a year of prayer: 365 Rosaries

Today, February 27, marks the feast day of Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (1838-1862), the patron saint of young people, students, and young religious. Saint Gabriel’s short life is marked by piety, faith, and obedience to the Lord, and religious vocation at the behest of Our Blessed Mother. While the last six years of his life, spent as a brother in the Passionist Order, were marked by humility, self-denial, and simplicity, Gabriel’s early life was quite the opposite. His complete consecration of his life to the Lord, despite the temptations of the modern world which he so loved, make his sacrifice a vivid example of the Christian love and obedience we should strive for.

Saint Gabriel modeled his life on that of Christ and Our Blessed Mother, committing himself to embody every virtue and shun every sin. To that end, he committed to writing a list of 41 Resolutions, guiding his daily life:


Gabriel’s 41 Resolutions

I will keep my rule, even the smallest thing.


I will not neglect any of my spiritual exercises.


I will shun idleness.


I will be punctual.


I will obey the sound of the bell as though it were the voice of God.


I will receive all things from the hand of God, as being sent by Him for my own personal benefit.


I will profit by every occasion for mortification that may occur.


I will fulfil exactly my ordinary duties, mortifying self in whatever would prove an obstacle to perfect obedience.


I will mortify my eyes and my tongue.


I will not leave my cell without necessity.


I will not inquire after anything through curiosity.


I will check my desire to talk.


I will increase the number of such like acts daily.


I will not take any food outside of mealtime.


I am poor and I should act accordingly.


I should be willing to put up with any inconvenience gladly.


I will not eat with avidity, but rather with reserve and with modesty, subjecting my appetite to reason.


I will mortify myself in ordinary things and whatever I feel inclined to do, saying in my heart: “O my God, I will not do this thing through mere inclination, but because it is thy will”.


I will be reserved toward those to whom I feel most inclined, prudently avoiding their presence and conversation.


I will not utter a word that might, in the least, turn to my praise.


I will not take pleasure in any praise bestowed upon me.


I will never excuse myself when I am blamed or corrected, nor even resent it interiorly, much less put the blame upon others.


I will never speak of the faults of others, even though they may be public, nor will I ever show want of esteem for others, whether in their presence or in their absence.


I will not judge ill of anyone.


I will show the good opinion I have of each one by covering up his faults.


I will consider everyone my superior, treating all with humility and reverence.


I will rejoice at the good done by others.


I will not permit myself to become interested in vain and useless things.


I will rejoice at the success of others.


I will practice charity and kindness, assisting, serving and pleasing all.


I will shun particular friendships, so as to offend no one.


Every morning and evening I will practice some act of humility, and gradually increase the number.


I will close my heart against disquiet of any kind.


I will suppress immediately all emotions of impetuosity and all affections that might cloud my mind, even lightly.


I will obey the voice of the Superior as if it were the voice of God himself.


In my obedience I will neither examine the why nor the wherefore.


I will conform my judgment to that of my Superior.


I will not employ time in conversing about purely worldly matters.


“Faithfulness in little things” is the motto I will always follow in my efforts to reach holiness.


I will try to reproduce in myself whatever I see edifying and virtuous in the conduct of others.


I will give to God the best that I have — the entire affection of my heart.