship with God by telling us to address God in this way. Think of how special that is. There is nothing like a parent/child relationship. The love, the bond, between a parent and child, is the strongest bond possible. When we begin the "Our Father" in this way, it reminds us of the nature of God, and of His intimate involvement in our lives.
Who Art in Heaven - Heaven is where God lives. We know where He lives. He lives in heaven. Think about those people who you know well enough that you know where they live. They are probably your closest friends. You've probably been to their homes. We not only know where God lives, but we've been to His home. The Bible tells us that we "enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise." When we give God thanksgiving and praise, when we join together, especially in charismatic worship of God, we actually enter into His presence, into His dwelling place, into heaven. During those times of intensive praise and worship, we know we are in His presence; we can feel it. The Bible also says that God "inhabits our praises". So when we enter into praise and worship, we not only enter His "courts", His dwelling place, we actually create His dwelling place, and where God is, there is heaven.
Hallowed be thy Name - Recognizing God as Father, and entering into His dwelling place with praise and worship affords us a certain familiarity with Him. But while we attain this familiarity, we also need to remember the reverence that is due Him. When we pray "Hallowed be thy Name", we call to mind that even though God is our father, and we draw near to Him through praise and worship, we still revere Him to a great extent. We must never become so familiar with God that He is our buddy and we've lost all reverence. We do enjoy an intimate relationship with the God of the universe through Jesus His son, but at the same time, we acknowledge that there is no one greater, and we maintain the utmost reverence for our God.
To continue reading this beautiful meditation, click here to download to your computer.
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Give the Magnificat Visitation Pin/Pendant for Christmas!
David Pierson Jewelry Design
216 N. Florida Street
Covington, LA 70433
985-871-0457
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| Liturgy of the Hours
October 7 Our Lady of the Rosary Memorial
Office of Readings
Second Reading
From a sermon by Saint Bernard, abbot
We should meditate on the mysteries of salvation
The child to be born to you will be called holy, the Son of God, the fountain of wisdom, the Word of the Father on high. Through you, blessed Virgin, this Word will become flesh, so that even though, as he says: I am in the Father and the Father is in me, it is still true for him to say: "I came forth from God and am here."
In the beginning was the Word. The spring was gushing forth, yet still within himself. Indeed, the Word was with God, truly dwelling in inaccessible light. And the Lord said from the beginning: I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction. Yet your thought was locked within you, and whatever you thought, we did not know; for who knew the mind of the Lord, or who was his counselor? And so the idea of peace came down to do the work of peace:The Word was made flesh and even now dwells among us.
It is by faith that he dwells in our hearts, in our memory, our intellect and penetrates even into our imagination. What concept could man have of God if he did not first fashion an image of him in his heart? By nature incomprehensible and inaccessible, he was invisible and unthinkable, but now he wished to be understood, to be seen and thought of. But how, you ask, was this done? He lay in a manger and rested on a virgin's breast, preached on a mountain, and spent the night in prayer. He hung on a cross, grew pale in death, and roamed free among the dead and ruled over those in hell. He rose again on the third day, and showed the apostles the wounds of the nails, the signs of victory; and finally in their presence he ascended to the sanctuary of heaven.
How can we not contemplate this story in truth, piety and holiness? Whatever of all this I consider, it is God I am considering; in all this he is my God. I have said it is wise to meditate on these truths, and I have thought it right to recall the abundant sweetness, given by the fruits of this priestly root; and Mary, drawing abundantly from heaven, has caused this sweetness to overflow for us.
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Fr. Kevin's Korner
Magnificat CST Spiritual Advisor
Fr. Kevin Scallon, C.M.
October and the Rosary
I have a special feeling for the Feast of the Holy Rosary since it was the day that I was formally received into the Vincentian Community. It was the start of my vocation to be a Vincentian priest, which has brought me a life of great happiness and genuine fulfillment. I marvel at how much the Lord has blessed me, especially my apostolate of working for the priesthood. Somehow I have experienced the Blessed Virgin Mary as having been a kind of mystical catalyst whose presence has given me a special grace of responding to Jesus and to the leading of His Holy Spirit. I like to think that this is so because of the nature of her total giving to Jesus and the will of the Father. I believe that the key to this is the gift of the Rosary, through which we are constantly experiencing the life and mysteries of her Son. In October each year the Church puts this extraordinary prayer on our lips and in our hearts as a living special grace for us "poor banished children of Eve."
The Rosary is a pure stream of grace flowing through the Immaculate Heart of Mary into the lives of her children when they say this amazing prayer. It is a school of sanctity where we learn the obedience of Mary and Jesus without which it is impossible for us to become holy. The Rosary is the bond which binds us to Christ and to the Church. It is the golden chain that reveals us as willing servants of our Blessed Mother. It is the song book of the poor from which we sing the praise of Jesus in the different ages of His life with us. It is Mary's home school where she "teaches us" how to be like her Beloved Son.
May the Blessed Mother of Jesus, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, leave the door open and the light on for all of us.
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Magnificat Prayer Booklet
The Magnificat prayer  booklet has been a daily companion to thousands on their spiritual journey, enriching their prayer life and helping them grow in love and knowledge of Christ and the Church.
Every subscription to this lovely Mass and prayer guide directly benefits our Ministry domestically and worldwide.
The Magnificat Foundation will also be sponsoring their day of prayer called "Magnificat Day" in Philadelphia on November 9th. Click here for more details: www.magnificatday.com
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Memories of Babsie Bleasdell -
A Woman Whose Soul Always Proclaimed the Greatness of the Lord
By Marilyn Quirk
 | | Babsie Bleasdell |
The first time I heard Babsie speak was in the spring of 1982 at the Southern Regional Catholic Charismatic Renewal Conference. As she spoke, I clearly remember being so moved by the Lord in her. I was scheduled to give a talk that Saturday afternoon at the Conference on Christian Womanhood. Babsie embodied all that I wanted to convey in my talk and I could not wait to meet her. Fortunately I was invited to a speaker's luncheon immediately following her talk. After meeting her I remember kneeling down asking her to bless and pray for an anointing upon me. Her words to me were so powerful. She was so genuine and precious. I felt an immediate bonding with her. I thought (and said to her) that I wanted to be like her when I grew up.
Magnificat had just begun about five months earlier (October 7, 1981) and I told her about our new ministry. It seemed to interest her very much. Sometime later the Magnificat Service Team (Mother Chapter) invited her to come back to New Orleans to give Magnificat's first Retreat, May 4 - 6, 1984. Wow! It was fabulous! She shared her first "testimony" with us on that retreat. It was then that Babsie shared with us that "Magnificat was born from the Heart of God" and she wanted to bring it back to Trinidad. Needless to say, we invited her back to speak and give her testimony at our Magnificat Meal, December 6, 1984. Through Babsie, God blew His Spirit upon the Garden of Magnificat and spread His fragrance abroad to the Caribbean Islands, Arima (Trinidad), St. Croix, St. Thomas, Grenada, Barbados, Tobago, and on.
Sometime later, I was invited by Babsie to visit and speak in Trinidad, Tobago and Barbados. What an amazing experience! The Magnificat Meal in Trinidad was a Tea and it was a huge event! The Church facility had to be emptied to accommodate the numbers of women. The music ministry was complete with calypso drums and other musical instruments along with the women beautifully dressed in blue and pink. I cried a lot during that time with tears of joy ("I shout with joy in the work of His hands").
For me, staying with Babsie was the greatest joy of that trip. Her home was holy ground. Fr. Michael Moses lived in an apartment close by and we enjoyed Mass and our meals together. Babsie had a chapel with the Blessed Sacrament in her home. I know she must have spent many nights in that chapel. I don't remember ever waking before her and always retired before her. I never could figure out when or where she slept. Her bed was always neatly made with stacked pamphlets on a large part of it. She said she slept on the "edge".
While there, Babsie brought me to visit the Bishop as well as places of prayer and groups. She seemed to know everyone and was esteemed by all. She always had time to pray with all who asked and often had a prophetic word of encouragement.
We are so privileged to have had her as one of our own. She has served Magnificat as a Coordinator, Regional Rep member of our Advisory team, a speaker at our Conferences and several Magnificat Chapters.
We have learned so much from her. She was a woman to be admired - so filled with love and joy. She continually proclaimed the greatness of the Lord. The praise of God was always on her lips. She had an amazing gift of the prophetic word of God. As she spoke, it seemed to pour out of her. Often she would pause and sing the praises of God. Babsie had a great love for the Church and the Priesthood. She had a charism of "Mother of Priests." She was fearless in her defense of the Church's teachings, never afraid to boldly speak the truth. She had a great devotion to the Eucharist, Holy Spirit and to Our Lady. She taught us so many prayers to the Holy Spirit and devotions to Mary.
We are confident that Heaven warmly welcomed Babsie. Jesus has promised that God will not be outdone in generosity for those who are generous with Him. Babsie was so generous with herself to the Lord and to His people. Well done good and faithful servant, share your Master's joy!
Our new Magnificat Saint
We love you Babsie
Click here for more memories of Babsie from her Magnificat sisters.
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Pope Francis to Consecrate the World to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary on October 13
As part of a two-day Marian celebration, the Holy Father will consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and has asked that the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima be brought to the Vatican for the celebration.
Join us in praying a novena to begin October 4 and end October 12:
Invocation to Mary, Mother of the Church
O Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church,
we entrust to you the entire Church.
Remember all your sons and daughters;
make their prayer effective before God;
preserve them solid in faith; strengthen their hope
and increase their charity.
We entrust to your Immaculate Heart the whole human race:
Lead them all to know the one true Savior, Christ Jesus.
Free them from the punishment of sin.
Grant the whole world true and lasting peace,
in justice, in freedom and in love.
Make the whole Church rise to the God of mercies
a hymn of joy, thanksgiving and rejoicing,
for the wonders the Lord has worked through you,
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
Amen.
This prayer was selected by The Very Rev. Rosendo Urrabazo, the U.S. Provincial Superior of the Claretian Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as the prayer the Claretian's will recite for the novena.
Download the novena prayer here.
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This Newsletter is brought to you by the Magnificat Central Service Team
Paulette Renaudin, Editor
Elise Botch
Jeanne Greenfield
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