Guardian Angel Novena Day 9
Loving God, you are so good that you gave me a Guardian Angel to protect my body and my soul. Help me to know and follow my angel so that, with their guidance, I will be worthy of being in Heaven with You!
My sweet Guardian Angel, you are my light every day of my life. Enlighten me to be holy and good like you. Open my eyes so that I may see how to be the person that God is calling me to be. Enlighten my heart and my mind so I can be a light for others to know and love the Lord. You are with me all the time, so you know these are my intentions that I ask you to deliver to the Lord. Mention your intentions. Ring your little bell in heaven to tell our lord, our God, for “Ester and my prayer for Your blessings to grace our children, and their children’s children, to wholeheartedly support The MONTINOLA-CUMAGUN CARE FOUNDATION OBJECTIVES: (1) Special Children, SPED; a child’s mind is the most precious thing to waste. (The motto of the American Negro College), and the Handicapped Senior Citizens’ Physical Therapy. (2) Financial Support for Diocesan priests and Grade School Teachers for the rural areas. (3) Computer Start-up Education Tools for selected public schools and (4) Selected Start-up Management and Financial Support for Small Businesses. Let the Montinola Cumagun Care Foundation’s Good Work speak, not the name.
My understanding, Guardian Angel Ring, your little bell in heaven to ask our lord, our God, to send my children and their children the Holy Spirit to guide them to open their hearts to wholeheartedly support our family’s foundation. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48) Our guardian angels, our light, enlighten my wife and me and our children and grandchildren! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thursday. October 1, 2026. Saint Therese Martin was the last of 9 children born to Louis and Zelie Martin in 1873, in Alencon, France. Her father was a successful watchmaker and jeweler. Her mother built a cottage industry in lace making, which is known for its delicate lace. However, only 5 of these children lived to reach adulthood. Her mother died when she was 4; her father and sisters babied young Therese. She was sensitive; she seemed like a spoiled little girl who would stomp her feet and have a temper tantrum if she did not get her own way. She had a spirit that wanted everything. At the age of 14, on Christmas Eve in 1886, Therese had a conversion that transformed her life. From then on, her powerful energy and sensitive spirit were turned toward love, instead of keeping herself happy. At 15, she entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux to give her whole life to God. She took the religious name Sister Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. Living a hidden, simple life of prayer, she was gifted with great intimacy with God. Life in a Carmelite convent is indeed uneventful and consists mainly of prayer and hard domestic work. But Thérèse possessed that holy insight that redeems the time, however dull that time may be. She saw in quiet suffering a redemptive suffering, suffering that was indeed her apostolate. Thérèse said she came to the Carmel convent “to save souls and pray for priests.” Her struggle, like ours, is to be where God places us in the real life situations of our lives. Therese’s is a hands-on, challenging, and focused spirituality. Her poems and plays reflect her struggle to give all to God. Her love became surrender; through sickness and nights of doubt and fear, she remained faithful to God, rooted in His merciful love. After a long struggle with tuberculosis, she died on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24. Her last words were the story of her life: “My God, I love You!“
The world came to know Therese through her autobiography, “Story of a Soul“. She described her life as a “little way of spiritual childhood.” She lived each day with an unshakable confidence in God’s love. “What matters in life,” she wrote, “is not great deeds, but great love.” Therese lived and taught a spirituality of attending to everyone and everything well and with love. She believed that just as a child becomes enamored with what is before her, we should also have a childlike focus and totally attentive love. This is what made her shine, and why she has been declared a Doctor of the Church. Her spirituality is simple, childlike, profound and human – it is refreshing in our confusing and complicated age. Therese’s spirituality is of doing the ordinary, with extraordinary love. She loved flowers and saw herself as the “little flower of Jesus,” who gave glory to God by just being her beautiful little self among all the other flowers in God’s garden. Because of this beautiful analogy, the title “little flower” remained with St. Therese. “My mission – to make God loved – will begin after my death,” she said. “I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of roses.” Roses have been described and experienced as Saint Therese’s signature. Millions have been touched by her intercession and imitate her “little way.” She has been acclaimed “the greatest saint of modern times.” (Maridol: My Morning Prayer)
My Novena Rose Prayer. O Little Therese of the Child Jesus, please pick for me a rose from the heavenly gardens and send it to me as a message of love. O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God to grant the favors I now place with confidence in your hands… St. Therese, help me to always believe God’s great love for me, so that I might imitate your “Little Way” each day. Amen
WORD Today. Luke 9:57-62. As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus answered. “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Reflection. The words of the Pope. The Evangelist presents us three characters — three cases of vocation, we could say — that shed light on what is required of those who wish to follow Jesus to the end, completely. The first character promises him: “I will follow you wherever you go” (v. 57). Generous! But Jesus replies that the Son of man, unlike foxes that have holes, and birds that have nests, “has nowhere to lay his head” (v. 58). (…) The second character Jesus meets receives The Credoall directly from him, but replies: “Lord, let me first go and bury my father” (v. 59). (…) Nevertheless, Jesus responds: “Leave the dead to bury their own dead” (Lk 9:60). With these deliberately provocative words, he intends to emphasize the primacy of following and of proclaiming the Kingdom of God, even over and above the most important realities, such as the family. (…) The third character also wants to follow Jesus but on one condition: he will do so after bidding farewell to his relatives. And this is the response he receives from the Teacher: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (v. 62). Following Jesus excludes regrets and backward glances but requires the virtue of decision. Jesus wants us to be passionate about him and about the Gospel. A heartfelt passion which translates into concrete gestures of proximity, of closeness to the brothers and sisters most in need of welcome and care. Precisely as he himself lived. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 30 June 2019)
Heavenly Father. As we begin October, the month of the Holy Rosary, we ask for the grace to be faithful in prayer. Through the intercession of Mama Mary, help us to draw closer to Your Son, Jesus. Teach us to pray with love, humility, and perseverance. May the mysteries of the Rosary strengthen our faith, bring peace to our families, and guide us to live with trust in Your will. Mary, our Mother, stay with us, protect us, and lead us always to Jesus.
The Hail Mary
Hail, Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us, sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
“The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.” (Shakespeare).
Business Enterprises are not Legacy: the wake you leave, WHO you leave it to, WHAT you leave, and WHY? Let the Montinola Cumagun Care Foundation’s Good Work speak, not our family name.
Our Lady of the Impossible, grace those late in life but had more in life who tried to be their brothers’ keepers for those who have less in life – “Ester and I pray for your blessings to grace our children, and their children’s children, to wholeheartedly support The MCC FOUNDATION – The MONTINOLA-CUMAGUN CARE FOUNDATION OBJECTIVES: (1.) Special Children SPED, “A child’s mind is the most precious thing to waste.” (The motto of the American Negro College), and the Handicapped Senior Citizens – Physical Therapy. (2.) Financial Support for Diocesan priests and Grade School Teachers for the rural areas. (3.) Computer Start-up Education Tools for selected public schools and (4.) Selected Start-up Management and Financial Support for Small Businesses. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48. “The sin of the rich man was not that he did wrong things, but that he did nothing.” (William Barclay, in Antonio G. Cumagun Autobiography Song of Myself Memoirs, Looking Back at Serendipity, 2002) Our Lady of the Impossible, “Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection was left unaided. . .” the good news of peace and justice through Ester and my founding the Montinola Cumagun Care Foundation.
Ester and My State of Health
(Vital stats are recorded by Ester Tony C every day, 24 hr. PDNs.)
Ester’s morning BP was 120 /80. Hr. 71. O2sat 97%. Temp 36. 6
Last Night’s BP 120 /70. Hr. 80 O2sat 98%. Temp 36. 5
Tony’s morning BP was 120 /70. HR. 64. O2sat 98%. Temp. 36.6
Last Night’s BP 110 /70. HR 52. O2sat 99%. Temp. 36.6
Beata John Paul 1, watch over Cristina C, Justice Jun’s state of health, Ester’s recovery, and our autistic son John Paul’s emotional/emotional stability 57. Johnny Ong’s youngest son, Richard, diagnosed with blood cancer.
FOR THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED AND SOULS IN PURGATORY
In Memory of all those who left us. We remember you in the morning and at night. You are always with us. We pray for the souls in Purgatory.
Blessed Mother Mary, I bring to you for your intercession the souls of Amb. Manuel R. and Dolores G. Cumagun, Juana Cumagun, Annette Cumagun, Lina Beltran, Judge and Mrs. Dolores Cumagun, Gov. Primo & Magdalena H. Gaffud, Dr. Trino, Sr. & Angeles Montinola, Betty, Luie, Trino, Jr. Montinola, Bernardino, and Isabel Jalandoni. Dr. Terry Lirio-Montinola, Dr. & Mrs. Tomacruz, Akira Tsusaka, Boy Eugenio, Jesus Ibañez, Sen. Nene Pimentel, Santiago Ranada 111, Boysie Villavicensio, Patria Manuel, Dr. Mariano Laurel, Rene Datu, (Ateneo ’54 – Jimmy Ongpin, Atty. Ato Gonzales, Buddy Joaquin, Fr. Unson, Msgr. Tantoco, Atty. Art Alafriz, Robert Arevalo Ylagan, Maximo Abesamis, Jr., Jesse Paredes), Atty. C. Platon, Araceli Rivera, Rey Castañeda, Col. Tanseco, Dr. E Fores, Dr. J. Caedo, Christine Syjuco, Leni Panganiban, Raul Boncan, Atty. Spanky and Dolly Perez, Amb. Albert del Rosario, Nellie Valdez, Toti Herbosa, Tec Syjuco, AL, Umberto (Beck) Gonzales, and Rufo Colayco. Pray 7 Our Father and The Credo