… that country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and mid-nights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain …
—Ray Bradbury, The October Country
WE have now arrived at that enchanted part of the calendar marked “October.” There is so much in this month to enjoy, to reflect upon, and to treasure; we are fortunate that this year it predates the quadrennial horror of another presidential election — though this one promises to be grueling in the extreme. Indeed, for that very reason, we should savour this year’s edition of the Month.
The optimum place to be in October is always New England, which is why I for one am perpetually happy that St. Benedict Center have their annual conference in this month. It is not just that I get to see once-a-year friends once again, but against a backdrop of multi-coloured leaves and porch displays made up of small scarecrows, Indian corn, gourds, and pumpkins. It is this time of year that the region really comes into its own.
It is also the Month of the Holy Rosary, as well it might be. October 7, the feast of the Holy Rosary, commemorates the great victory by Christian naval forces led by Don Juan of Austria against the Ottomans on this day in 1571. As commemorated by Chesterton in his epic poem, Lepanto, this victory saved Europe from the Muslim menace for another century. The feast was extended to the Universal Church by Clement XI, after Prince Eugene of Savoy on behalf of Emperor Karl VI defeated the Turks once more at the Battle of Petrovaradin on August 5, 1716 (the feast of Our Lady of the Snows).
Of this feast of the Rosary Dom Gueranger writes “It is customary with men of the world to balance their accounts at the end of the year, and ascertain their profits. The Church is now preparing to do the same. We shall soon see her solemnly numbering her elect, taking an inventory of her holy relics, visiting the tombs of those who sleep in the Lord, and counting the sanctuaries, both old and new, that have been consecrated to her divine Spouse. But today’s reckoning is a more solemn one, the profits more considerable: she opens her balance sheet with the gain accruing to our Lady from the mysteries which compose the Cycle. Christmas, the Cross, the triumph of Jesus, these produce the holiness of us all; but before and above all, the holiness of Mary. The diadem which the Church thus offers first to the august Sovereign of the world, is rightly composed of the triple crown of these sanctifying mysteries, the causes of her joy, of her sorrow, and of her glory. The joyful mysteries recall the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Birth of Jesus, Mary’s Purification, and the Finding of our Lord in the Temple. The sorrowful mysteries bring before us the Agony of our blessed Lord, his being scourged, and crowned with thorns, the carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion. While in the glorious mysteries, we contemplate the Resurrection and Ascension of our Savior, Pentecost, and the Assumption and Coronation of the Mother of God. Such is Mary’s Rosary; a new and fruitful vine, which began to blossom at Gabriel’s salutation, and whose fragrant garlands formed a link between earth and heaven.”
This wonderful prayer to the Blessed Virgin brings to mind the discovery of the Americas on October 12, 1492 by Christopher Columbus — the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar. Although transferred to a Monday as with most of our civil holidays in these United States — in this case the second one in October — Columbus Day stands as a testimony not only to the pious and gallant Italian navigator and his Heavenly Patroness (aptly named “Empress of the Americas” by Pius XII), but also to the Spanish missionaries and heroes who followed in his wake. We may look around at our countries to-day, from Argentina to Canada, and take an account of all the good that came from him, Her, and them — and all the evil that came from their opponents, from the Aztecs to the Woke.
That second Monday is, coincidentally, Thanksgiving Day in Canada. The Canadian observance has nothing to do with our Plymouth Rock Calvinists, but is rather a European-style harvest festival — which is quite in keeping with the nature of the season (even so, the turkey is also the favourite food on this day). The Harvest and gratitude to God for it are major themes in every European (and most non-European) folk culture — and something we ourselves might incorporate into our attitude during this season, even if a supermarket is as close as we ever get to a farm. We should really revel in the foods proper to the season, from pumpkins to root vegetables and apples. It is so much the better if the recipes we use are old family hand-me-downs, giving us reason to be thankful for those who came before.
One of these is Blessed Emperor Karl of Austria-Hungary, whose feast is October 21. His feast is not his death day (which is April 1), but the anniversary of his wedding to Servant of God Zita. Indeed, he was not only a wonderful example as and Emperor and military leader, but as a husband and father. He and his wife were extremely devout, as well as devoted parents. Coming of a broken home himself, he looked for an example of domestic life to his aunt and uncle, Sophie and Franz Ferdinand, whose murders at Sarajevo began World War I and caused so many deaths — indeed, the aftermath continues to create deaths. With our upcoming election, we might like to use the prayer for it composed by the Emperor Karl Prayer League. But in between the demands of official life, they worked very hard to build a cosy homelife for their own children, as they had seen Franz Ferdinand do with his.
Cosiness in general is a major theme in October and the Autumn. To sit at home by the fire — or even the heater — musing upon the days gone by and looking forward to the joys of coming holidays become a particular pleasure as one looks out at the cold or rainy view outside. This time of year, the friends and relations we have loved and lost or else who remain to cheer and be cheered by us are in our thoughts and this time of year often enough in our company. Despite the pain and loss we all feel from time to time, there is an essential rightness and beauty in the World that defeats every attempt — large or small — to defeat it, whether in the immediate or the long run.
That rightness is summed up in the Feast of Christ the King, which in the Traditional Calendar is the last Sunday in October. This feast, while only begun in 1925, nevertheless reflects a reality that dates back to the creation of the Universe. Christ’s rulership permeates every atom of Creation — and when we are in accord with His Kingship, we are happy and can be content. It is in that sense that we must evaluate not only the actions of our leaders, but of ourselves. The peace of soul that we can feel if we are truly His, can be extended to the other members of our household, and from there to the community and, ultimately, the nation. In the joy of the observances that begin with this time of year are certainly a foretaste of that Kingdom.
The last of these observations occurs on the last day of the month — the Vigil of All Saints, Halloween. Although many of us take the Wiccan/Neo-Pagan/Satanist narratives seriously, we are wrong to do so. It is the first day of the Hallowtide Triduum. Days gone by saw it as a time for “Souling” — going house to house soliciting goodies in return for prayers for the dead of the donors. Certainly the associations with the dead in Heaven and Purgatory that the next two days commemorate (recalling that the latter sometimes return to ask for prayers), and the fear of the demons who sometimes impersonate them — or else the damned, who mean us no good — combine with the somewhat intermediate feeling about the fairies, gave rise to a great many customs and beliefs. But we can turn trick-or-treating back into its original purpose by praying for the dead of those who give our children candy; we can carve and light the Jack O’Lantern as a warning to anything evil that the Sacramentals blessed by the Church to keep them at bay are in our house — as is the joy that children associate with the holiday. We can teach our children that fearsome as the devil and his minions may be, they retreat from the Holy Water, St. Benedict Medal, Rosary, Scapulars, etc., used as means of grace by God, Who is ever so much more powerful than they, and shall have the victory at the end. And so begins the Month of the Holy Souls.
