Father Paul Wattson, SA
Fr. Paul Wattson, the founder with Mother Lurana White of the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement, gave hundreds of sermons, conducted numerous retreats, delivered many radio addresses, and wrote extensively in four magazines: The Pulpit of the Cross, The Lamp, The Candle, and The Antidote.
From time to time, we will be putting on our website some of his words.
The selections from the words of Father Paul for the month of October 2011 are:
- St. Thérèse of Lisieux (Little Flower of Jesus) (Oct. 1)
- St. Francis of Assisi (Oct. 4)
- Covenant Day of the Society of the Atonement (Oct. 7)
- Columbus Day (Oct. 12)
- St. Teresa of Jesus (Ávila) (Oct. 15)
- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (Oct 16)
- World Mission Sunday (Oct. 23)
- Reception into Catholic Church of the Society of the Atonement (Oct. 30)
- One & Two Liners of Fr. Paul
St. Thérèse of Lisieux (Little Flower of Jesus) (Oct. 1)
You have in the sacristy a picture of the Little Flower as a sacristan, and she would be a very good model to imitate. Imagine how lovingly she handled the hosts when putting them in the chalice ready to be consecrated by the priest, how careful she was about everything pertaining to the altar. And I think this is a case on which we can readily express the appreciation Our Lord himself must feel towards you, because certainly, although this altar is of wood and very humble, it is always cared for most lovingly. The linen is always spotless. (Fr. Paul Retreat Conference Aug. 19, 1926)
For a printable version of this article click here.
St. Francis of Assisi (Oct.4)
The gospel for today is an excerpt from Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. Among those servants of God who have taken literally the words of Christ and his counsel, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his justice and all these necessary things will be given to you,” [Matt.6:33] St. Francis of Assisi stands out preeminently. He was the first born son of Peter Bernadone, the wealthiest merchant in Assisi and the heir to his fortune but he renounced it all, absolutely seeking the Kingdom of God first, renouncing even the use of money and depending upon God to feed him as he feeds the birds of the air. He gave himself to prayer and to preaching the word of God to all, following in this regard the instructions which Christ gave to his original apostles. “Go and preach the gospel making disciples of all nations [Matt.28:19]; take neither purse nor scrip, nor two coats for the journey. I am with you always to provide for all your needs.” [See Lk.10:4]
St. Francis did not become a solitary of the desert as Saint of Egypt did. He gathered around him an immense number of followers, thousands of them that wished to live his manner of life and in company with him to seek first the Kingdom of God and his justice. Yet God provided for these thousands of Franciscan Friars and also the thousands of Sisters who entered the monastery with St. Clare, who also had been born in the lap of luxury, her father being one of the richest noblemen of Assisi. (Fr. Paul Radio Talk Sept. 6, 1936)
For a printable version of this article click here.
Covenant Day of the Society of the Atonement (Oct. 7)
A Covenant has two sides in the agreement and the children of Abraham were a great disappointment to God. May we not, as children of Abraham of the New Law of St. Francis, be a disappointment to God. Let us consider the great responsibility that rests on us. We have a great character to establish. . . Remember we are to contribute our part to the rise of the Institute and its success or contribute to its detriment and its principles. Look to following St. Francis as he followed in the footsteps of Christ. . . . We ought all to keep in view and in mind that God wishes us to propagate the seed of the Atonement to cooperate with him in fulfilling his covenant promise. “Blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you,” [Heb.6:14] and by all means let us try to bring ourselves more and more to the influence of St. Francis. (Fr. Paul Sermon Oct. 4, 1939)
For a printable version of this article click here.
Our Lady of the Rosary (Oct. 7)
This morning just before I came in to Mass I picked up a magazine published by the Caldey monks in South Wales. In the frontispiece was a magnificent picture. I would say the finest that I have ever seen of the late Cardinal Désiré Joseph Mercier in his pontifical robes, holding his shepherd’s staff in his hand, the mitre upon his head.
He was a man of splendid personal discipline, a man who knew from his childhood up how to control his appetites, how to mingle the bitter with the sweet, and who in the days of the great world war had the fortitude and courage to stand up as a lion in the very face of the German Kaiser, when the General who had charge of the forces in Belgium, which was under military domination, summoned him into his presence. The Kaiser found that he was dealing with one who was not afraid, who all the time he was talking with the General held in his hand his Rosary, his beads, and was reciting them, until the General said, “What is that you have in your hand there?” The Cardinal smiled back and said it was his Rosary.
That Rosary linked him up with the divine center of the universe, “Who sits between the seraphim and the cherubim, be the earth never so disturbed.” And it was because of that faith, because of that endless life of prayer, because of that discipline of his will, that he was stronger than the strong, and they dared not, with all their military power, put forth their hand and touch him. And so he triumphed in the end. (Fr. Paul Sermon Dec. 5, 1926)
For a printable version of this article click here.
Most of us are to some degree familiar with the trials of Columbus’s faith on that voyage of discovery. How that after they had sailed westward until the days had lengthened into weeks and weeks had become months, a mutiny broke out among the sailors and Columbus was compelled to promise that, if at the expiration of three days more, no land appeared, the ships would about face and sail for home. Imagine what must have been the mingled hopes and fears of the Franciscan navigator as the three days went slowly by and still no land appeared. Success and failure, fame and disgrace, were cast into the balances and the scales trembled in the outstretched hand of fortune. Within a few hours’ time Columbus would know his fate, the dream and ambition of his life would be realized, or end in bitterest disappointment. How often is there but a hair’s breadth between success and failure in a man’s life.
It was on the night of Oct. 11 that Columbus watching, and no doubt praying, in the forecastle of his ship, suddenly saw a light shining out of darkness; nor was that light the creation of a fevered imagination. The dawn of day revealed the shores of an island, one of the West Indian groups, which they named after the Saviour, San Salvador. Thus once again we are compelled to associate the discovery of America with St. Francis of Assisi for Oct. 11, when Columbus hailed the light that shone forth to greet him from these western shores, is the octave of St. Francis’ Day. A Franciscan Tertiary then discovered America and he discovered it on the Octave of St. Francis’ entrance into glory. (The Lamp June 1910 p.457)
For a printable version of this article click here.
St. Teresa of Jesus (Ávila) (Oct. 15)
Let us pray to our Lord to inflame our hearts with love for him and for his sacred apostolate of the Atonement with something akin to that which caused Saint Teresa to cry out for more suffering as an expression of the great love she bore to our Lord and to the souls which he redeemed at so great sacrifice. (Fr. Paul Retreat Conference Oct. 17, 1924)
For a printable version of this article click here.
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (Oct. 16)
So in the last century our Lord appeared in an apparition to St. Margaret Mary, a Visitation nun, as she was watching at the grill and saw him standing at the altar in a beautiful robe, and revealing his heart pierced with the sword, surmounted by a cross, flames leaping out of it. He explained those flames were the expression of his love for men. He complained of the coldness of the hearts of men towards him.
As we contemplate that revelation we ought to be moved by a desire to make some reparation to the Sacred Heart for the apostasy of the world and the way he is wounded and crucified afresh because his own are still making choice of somebody else or some creature of his hand to worship rather than himself, as for example, when men set up the golden calf and worship in the wilderness.
Men worship money and the things that money buys. They set their affection on those things, turning away from God, because Our Lord said you cannot serve God and mammon at the same time. Either you love the one and reject the other. And so in the process, even those professing the religion of Christ, prefer mammon to Christ their King. (Fr. Paul Sermon June 26, 1936)
For a printable version of this article click here.
World Mission Sunday (Oct. 23)
There are a thousand million non-Christians still to be won to the power of Christ. Our Lord has promised to increase and multiply the Children of the Atonement until they become like the stars in multitude, and the sands of the seashore. We pray they be missionaries in all lands. So there must be a great missionary expansion for the Church of God yet. (Fr. Paul Sermon Mar. 1, 1931)
For a printable version of this article click here.
Reception into Catholic Church of the Society of the Atonement (Oct. 30)
When we made application to the Holy See to receive the Society of the Atonement into the Fold of Peter, addressing the Holy Father, we asked him to take our holy Society under his particular protection that it might fulfill its vocation and purpose for which it was called into being by God. We mentioned that one of the three things we wished to do was to reconcile sinners to God through the Sacrament of Penance and the bringing back of those that had fallen away from the altar rail, not receiving Holy Communion anymore. That must always be a very important part of our vocation.
This is a preaching order as was expressed by the intention of the Holy Spirit in the very early days of the Father Founder, and if we want to bring back the wandering sheep gone into the far country with the prodigal son, who wasted his substance in riotous living, and was separated from the father’s house, it must be by preaching, not necessarily from the pulpit, but by individual contact. So while we pray with fervor that the lapsed may come back to God, we must be prepared to follow the example of the Good Shepherd, leaving the ninety-nine in the fold, and going out into the mountains and the far country to seek the wandering sheep and keep on seeking them until we have found and brought back the last, even though it be on our own shoulders. (Fr. Paul Meditation Jan. 23, 1939)
For a printable version of this article click here.
Power of a woman:
God gives a woman a wonderful power in her tongue and she is intended to use it to make her home happy. (Fr. Paul Sermon Feb.6, 1927)
Preciousness of a soul:
Amid all the excitements of our life here on earth: social action, political action, and the rise and fall of states, parties and dynasties, amid temporal prosperity and temporal adversity, the Church never loses sight of the preciousness of the soul. (Fr. Paul Sermon, July 19, 1931)
The Mass:
Every Mass is a miracle. (Fr. Paul Sermon June 1, 1929)
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