3rd Week after Holy Cross

Revelation 7:9-17
After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.” All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. “For this reason they stand before God’s throne and worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Matthew 24:32-44
“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, know that he is near, at the gates. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. “But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In (those) days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be (also) at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

Prayer of the Faithful, vol. III
SEDRO
Creator of the world and ruler of all beings,
you uphold everything by your power and guide all things in
your wisdom.
You have made evening and morning,
night and day.
Lord God,
during this evening grant our souls freedom from all evil thoughts, and our bodies rest from all harmful fatigue.
Accept our vigil and receive our worship,
that your calm may reign over us, and your peace govern our
hearts.
Thus, our minds will be freed from the darkness of sin.
Be for us the Sun of justice;
illumine us with your spiritual light, Lord,
that we may not sleep amid confusion and shame,
but be awakened to labor according to your commandments.
Do not turn your ever-watchful eye from us, but guard us in
your mercy.
Lord, do not let the wolf enter into your sheepfold to devour the sheep marked with your seal,
but protect us with your merciful right hand,
and save us from the enemy.
Keep the snares of the devil far from us,
and drive away all evil spirits.
Let no obscure thoughts fill us,
but rather grant us, asleep or awake, to persevere in what is pleasing to you,
and to store up deeds of goodness and light for the great and awesome Day.
Then we shall be counted among those who inherit the heavenly and eternal joys,
in that place of light where neither darkness nor trouble can penetrate,
and we shall glorify you, your Father and the Holy Spirit,
now and forever.
Amen.

Saint of the Day: The Guardian Angels
The term guardian angels refers to the belief that each person has an angel who is available to shepherd their soul through life, and help bring them to God.
Meditation:
Belief in the reality of angels, their mission as messengers of God, and man’s interaction with them, goes back to the earliest times. Cherubim kept Adam and Eve from slipping back into Eden; angels saved Lot and helped destroy the cities of the plains; in Exodous Moses follows an angel, and at one point an angel is appointed leader of Israel. Michael is mentioned at several points, Raphael figures large in the story of Tobit, and Gabriel delivered the Annunciation of the coming of Christ.
The concept of each soul having a personal guardian angel, is also an ancient one, and long accepted by the Church
See that you despise not one of these little ones [children]: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. – Jesus, Matthew 18:10
How great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it. – Saint Jerome in his commentary on Matthew
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation? – Hebrews 1:14
The feast celebrating the angels who helped bring us to God began in many local calendars centuries ago, and was widely known by the 16th century. Pope Paul V placed a feast venerating the angels on the general calendar on 27 September 1608. Ferdinand of Austria requested that it be extended to all areas in the Holy Roman Empire. Initially placed after the feast of Michael the Archangel, it was seen as a kind of supplement to that date. Pope Clement X elevated the feast, celebrated 2 October, to an obligatory double for the whole Church. On 5 April 1883, Pope Leo XIII raised the feast to the rank of a double major.