Saturday, June 6, 2026 Immaculate Heart of Mary-D Day
Smoke in This Life Not the Next
Sat, June 6 — First Saturday (Immaculate Heart)
Virtue: Shelter & Intercession
Cigar: Mild, maternal (Connecticut)
Bourbon: Larceny Small Batch — soft, enduring
Reflection: Whose sorrow do I carry with Mary?
Mary’s Heart is the shelter where sorrow becomes intercession.
On this First Saturday, I take up one grief — mine or another’s — and place it inside her Heart, where tenderness becomes strength and wounds become prayer.
Purgatory reminds me that love must be purified.
Better to smoke in this life than the next.
Let the burn of repentance happen now, not later.
Immaculate Heart of Mary,
teach me whose sorrow I am meant to carry today.
Introduction
to 2 Kings[1]
First, we'll re-cap a few things
about the two Books of Kings, as a whole. They're part of the Deuteronomistic
history. What does that mean?"
Well,
it means that the Book of Deuteronomy, and its religious legal code, helped
inspire the viewpoint of the Books of Kings' editor (or editors). In fact, 2
Kings describes what appears to be the discovery of a version of the Book of
Deuteronomy, which inspires King Josiah to hack down sacred poles and slaughter
priests on the altars they've made to foreign gods. So, there you go—drop the word
"Deuteronomistic" at parties and win the respect and fear of your
besties. In line with the above, The Second Book of Kings takes a pretty black
and white view of the rulers it discusses. You might be a king who prevents
starvation and improves sanitation, but if you bow down to one sacred pole
dedicated to a female goddess, you get discarded into 2 Kings' "totally
wicked" pile. However, those are the rules of the game according to the
Deuteronomy-inspired outlook of the book. It's all about intense religious law
and hard monotheism. The kings and prophets who adhere to those standards end
up being the heroes of the work. A big part of the work's purpose is to explain
why the Assyrians were able to destroy Israel and why most of the inhabitants
of Judah were sent into exile in Babylon. The book hammers home this point with
insistency: it's because they turned away from God, worshipping deities like
Moloch with child sacrifice or Asherah with sacred poles. Even the good guys,
who start to get the right idea, often aren't perfect. Their efforts to turn
things around don't last long and can't prevent destruction and exile.
Essentially, the book is a way of interpreting the past through a specific religious perspective, picking at the various faults it sees as leading to destruction. At the same time, it gives a picture of the ideal, right way of doing things—which could work, if only people managed to really get it together for once. The history it tells both threatens and promises.
Why
Should I Care?
Normally,
we would simply say, "This is a book where ferocious bears fatally maul a
crowd of forty-two children"—assuming
that that's more than enough to get anyone interested. And that really does happen—but as it is, we'll try to show you
that there's more to 2 Kings than bears attacking kids, dogs eating a wicked
queen's corpse, the angel of destruction slaughtering 180,000 Assyrian
soldiers, and blasts of fire from heaven killing scores of warriors (although,
again, all of those things totally happen here).
The
book takes a long, hard look at "What It Takes" to gain and retain power, and what
it finds isn't pretty: conspiracies, assassinations, intrigue, and ruthless
manipulation. These kings kick it Machiavelli-style.
Righteous
Rebels and Rogues
At
the same time, there are plenty of good guys in 2 Kings, and the book has a lot
to say about courage, perseverance, sticking to your convictions under
pressure, and more. Like Elijah in 1 Kings (who also appears in the first two
chapters of the sequel), the prophet Elisha is one of the major heroes of 2
Kings, and we suppose you could say he lives by the same motto as Kanye West in
his present day lyrics: "I'm a man of God / My whole life in the hand of
God… / So you better quit playing with
God!" (The more things change, the more they stay the same, we guess.) But people do
keep playing with God, and Elisha is determined to stop them. A few righteous
kings, like Hezekiah and Josiah, get in on the act, along with more prophets.
When the chips are down, the righteous people step it up—although (spoiler alert) in the
end, Israel and Judah are destroyed and almost everyone is sent into exile in
Babylon. Nevertheless, the book gives some inspiring examples of people who
stuck up for a cause greater than themselves, in addition to cataloguing the rogues' gallery of ruthless power seekers.
JUNE 6 First
Saturday-Immaculate Heart of Mary
June 6 D-Day-Gardening
Exercise Day
2
Kings, Chapter 1, Verse 15
When God’s messenger comes you would be wise to listen. We are told that the messenger to Elijah was an angel. We are not told more but I would imagine that most likely it was his guardian angel. Listening to and asking your guardian angel to assist you in accomplishing God’s will is wise.
Guardian Angel[2]
According
to Saint Jerome, the concept of guardian angels is in the "mind of the
Church". He stated: "how great the dignity of the soul, since each
one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it".
The
first Christian theologian to outline a specific scheme for guardian angels was
Honorius of Autun in the 12th century. He said that every soul was assigned a
guardian angel the moment it was put into a body. Scholastic theologians
augmented and ordered the taxonomy of angelic guardians. Thomas Aquinas agreed
with Honorius and believed that it was the lowest order of angels who served as
guardians, and his view was most successful in popular thought, but Duns Scotus
said that any angel is bound by duty and obedience to the Divine Authority to
accept the mission to which that angel is assigned. In the 15th century, the
Feast of the Guardian Angels was added to the official calendar of Catholic
holidays.
In
his March 31, 1997, Regina Caeli address, Pope Saint John Paul II referred to
the concept of guardian angel and concluded the address with the statement:
"Let us invoke the Queen of angels and saints, that she may grant us,
supported by our guardian angels, to be authentic witnesses to the Lord's
paschal mystery".
Copilot’s Take
June 6 opens with the
command from 2 Kings 1:15: “Do not be afraid.” Elijah descends the hill
not because he feels brave but because the messenger of the Lord accompanies
him. Scripture shows that God never sends a man into danger alone. He sends an
angel first, then He sends the man. The descent is not an act of self‑confidence
but an act of obedience supported by divine presence.
The Church has always
treated this accompaniment as literal. Guardian angels are not poetic symbols
but assigned protectors. Saint Jerome calls their guardianship “the dignity of
the soul.” Aquinas teaches that angels of the lower choir serve as guardians,
while Scotus emphasizes that any angel obeys the mission God assigns. The
Catechism affirms that from infancy to death, human life is surrounded by their
watchful care. A man grows spiritually when he stops ignoring the quiet,
corrective voice that checks his pride and steadies his steps.
June 6 as First Saturday
draws the heart toward the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Heart that receives
Christ without distortion. Devotion to her Heart is not sentimental but
formative. Her humility, purity, and obedience shape the interior life of the
man who studies her virtues. If the Sacred Heart reveals Christ’s love poured
out, the Immaculate Heart reveals the vessel capable of receiving that love and
returning it without compromise. To imitate her Heart is to become capable of
standing firm at the foot of the Cross.
This same date carries the weight of D‑Day, the masculine icon of obedience under fire. The men who stormed the beaches of Normandy lived the same pattern as Elijah: a mission, a descent, a fear, and a tyrant to confront.
Their courage was not the absence of fear but the triumph of duty. Remembering them reminds a man that evil advances when good men hesitate and retreats when good men obey. The spiritual life demands the same clarity and resolve.
Even Gardening Exercise Day
becomes a quiet theological counterpoint. Gardening is not hobby but Genesis
restored—ordering chaos, cultivating fruit, reclaiming ground the serpent seeks
to disorder. A man who tends the soil participates in God’s first command and
trains his body in patience, discipline, and stewardship. The beach and the
garden preach the same sermon: evil is pushed back by cultivation, not neglect.
The Catechism’s doctrine on
evil is sober and direct. Satan is real, fallen, defeated by Christ, and still
dangerous. The Christian confronts evil not through theatrics but through
obedience, purity of heart, sacramental life, and daily discipline. Mary crushes
the serpent by humility; angels guard us by divine assignment; Christ commands
us by His kingship. The man who lives this pattern becomes spiritually
dangerous to the enemy.
Thus June 6 becomes a
unified call: listen to the angel, imitate the Mother, honor the fallen,
cultivate the garden, and descend the hill without fear. Immaculate Heart of
Mary, form me. Guardian Angel, guard me. Christ the King, command me.
First
Saturday-Time to Get Serious About Fatima[3]
The
world's gone mad. Take the attacks and outrages perpetrated by men upon their
neighbors or the persecutions of the Church in
to
compare tragedies, to try to determine who's most wounded, who is most in pain.
Rather, it's time and long past time to apply the solutions we've had all
along. I'm talking, of course, about the message
of Fatima, specifically Our Lady's calls for
the daily Rosary for peace in the world and the Five First Saturday’s devotion.
My fellow Marian Fr. Seraphim Michalenko sometimes tells a story that a priest ministering in Japan shared with him in Rome. This priest was attending an international gathering of Christians from across the world, attended by foreign dignitaries. The ambassador from Japan approached the priest, verified that the priest served in Japan and was a Catholic priest, and then said, "War is your fault." The priest was surprised and asked what the ambassador meant. The ambassador said, "You Catholics, all of you — we do not have peace in the world. It is your fault." The priest said, "Ambassador, why do you blame us?" The ambassador said, "I've read about this. The Lady came to you at Fatima, right? That's what you believe? She told you what to do to secure peace in the world. Well, there's no peace in the world, so obviously you Catholics haven't done it." The priest had to acknowledge that the ambassador was correct, but still tried to protest, saying, "Isn't peace everyone's responsibility?" The ambassador was vehement. "No, she came to you Catholics. Not to Buddhists. Not to Hindus. She came to you, and it is your responsibility."
We've been given the answer. Pray
the Rosary daily for peace in the world and invite others to pray with you. At
college, there would occasionally be "sit ins for peace." A number of
my fellow students, passionately convicted and righteously indignant though
they were, would go and sit outside the student center with signs. That was
their sit in for peace. It always massively frustrated me because here we were,
a Catholic school, armed with a whole host of powerful prayers and devotions,
and there they were just sitting. If they'd just bothered to pray the Rosary,
their protest would have meant a great deal in this world and the next.
Why not arrange for a Rosary for
peace at your colleges and universities, if not every day, then at least every
Saturday, traditionally set aside as Our Lady’s Day?
Why not revive the tradition of
family and neighborhood Rosaries, offered specifically for the intention of
peace in the world?
What about having a regular Rosary
for peace at your parish, maybe even before Mass with the permission of your
pastor?
• Make the Five First Saturdays
devotion
• Consecrate yourself
to the Immaculate Heart,
and encourage others to do the same.
• Become invested in the Brown Scapular.
• Do penance for your sins and on behalf of poor sinners everywhere.
Don't just sit there — the world is in trouble, and we have the answer.
Immaculate Heart of
Mary[4]
The
Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a devotional name used to refer to the
interior life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and
hidden perfections, and above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her
maternal love for her son Jesus, and her compassionate love for all
persons. Two elements are essential to the devotion, Mary’s interior life
and the beauties of her soul, and Mary’s virginal body. According to
Roman Catholic theology, soul and body are necessary to the constitution of
man. It was in 1855, that the Mass of the Most Pure Heart of Mary
formally became a part of the Catholic practice. Traditionally, the heart
of Mary in artwork is depicted with seven wounds or swords, in homage to the
seven sorrows of Mary. Also, roses or another type of flower may be
wrapped around the heart. Veneration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
generally coincides with the worship of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
However,
there is a difference that explains the Roman Catholic devotion to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary. The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is
especially directed to the “Divine Heart”, as overflowing with love for
humanity. In the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, on the other
hand, the attraction is the love of her Immaculate Heart for Jesus and for God.
A second difference is the nature of the devotion itself. In devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Roman Catholic venerates in a sense of love, responding to love. In devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, love is formed from study and imitation of Mary’s yes to God as the mother of Jesus. In this devotion, love is more the result, than the “object” of the devotion; the object being rather to love God and Jesus by uniting oneself to Mary for this purpose and by imitating her virtues, to help one achieve this. History of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is connected in many ways to that of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Christians were drawn to the love and virtues of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and this paved the devotion from the beginning. Early Christians had compassion for the Virgin Mary, and the Gospels recount prophecy delivered to her at Jesus’ presentation in the temple, and that her heart would be pierced with a sword. The image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary with the pierced heart is the most popular representation. St. John’s Gospel further invites us to the attention of Mary’s heart with its depiction of Mary at the foot of the cross at Jesus’ crucifixion. St. Augustine tells us that Mary was more blessed in having born Christ in her heart, than in having conceived him in the flesh.
Things
to Do:[5]
Read the entire article from the Catholic
Encyclopedia
about the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Read
this article about Saturdays and the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Apostolic
Exhortation[6]
Veneremur Cernui
– Down in Adoration Falling
of
The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix,
to Priests, Deacons, Religious and the Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Phoenix
on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
My beloved Brothers and
Sisters in Christ,
Part III
Loving and Adoring the Eucharistic Lord
III.
Increase your time of Eucharistic adoration.
79.
Friends deepen their love and affection by spending time together. The same is
true of our relationship with Christ. Eucharistic adoration prolongs the
mystery of Jesus’ self-offering in the Mass. To adore the Eucharistic Jesus is
to lovingly savor and delight in His sacramental presence. It is not opposed to
the Mass or a substitute to the Mass. Rather, Eucharistic adoration flows from
the sacred liturgy and back to it again. As lovers’ eyes linger in a shared
gaze after and before their kiss, so adoration before the Eucharist shares a
natural rhythm of the “kiss” of Holy Communion. Love survives on both
contemplation and union, on the gaze and the kiss.
80. Saint Augustine teaches us this when, in speaking about the Eucharistic Body of Christ, he said that “we consume what we adore, and we adore what we consume.” To enter into this circle of adoration and consummation is to know a foretaste of the beatitude which the Lord desires us to know.
The Saints are the best teachers of the power of Eucharistic adoration. Saint Dominic Savio once wrote: “To be happy nothing is lacking for me in this world; I lack only the vision in Heaven of that Jesus, whom with the eyes of faith I now see and adore on the altar.” Once a person complained to Saint Teresa of Avila that his faith in Jesus would have been stronger if he could have seen the Lord during the days of his earthly ministry. The Saint quickly responded, “But do we not have in the Eucharist the living, true and real Jesus present before us? Why look for more?”. Who can forget the moving wisdom of the farmer who, when asked by Saint John Marie Vianney what he does for hours in front of the tabernacle, responded: “I look at Him and He looks at me.” Venerable J.J. Olier wrote: “When there are two roads which will bring me to some place, I take the one with more churches so as to be nearer the Blessed Sacrament. When I see a place where my Jesus is, I could not be happier, and I say, ‘You are here, my God and my All’.”
81.
Extended time in Eucharistic adoration deepens our prayer in marvelous ways.
Pope Francis spoke of this prayer as a kind of necessity during a homily in
2016: “We cannot know the Lord without this habit of worship, to worship in
silence, adoration. If I am not mistaken, I believe that this prayer of
adoration is one of the least known by us, it’s the one that we do the least.
Allow me to say this: waste time in front of the Lord, in front of the mystery
of Jesus Christ. Worship him. There in silence, the silence of adoration. He is
the Savior and I worship him”.
An
HOUR’S Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament
To
be continued…
Bible in a
year Day 336
As we continue to follow the missions of Paul and Barnabas, Fr.
Mike highlights the fickle nature of humanity and the futility of striving for
the praise of men. He also encourages us to remain courageous in the
tribulations we face, finding strength in other believers, and running toward
the eternal and imperishable goal of salvation. Today’s readings are Acts 14, 1
Corinthians 9-10, and Proverbs 28:7-9.
June 6 D-Day Memorial
The men who took the beach at D-Day were afraid because they too knew what may happen to them, yet too, they were succored by our Lord and our nation’s prayers.
This is the prayer originally entitled "Let Our Hearts
Be Stout" written by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as Allied troops were
invading German-occupied Europe during World War II. The prayer was read to the
Nation on radio on the evening of D-Day, June 6, 1944, while American, British
and Canadian troops were fighting to establish five beach heads on the coast of
Normandy in northern France.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Last
night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that
troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another
and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.
And
so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:
Almighty God: Our
sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle
to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a
suffering humanity.
Lead them straight
and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness
in their faith.
They will need Thy
blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may
hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall
return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness
of our cause, our sons will triumph.
They will be sore
tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The
darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the
violence’s of war.
For these men are
lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest.
They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice
arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the
end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.
Some will never
return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy
kingdom.
And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.
Many people have
urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because
the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote
themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again
when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help
to our efforts.
Give us strength,
too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in
the physical and the material support of our armed forces.
And let our hearts
be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to
impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.
And, O Lord, give
us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith
in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let
not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment
-- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.
With Thy blessing,
we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the
apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country,
and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a
peace invulnerable to the scheming’s of unworthy men. And a peace that will let
all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.
Thy
will be done, Almighty God. Amen.
President
Franklin D. Roosevelt - June 6, 1944
Top
things to do in the US for D-Day Anniversary[7]
Participate in an eletronic
field trip that explores the historic invasion site in Normandy, France.
Visit the D-day
memorial in Bedford, Virginia.
Watch a documentary
about the battle for the bridge at La Fière.
The power
of Diligence
In John McCain’s book Character is Destiny[8] he perceived the character traits exemplified by Winston Churchill who best displays the characteristic of DILIGENCE. Churchill persevered through every trial and misfortune to alert his countrymen to the approaching danger of Nazi Germany, and to save them when they ignored his warning.
We must be just as diligent in our pursuit to do the will of God in our lives.
Churchill’s most famous quote is,
“Never give in. Never
give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing great or small, large or
petty—never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense.”
Winston never did give in he led his country at the age of 67 living a life of many failures to become the prime minister of England during their greatest need.
McCain says of Churchill:
This extraordinarily diligent man, who would not give in to many bitter trials that would have forced most of us to surrender to a cruel and unrelenting fate, who had fought, been beaten, and risen again so many times to take his place among the great democratic leaders of world history, would, by the power of his speech and the unyielding courage of his example and convictions, lead his country through the most dangerous experience of its long history. He stood alone first, and then as Britain’s leader as she stood alone, letting no defeat, no danger, no impossibly overwhelming odds destroy his courage or his will. He would not give in. Never, never, never, never. And, due in great part to the courage he inspired in others, neither would his country.
The
New D-Day[9]
Today we battle an enemy of dark and demonic forces not on the shores of Normandy but in our homes as these demonic forces make their final assault on the family via the contempt of the modernist elitists. Never give in. We may not have an Eisenhower (where is our general?) (Is the Pope or the president Catholic?) It may our Lady and the Holy Spirit that has to lead us.
Here are three ways to resist the spirit of defeat and maintain faith in the family.
Make a renewal of the marriage promises.
Do family retreats.
Weekly Family Holy Hour in a
church.
Gardening Exercise Day[10]
Research
indicates that Gardening Exercise Day originates with gardening clubs
and groups. It is a day when people are encouraged to get off the couch, head
out into the garden, and tend their patches. Not only does this help ensure
that the garden looks good, but it also offers a healthy means of getting some
exercise, while enjoying the benefits that fresh air can bring. To enjoy
Gardening Exercise Day, all that is really required is to head out and water
the plants, mow the lawn, and do some weeding, but more active people may
choose to increase the intensity of their gardening efforts to really reap the
rewards of exercise. Participants can consider using hand tools instead of
electric and power tools, squatting instead of sitting, and bending from the
back to limber the body up. Regardless of the type of exercise, any additional
exercise will help the body, and being outside will mean a healthy and natural
intake of vitamin D.
Around the Corner
“Give
thanks to the LORD for he is good,
his
mercy endures forever!
(Psalm
107:1)
National
Fishing and Boating Week June 6-14
National Fishing and Boating Week
began in 1979 as National Fishing Week. Its main goal was simple: get more
people hooked on fishing. In 2002, this week got a significant boost when
President George W. Bush declared it a national holiday.
This declaration recognized fishing
and boating as pastimes and as important parts of American culture and
lifestyle.
Cheat: National
Steakhouse Month “make
it surf and turf”
Stay at home: Catholic
Recipe: Skewered Beef Roman Style
Spirit Hour: Vodka-say it in
Russian
National
Migraine and Headache Awareness Month
National
Movie Night dinner and a movie
Bucket List trip: Armenia
Get an indulgence
Aerial silks Exercise requires
strength, beauty, courage and a little stupidity. Kinda like going out into the
desert where there are snakes and pointy things.
All forms of aerial arts can be incredibly dangerous since your whole body will be suspended in the air and your entire weight will be held up by what is essentially a piece of fabric.
Aerial silks (also known as aerial contortion, aerial ribbons, aerial tissues, fabric, ribbon,
or tissu) is a type of performance in which one or more
artists perform aerial acrobatics while hanging from a specialist fabric. The fabric may
be hung as two pieces, or a single piece, folded to make a loop, classified as
hammock silks. Performers climb the suspended fabric without the use of safety
lines and rely only on their training and skill to ensure safety. They use the
fabric to wrap, suspend, drop, swing, and spiral their bodies into and out of
various positions. The fabric may also be used to fly through the air, striking
poses and figures. Some performers use rosin (dried
or mixed with rubbing alcohol) on their hands and feet to increase the friction and grip on the fabric. Aerial silks is a demanding art
and requires a high degree of strength, power, flexibility, courage, stamina,
and grace to practice.[11]
Today is the feast of St. Norbert take
time to go to adoration
St.
Norbert-Although a cleric, Norbert led a very worldly life for a number of
years. The decisive change took place suddenly in 1115. While riding one day,
he was overtaken by a thunderstorm. A flash of lightning struck the ground
before him, the horse threw him, and he seemed to hear a voice upbraiding him
for his conduct.
As
in the case of St. Paul, the experience wrought a complete transformation.
Norbert decided to give away his property and income rights, and to lead a life
of abnegation, devoting himself particularly to preaching. In 1120 he founded
the Order of Premonstratensians (the first monastery was at Premontre)
according to the rule of St. Augustine; approval came from Pope Honorius II in
1126.
In
1125, he was named archbishop of Magdeburg. On July 13, 1126, Norbert entered
the city and came barefoot to the cathedral. About to enter the archepiscopal
palace, he was refused admission by the porter, who failed to recognize a
bishop so poorly dressed. "You know me better and see me with clearer eyes
than those who are forcing me to this palace. Poor and wretched man that I am,
I should never have been assigned to this place," Norbert answered when
the porter later sought his pardon.
—Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Daily
Devotions
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Authentic
Feminism
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
Rosary
[4]http://www.newmanconnection.com/faith/saint/feast-of-the-immaculate-heart-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary
[5]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2020-06-20
[8] McCain, John and Salter, Mark. (2005)
Character is destiny. Random House, New York
WIDE OPEN FACES (1938)
Joe E. Brown • Jane Wyman • Alison Skipworth
Directed by Kurt Neumann
A small‑town slapstick caper wrapped in Depression‑era charm,
Wide Open Faces is not merely a comedy of errors.
It is a meditation on innocence wandering into corruption,
on the foolish man who becomes wise by accident,
and on a world where the line between criminal and clown
is thinner than anyone wants to admit.
It is the tale of a barber mistaken for a gangster,
a town that panics at shadows,
and a man whose naïve goodness
becomes the one force the villains never planned for.
And then the reckoning comes —
not through strength,
but through the disarming clarity
of a man too simple to lie convincingly.
1. Production & Historical Setting
A Nation Needing Laughter in Lean Years
Released in 1938, as America strained through the tail end of the Depression,
the film offered pure escape —
bright faces, quick gags, and the reassurance
that even the most tangled trouble
could be unraveled by a good heart and a little luck.
Joe E. Brown: The Innocent Who Disarms Evil
Brown’s rubber‑faced exuberance is not just comedy —
it is moral contrast.
He is the one man in the story
who has no angle, no scheme, no hidden motive.
His innocence becomes a mirror
that exposes everyone else’s pretensions.
Jane Wyman: The Grounded Counterweight
Wyman brings steadiness and warmth,
the sensible presence who sees the truth
long before the men chasing shadows do.
She is the film’s quiet compass.
Alison Skipworth: The Matriarch of Mischief
Skipworth’s performance adds texture —
a reminder that older characters in 1930s comedies
often carried the sharpest instincts
and the driest wit.
2. Story Summary
A Barber, a Bank Robber, and a Case of Mistaken Identity
Brown plays a small‑town barber
whose harmless bumbling is mistaken
for the cunning of a notorious criminal.
From that moment, the world tilts:
police, gangsters, and townsfolk
all project their fears onto the wrong man.
A Town That Sees What It Fears, Not What Is True
The comedy works because the town
is more eager to believe in danger
than in innocence.
Every misunderstanding becomes a crisis,
every coincidence a clue,
every shadow a threat.
The Fool Who Stumbles Into Wisdom
Brown’s character, trying only to survive the chaos,
accidentally uncovers the real criminals.
His simplicity becomes the one thing
the villains cannot manipulate.
Justice Through the Unlikely
In the end, the real thief is exposed,
the town is humbled,
and the barber — bewildered but brave —
stands as the accidental hero
who never meant to be one.
3. Spiritual & Moral Resonances
A. Innocence Confounds the Calculating
The film reminds us that
evil often overestimates its own cleverness
and underestimates the power of a clean conscience.
B. Fear Makes Fools of the Wise
The town’s panic shows how quickly
people abandon reason
when fear becomes their interpreter.
C. Identity Is Often Assigned, Not Earned
Brown is treated as a criminal
because others need someone to blame.
It is a warning about how easily
society projects guilt onto the harmless.
D. Providence Works Through the Unlikely
The barber’s clumsiness becomes
the very instrument of justice.
Grace often arrives wearing foolish clothes.
E. Humor as Revelation
Laughter becomes the scalpel
that exposes the absurdity of human pretension.
4. Hospitality Pairing — A Table of Small‑Town Shenanigans
Drink: A light bourbon highball — crisp, unpretentious, quick to lift the mood.
Plate: A plate of salted peanuts and buttered popcorn —
the food of old theaters, county fairs, and men who never meant to get involved.
Atmosphere: Porch‑light glow, a summer breeze,
the sense that the whole town is watching from behind curtains.
Symbol: A simple barber’s brush —
a reminder that ordinary men often carry extraordinary moments.
5. Reflection Prompts
- Where am I being mistaken for something I am not — for good or ill.
- What fears in my “town” distort the truth.
- Where has innocence in my life revealed something that sophistication could not.
- What chaos is God using to steer me toward courage.
- Who is the “unlikely hero” in my story — or am I being asked to become him.
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