Electric Prayer

Welcome to October, the month of the Rosary and of Our Lady, and also, this year, a special month because on Saturday the 3rd it is the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis in 1226. All Franciscans will be celebrating his feast with special vigour this year. The rest of us won’t be, because the feast of St Francis of Assisi is on the 4th, which is a Sunday this year. St Francis will be amused.

A unique book has come out to commemorate the anniversary. Not precisely a book: more, a book of books.

“Franciscans: the Legacy of St Francis”

The antiquarian booksellers Bernard Quaritch, of London, are noted for their exceptional catalogues, which are works of scholarship in their own right and richly illustrated to boot. To celebrate the 800th anniversary of St Francis’s death they have published a 96-page catalogue describing and illustrating 47 books and manuscripts from 1240 to 1922, covering all parts of the world including Brazil and China.

To read it is an education in how broad and deep the influence of the Franciscans has been. Bernard Quaritch have very kindly let us include a link to their catalogue. Read it online, or download the PDF and read a few pages whenever you have the time. It will broaden your appreciation of St Francis and his place in the history of the world.

“Saint Francis of Assisi” by G.K. Chesterton

Meanwhile, within Universalis itself, there is a feature called Daily Books, which divides a book into instalments so that you can read a bit of it each day in your Universalis pages. Chesterton’s book on St Francis will give you a sense, heart and soul, of what it must have been like to be St Francis, and what the world was like both before and after his brief, revolutionary life. The book fits into 51 instalments, so if you start it now, you will finish it late in November. You can read all about the Daily Books feature here.

“Resurrection Is Now” by Dom Aelred Watkin

November is coming, the month of the dead. Resurrection Is Now is the perfect book for November. It is about death and resurrection, about the reality of death and the reality of the salvation of God.

Resurrection Is Now is also a Daily Book in Universalis, and ever since it appeared, people have been asking how they can get a printed copy for themselves or their friends. This year, for the first time, they can.

You can read all about the book here, and order it online. It costs £6.99 in the UK and $8.99 in the USA, with similar prices elsewhere. Quite a few people have written in to say they are buying several copies, for themselves and their friends. One man bought ten copies!

The book will take a couple of weeks to arrive, so think about ordering it now so that you have it before November begins.

The weekly podcasts

The weekly Universalis podcast talks about themes from the saints and feasts of the week ahead. Each episode is about 20 minutes long.

An episode isn’t out of date once its week is over. Some people who discover the podcast have told us that they are going right back to the beginning, to listen to everything. So this page has all the past and current episodes.

Here are the episodes which have come out since the last newsletter. You can listen by clicking on the link. New podcast episodes come out on Friday or Saturday each week.

20 September 2026: Saint Matthew. The prophet Ezekiel. How Christianity is about being a better lover. Blessed Émilie Tavernier-Gamelin. The Seven Deadly Sins in Dante: 6. Gluttony.

27 September 2026: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. The Guardian Angels. Martyrs from Japan and Brazil. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and her Little Way. The Seven Deadly Sins in Dante: 7. Lust.

4 October 2026: St Francis of Assisi’s 800th anniversary, and some books about him. St Abraham the patriarch. St John Henry Newman. The feast of the Most Holy Rosary.

Thousands of people listen to the podcast, from all over the world. Sometimes by themselves in the car, sometimes sitting at home with the family. If you haven’t listened yet, do. If you have, and you like it, tell all your friends.

• All the Universalis apps can show you an alert in the About Today page whenever a new podcast is ready.
• If you use a podcast app, look at the bottom of this email for links which will let you subscribe.
• If you want to tell your friends, all you need to say is “Go to universalis.com and you’ll find a Podcasts button at the top right.”

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Thank you all for using Universalis. If you have trouble or questions, or suggestions, do write to us at universalis@universalis.com or use the Contact Us button in one of the apps. Let us all keep one another in our prayers, as always.