Dear Parishioners,

As we close the month of October and begin the month of November we are reminded of two things: the Holy Rosary and the call to holiness. October is the month of the Rosary - a tool to help us grow in holiness. November 1 is the Feast of All Saints - a reminder that we are all called to be saints, to be among the holy ones in heaven. The Rosary has within it the power to move us along the path of holiness, so at the end of our lives we will see the face of God and be the full expression of what God created us to be.

I would like to share the story of a recently beatified Blessed who had a devotion to the Rosary that sustained him and his family during time of trial and persecution: Blessed Justo Takayama Ukon.

The Rosary brought Justo to a place of holiness and here’s an excerpt from the October 2023 Magnificat (pg. 174) highlighting this saint who promoted the rosary:

“Takayama Ukon, the “samurai of Christ,” was born in 1552. His father, a noble, was converted by Jesuit missionaries, and Takayama was baptized Justo around age twelve. He married and became a great warrior and general. Justo won many converts, and even his enemies admired his great virtue.

Yet many in Japan feared Christians would become a miliary threat. As a powerful Christian warrior, Justus was targeted. He was told by the shogun Hideyoshi that priests would be killed and churches burned if he did not surrender his power. And so he did, although it meant risking his life and that of his family. He eventually regained Hideyoshi’s favor, and with it a new estate. But several more periods of persecution followed.

The rosary helped keep Takayama’s family together throughout its trials. When no missionaries could offer Mass, the family prayed the rosary. And when Justo, along with three hundred other Christians, was exiled to the Philippines, he brought a beautiful statue of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary to present to the Dominicans in Manila. The family continued to pray together during the forty-four-day journey to the Philippines, taking turns leading. On the ship, he broke up a knife-fight, rosary in hand. He died of sickness after arriving in Manila, and was beatified in 2017.

Almighty Father, though the intercession of Blessed Justo Takayama, bless all soldiers and leaders, that they may be knights of the Mother of God.”

There will be a mass at St. Mary’s for the Solemnity of All Saints on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 5:30 pm celebrated by Fr. Mark Pautler and followed by an all-parish potluck in the hall.