Catholic Liturgical Calendar January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018

FOR THE DIOCESES OF THE OF AMERICA 2018

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JANUARY 2018 1 Mon SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD white Rank I The Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord Solemnity [not a Holyday of Obligation] Nm 6:22-27/Gal 4:4-7/Lk 2:16-21 (18) Pss Prop

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God () The Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (Theotokos) “From most ancient times the Blessed has been venerated under the ‘God- bearer’(Theotokos)” (Lumen Gentium, no. 66). All of the Churches recall her memory under this title in their daily Eucharistic prayers, and especially in the annual celebration of Christmas. The Virgin Mary was already venerated as Mother of God when, in 431, the Council of Ephesus acclaimed her Theotokos (God-bearer). As the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary has a unique position among the , indeed, among all creatures. She is exalted, yet still one of us.

Redeemed by reason of the merits of her Son and united to Him by a close and indissoluble tie, she is endowed with the high office and dignity of being the Mother of the Son of God, by which account she is also the beloved daughter of the Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because of this gift of sublime grace she far surpasses all creatures, both in and on earth. At the same time, however, because she belongs to the offspring of she is one with all those who are to be saved. (Lumen Gentium, no. 53)1

1 http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/mary/index.cfm (last accessed 11 January 10:57am)

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Her role in the mystery of the incarnation was celebrated on this day in in the seventh century but was soon eclipsed by other feasts of Mary. Restored to the liturgical calendar in 1931, and to this day in 1969, the feast celebrates from a Marian perspective the Word made flesh, and so enriches the observance of the octave of Christmas and provides a solemn beginning to the New Year.

“A plenary [under the usual conditions] is granted to the faithful who devoutly assist either at the recitation or solemn singing of the Veni Creator [Spiritus] on the first day of the year to implore divine assistance for the course of the whole year.” The most commonly known setting of the Veni Creator Spiritus is, “Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest”

In the Roman Office for January 1, which some eighth century manuscripts call the “Birthday of St. Mary,” many prayers, antiphons and responsories are found which honor the divine Motherhood of Mary. This memorial of Mary, the Mother of God, is celebrated on December 26 in the Byzantine and Syrian rites, and on January 16 in the Coptic rite.

“Now Mary, as the Mother of God, is something more than an woman, and holds a place in the economy of grace different from that of any other woman, different from and above that of any other creature. She has been honored by the Creator as no other creature has been, for she alone has been selected by Him to be His Mother. If God has distinguished her from all other women, if He has chosen her to be His Mother, shall not we distinguish her from all other women, and honor her as His Mother?” ~Orestes A. Brownson, 1853

World Day of Prayer for Peace - January 1 (The Holy Mother of God) The shares the profound aspirations of all people for peace. Since 1967, 1 January has been designated "world day for peace". The World Days of Peace are particularly intense moments of prayer for peace and for the commitment to build a world of peace. Paul VI instituted these Days to dedicate to “thoughts and resolutions of Peace a special observance on the first day of the civil year”. Peace expresses itself only in peace, a peace which is not separate from the demands of justice, but which is fostered by personal sacrifice, clemency, mercy and love”.

Popular piety has not been oblivious to this initiative of the Holy See. In the light of the newborn Prince of Peace, it reserves this day for intense prayer for peace, education towards peace and those value inextricably linked with it, such as liberty, fraternal solidarity, the dignity of the human person, respect for nature, the right to work, the sacredness of human life, and the denunciation of injustices which trouble the conscience of man and threaten peace.

In response to the tragedies of , 2001, United States Conference of Catholic designated January 1 a Day of Prayer for Peace. The bishops' declaration urged

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Catholics to pray the on January 1, seeking the of the Virgin Mary under her title "Queen of Peace."2

Incorporating aspects of the scriptural readings or prayers for the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God into a for the Day of Prayer for Peace In the first reading for today, the Lord himself gives a blessing to his Aaron through in the Book of Numbers (6: 22-27). He directs Aaron to invoke the same three-part blessing still found among the Solemn Blessings of the , where God is asked to keep us, to shine upon us, and to give us his peace. The third blessing is the natural consequence of the first two: for it is only when we seek God's care and enjoy his rich blessings that we can know "the peace the world cannot give."

The Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 67: 2-3, 6, 8), like today's prayer for peace, is a call for God's mercy (antiphon: May God bless us in his mercy). With the Psalmist, we ask for the blessing of God's mercy "among all nations," in order that they may "be glad and exult," and that "all the peoples may praise God and all the ends of the earth fear him." Peace is to be found only in God, who rules the whole earth "with equity." Thus, just as God offers his friendship to all the nations, so does he offer his peace.

Shepherds were among the poorest and most forgotten of ' day. They had no political influence, no wealth or weapons, and no means of power. God first sent his angel to the poor shepherds in the Bethlehem hills to announce the good news of great joy that today his Son, the Prince of Peace, was born for all mankind. Today we join the shepherds (Luke 2: 16-21) and adore the child in the arms of his Blessed Virgin Mother. In his littleness, we are made strong. By his innocence, we are freed from sin. By his brokenness, we are made whole. Only a few days before, we sang the hymn of the Divine Child sleeping in heavenly peace. Today, as that child rests in Mary's arms, may we know heavenly peace as well!

We, as members of Christ, with Mary as our Mother and Model, are called to the same faith, now in the grim reality of war, of terrorism, of hatred, of unrestrained violence and the threat of biological attacks. We may feel powerless in the face of so much real and potential evil, but we cannot allow ourselves the luxury of powerlessness. In doing so we shortchange the power of God who hears our prayer and works through us. We are called to believe that God has a plan for us and that God's plan will prevail. We are also called to collaborate in that plan by our own prayer made in union with Christ, our Head, by our efforts to promote peace with those whose lives intersect with ours.

2 http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/prayers/national-day-of-prayer-for-peace.cfm (last accessessd 11 January 2018, 9:28am)

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Popular Piety and the Solemnity of the Holy Mother of God On New Year's Day, the octave day of Christmas, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Holy Mother of God. The divine and virginal motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a singular salvific event: for Our Lady it was the foretaste and cause of her extraordinary glory; for us it is a source of grace and salvation because "through her we have received the Author of life".

The solemnity of the 1 January, an eminently Marian feast, presents an excellent opportunity for liturgical piety to encounter popular piety: the first celebrates this event in a manner proper to it; the second, when duly catechized, lends joy and happiness to the various expressions of praise offered to Our Lady on the birth of her divine Son, to deepen our understanding of many prayers, beginning with that which says: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners".

In the West, 1 January is an inaugural day marking the beginning of the civil year. The faithful are also involved in the celebrations for the beginning of the new year and exchange "new year" greetings. However, they should try to lend a Christian understanding to this custom making of these greetings an expression of popular piety. The faithful, naturally, realize that the "new year" is placed under the patronage of the Lord, and in exchanging new year greetings they implicitly and explicitly place the New Year under the Lord's dominion, since to him belongs all time (cf. Rev. 1, 8; 22,13).

A connection between this consciousness and the popular custom of singing the Veni Creator Spiritus can easily be made so that on 1 January the faithful can pray that the Spirit may direct their thoughts and actions, and those of the community during the course of the year.

New year greetings also include an expression of hope for a peaceful New Year. This has profound biblical, Christological and Incarnational origins. The "quality of peace" has always been invoked throughout history by all men, and especially during violent and destructive times of war.3

Homiletic Directory— Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014. C. The Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God

123. "On the Octave Day of Christmas, Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, the readings are about the Virgin Mother of God and the giving of the holy Name of Jesus" (OLM 95). The week-long celebration of the Christmas feast concludes with this solemnity, which also marks the beginning of the New Year in many parts of the world. The readings and prayers offer an opportunity to consider again the identity of the Child whose birth we are celebrating. He is true God and true Man; the ancient title of Theotokos (Mother of God) affirms both the human and divine natures of Christ. He is also our Savior (Jesus, the name he receives at his circumcision, but which

3 DPPL nos.115-117.

6 was given him by the angel before his conception). He saves us being born under the Law and ransoming us by the shedding of his Blood: the rite of circumcision celebrates Jesus’ entrance into the covenant and foreshadows "the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins." Mary’s role in the work of salvation is also a central theme in this liturgy, both in relation to Christ, who received his human nature from her, and in relation to the members of his Body: she is the Mother of the Church who intercedes for us. Finally, the celebration of the New Year provides an occasion to give thanks for the blessings of the year just ended, and to pray that in the year ahead we, like Mary, will cooperate with God in the ongoing mission of Christ. The Prayer over the Offerings brings these various strands together very well: "O God, who in your kindness begin all good things and bring them to fulfillment, grant to us, who find joy in the Solemnity of the holy Mother of God, that, just as we glory in the beginnings of your grace, so one day we may rejoice in its completion. Through Christ our Lord."

National Migration Week - First [full] week of January Since 1980, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has set aside the first [full] week of January each year as National Migration Week (NMW). The goal of NMW is to educate the native-born U.S. population about the similarities between them, immigrants in their community, and refugees around the world. The week provides an opportunity to reflect on the positive aspects and contributions of immigrants and refugees in this country. For more information, visit http://www.usccb.org/about/migration-and-refugee- services/national-migration-week/index.cfm

2 Tue Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, white Rank III Monks, Bishops, and Doctors of the Church Memorial 1 Jn 2:22-28/Jn 1:19-28 (205) Pss I Ss. Basil the Great and , ‘the Theologian’ Monks, Bishops, and Doctors of the Church

St. Basil the Great, † 1 January 379 born in Caesarea, in , Asia Minor [now , Turkey] about 330, and was raised in a very holy, large, Christian family of ten children. His grandmother , his mother Emmilia (Emily), his father , his sisters and Theosebia, and his brothers and Peter of Sebaste have all been recognized as saints. As a young man he went to Constantinople and spent four or five years there studying as well as at Athens. It was at Athens that he seriously began to think of his faith, and resolved to imitate the lives of famous hermit saints in Syria and Arabia.

After studies at Athens, Basil returned to Cappadocia. About 357/8 Basil was baptized. He distributed his wealth to the needy, gathering around him other men wishing to live a living a monastic life, including his

7 good friend Gregory the Theologian. They spent the late 350s to early 360s living the monastic life in the hermitages of Pontus. In their solitude, Basil and Gregory occupied themselves in an intense study of Holy Scripture. They were guided by the writings of the Fathers and commentators of the past, especially the writings of Origen. It was in this time that Basil composed his monastic rule, still followed by Eastern monks to this day. In the year 362 he was ordained , and in 364 he was ordained to the holy priesthood by Eusebius of Caesarea. Eusebius, through human weakness, succumbed to jealousy of him, to avoid causing Church discord, Basil withdrew to his own for 3 years. [See Basilius of Caesarea.] (Greg Naz. Orat. xx. §§ 51-53; Ep. 19, 20, 169, 170.) In 366 Eusebius asked Basil to return to Caesarea (Greg. Naz. Orat. xx. §§ 57-59). Upon the death of Eusebius, St Basil was chosen to succeed him in the year 370.

Sickly since youth, the toil of teaching, his life of abstinence, and the concerns and sorrows of pastoral service took their toll on him. St Basil died on January 1, 379 at age 49. The Byzantine rite celebrates Basil’s spiritual birthday on January 1. In the twelfth century the Roman liturgy chose this day for his memorial, but in the thirteenth century transferred his feast day to June 14 which the of Ado (c. 860), (unsupported by other written records), had designated as the date of his .

His theological writings developed the doctrine of the Incarnation of Christ and of the divinity of the Holy Spirit. One the 4 great Eastern Fathers (with St. Gregory of Nazianzus, St. Athanasius, and St. ). In the twelfth century the Roman liturgy chose this day for his memorial, but in the thirteenth century transferred his feast day to June 14 which was thought to be the date of his ordination as a bishop. In 1969 his memorial moved to back January 1st with St. Gregory of Nazianzus, ‘the Theologian’ on the same day because of their friendship in life and their enduring influence on the Church, especially in the East.

St. Gregory of Nazianzus ‘The Theologian’ † January 25, 389/390. Gregory, born at Nazianzus in Cappadocia (Turkey) in 329, died there in 389. Like St. Basil, Gregory’s family was a ‘holy household’: His father, who became Bishop of Nazianzus, was also named Gregory, and his mother was named Nonna are both saints, as well as his Caesarius and his sister Gorgonia.

He studied in Caesarea of Palestine, then in Alexandria, and finally in Athens. At Athens St. Gregory was joined by St. Basil the Great, whom he already knew, and their acquaintanceship grew into a lifelong brotherly love.

He returned to Nazianzus from Athens about 358, and was baptized and ordained a priest by his father. Knowing of his father’s desire to ordain him a bishop, he took the chance to join St. Basil in the monastic life at Pontus. After the death of his brother St. Caesarius, Gregory returned home to assist the elder Gregory, and some time later St. Basil consecrated him Bishop of Sasima in the archdiocese of Caesarea. St Gregory remained at Nazianzus in order to assist his dying father, and he guided the flock from his home city for a while after the death of his father in 374.

In 378, Gregory was called to Constantinople, where his preaching helped to restore the Nicene faith in the Imperial capital. Heretics were in the majority in the capital: Arians, Macedonians, and Appollinarians. Gregory was opposed by many in the capital, and his position as was disputed. On the night of Pascha [Easter Vigil] April 21, 379, when St Gregory was baptizing catechumens, an armed mob burst into the church to disrupt the services. They cast stones at the faithful, wounding St Gregory, and killing one bishop. The more he preached, the more did the number of heretics decrease and the number of the orthodox increase. To the “Five Theological Orations” preached at Constantinople Gregory owes his title, “The Theologian. One of the first acts of the Second Ecumenical Council in 381 was to elect St Gregory

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Patriarch of Constantinople. But, the Egyptian and Macedonian bishops arrived late(purposely?) for the Council did not want to acknowledge election as it happened in their absence. St Gregory decided to resign his office for the sake of peace in the Church. After telling the emperor of his desire to quit the capital, St Gregory appeared again at the Council to deliver a farewell address.

He returned to Nazianzus, where he lived to the end of his life. Gregory died at Nazianzus on January 25, in 389 or 390. St Gregory was buried at Nazianzus. His heavenly birthday is celebrated on January 25 by the Byzantine liturgy.. In the year 950, his holy were transferred to Constantinople into the church of the Holy Apostles. Later on, a portion of his relics was transferred to Rome.

“God accepts our desires as though they were a great value. He longs ardently for us to desire and love him. He accepts our petitions for benefits as though we were doing him a favor. His joy in giving is greater than ours in receiving. So let us not be apathetic in our asking, nor set too narrow bounds to our requests; nor ask for frivolous things unworthy of God’s greatness.” ~ Gregory Nazianzen, “the Theologian”

3 Wed Christmas Weekday white/white Rank III [The Most Holy Name of Jesus] 1 Jn 2:29—3:6/Jn 1:29-34 (206) The Most Holy Name of Jesus From Apostolic times, the Church has professed that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10). Through the particular efforts of Saint Bernardine of Siena (20 May), devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus was promoted through the inscription of the monogram of the Holy Name (IHS) and the addition of the name Jesus to the Hail Mary. In 1597, first granted an indulgence for the uttering of the phrase used so often by the present Holy Father and included among the pious invocations of the current Enchiridion Indulgentiarum: "Praised be Jesus Christ!" Calendar: This optional memorial is new to the USA liturgical calendar.

1 Jn 2:29—3:6/Jn 1:29-34 (206) or Texts: The following readings from the for (LFM) may be used for this celebration: Phillipians 2: 1-11 (LFM 136a) Ut idem sapiatis, unanimes. Psalm 8: 4-5.6-7.8-9. (LFM 753.1, with antiphon) : Matthew 1:21: She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Luke 2: 21-24 (not in LFM) Vocatum est nomen eius Iesus.

In this week, a kind of “transition” from to , the First Letter of John moves our meditation from the Incarnation to its practical living out in the “Ordinary Time” of our lives; from believing in the name of God’ s Son (today’s optional memorial) to a week-long reflection on the principal sign that should mark believers: love for one another (1 John 3:23). If Jesus is real to us, “come in the flesh” (1 John 4:2), we will love and serve the real Jesus, who really lives and suffers in others, in this real world.

4 Thu USA: Saint , Religious white Rank III Memorial

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1 Jn 3:7-10/Jn 1:35-42 (207) Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Married Woman, Religious Founder Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, S.C. (August 28, 1774 – January 4, 1821) was the first native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized (September 14, 1975). Married at age 19 Elizabeth married William Magee Seton in January of 1794. They had 5 children (2 sons & 3 daughters) before William died in December, 1803. She established the first Catholic school in the nation, at Emmitsburg, Maryland, where she founded the first American congregation of Religious Sisters, the Sisters of Charity.

5 Fri USA: Saint , Religious, Bishop white Rank III Memorial 1 Jn 3:11-21/Jn 1:43-51 (208) Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, C.Ss.R. (28 March 1811 – 5 January 1860) was a native of Bohemia and Redemptorist Catholic priest in the United States who became the fourth Bishop of (1852–60). He is the first American bishop (and thus far the only male citizen) to be canonized. He was beatified by Blessed Pope Paul VI during the on 13 October 1963, and was canonized 19 June 1977. His feast days are 5 January, the date of his death, on the Roman calendar for the Church in the United States of America, and 5 March in the Czech Republic.

6 Sat Christmas Weekday white/white Rank III [USA: Saint André Bessette, Religious] 1 Jn 5:5-13/Mk 1:7-11 or Lk 3:23-38 or 3:23, 31-34, 36, 38 (209)

Office of Readings FIRST READING Ephesians 4:1-24 I then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one ; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore, it says: “He ascended on high and took prisoners captive; he gave gifts to men.” What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended into the lower regions of the earth? The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the , that he might fill all things. And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the , until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming. Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love. So I declare and testify in the Lord that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance, because of their hardness of heart, they have become callous and have handed themselves over to licentiousness for the practice of every kind of impurity to excess. That is not how you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.

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RESPONSORY Matthew 19:29, 27 If you leave your home, your brothers or sisters, father or mother, wife or children, or lands for love of me, – you will have it all returned a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. Lord, we have left everything to follow you; what will become of us! – You will have it all returned a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

FIRST READING From a homily on the Gospels by Saint Gregory the Great, pope (Lib. 2, hom 36, 11-13: PL 76, 1272-1274) In the world, yet not of it I would like to urge you to forsake everything, but that I do not presume to do. Yet, if you cannot give up everything of this world, at least keep what belongs to the world in such a way that you yourself are not kept prisoner by the world. Whatever you possess must not possess you; whatever you own must be under the power of your soul; for if your soul is overpowered by the love of this world’s goods, it will be totally at the mercy of its possessions. In other words, we make use of temporal things, but our hearts are set on what is eternal. Temporal goods help us on our way, but our desire must be for those eternal realities which are our goal. We should give no more than a side glance at all that happens in the world, but the eyes of our soul are to be focused right ahead; for our whole attention must be fixed on those realities which constitute our goal. Whatever is vicious must be utterly eradicated, wrenched away not merely from being put into act but even from being so much as thought of. No carnal pleasure, no worldly curiosity, no surge of ambition must keep us from the Lord’s Supper. But further, our minds should merely skirt even the good deeds we perform in this life; in this way, the physical things which give us pleasure will serve our bodily needs without hindering the soul’s progress. You see, my brothers, I dare not say to you, give up everything. Yet, if you will, you can give everything up while keeping it, provided you handle temporal things in such a way that your whole mind is directed toward what is eternal. A man can use the world as if he were not using it, if he makes all external needs minister to the support of his life without allowing them to dominate his soul. They remain external to him and under his control, serving him without halting the soul’s drive to higher things. For such men, everything in this world is there for their use, not to be desired. Nothing should interfere with your soul’s longing; no created pleasure in the world should ensnare you. If the object of love is what is good, then the soul should take its delight in the higher good, the things of heaven. If the object of fear is what is evil, then we should keep before ourselves the things that are eternally evil. In this way, if the soul sees that we should have a greater love and a greater fear about what concerns the next life, it will never cling to this life. To help us to achieve all this we have the help of the mediator between God and man. Through him we shall obtain all this the more quickly, the more we burn with a great love for him, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

RESPONSORY 1 Corinthians 7:29, 30, 31; 2:12 The time is growing short, so we must rejoice as though we were not rejoicing; we must work in the world yet without becoming immersed in it, – for the world as we know it is passing away. We have not adopted the spirit of the world. – For the world as we know it is passing away.

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COLLECT Lord our God, friend of the lowly, who gave your servant, Saint André Bessette, a great devotion to Saint and a special commitment to the poor and afflicted, help us through his intercession to follow his example of prayer and love and so come to share with him in your glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The English of Psalm Responses, Alleluia Verses, Verses from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL); the English translation of Antiphons, Invitatories, Responsories, , Psalm 95, the Canticle of the Lamb, Psalm Prayers, Non-Biblical Readings from The Liturgy of the Hours © 1973, 1974, 1975, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of The Roman © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

7 ✠ SUN THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD white Rank I Solemnity Is 60:1-6/Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6/Mt 2:1-12 (20) Pss Prop

…celebrating the most sacred day on which your Only Begotten Son, eternal with you in your glory, appeared in a human body, truly sharing our flesh… (Roman )

Epiphany is the earliest Christmas feast to enter the calendar, originating in the East in the third century, at Alexandria, and was celebrated at Rome from the middle of the fourth century. A celebration of the divine “manifestation” or “coming.” These wise men represent all peoples on earth, to whom the mystery of the incarnation is now revealed.

The Epiphany Lectionary and Office has traditionally had three principal motifs: 1) the universality of salvation depicted in the story of the Magi coming from the East, 2) the announcement of Jesus’ identity as the beloved Son and the inauguration of his public ministry at John’s baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, and 3) the nuptial symbolism of the wedding feast at Cana pointing to Jesus as Bridegroom and his Spouse the Church. The Lectionary of the Western Church focuses only on the Magi motif on Epiphany; the other two motifs are celebrated on later Sundays.

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Some scholars speculate that the January 6th date was arrived at by computing backward nine months from April 6, the date of Christ’s passion and death according to the Julian calendar in use at the time. Since the early church thought of Christ’s conception and death as one event (both celebrating Christ’s entry into life), it was logical to make January 6th a “nativity” festival celebrating the three motifs outlined above.

These historical considerations are reminders that the liturgical calendar is not intended to offer us historical accuracy about salvation events. Rather, its purpose is to lead us through an annual celebration of the paschal mystery as that mystery unfolds in our lives today.

Epiphany: “The Festival of Light” - A Principal Festival of the Year The ancient solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord ranks among the principal festivals of the whole , since it celebrates in the child born of Mary the manifestation of the one who is Son of God, the Messiah of the Jewish people, and a light to the nations. This solemnity is to be celebrated in a proper manner. There is to be, “a suitable and increased display of lights.”

It is rare for the Ceremonial of Bishops to make any mention of topics concerning the liturgical environment. One way to ensure the “...suitable and increased display of lights...” would be to make sure to use candles (or more candles) in the processions; if this this not already done in the .

Another way would be to use the and candles to lead the procession with the peoples’ gifts, as described: On more solemn occasions such as Sundays, servers bearing candles and cross accompany (lead) the procession from the place where the bread, and other offerings are kept to the sanctuary.

The Proclamation of the Movable Feasts on Epiphany The Proclamation of the Date of Easter on Epiphany dates from a time when calendars were not readily available. It was necessary to make known the date of Easter in advance, since many celebrations of the liturgical year depend on its date. The number of Sundays that follow Epiphany, the date of , and the number of Sundays that follow are all computed in relation to Easter. Although calendars now give the date of Easter and the other feasts

13 in the liturgical year for many years in advance, the Epiphany proclamation still has value. Its revival in many places would be opportune since it served to make the connection between the Epiphany and Easter, and orientate all feasts towards the greatest Christian solemnity. It is a reminder of the centrality of the resurrection of the Lord in the liturgical year and the importance of the great mysteries of faith which are celebrated each year. It is an option that can be worth reviving.

Mass: There is to be, “a suitable and increased display of lights.” White . Proper prayers, Gloria, Creed, of Epiphany. Roman Canon inserts for Epiphany. From the ambo, after the gospel, the homily, or after prayer after , the deacon or, in his absence, another minister [, reader] sings (chants) or speaks the Proclamation of the Date of Easter on Epiphany. Proper Solemn Blessing.

Blessing homes with blessed chalk The blessing of homes, on whose lintels are inscribed the Cross of salvation, together with the indication of the year and the initials of the Magi [, , & Balthasar] (20+C+M+B+XX), which can also be interpreted to abbreviate the phrase, Christus Mansionem Benedicat [‘May Christ bless this house’], are written in blessed chalk; this custom, often accompanied by processions of children accompanied by their parents, expresses the blessing of Christ through the intercession of the three wise men and is an occasion for gathering offerings for charitable and missionary purposes.

Homiletic Directory— Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014. D. The Solemnity of the Epiphany

124. The threefold dimension of Epiphany (the visit of the Magi, Christ’s Baptism and the at Cana) is especially evident in the Liturgy of the Hours on Epiphany and in the days surrounding the solemnity. But in the Latin tradition the Eucharistic liturgy focuses on the Gospel story of the Magi. A week later, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord focuses on

14 that dimension of the Lord’s Epiphany. In Year C the Sunday following the Baptism has as its Gospel the wedding feast at Cana.

125. The three scripture readings of the Epiphany Mass represent three very different genres of biblical literature. The first reading from is jubilant poetry. The second reading from St. Paul is a precise theological statement delivered in what is virtually technical language for Paul. The gospel passage is a dramatic narration of events, every detail of which is filled with symbolic meaning. Together they reveal the feast; they define Epiphany. To hear them proclaimed and, with the Spirit’s help, to understand them more deeply – this is the Epiphany celebration. God’s holy Word unveils before the whole world the ultimate meaning of the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas, begun on December 25, reaches its climax today in Epiphany: Christ revealed to all the nations.

126. A homilist could begin with the passage from St. Paul, a passage that is quite short but extremely intense; it is a precise statement of what Epiphany is. Paul refers to his unique encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus and all that flows from that. He calls what happened to him there "revelation," that is, not some idea he puts forth as a personal opinion, but rather a completely new and unexpected understanding of things, an understanding delivered with divine authority in an encounter with the Lord Jesus. He also calls this revelation a "grace," and a "stewardship," that is, a treasure that has been entrusted to him for the benefit of others. Further, he calls what was made known to him "the mystery." This "mystery" is something not known in the past, something hidden from our understanding, some meaning hidden in events, but now – and this is Paul’s announcement! – now revealed, now made known. And what is that meaning hidden to other generations and now made known? It is this, and this is the Epiphany statement: "the Gentiles are now coheirs [with the Jews], members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." This is an enormous turnabout in understanding for the zealous Pharisee Saul, who once believed that scrupulous observance of the Jewish law was the only path of salvation. But no, now Paul announces

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"the gospel," unexpected good news in Christ Jesus. Yes, Jesus is the fulfillment of all the promises God made to the Jewish people; indeed, he cannot be understood apart from those promises. But now "the Gentiles are coheirs [with the Jews], members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel."

127. In fact, the events reported in Matthew’s gospel on Epiphany are the enactment of what Paul is saying here. Magi from the east arrive in Jerusalem summoned by a star. Magi – that is, Gentile religious sages, students of the worthy wisdom traditions in which the human race sought longingly for the unknown Creator and Ruler of all things. They represent all the nations, and they have found their way to Jerusalem, not by following the Jewish scriptures but by following a wonder in the heavens which indicated that something of cosmic significance had taken place. Their non-Jewish wisdom has figured out a fair amount. "We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage." Even so, for the final phase of their journey, to arrive at the precise end of all their searching, they do need the Jewish scriptures, the prophet’s identification of Bethlehem as the place of the Messiah’s birth. Once this is learned from the Jewish scriptures, the cosmic sign once again indicates the way. "And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was." In the Magi the entire human race’s longing for God arrives in Bethlehem and finds there "the child Jesus with Mary his mother."

128. It is at this point in Matthew’s narrative that Isaiah’s poem can enter as a comment. Its jubilant tones help us to measure the wonder of this moment. "Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem!" the prophet urges. "Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you." This text was originally produced in historical circumstances in which the Jewish people needed rousing in a dark chapter of their history. But now, applied to the Magi in the presence of Jesus, it receives a fulfillment beyond what ever could have been imagined. The light, the glory, the splendor – it is the star that leads the Magi. Or, more – it is Jesus himself, "the light of the nations and the glory of his people Israel." "Rise up, Jerusalem," the

16 prophet says. Yes, but now we know through St. Paul’s revelation that if Jerusalem is addressed – and this is a principle that can be applied anywhere in the scriptures – it cannot merely mean the historical, earthly city. For, "the Gentiles are now coheirs [with the Jews]." And so every nation is addressed with the title "Jerusalem." The Church, which is gathered from all the nations, is called "Jerusalem." Every baptized soul in its depths in called "Jerusalem." Thus is fulfilled what was prophesied in the psalm: "Glorious things are said of you, O City of God." And as all the nations are enrolled as citizens of Jerusalem, "They will sing and dance as they say, ‘All my origins are in you’ " (Ps 87:3, 7).

129. And so on Epiphany every assembly of believing Christians is addressed by the prophet’s stirring words. "Your light has come, Jerusalem!" Every worshipper, with the homilist’s help, should hear this word in the depths of his or her heart! "See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory." The homilist here must urge people to leave behind their sluggish ways and visions too short on hope. "Raise your eyes and look about you. They all gather and come to you," that is, Christians have been given what the whole world is searching for. Caravans of nations will come streaming to the grace in which we already stand. Rightly do we sing in the responsorial psalm, "Lord, every nation on earth will adore you!"

130. Our reflection could return from Isaiah’s poem to Matthew’s narrative. The Magi model for us how to approach the child. "They prostrated themselves and did him homage." We have entered into this sacred liturgy to do the same. A homilist would do well to remind his people that when they come to communion on Epiphany, they should think of themselves as having at last reached the place and the Person to which the star and the scriptures have led them. Then let them offer to Jesus the gold of their love for one another. Let them offer to him the frankincense of their faith by which they acknowledge him to be God-with- us. Let them offer to him myrrh, signifying their willingness to die to sin and be buried with him so to rise to life eternal. And then, like the Magi, they could be urged to go home by

17 another route. They can forget Herod, a wicked impostor, and all he ever asked them to do. On this feast they have seen the Lord! "Rise up in splendor. Your light has come. The glory of the Lord shines on you." The homilist might urge them, as St. Leo did so many centuries ago, to imitate the service of the star. As the star by its brightness brought the nations to Christ, so this assembly by the brightness of faith, praise, and good deeds should shine in this dark world like a bright star. "Thick clouds cover the peoples, but upon you the Lord shines."

8 Mon The Baptism of the Lord white Rank II Feast Is 42:1-4, 6-7 or Is 55:1-11 or Acts 10:34-38 or 1 Jn 5:1-9/Mk 1:7-11 (21) Pss Prop

Pastoral Note on the Sprinkling Rite on this Feast: Christmastide closes with the Baptism of the Lord. The feast presents an excellent opportunity for the faithful to be reminded of their rebirth as children of God in Baptism. In addition to Easter Time, this Feast seems a natural for The Blessing and Sprinkling to be used instead of the . It could be used at all Masses on this day, and could well concentrate on the symbols associated with Baptism.

The 2003 Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy document, Introduction to the states: “If the baptismal font is near the church doors, the greeting [of the Mass] & blessing [of water] may take place there. The priest may then sprinkle during the entrance procession. (#74)

Also, the 2007 U.S. Bishops’ document Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship reminds us that, “When the liturgy calls for a Gloria, the singing of the Gloria is not to take place during the Sprinkling Rite.”(#150).

You could sing a hymn during the entrance procession and use a simple repeated refrain during the Sprinkling Rite. For example, you could use the version of the antiphon, “Springs of Water” from the music provided for the Easter Vigil.

Homiletic Directory— Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.

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E. The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

131. The feast of the Baptism of the Lord, a dimension of Epiphany, closes the Christmas season and opens it outward into Ordinary time. When Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan, something enormous happens. The heavens are torn open then, the Father’s voice is heard, and the Spirit is seen coming down in visible form upon Jesus. This is an epiphany of the mystery of the Holy Trinity. But why does such a vision occur in the moment when Jesus is baptized? The homilist must give some answer to this question.

132. The explanation lies in Jesus’ purpose in coming to John and being baptized by him. John is preaching a baptism of repentance. Jesus wants to make this sign of repentance together with the many others who were coming to John. At first John tries to prevent him, but Jesus insists. And his insistence expresses what he intends: he means to stand in solidarity with sinners. He means to be where they must be. The same thing is expressed by the Apostle Paul using a different kind of language: "He who knew no sin became sin for our sake" (2 Cor 5:21).

133. And it is precisely in this moment of intense solidarity with sinners that this immense trinitarian epiphany takes place. The Father’s voice thunders from heaven, declaring, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." And we must understand that what pleases the Father is precisely the Son’s willingness to stand in solidarity with sinners. In this way he shows himself to be the Son of this Father, this Father "who so loved the world that he gave to it his only Son" (Jn 3:16). In the same instant, the Spirit appears like a dove, descending upon the Son, functioning as a sort of accreditation or authorization of the whole unexpected scene.

134. The Spirit who shaped this scene and indeed prepared for it through the long centuries of Israel’s history – "Who spoke through the prophets," as we profess in the Creed – is present to the homilist and his hearers, opening their minds to an ever deeper

19 understanding of the scene. The same Spirit accompanied Jesus in every moment of his earthly existence, shaping each of his actions into a revelation of his Father. Thus, we can hear this morning’s text from the prophet Isaiah as an expansion within the heart of Jesus on the Father’s words "You are my beloved Son." Their loving dialogue continues: "You are my chosen one with whom I am well pleased, upon whom I have put my Spirit … I the Lord have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations."

135. The responsorial psalm on this feast seizes on the words of Psalm 29, "The voice of the Lord is over the waters." The Church sings this psalm as a celebration of the words of the Father which we are privileged to hear and the hearing of which, is our feast. "Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased!" – this is the "voice of the Lord over the waters, over the vast waters. The voice of the Lord is mighty. The voice of the Lord is majestic" (Ps 29:3-4).

136. After Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit sends him out into the desert to be put to the test by Satan. Then Jesus, still and ever guided by the Spirit, appears in Galilee proclaiming the Kingdom of God. In the course of his spellbinding preaching and his wonderful , Jesus once said, "There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished" (Lk 12:50). With these words he referred to his coming death in Jerusalem. In this way we learn that Jesus’ baptism by John was not his ultimate baptism but an acting out in symbolic fashion of what he would accomplish in the baptism of his final agony and death on the cross. For it is on the cross that Jesus shows himself, not merely in symbol but in very deed, in complete solidarity with sinners. There he "became sin for us" (2 Cor 5:21), there "he was made a curse for us" (Gal 3:13). There he went down into the chaos of the waters of the underworld and drowned our sins forever. But from the cross and from his death, Jesus is also brought up from the waters, called to resurrection by the Father’s voice which says, "You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased. Today I have begotten you" (Heb 1:5). This scene of death and resurrection is the masterpiece of the Spirit’s writing and direction. The voice of the Lord over the mighty waters of death raises

20 his Son from the dead, majestic and mighty. "The voice of the Lord is mighty. The voice of the Lord is majestic."

137. Jesus’ baptism is the pattern also of ours. In baptism we go down with Christ into the waters of death, and our sins are drowned in those waters. And because we have gone down with Christ, we also come up from the waters together with him and hear – mighty and majestic – the Father’s voice directed to us as well. It pronounces a new name for each of us, in the depths of each of our hearts: "Beloved! In whom I am well pleased." We hear this name as ours not because of any good deeds we have done but because Christ in his overflowing love willed to share his relationship to his Father with us.

138. The that is celebrated on this feast deepens all the patterns of this story. The Spirit appears hovering over the gifts of bread and wine which the faithful bring. The words of Jesus – "This is my body, this is my blood" – announce his intention to receive the baptism of death for our sake. And the assembly prays, "Our Father" together with the Son because it has heard the Father call it "Beloved" together with him.

139. Jesus once said in the course of his ministry, "Whoever believes in me, as scripture says, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’" Those living waters began to flow within each of us at our baptism, and they become an ever stronger river with every celebration of the Eucharist.

End of the Christmas Season & decorations The Baptism of the Lord is the end of the Christmas Season. Next Sunday should look different than the last weeks. Even though poinsettias are oftentimes hardy plants, their ongoing presence in the worship space just shouts “Christmas.” Consider offering the plants as return gifts to those who may have given them in memory of a loved one, to homebound parishioners, as gifts to local care facilities, senior housing centers, or other places where they will be appreciated.

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Christmastide closes with the Baptism of the Lord. The feast presents an excellent opportunity for the faithful to be reminded of their rebirth as children of God in Baptism (DPPL, no. 119).

Winter Ordinary Time Ordinary Time begins on Monday after the Baptism of the Lord and continues until Tuesday before Ash Wednesday inclusive (The Universal Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Roman Calendar #44)

9 Tue Weekday (First Week in Ordinary Time) green Rank IV 1 Sm 1:9-20/Mk 1:21-28 (306) or 1 Sm 1:1-8 (305) and 1:9-20 (306)/Mk 1:14-20 (305) and 1:21-28 (306)4 Pss I

10 Wed Weekday green Rank IV 1 Sm 3:1-10, 19-20/Mk 1:29-39 (307)

11 Thu Weekday green Rank IV 1 Sm 4:1-11/Mk 1:40-45 (308)

12 Fri Weekday green Rank IV 1 Sm 8:4-7, 10-22a/Mk 2:1-12 (309) [RM St. Aelred of Rievaulx, Monk, Priest] St Aelred of Rievaulx † 12 January 1167 Born about 1109 and educated at Durham; about 1130 he joined the household of St. I, King of Scotland and became his primary advisor. In 1134 he left the royal court to become a monk at the recently founded Cistercian abbey of Rievaulx. In spite of frail health, Aelred followed the austere Cistercian monastic rule and became so esteemed that he was chosen as master of novices. In 1143 he was appointed of the newly founded monastery of Revesby. In 1147 he was recalled to become abbot of Rievaulx. Under his rule the house prospered exceedingly; it increased in numbers to 150 monks () and 500 lay brothers (the largest of its time in England); from Rievaulx five new were founded in England and Scotland. He often suffered from the kidney stones, which obliged him to live in a hut outside the monastery. His extensive spiritual writings show much similarity to his mentor St. . His spiritual devotion was marked by a strong attachment to the suffering humanity of Christ. His book De Spiritali Amicitia- (Spiritual Friendship) is the fullest medieval discussion of friendship. His writings are considered among the finest produced in England during the . Aelred was never

4 “When the Baptism of the Lord occurs on Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time, the readings assigned to Monday may be joined to those of Tuesday so that the opening of each book will be read” (305).

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formally canonized. He was considered a saint by those in the locale, and this was approved by the , who promulgated his feast in their Order in 1476. Rievaulx Abbey was suppressed on 3 December 1538, on the order of King Henry VIII, as part of the general suppression of the monasteries of England in 1536–40. It was later sold to the Earl of Rutland who was ordered to to destroy the monastic buildings that had stood for 400 years.

13 Sat Weekday green/white/white Rank IV [Saint Hilary, Bishop and ; BVM] 1 Sm 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1a/Mk 2:13-17 (310) Saint , Married Man, Bishop, Doctor of the Church † 13 January c. 367 Hilary was born in Poitiers () about 310 and died there in 367 or 368. The burial of Hilary at Poitiers, in Gaul, on January 13, c. 367, is recorded in the sixth century martyrology of . From the thirteenth century his feast was observed at Rome on the day after the octave of Epiphany.

It was not until 345 that Hilary committed himself to the , which he joined with his wife and his daughter. Around 353, the and people of Poitiers called for him to be made their bishop.

While the early church permitted some married men to become bishops, they were traditionally required to practice celibacy within marriage, and many adopted a radically simplified lifestyle akin to monasticism. There are indications that Hilary followed this ascetical path, once ordained. He wrote a very famous letter to his beloved daughter, Afra, encouraging her to adopt a consecrated life. She followed this counsel while still very young and died when only eighteen. She is herself counted among the Saints. Hilary met Saint Martin of Tours on various occasions and the monastery Martin founded near Poitiers still exists today.

Although he was called the "Hammer of the Arians" (Malleus Arianorum), he showed a conciliatory spirit to those Arians who agreed to confess that the Son was essentially similar to the Father-- seeking of course to lead them to the true faith. This was precisely his gift: to combine strength in the faith and docility in interpersonal relations. He is called “the Doctor of the Divinity of Christ”.

"Obtain, O Lord, that I may keep ever faithful to what I have professed in the Symbol of my regeneration, when I was baptized in the Father, in the Son and in the Holy Spirit. That I may worship you, our Father, and with you, your Son; that I may deserve your Holy Spirit, who proceeds from you through your Only Begotten Son... Amen" (Saint Hilary, De Trinitate 12, 57).

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14 SUN SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II 1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19/1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20/Jn 1:35-42 (65) Pss II

15 Mon Weekday green Rank IV 1 Sm 15:16-23/Mk 2:18-22 (311)

16 Tue Weekday green Rank IV 1 Sm 16:1-13/Mk 2:23-28 (312)

17 Wed Saint Anthony, Abbot white Rank III Memorial 1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51/Mk 3:1-6 (313) Saint Anthony † January 17, 356 The Coptic, Syrian, and Byzantine liturgies celebrate the heavenly birthday of on January 17 which is the same day it was observed at Jerusalem from as early as the fifth century. The feast of Anthony was introduced at Rome in the twelfth century. Born in 251 in upper Egypt, Anthony died in 356. He gave away his possessions and sought the austere life and solitude of the desert at an early age. He attracted disciples who formed communities of hermits. Yet Anthony remained involved in the theological controversies of his day, defending the divinity of Christ against the Arian heresy. The account of his life by Saint Athanasius (2 May) was extremely influential in the development and spread of monasticism. Saint Athanasius wrote in The Life of Anthony that Saint Anthony left his desert retreat during the persecution under the emperor Maximin Daia in 311 hoping for martyrdom, although he did not find it. Athanasius tells his readers that when he went home, Saint Anthony was, “a daily to his conscience, ever fighting the battles of the faith.” The Life of Anthony was wildly popular and widely distributed within years of its writing. Saint Augustine refers to the impact it had on him and his contemporaries in Book 8 of The Confessions. Augustine tells the story of his encounter with Ponticianus, who related to Augustine the story of two associates who were converted to the faith and a monastic life upon reading The Life of Antony. The Confessions trans. Maria Boulding, OSB. Vintage Spiritual Classics (New York: Random House, 1998) 156-8.

World Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - January 18-25 The Week was begun in 1908 by the then-American Episcopalian clergyman Paul Wattson; who later became a Catholic and founded the Franciscan of the Atonement in Graymoor, NY. The Week begins on 18 January and ends on 25 January—the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul. Material for the Week of Prayer is prepared in collaboration by Pontifical Council for

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Promoting Christian Unity and The Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches. The theme and text for each year’s observance of the Week of Prayer are chosen and prepared by representatives of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and representatives of the World Council of Churches. The international texts are developed, adapted and published for use in the USA by the Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute. For more information, visit http://www.atonementfriars.org/our_missions_and_ministries/the_week_of_prayer_for_chris tian_unity.html

“A plenary indulgence [under the usual conditions] is granted to the faithful who participate in some of the services during the Week of Christian Unity and assist at the closing of this same week.” A partial indulgence [under the usual conditions] is granted to the faithful who devoutly recite an appropriately approved prayer for the unity of Christians.”

18 Thu Weekday green Rank IV 1 Sm 18:6-9; 19:1-7/Mk 3:7-12 (314)

19 Fri Weekday green Rank IV 1 Sm 24:3-21/Mk 3:13-19 (315)

20 Sat Weekday green/red/red/white Rank IV [Saint Fabian, Pope and Martyr; , Martyr; BVM] 2 Sm 1:1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27/Mk 3:20-21 (316) January 20 FABIAN, POPE, MARTYR Optional Memorial Fabian became bishop of Rome in 236, in spite of being “a layman and a stranger” (Eusebius). He reorganized the Church in Rome and was one of the first victims of the persecution under the emperor Decius in 250. He was celebrated by his contemporary, Saint of Carthage(16 September), as a man incomparable in the holiness of his life and the glory of his death. OR SEBASTIAN, MARTYR Optional Memorial Sebastian has been venerated in Rome since the fourth century, though nothing of his life is known for certain. He may have been a soldier who was martyred in the late third century after sustaining others in their trials. The burial of Fabian in the cemetery of Callistus (250), and of Sebastian in the cemetery Ad Catacumbas on January 20 is attested to by the Depositio Martyrum (354). The ancient Roman liturgical books commemorated them separately, with proper formularies.

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Special Collection: LATE JANUARY

Pastoral Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa. LATE JANUARY Pastoral Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa. was founded on the basic principles of Pope John Paul II’s call to action in Ecclesia in Africa and the adoption of the statement A Call to Solidarity with Africa from the bishops of the United States. The document A Call to Solidarity with Africa was developed by the Committee on International Policy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). It was approved by the full body of U.S. Catholic bishops in General Meeting on November 14 2001.

Africa faces the economic and social hurdles of enormous debt, epidemic, severe poverty, and political unrest. In spite of these challenges, the Church in Africa has almost tripled in size in the past 30 years. However, it is difficult for the church to sustain its growth and maintain essential pastoral outreach. The Fund provides grants to finance pastoral projects including outreach programs, schools, evangelization, and education of clergy and lay ministers. Our solidarity is necessary to help the “salt of the Earth” Church in Africa realize its potential as a “light of the world.” for more information visit:http://www.usccb.org/churchinafrica/ or for promotional materials visit: http://www.usccb.org/catholic-giving/opportunities-for- giving/solidarity-fund-for-africa/collection/index.cfm

21 SUN THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Jon 3:1-5, 10/1 Cor 7:29-31/Mk 1:14-20 (68) Pss III Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr (Memorial) red Agnes died at Rome, perhaps in the early fourth century. She is one of the most widely venerated of the Roman . According to early accounts, she gave her life to preserve her virginity consecrated to Christ. Agnes is remembered in Eucharistic Prayer I (The Roman Canon). The Depositio Martyrum states that the burial of Agnes took place on January 21, in her cemetery on the Via Nomentana.

National Day of Prayer and Penance for violations against Human Dignity- January 22 or 23 “In all the dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life. The Mass “For Peace and Justice” (no. 22 of the “Masses for Various Needs”) should be celebrated with violet vestments as an appropriate liturgical observance for this day." 5 http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/respect-life-program/index.cfm

5 General Instruction of the (USA edition), no. 373.

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22 Mon USA: Day of Prayer for the Legal green/Mass: white or violet Rank IV Protection of Unborn Children 2 Sm 5:1-7, 10/Mk 3:22-30 (317) or, for the Day of Prayer, any readings from the Lectionary for Mass Supplement, the Mass “For Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life,” nos. 947A-947E, or the Lectionary for Mass (vol. IV), the Mass “For Peace and Justice,” nos. 887-891 “In all the Dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion. The liturgical celebrations for this day may be the Mass “For Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life” (no. 48/1 of the Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions), celebrated with white vestments, or the Mass “For the Preservation of Peace and Justice” (no. 30 of the Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions), celebrated with violet vestments." GIRM, 373

23 Tue Weekday green/red/white Rank IV [USA: Saint Vincent, Deacon and Martyr; USA: Saint , Virgin] 2 Sm 6:12b-15, 17-19/Mk 3:31-35 (318) On July 10, 2013, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments confirmed the inscription of Saint Marianne Cope, Virgin, into the Proper Calendar for the Dioceses of the United States of America. Her proper liturgical texts in English and Spanish were confirmed the following day. Beginning in 2014, St. Marianne Cope will be celebrated as an Optional Memorial on January 23. This is also the date of the Optional Memorial of Saint Vincent, Deacon and Martyr, which was transferred from January 22. (In years when the Day of Prayer is transferred to January 23, the liturgical celebrations of both St. Vincent and St. Marianne Cope are omitted.)

Saint Vincent of Saragossa Vincent, a deacon of Saragossa (), was martyred in during the persecution of the emperor in 304. Together with his Bishop, Valerius of Saragossa, he was apprehended during a persecution of Dacian, the governor of Spain. Valerius was banished but Vincent was subjected to fierce tortures before ultimately dying from his wounds. It is said that his flesh was pierced with iron hooks, he was bound upon a red- hot gridiron and roasted, and he was cast into a prison and laid on a floor strewn with broken pottery. Yet through it all his constancy remained unmoved (leading to his jailer's conversion) and he survived until his friends were allowed to place him on a soft bed, as his torturers hoped that such lenient treatment would induce apostasy. It did not.

The martyrology of Jerome and the Spanish liturgical books record the burial of Vincent at Valencia, in Spain, on January 22. His was universal by the time of Saint Augustine. His cult spread rapidly through the whole Church of the West. He is honored as the protomartyr of Spain.

Saint Marianne Cope

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Marianne Cope was born on January 23, 1838, in Darmstadt, Germany. In 1862, she entered the Sisters of Saint Francis in Syracuse, New York, after having postponed her entrance nine years in order to fulfill family obligations. She was instrumental in the founding of several schools and hospitals for immigrants. In 1883, she led a group of sisters to the Hawaiian Islands to care for the poor, especially those suffering from leprosy. In 1888 she went to Kalaupapa, Moloka‘i, where she set up a home for girls with leprosy. After the death of Saint Damien de Veuster, she also took over the home he built for boys. She died on August 9, 1918.

Below are the proper liturgical texts for optional memorial of Saint Marianne Cope:

ROMAN MISSAL From the Common of Virgins: For One Virgin, or from the Common of Holy Men and Women: For Those Who Practiced Works of Mercy.

Collect O God, who called us to serve your Son in the least of our brothers and sisters, grant, we pray, that by the example and intercession of the Virgin Saint Marianne Cope, we may burn with love for you and for those who suffer. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

LECTIONARY FOR MASS Aside from the usual Mass readings of the day, any Lectionary readings from the Common of Virgins or the Common of Holy Men and Women: For Those Who Worked for the Underprivileged may be used for St. Marianne Cope. In future editions of the Lectionary for Mass, the proper citation will be no. 517A.

LITURGY OF THE HOURS From the Common of Virgins, or the Common of Holy Women: Those Who Worked for the Underprivileged.

Office of Readings Second Reading From an address of Pope Benedict XVI (May 16, 2005: Insegnamenti di Benedetto XVI, I [2005], 111-112)

Witness to sacrificial love

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It is with great joy that I welcome you to Rome, dear brothers and sisters, for the of Mother Marianne Cope. I know that your participation in Saturday's solemn liturgy, so significant for the universal Church, will have been a source of renewed grace and commitment to the exercise of charity which marks the life of every Christian.

Marianne Cope's life was one of profound faith and love which bore fruit in a missionary spirit of immense hope and trust. In 1862 she entered the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse where she imbibed the particular spirituality of St. , dedicating herself wholeheartedly to spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Her own experience of consecrated life saw an extraordinary apostolate unfold, adorned with heroic virtue.

As is well known, while Mother Marianne was Superior General of her Congregation, the then-Bishop of Honolulu invited the Order to come to Hawaii and work among the lepers. Leprosy was spreading rapidly and causing unspeakable suffering and misery among the afflicted. Fifty other Congregations received the same plea for assistance, but only Mother Marianne, in the name of her Sisters, responded positively.

True to the charism of the Order and in imitation of St. Francis, who had embraced lepers, Mother Marianne volunteered herself for the mission with a trusting, "Yes!" And for 35 years, until her death in 1918, our new Blessed dedicated her life to the love and service of lepers on the islands of Maui and Molokai.

Undoubtedly the generosity of Mother Marianne was, humanly speaking, exemplary. Good intentions and selflessness alone, however, do not adequately explain her vocation. It is only the perspective of faith which enables us to understand her witness—as a Christian and as a Religious—to that sacrificial love which reaches its fullness in Jesus Christ. All that she achieved was inspired by her personal love of the Lord, which she in turn expressed through her love of those abandoned and rejected by society in a most wretched way.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us today be inspired by Bl. Marianne Cope to renew our commitment to walk the path of holiness.

May the Virgin Mary obtain for us the gift of continual fidelity to the Gospel. May she help us to follow the example of the new Blesseds and to strive tirelessly towards holiness.

Responsory Matthew 25:35-36, 40; John 15:12

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I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me. —Amen, I say to you: whatever you did for one of the least of my brethren, you did it for me.

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. —Amen, I say to you…

Prayer O God, who called us to serve your Son in the least of our brothers and sisters, grant, we pray, that by the example and intercession of the Virgin Saint Marianne Cope, we may burn with love for you and for those who suffer. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

24 Wed Saint , Religious Founder, Bishop and Doctor of the Church white Rank III Memorial 2 Sm 7:4-17/Mk 4:1-20 (319) Saint Francis de Sales, Religious Founder, Bishop and Doctor of the Church † January 24, 1623 Born in Savoy (France) in 1567, Francis died in Lyons in 1622. As a priest, and later as bishop of Geneva, he played a major part in the renewal of French Catholicism in the seventeenth century and is seen by many as an early proponent of ecumenical dialogue. With Saint (12 December) he founded the Visitation order, and his writings promoted a form of spirituality for the lay faithful. Francis de Sales is remembered as a most influential preacher, writer, and spiritual director, who combined firmness with patience and gentleness. Francis de Sales died at Lyons on December 28, 1622, and was buried at Annecy, in France, on

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January 24, 1623. He was canonized in 1665 and in the following year his feast was placed in the Roman calendar on January 29.

25 Thu The Conversion of Saint white Rank II Feast Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22/Mk 16:15-18 (519) Pss Prop This date, first linked with the conversion of Saint Paul in the martyrology of Jerome (c. 431), became established in the liturgy of Gaul. From the end of the eighth century this feast is found in the Gallican liturgical books. It celebrates the work of God’s grace at a major turning point in the life of Paul himself and in the history of the nascent Church.

26 Fri Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops white Rank III Memorial 2 Tm 1:1-8 or Ti 1:1-5 (520)/Mk 4:26-34 (321) MEMORIAL Timothy and Titus were disciples and companions of Saint Paul the Apostle (29 June) who attended the Council of Jerusalem with him, and to whom the Pastoral Letters of the New Testament are addressed (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus). In the Orthodox Churches they are numbered among the “Apostles of the Seventy”. The Seventy Apostles or Seventy-two Apostles are those whom the Lord chose. According to the Gospel of St. Luke, the only gospel in which they appear (Luke 10:1–24), Jesus appointed them and sent them out in pairs to preach the gospel.

Timothy is mentioned in Acts 16-20, and appears in 9 either as joining in Saint Paul's greetings or as his messenger. Timothy represented Saint Paul to various communities and, according to tradition, went to Ephesus in western Turkey; became its first bishop, and when he was over eighty years of age was stoned to death there when he opposed the pagan festival of Katagogian in honor of the goddess Diana. The martyrology of (735 A.D.) lists the feast of Timothy on the

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day before Paul’s Conversion, and, in the thirteenth century, it was introduced at Rome on January 24.

Although not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, Titus is mentioned as a companion of Saint Paul in some of his epistles (2 Corinthians, Galatians, 2 Timothy). In the Letter to the Galatians (2:1 and 3) Saint Paul writes of going to Jerusalem with and Titus. Titus stayed on the island of Crete to help organize the Church there, although he also went to Dalmatia, in Croatia. According to Saint Eusebius of Caesarea, he was buried in Cortyna (Gortyna), Crete. His head was later transferred to Venice at the time of the Saracen invasion of Crete in 832 and enshrined in St. Mark’s Cathedral. It was returned in 1966 to the Church of , Heraklion, Crete. The feast of Titus entered the Roman calendar in 1854 and was assigned to February 6.

27 Sat Weekday green/white/white Rank III [Saint , Virgin, Educator, Religious Founder; BVM] 2 Sm 12:1-7a, 10-17/Mk 4:35-41 (322) Saint Angela Merici, Virgin, Educator, Religious Founder † January 27 1540 Born in Desenzano () about 1474, Angela died in Brescia on this day in 1540. As a child, she became a secular (third order) Franciscan and in 1535 with 28 companions founded the Company of Saint Ursula () at a small house near the Church of St Afra, in Brescia (Italy). Angela is remembered as a woman of prayer, for her evangelical way of life, for her pilgrimages to Rome and the Holy Land, and for her creative response to the needs of women in the Church. She was in advance of her own times. Her plan of religious women without distinctive habit, without solemn vows and enclosure, observing a rule she composed, was directly contrary to prevailing notions. With the assistance of St. , Cardinal of Milan (Italy), the Ursulines spread throughout Northern Italy, the rest of Europe, and the world. She was canonized in 1807 and her feast was placed in the Roman calendar in 1861 on May 31. When the feast of the Queenship of Mary was introduced in 1955 on the same day, her feast was transferred to June 1.

Catholic Schools Week - last week in January Catholic Schools Week (CSW) is a joint project of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (USCCB).

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Individual dioceses and local Catholic elementary and secondary schools develop and promote their own CSW activities each year. Catholic Schools Week celebration became an annual event in 1974. Catholic Schools Week celebrates education that goes beyond preparation for a secular life -- it is education that prepares students for a Christian life. CSW also celebrates the high standards of excellence and the quality of the education available to all students in Catholic elementary and secondary schools across the U.S. For more information visit: https://www.ncea.org/csw

28 ✠ SUN FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Dt 18:15-20/1 Cor 7:32-35/Mk 1:21-28 (71) Pss IV Saint , Religious, Priest, and Doctor of the Church † , 1274 Born near Aquino (Italy) about 1225, Thomas became a Dominican in 1244 and died at the Cistercian Abbey of Fossanova, near Terracina(Italy) on March 7, 1274 while on his way to the Council of Lyons. Educated at Monte Cassino, Naples, Paris, and , He taught at a Dominican school at the University of Paris, and is regarded as one of the greatest theologians in the history of the Church.

His time in Paris coincided with the arrival of Aristotelian science, newly discovered in Arabic; his great achievement was to integrate into Christian thought the rigors of Aristotle's philosophy, just as the early had integrated Plato's thought in the early Christian era. He held that reason is capable of operating within faith; while the philosopher relies solely on reason, the theologian accepts faith as his starting point and then proceeds to conclusion through the use of reason. This point of view was controversial, as was his belief in the religious value of nature, for which he argued that to detract from the perfection of creation was to detract from the Creator.

Even though Aquinas’s writings faced ecclesiastical opposition in his time from Saint and the “Franciscan School,” the substance of his life’s work has endured as an authentic exposition of Christian teaching and carries unique approval. He is remembered for his modesty, the prayerfulness of his personal life, and the abiding influence of his thought. He was canonized in 1323 at which time his feast was placed on the Roman calendar. Since March 7 often falls during , his memorial will now be celebrated on January 28, the day his body was moved to Toulouse (1369). This date is also celebrated in several particular calendars.

29 Mon Weekday green Rank IV 2 Sm 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13/Mk 5:1-20 (323)

30 Tue Weekday green Rank IV 2 Sm 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30—19:3/Mk 5:21-43 (324)

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31 Wed Saint , Educator, Priest, Religious Founder white Rank III Memorial 2 Sm 24:2, 9-17/Mk 6:1-6 (325) MEMORIAL Saint John Bosco, Educator, Priest, Religious Founder † January 31, 1888 Born in Piedmont (Italy) in 1815, John died at Turin on this day in 1888. He grew up in extreme poverty and, after ordination to the presbyterate, devoted his whole life to educating young people, especially the poor. For this he founded the Salesian Order, men and women who continue this work with youth throughout the world. Like the order’s patron, Saint Francis de Sales (24 January), John is remembered for his cheerfulness and total trust in the providence of God. John Bosco died in Turin on January 31, 1888, and 40,000 visited his body as it lay in state. He was canonized in 1934, and his feast was added to the Roman calendar in 1936.

Boy Scout Sunday - Sunday preceding February 8 For Catholics, the National Catholic Committee on Scouting (NCCS) is the sponsoring organization of Scout Sunday. NCCS is a church committee of concerned Catholic lay people and clergy who see as their mission the constructive use of the program of the Boy Scouts of America as a viable form of youth ministry with the Catholic youth of our nation.

The committee, which is advisory to the Boy Scouts of America, seeks to sustain and strengthen the relationship between BSA and the Catholic Church in the United States. Through interaction and dialogue with the Secretariat on the and Family Life (the formal connection between youth ministry in the United States and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops), NCCS works cooperatively with various other groups involved in youth ministry in the United States.

The Boy Scouts of America celebrate annually in the month of February the Anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scout program by Lord Baden Powell in England. Scout Sunday was added to the scout celebration around the middle 1940s. Scouting's anniversary is celebrated on February 8. Scout Sunday is always the Sunday preceding the 8th, unless the 8th is a Sunday, in which case the 8th would be Scout Sunday.

Scout Sunday tradition was started to make people in church aware of Scouting, and to allow Scouts to live out parts of what is pledged each week. The Scout Law says that a "Scout is Reverent" and the Scouts of all ages promise to do their "Duty to God". These values strengthen youth character in their family, community and faith. For more information, visit http://www.nccs-bsa.org/

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FEBRUARY 2018 1 Thu Weekday green Rank IV 1 Kgs 2:1-4, 10-12/Mk 6:7-13 (326) Thursday: Weekday [4th Week in in Ordinary Time Symbols: Gr V3R3 Hours: Pss IV Seasonal wkdy Mass: any Mass ● Sun 23 ● Votive of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest, #36 LFM Vol 4. #982 ● Sugg: For the Evangelization of Peoples, #18A Readings: 326: 1 Kgs 2:1-4, 10-12 (Ps) 1 Chr 29:10-11b, 11d-12d Mk 6:7-13 David tells : be faithful to the Lord (Ps) and you will be blessed (1). Jesus sends the Twelve to preach repentance and God's love (2). or for Votive of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest, see #982

======Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

326 Thursday

FIRST READING Year II

I am going the way of all flesh. Take courage and be a man.

A reading from the first Book of Kings 2:1-4, 10-12

When the time of David’s death drew near, he gave these instructions to his son Solomon: “I am going the way of all flesh.

6 First Thursdays: Pope Pius XI, who presided over the of St. (1925) later took the occasion of his own 56th anniversary of priestly ordination to have a special composed for Thursdays: “Jesus Christ, Supreme and Eternal High Priest.”Pope Pius XI hoped this Mass would find a place on the First Thursday of each month as the devotion to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart had found places on the First Fridays and First Saturdays of each month. He announced the new Mass formulary at the end of his Encyclical Ad Catholici Sacerdotii Fastigium (20 December 1935):

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Take courage and be a man. Keep the mandate of the Lᴏʀ ᴅ, your God, following his ways and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do, wherever you turn, and the Lᴏʀ ᴅ may fulfill the promise he made on my behalf when he said, ‘If your sons so conduct themselves that they remain faithful to me with their whole heart and with their whole soul, you shall always have someone of your line on the throne of Israel.’”

David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years: he reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

Solomon was seated on the throne of his father David, with his sovereignty firmly established.

The word of the Lord. RESPONSORIAL PSALM 1 Chronicles 29:10, 11ab, 11d-12a, 12bcd

V/.Lord, you are exalted over all. (v.12b) R/. Lord, you are exalted over all.

“Blessed may you be, O Lᴏʀ ᴅ, God of Israel our father, from eternity to eternity.”

R/. Lord, you are exalted over all.

“Yours, O Lᴏʀ ᴅ, are grandeur and power,

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majesty, splendor, and glory.”

R/. Lord, you are exalted over all.

“Lᴏʀ ᴅ, you are exalted over all. Yours, O Lᴏʀ ᴅ, is the sovereignty; you are exalted as head over all. Riches and honor are from you.”

R/. Lord, you are exalted over all.

“In your hand are power and might; it is yours to give grandeur and strength to all.”

R/. Lord, you are exalted over all.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Mark 1:15 Alleluia, alleluia. The Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Years I and II

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out.

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 6:7-13

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick –no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.

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He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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982 JESUS CHRIST, THE ETERNAL HIGH PRIEST The following readings for the votive Mass of Jesus Christ, the High Priest, may also be used in the votive Mass for the Holy Eucharist. First Reading

First option He was pierced for our offenses. A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 52:13–53:1 The LORD says: See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. Even as many were amazed at him– so marred was his look beyond human semblance and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man– So shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless; For those who have not been told shall see, those who have not heard shall ponder it.

Who would believe what we have heard? To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth; There was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him. He was spurned and avoided by people, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity,

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One of those from whom people hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, While we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; But the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all.

Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth. Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away, and who would have thought any more of his destiny? When he was cut off from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin of his people, A grave was assigned him among the wicked and a burial place with evildoers, Though he had done no wrong nor spoken any falsehood. But the LORD was pleased to crush him in infirmity.

If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life, and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him.

Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear. Therefore I will give him his portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, Because he surrendered himself to death and was counted among the wicked; And he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses.

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The word of the Lord.7

OR

Second option

By one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews 10:12-23

Christ offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God; now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying: This is the covenant I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord: “I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them upon their minds,” he also says: Their sins and their evildoing I will remember no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since through the Blood of Jesus we have confidence of entrance into the sanctuary by the new and living way he opened up for us through the , that is, his Flesh, and since we have “a great priest over the house of God,” let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy.

7 Commentary on Is 52:13—53:12

The last of the four “Servant of the Lord” oracles is used on Good Friday. A lament for the prophet’s own ill treatment and a prediction of the passion is seen here, beginning with the scourged servant and flowing into the salvific image (“Yet it was our infirmities that he bore”). We are reminded that what the servant bore, he took upon himself willingly (“Though he was harshly treated, he submitted”).

The later paragraphs describe how the servant becomes the “sin offering,” a sacrifice in the Jewish tradition in atonement for sins. In this case we are told, “…he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses.”

CCC: Is 52:13-53:12 713; Is 53:1 591; Is 53:4-6 1505; Is 53:4 517, 1505; Is 53:7-8 601; Is 53:7 608; Is 53:8 627; Is 53:10-12 440, 615; Is 53:10 623; Is 53:11-12 601; Is 53:11 64, 579, 601, 623, 1502; Is 53:12 536, 608

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The word of the Lord. 8 RESPONSORIAL PSALM 40:6ab, 9bc, 10, 11ab

(8a and 9a) Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. How numerous you have made, O LORD, my God, your wondrous deeds! And in your plans for us there is none to equal you.

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. “To do your will, O God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!”

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Your justice I kept not hid within my heart; your faithfulness and salvation I have spoken of.

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.9 lleluia Alleluia, alleluia. Here is my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit: he shall bring forth justice to the nations. Isaiah 42:1 Alleluia, alleluia.

8 Commentary on Heb 10:12-23

Jesus, through his supreme sacrifice remitted sins once and for all, something no false sacrifice could accomplish. Then Hebrews again hammers the New Covenant home to us. The author quotes, first Psalm 110 (Psalm 110:1) and then the book of the Prophet (Jeremiah 31:31- 34). He takes the prophecy of the New Covenant and shows how it is fulfilled in Christ.

Next,the sacrifice the Lord makes is contrasted with the Levitical sacrifices of the Hebrew Priests. In Christ the faithful have direct access to God, differentiating from the barrier that separate the Jews from the sanctuary. Christ is the eternal High Priest “a great priest over the house of God.”

CCC: Heb 10:14 1544; Heb 10:16 64; Heb 10:19-21 1137; Heb 10:19 2778; Heb 10:23 1817

9 Commentary on Ps 40:6ab,9bc, 10, 11ab

Psalm 40 is a lament. In these verses emphasis is placed on call by God and response by the psalmist. The signer rejoices in the revelation of God's salvation, marked by signs and wonders. His plan is revealed (especially in Christ, the eternal high priest) and the psalmist accepts his role in it.

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GOSPEL Do this in memory of me.

+ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 22:14-20 When the hour came, Jesus took his place at table with the Apostles. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for, I tell you, I shall not eat it again until there is fulfillment in the Kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I tell you that from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes.” Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my Body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my Blood, which will be shed for you.”

The Gospel of the Lord.10 2 Fri The Presentation of the Lord white Rank II Feast Mal 3:1-4/Heb 2:14-18/Lk 2:22-40 or 2:22-32 (524) Pss Prop

This feast originated in Jerusalem before the fifth century and was adopted at Rome during the seventh century. It is celebrated forty days after Christmas to commemorate the prescribed Mosaic ritual following the

10 Commentary on Lk 22:14-20

The beginning verses of the Passion set the tone for what is to follow. Jesus is fully aware of what will transpire in the next hours and embraces his mission fully (“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer…"). “We must therefore approach this mystery, above all, with humble reverence, not following human arguments, which ought to be hushed, but in steadfast adherence to divine revelation.” (Paul VI, Mysterium fidei) [1]

The narrative immediately relates Jesus celebration of the Passover with his disciples. The Old Covenant is celebrated as a reminder of God’s love for his people. Jesus then transforms the celebration into the New Covenant. “As Passover recalls Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, so the Eucharist both commemorates and accomplishes our redemption from slavery in sin. Jesus reconfigures this ancient feast by placing himself at the center of its significance; he is the true Lamb offered for sin and given as food to God’s family (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:6-8; CCC 1151, 1340).”[2] The Seder meal which Jesus celebrates is structured based on four cups of wine. The first cup, which the Lord offers is the Sanctifying Cup. Jesus sets this feast as one holy and set aside for the Heavenly Father. The Eucharistic Cup offered after the sacrifice of his body in the bread, was probably the third cup – the Cup of Blessing (1 Corinthians 10:16).

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[1] The Navarre Bible, “Gospels and Acts”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, pp. 489 [2] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. pp.149

42 birth of a child. The feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the temple, celebrated in Jerusalem as early as the fifth century, was adopted at Rome in the seventh century under the name Hypapante The feast recalls the encounter of Jesus with and Anna in the Temple—the Lord meets his people. It celebrates Christ as “the light to enlighten all nations,” and so candles are blessed during the introductory rites and carried in the entrance procession.). From the tenth century the Western liturgical books listed this feast as the Purification of Mary. In accordance with the traditions of the Eastern Churches, the for 1960 declared that this feast should be celebrated as a Feast of the Lord.

This feast celebrates the fortieth day after Christmas—in the Eastern Churches it was celebrated on February 14, when it commemorated the fortieth day after Epiphany. That symbol of forty days is the reason for the feast’s traditional importance and for its use as the time when candles are blessed for use in the churches (and in homes)—this was the ‘Candle Mass’ (Candlemas). In the middle ages, the feast became associated by farmers with predictions about the weather (if the sun shone on Candlemas and cast a shadow, then winter would continue; if it was cloudy and there was no shadow cast by the sun, then spring would come soon).

On this day Christ’s faithful people, with candles in their hands, go out to meet the Lord and to acclaim him with Simeon [and Anna], who recognized Christ as “a light to reveal God to the nations.” As the Rite of Baptism says: Receive the light of Christ. Parents and Godparents, this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly. This child of yours has been enlightened by Christ. He/she is to walk always as a child of the light. May he/she keep the flame of faith alive in his/her heart. When the Lord comes, may he/she go out to meet Him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom. All the faithful are called by their faithful lives to “cast off the works of darkness,” (Rom. 13:12) for Jesus is “the light shining in the darkness, and darkness could not overpower it”. (Jn. 1:5)

The candles kept by the faithful in their homes should be seen as a sign of Christ "the light of the world" and an expression of faith.

524 Presentation of the Lord

FIRST READING There will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek. A reading from the Book of the Prophet 3:1-4 Thus says the Lord God: Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; And suddenly there will come to the temple

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the LORD whom you seek, And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye. He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, Refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD. Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in the days of old, as in years gone by.

The word of the Lord.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 24:7, 8, 9, 10

(8) Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!

Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may come in!

Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!

Who is this king of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle.

Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!

Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may come in!

Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!

Who is this king of glory? The LORD of hosts; he is the king of glory.

Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!

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SECOND READING

He had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way.

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews 2:14-18

Since the children share in blood and flesh, Jesus likewise shared in them, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the Devil, and free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life. Surely he did not help angels but rather the descendants of ; therefore, he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

The word of the Lord.

ALLELUIA Luke 2:32

Alleluia, alleluia.

A light of revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.

Alleluia, alleluia. GOSPEL Long form My eyes have seen your salvation.

+ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 2:22-40

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,

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and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:

“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted –and you yourself a sword will pierce– so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

The Gospel of the Lord. OR

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Short form My eyes have seen your salvation. + A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 2:22-32

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Blessing of Candles and Procession The entrance rite today is quite similar to the entrance rite for Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, except that on this feast members of the community carry candles instead of palms. The Roman Missal provides for a fully-formed procession, with the assembly and its ministers first gathering in a separate place before processing into the church. If the solemn entrance is used instead, the assembly gathers in the church as usual. The presider then greets the assembly and blesses the candles from the entrance of the church and then processes with the ministers to the , while all hold their lighted candles.

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A song is sung at the very beginning of the liturgy, while the candles of the people are lit and while the ministers take their places either in a place apart from the church or at the church entrance. The antiphon provided in the Missal expresses our faith that God brings "light to the eyes of those who serve him well."

The same or another song may be used to accompany the procession of the assembly and/or the ministers into the church. The Roman Missal uses an antiphon that speaks of "a light of revelation to the nations," along with verses drawn from the Canticle of Simeon, which we hear proclaimed in today's Gospel.

After the members of the assembly and the ministers have taken their places, the Mass continues with the singing of the Gloria.

World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life - Feast of the Presentation of the Lord *The US Bishops observe this on February 2 when that date falls on a Sunday; if not, it is observed on the Sunday after February 2.

In 1997 Pope St. John Paul II established the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life, to be observed on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (February 2). World Day for Prayer for Consecrated Life, “…is intended to help the entire Church to esteem ever more greatly the witness of those persons who have chosen to follow Christ by means of the practice of the evangelical counsels and, at the same time, is intended to be a suitable occasion for consecrated persons to renew their commitment and rekindle the fervor which should inspire their offering of themselves to the Lord.” The late Holy Father wrote: “I trust that this World Day of prayer and reflection will help the particular Churches to treasure ever more the gift of consecrated life and to be measured by its message, to find the proper and fruitful balance between action and contemplation, between prayer and charity, and between commitment in the present time and eschatological hope.” To read John Paul II’s first message for this day, visit www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccscrlife/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_06011997_i- consecrated-life-day_en.html

The USCCB Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations prepares annual materials.

48 http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/consecrated-life/world-day-for-consecrated- life.cfm

3 Sat Weekday green/red/white/white Rank IV [, Bishop and Martyr; Saint Ansgar, Bishop; BVM] 1 Kgs 3:4-13/Mk 6:30-34 (328)

3 FEBRUARY BLAISE, BISHOP, MARTYR Optional Memorial Blaise, the bishop of Sebastea in Armenia, is believed to have been martyred in the early fourth century during the persecution of the emperor Licinius. Known as a healer, he has been venerated since the eighth century and is specially invoked to intercede for protection against diseases of the throat. Since the cult of Blaise enjoys great popularity in various regions, the memorial has been kept. It has been celebrated at Rome since the twelfth century.

OR

ANSGAR, MONK, MISSIONARY, BISHOP Optional Memorial Born at Amiens (France) in 801, Ansgar died on this day at Bremen (Germany) in 865. He was a monk and then a bishop in north Germany. Eloquent in his preaching and austere in his lifestyle, he is remembered for opposing slavery and for persevering in his pioneering evangelization of Denmark and Sweden in the face of major setbacks. From the nineteenth century the apostles to Germany, England, and the Slavic nations have been listed in the Roman calendar, and it seemed appropriate to include the apostle to Denmark and Sweden as well.

February 3rd - St. Blaise Day - Blessing of Throats Saint Blaise was the bishop of Sebastea in Armenia during the fourth century. Very little is known about his life. According to various accounts he was a physician before becoming a bishop. His cult spread throughout the entire Church in the Middle Ages because he was reputed to have miraculously cured a little boy who nearly died because of a fishbone in his throat. From the eighth century he has been invoked on behalf of the sick, especially those afflicted with illnesses of the throat.

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The Rite for Blessing Throats is given in the Book of Blessings, beginning at number 1622. Notice that there are forms for the blessing to be imparted by a priest or deacon, as well as lay minister.

Book of Blessings: Blessing of Throats on the Feast of Saint Blaise 1622 "Suffering and illness have always been among the greatest problems that trouble the human spirit. Christians feel and experience pain as do all other people; yet their faith helps them to grasp more deeply the mystery of suffering and to bear their pain with greater courage. . . . Part of the plan laid out by God's providence is that we should fight strenuously against all sickness and carefully seek the blessings of good health, so that we may fulfill our role in human society and in the Church" (see endnote 4). 1623 "The blessing of the sick by ministers of the Church is a very ancient custom, rooted in imitation of Christ himself and his apostles" (see endnote 5). 1624 In the United States the annual blessing of throats is a traditional sign of the struggle against illness in the life of the Christian. This blessing is ordinarily given during Mass or a celebration of the word of God on February 3, the memorial of Saint Blaise. 1625 Saint Blaise was the bishop of Sebaste in Armenia during the fourth century. Very little is known about his life. According to various accounts (see endnote 6) he was a physician before becoming a bishop. His cult spread throughout the entire Church in the Middle Ages because he was reputed to have miraculously cured a little boy who nearly died because of a fishbone in his throat. From the eighth century he has been invoked on behalf of the sick, especially those afflicted with illnesses of the throat. 1626 The blessing of throats may be given by a priest, deacon, or a lay minister who follows the rites and prayers designated for a lay minister. If the blessing is conferred during Mass, the blessing follows the homily and , or, for pastoral reasons, the prayer of blessing may take the place of the final blessing of the Mass. When the blessing is given outside Mass, it is preceded by a brief celebration of the word of God. If the blessing is to be celebrated at Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer, it is given after the reading and responsory (and homily) and before the gospel canticle. 1627 The blessing may be given by touching the throat of each person with two candles blessed on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord (February 2) and which have been joined together in the form of a cross. 1628 If, for pastoral reasons, each individual cannot be blessed in the manner described in no. 1627, for example when great numbers are gathered for the blessing or when the memorial of Saint Blaise occurs on a Sunday, a priest or deacon may give the blessing to all assembled by extending hands, without the crossed candles, over the people while saying the prayer of blessing. A lay minister says the prayer proper to lay ministers without making the . 1629 The blessing may also be given to the sick or the elderly in their homes when they cannot attend the parish celebration. ——————————————————-

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Endnotes: 4. Pastoral Care of the Sick: Rites of Anointing and , nos. 1, 3. 5. Rituale Romanum: De Benedictionibus, Chapter 2: "Blessing of the Sick," no. 1. 6. Metaphrastes, Vita Sanctorum in Migne, Patrologia Graeca 116:817. See also , February 3.

I. ORDER OF BLESSING WITHIN MASS INTRODUCTORY RITES 1630 After the celebrant has greeted the people, he may introduce the celebration in these or similar words. Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Blaise, who was bishop of Sebaste in Armenia in the fourth century. Before being martyred, he is said to have healed a boy who was choking. Since the eighth century, Saint Blaise has been venerated as the patron of those who suffer from diseases of the throat. We pray in a special way today for protection from afflictions of the throat and from other illnesses. The blessing of Saint Blaise is a sign of our faith in God's protection and love for us and for the sick. 1631 After the gospel reading, the celebrant in the homily, based on the sacred text and pertinent to the particular place and the people involved, explains the meaning of the celebration. GENERAL INTERCESSIONS 1632 The general intercessions follow, either in the form usual at Mass or in the form provided here. The celebrant concludes the intercessions with the prayer of blessing. From the following intentions those best for the occasion may be used or adapted, or other intentions that apply to the particular circumstances may be composed. The celebrant says: Let us now pray for those who are sick and suffering, for those who care for the sick, and for all who seek the blessings of good health. R. Lord, hear our prayer. Or: R. Lord, have mercy. Assisting minister: For those who suffer from sickness and disease, that they may receive healing, we pray to the Lord. R. Assisting minister: For the mentally ill and for their families, that they may receive comfort, we pray to the Lord. R. Assisting minister: For those with physical disabilities, that the strength of Christ may invigorate them, we pray to the Lord. R. Assisting minister: For doctors and nurses, and for all who care for the sick, we pray to the Lord. R. Assisting minister: For those who seek the prayers of Saint Blaise today, that they may be protected from afflictions of the throat and other forms of illness, we pray to the Lord. R.

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PRAYER OF BLESSING 1633 With the crossed candles touched to the throat of each person, the celebrant says immediately: Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, ✠ and of the Holy Spirit. Each person responds: Amen. During the blessing suitable or other suitable songs may be sung.

1634 A lay minister touches the throat of each person with the crossed candles and, without making the sign of the cross, says the prayer of blessing. Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Each person responds: Amen. 1635 If all cannot be blessed individually, the celebrant, without candles, extends his hands over the assembly and says the prayer of blessing. II. ORDER OF BLESSING IN A CELEBRATION OF THE WORD OF GOD 1636 The present order may be used by a priest or a deacon, and also by a lay person, who follows the rites and prayers designated for a lay minister. INTRODUCTORY RITES 1637 When the community has gathered, a suitable song may be sung. After the singing, the minister says: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. All make the sign of the cross and reply: Amen. 1638 A minister who is a priest or deacon greets those present in the following or other suitable words, taken mainly from sacred Scripture. The grace and peace of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. And all reply: And also with you. 1639 A lay minister greets those present in the following words: Let us praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. R. Blessed be God for ever. 1640 In the following or similar words, the minister prepares those present for the blessing. Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Blaise, who was bishop of Sebaste in Armenia in the fourth century. Before being martyred, he is said to have healed a boy who was choking. Since the eighth century, Saint Blaise has been venerated

52 as the patron of those who suffer from diseases of the throat. We pray in a special way today for protection from afflictions of the throat and from other illnesses. The blessing of Saint Blaise is a sign of our faith in God's protection and- love for us and for the sick. READING OF THE WORD OF GOD 1641 A reader, another person present, or the minister reads a text of sacred Scripture. Brothers and sisters, listen to the words of the holy gospel according to Mark: 16:15-20 They will place their hands on the sick and they will recover. Jesus said to the eleven, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." 1642 Or: Matthew 8:14-17--Peter's mother-in-law is healed. 1643 As circumstances suggest, one of the following responsorial psalms may be sung, or some other suitable song. R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. Psalm 34 I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth. Let my soul glory in the LORD; the lowly will hear me and be glad. R. Glorify the LORD with me, let us together extol his name. I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. R. Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. When the afflicted man called out, the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him. R. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Taste and see how good the LORD is; happy the man who takes refuge in him. R. Fear the LORD, you his holy ones, for nought is lacking to those who fear him. The great grow poor and hungry; but those who seek the LORD want for no good thing. R. Come, children, hear me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Which of you desires life, and takes delight in prosperous days? R. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking guile; Turn from evil and do good; seek peace, and follow after it. R. Psalm 27 R. (v. 14) Put your hope in the Lord; take courage and be strong. 1644 As circumstances suggest, the minister may give those present a brief explanation of the biblical text, so that they may understand through faith the meaning of the celebration. INTERCESSIONS 1645 The intercessions are then said. The minister introduces them and an assisting minister or one of those present announces the intentions. From the following those best

53 suited to the occasion may be used or adapted, or other intentions that apply to the particular circumstances may be composed. The minister says: Let us now pray for those who are sick and suffering, for those who care for the sick, and for all who seek the blessings of good health. R. Lord, hear our prayer. Or: R. Lord, have mercy. Assisting minister: For those who suffer from sickness and disease, that they may receive healing, we pray to the Lord. R. Assisting minister: For the mentally ill and for their families, that they may receive comfort, we pray to the Lord. R. Assisting minister: For those with physical disabilities, that the strength of Christ may invigorate them, we pray to the Lord. R. Assisting minister: For doctors and nurses, and for all who care for the sick, we pray to the Lord. R. Assisting minister: For those who seek the prayers of Saint Blaise today, that they may be protected from afflictions of the throat and other forms of illness, we pray to the Lord. R. 1646 After the intercessions the minister, in the following or similar words, invites all present to sing or say the Lord's Prayer. With confidence we call upon the Lord, saying: All: Our Father . . . PRAYER OF BLESSING 1647 A minister who is a priest or deacon touches the throat of each person with the crossed candles and says the prayer of blessing. Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. Each person responds: Amen. During the blessing suitable psalms or other suitable songs may be sung. 1648 A lay minister touches the throat of each person with the crossed candles and, without making the sign of the cross, says the prayer of blessing. Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Each person responds: Amen. 1649 After receiving the blessing each person may depart. 1650 If all cannot be blessed individually, a minister who is a priest or deacon, without candles, may extend his hands over the assembly and say the prayer of blessing. A lay minister says the prayer proper to lay ministers without making the sign of the cross. III. SHORTER RITE 1651 All make the sign of the cross as the minister says: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

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All reply: Who made heaven and earth. 1652 One of those present or the minister reads a text of sacred Scripture, for example: Brothers and sisters, listen to the words of the holy gospel according to Mark: 16:15-20 They will place their hands on the sick and they will recover. Jesus said to the eleven, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." 1653 Or: Matthew 8:14-17--Peter's mother-in-law is healed. 1654 A minister who is a priest or deacon touches the throat of each person with the crossed candles and says the prayer of blessing. Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. Each person responds: Amen. 1655 A lay minister touches the throat of each person with the crossed candles and, without making the sign of the cross, says the prayer of blessing. Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Each person responds: Amen. Prayer Source: Book of Blessings by Prepared by International Commission on English in the Liturgy A Joint Commission of Catholic Bishops' Conferences, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1989 National Day of Prayer for the African American Family & African Family - First Sunday in February The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat for African American Catholics asks each parish, family, convent; religious house, etc. to pray for the Black family. The National Day of Prayer for the African American Family is celebrated the first Sunday of February – what a fitting opening to Black History Month activities. The National Day of Prayer for the African American and African Family Resource Aid contains a catechetical reflection, a prayer specifically for the African American and African Family and some suggested activities to celebrate the day.

The National Day of Prayer for the African American and African Family, was created by Fr. James E. Goode, OFM in 1989 during a gathering of African American Catholics in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Father Goode addressed the assembly on the power of prayer and called the nation to especially pray: "This day is set aside to gather in prayer to celebrate African-American faith, families and respect for the value of life. Individuals are asked to attend church, worship as a family, gather at meal time, share

55 family history and make a resolution that the entire family will strive to fulfill throughout the year."

For more information, visit http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/cultural-diversity/african- american/resources/national-day-of-prayer-for-the-african-american-family.cfm http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/cultural-diversity/african- american/resources/upload/Nat-l-Day-of-Prayer-African-American-African-Family- Feb-2018.pdf

Boy Scout Sunday - Sunday preceding February 8 For Catholics, the National Catholic Committee on Scouting (NCCS) is the sponsoring organization of Scout Sunday. NCCS is a church committee of concerned Catholic lay people and clergy who see as their mission the constructive use of the program of the Boy Scouts of America as a viable form of youth ministry with the Catholic youth of our nation. The committee, which is advisory to the Boy Scouts of America, seeks to sustain and strengthen the relationship between BSA and the Catholic Church in the United States.

Through interaction and dialogue with the Secretariat on the Laity and Family Life (the formal connection between youth ministry in the United States and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops), NCCS works cooperatively with various other groups involved in youth ministry in the United States.

The Boy Scouts of America celebrate annually in the month of February the Anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scout program by Lord Baden Powell in England. Scout Sunday was added to the scout celebration around the middle 1940s. Scouting's anniversary is celebrated on February 8. Scout Sunday is always the Sunday preceding the 8th, unless the 8th is a Sunday, in which case the 8th would be Scout Sunday.

Scout Sunday tradition was started to make people in church aware of Scouting, and to allow Scouts to live out parts of what is pledged each week. The Scout Law says that a "Scout is Reverent" and the Scouts of all ages promise to do their "Duty to God". These values strengthen youth character in their family, community and faith.

For more information, visit http://www.nccs-bsa.org/pdf/ScoutSunday.pdf

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4 ✠ SUN FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank III Jb 7:1-4, 6-7/1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23/Mk 1:29-39 (74) Pss I

5 Mon Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr red Rank III Memorial 1 Kgs 8:1-7, 9-13/Mk 6:53-56 (329) Memorial. Agatha was a virgin martyred in Sicily, perhaps during the persecutions of the third century. She has been venerated in Rome on this day since the sixth century and is included by name in Eucharistic Prayer I (The Roman Canon). In legend she is remembered for her faith and for remaining resolute under torture. The burial of Agatha at Catania, Sicily, is noted on February 5 in the martyrology of Jerome and the and the calendar of Carthage (c.530).

6 Tue Saint and Companions, Martyrs red Rank III Memorial 1 Kgs 8:22-23, 27-30/Mk 7:1-13 (330) Saint Paul Miki Priest, and Companions, Martyrs † February 5, 1597 This group of twenty-six martyrs was crucified at Nagasaki (Japan) on 5 February 1597. This group was of both European missionaries and native Japanese Christians priests and laypeople, some still young boys who were altar servers.

Canonized in 1862 as the first martyrs of the Far East, they are venerated as the protomartyrs of the Japanese Church. Paul Miki, aged thirty-five years at his death, was a Jesuit scholastic from an aristocratic Japanese family. He is remembered as a notable preacher who inspired the local Church of his time and in the centuries that followed to be strong in faith during persecution and isolation.

7 Wed Weekday green Rank IV 1 Kgs 10:1-10/Mk 7:14-23 (331)

National Marriage Week USA and World Marriage Day - February 7-14 National Marriage Week USA is celebrated each year February 7-14, and World Marriage Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of February. The USCCB Secretariat on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth offers resources help celebrate and live the great gift of married life. http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/national-marriage-week.cfm

8 Thu Weekday green/white/white Rank IV [Saint Jerome Emiliani; Saint , Virgin]

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1 Kgs 11:4-13/Mk 7:24-30 (332)

Saint Jerome Emiliani Educator, Priest, and Religious Founder † February 5, 1537 Optional Memorial Born in Venice (Italy), Jerome died of the plague on this day in 1537. He was an army officer who, after imprisonment, began a new life of service among the sick and destitute. After he was ordained a priest in 1518, he founded a hospital at first in Venice and then in Verona and later orphanages in Brescia and Bergamo. In 1532 he founded a congregation of priests and brothers called the Company of Servants of the Poor, later called Somaschi after the town of Somasca overlooking Lake Como, where they had their main house. He is remembered for his care and education of orphaned and homeless children. He is believed to have developed the question-and- answer catechism technique for teaching children religion. Jerome was canonized in 1767. In 1769 his feast was added to the Roman calendar on . In 1928 Pope Pius XI declared him the of orphans and abandoned children.

OR

Saint Josephine Bakhita, Virgin Optional Memorial Josephine was a young Sudanese girl sold into slavery and brought to Italy where, while serving as a nanny, she was sent to live with the Canossian Sisters of the Institute of the Catechumens in Venice. There she was baptised, and, having reached majority age, was granted her freedom by Italian law. In 1896 she joined the Canossian Daughters of Charity where she served humbly for the next twenty five years. She died after a long and painful illness, during which she would cry out to the Lord: "Please loosen the chains... they are so heavy!" Her dying words were "Our Lady, Our Lady!"

World Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking - February 8 - St. Josephine Bakhita Saint Josephine Bakhita, Virgin † February 8, 1947 The International Union of Superiors General and Pontifical Councils for Justice and Peace and Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, at the request of , designated February 8 as an annual day of prayer and awareness against human trafficking. February 8 is the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita, who was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery in Sudan and Italy. Once Josephine was freed, she became a Canossian nun and dedicated her life to sharing her testament of deliverance from slavery and comforting the poor and suffering. She was declared a Saint in 2000. On February 8, Catholics all over the world are encouraged to host or attend prayer services to create greater awareness about this phenomenon. Through prayer, we not only reflect on the experiences of those that have suffered through this affront to human dignity, but also comfort, strengthen, and help empower survivors.

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USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services create an annual ‘toolkit’ for National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month and the Day of Prayer: http://www.usccb.org/about/anti-trafficking-program/upload/Anti-Trafficking-Toolkit- Final-2018-2.pdf

“Dear brothers and sisters, today, 8 February, is the Feast of St Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese nun, who as a child had the traumatic experience of being a victim of human trafficking. The Unions of Superiors and Superiors General of Religious Institutes have organized the Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking. I encourage those who work helping the men, women and children who are enslaved, exploited, abused as instruments of work or pleasure, who are often tortured and mutilated. It is my hope that government leaders may work decisively to remove the causes of this disgraceful scourge, it is a scourge unworthy of society. May each one of us feel committed to being a voice for our brothers and sisters, who have been humiliated in their dignity. Let us all pray to Our Lady for them and for their family members.” (Pope Francis, Angelus Domini - February 8, 2015) https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/angelus/2015/documents/papa- francesco_angelus_20150208.html

9 Fri Weekday green Rank IV 1 Kgs 11:29-32; 12:19/Mk 7:31-37 (333)

10 Sat Saint Scholastica, Virgin white Rank III Memorial 1 Kgs 12:26-32; 13:33-34/Mk 8:1-10 (334) Scholastica Virgin, Religious Founder † 547 Scholastica was born at Norcia (Italy) about 480 and died near Monte Cassino in 547. Like Saint Benedict (11 July), her twin brother, she dedicated herself to God through the monastic life and is remembered for her part in establishing Benedictine monasticism. The burial of Scholastica at Monte Cassino about 547 is recounted in the ninth-century marble Neapolitan Calendar and in the martyrology of dating from about 870. Her feast has been celebrated at Rome since the twelfth century.

11 ✠ SUN SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Lv 13:1-2, 44-46/1 Cor 10:31—11:1/Mk 1:40-45 (77) Pss II Optional Memorial This memorial celebrates the Immaculate Virgin Mary as honored in Lourdes (France). This site of apparitions where between February 11 and July 16, 1858 she appeared eighteen times to the young, humble Saint . It is a place of prayer and pilgrimage, of conversion and healing for Christians from every land. In 1907 the memorial of these apparitions was entered in the Roman calendar.

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World Day of Prayer for the Sick - February 11th Our Lady of Lourdes Pope St. John Paul II instituted World Day of the Sick on May 13, 1992, setting aside World Day of the Sick as a special occasion for growth, with an attitude of listening, reflection, and effective commitment in the face of the great mystery of pain and illness. This day, has been celebrated every year since February 1993 on the of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The National Association of Catholic Chaplains has developed resources to help with the planning and celebration of World Day of the Sick. The resources include suggestions and prayers that can be used by individuals as well as by dioceses, parishes, health care institutions, and other organizations.For more information and promotional materials, visit https://www.nacc.org/resources/spirituality-and-prayer-resources/world-day-of- the-sick/

Catholic Health Association Homily Resources for World Day for the Sick 2018 The Catholic Health Association is pleased to offer a collection of homilies to help connect the healing mission of the Church with parishes and the communities we serve.

Written by prominent Catholic theologians and preachers, the homilies bring important issues about healing and care for the poor in the context of Gospel and Church teachings.

Catholic health ministries are dedicated to continuing the healing mission of Jesus by improving the well-being of the communities we serve. One out of every six patients in America is treated at a Catholic hospital each year.

Feb. 4, 2018, Mark 1:29-39 – 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Healing of Peter's Mother-in-Law

Feb. 11, 2018, Mark 1:40-45 – 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time: World Day of the Sick- Healing the Leper

12 Mon Weekday green Rank IV Jas 1:1-11/Mk 8:11-13 (335)

13 Tue Weekday green Rank III Jas 1:12-18/Mk 8:14-21 (336) Saints Cyril, Monk, & Missionary and Methodius, Bishop, Missionary †9th cent. Cyril and Methodius were brothers from Thessalonica (Greece). Cyril, a monk, died at Rome on February 14, 869, and his brother, the bishop Methodius, at Velehrad, (Czech Republic), on April 6, about 885. With Papal approval they preached the gospel in Moravia using their own translations of the Scriptures and the liturgy in the local language. These translations into Slavonic were based on an alphabet they invented, now called Cyrillic. The success of their preaching aroused jealous Frankish opposition. Cyril and Methodius are honored as apostles of the Slavic peoples. Together they are remembered for their

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contribution to Slavic culture, for their missionary inculturation of the faith, and for establishing links between East and West. In 1880 the Roman calendar assigned their feast to July 5, within the octave of Peter and Paul; but in 1897, when the feast of Saint was assigned to July 5, theirs was transferred to July 7. Since 1980 they have been recognized alongside Saint Benedict (11 July) as patrons of Europe.

Season of Lent 14 Wed Ash Wednesday violet Rank I Jl 2:12-18/2 Cor 5:20—6:2/Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 (219) Pss IV

15 Thu Thursday after Ash Wednesday violet Rank II Dt 30:15-20/Lk 9:22-25 (220)

16 Fri Friday after Ash Wednesday violet Rank II Is 58:1-9a/Mt 9:14-15 (221)

17 Sat Saturday after Ash Wednesday violet Rank II [The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order] Is 58:9b-14/Lk 5:27-32 (222) The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order, Religious Founders †13th cent In 1233, seven young merchants in Florence heard the Gospel calling them to do something radical with their lives, to dedicate themselves to bringing the Gospel to life in the world. Saint Bonfilius and his six companions established a hermitage on the summit of Monte Senario. They developed into an order of mendicant friars (Servants of Mary) and are remembered for their radical response to the demands of the gospel. The Order of Servants of Mary was approved by the Bishop of Florence in the 1240’s. In 1304, the Order of Friar Servants of Mary received approval by the Holy See.

When the veneration of their seven Founders was approved in 1725, the members of the Servite order celebrated this feast on February 11, the date on which their order had received canonical approval in 1304. After the canonization of the holy Founders, in 1888, the feast was included in the Roman calendar; but it was changed to February 12 when the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes entered the calendar in 1907. It seems more appropriate liturgically to celebrate the memorial of these saints on the heavenly birthday of one of them, namely Alessio Falconieri, who died on February 17, 1310. In addition to these original seven, there are numerous Servite saints, including Saint Philip Benizi, Saint Peregrine (patron of those who suffer from cancer, AIDS, and other incurable diseases), Saint , and Saint Anthony Pucci.

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18 SUN FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT violet Rank I Gn 9:8-15/1 Pt 3:18-22/Mk 1:12-15 (23) Pss I

Homiletic Directory— Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014. II. THE SUNDAYS OF LENT 57. If the and the Fifty Days are the radiant center of the liturgical year, Lent is the season that prepares the minds and hearts of the Christian people for a worthy celebration of these days. It is also the time for the final preparation of catechumens who will be baptized during the Easter Vigil. Their journey needs to be accompanied by the faith, prayer and witness of the entire ecclesial community. The scriptural readings of the Lenten season find their deepest sense in relation to the Paschal Mystery that they prepare us to celebrate. As such they provide clear occasions for putting into practice a fundamental principle that this Directory presents: to take the readings at Mass to their center in Jesus’ Paschal Mystery, into which Mystery we enter most deeply by the celebration of the paschal sacraments. The Introduction of the Lectionary notes the traditional use of accounts of the Temptation and Transfiguration on the first two Sundays of Lent, and says this about the other readings: "The Old Testament readings are about the history of salvation, which is one of the themes proper to the catechesis of Lent. The series of texts for each Year presents the main elements of salvation history from its beginning until the promise of the New Covenant. The readings from the Letters of the Apostles have been selected to fit the Gospel and the Old Testament readings and, to the extent possible, to provide a connection between them" (OLM 97).

A. The Gospel of the First Sunday of Lent 58. It is not difficult for people to connect the forty days that Jesus passed in the desert with the forty days of Lent. It is useful for the homilist to draw this connection explicitly in such a way that the Christian people understand that the annual observance of Lent somehow makes them mysteriously participate in these forty days of Jesus, and in what he underwent and achieved in his fasting and being tempted. While it is customary for Catholics to engage in various penitential and devotional practices during this season, it is important to underscore the profoundly sacramental reality of the entire Lenten season. The Collect for the First Sunday of Lent uses the striking phrase "per annua quadragesimalis exercitia sacramenti." Christ himself is present and at work in his Church in this holy season, and it is his purifying work in the members of his Body that gives our penitential practices their salvific significance. The Preface assigned to this day states this idea beautifully when it says, "by abstaining forty long days from earthly food, he consecrated through his fast the pattern of our Lenten observance." The language of the Preface is a bridge between Scripture and Eucharist.

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59. The forty days of Jesus represent the forty years of Israel’s wandering in the desert; the whole of Israel’s history is concentrated in him. So here is a scene in which a major theme of this Directory is concentrated: the history of Israel, which corresponds to our life’s history, finds its ultimate meaning in the Passion that Jesus undergoes. That Passion in some sense begins already here in the desert, virtually at the beginning of the public life of Jesus. So from the beginning, Jesus is moving toward his Passion, and everything that follows draws its meaning from this.

60. A paragraph taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church can demonstrate its usefulness in preparing homilies, especially for touching on doctrinal themes that are directly rooted in the biblical text. About Jesus’ temptations, the Catechism says:

The evangelists indicate the salvific meaning of this mysterious event: Jesus is the new Adam who remained faithful just where the first Adam had given in to temptation. Jesus fulfils Israel’s vocation perfectly: in contrast to those who had once provoked God during forty years in the desert, Christ reveals himself as God’s Servant, totally obedient to the divine will. In this, Jesus is the devil’s conqueror …. Jesus’ victory over the tempter in the desert anticipates victory at the Passion, the supreme act of obedience of his filial love for the Father (CCC 539).

61. The temptations that Jesus undergoes are a struggle against a distortion of his messianic task. The devil is tempting him to be a Messiah who displays divine powers. "If you are the Son of God …" the tempter begins. This foreshadows the ultimate struggle that Jesus will undergo on the cross, where he hears the mocking words: "Save yourself if you are the Son of God and come down from the cross." Jesus does not yield to the temptations of Satan, nor does he come down from the cross. Precisely in this way Jesus proves that He truly enters the desert of human existence and does not use His divine power for His own benefit. He really accompanies our life’s pilgrimage and reveals in it the true power of God, which is love "to the very end" (Jn 13:1).

62. The homilist should point out that Jesus is subjected to temptation and death in solidarity with us. But the Good News that the homilist announces is not simply Jesus’ solidarity with us in suffering; he also announces Jesus’ victory over temptation and over death, a victory that Jesus shares with all who believe in him. The ultimate guarantee of Jesus sharing that victory with all who believe will be the celebration of the paschal sacraments at the Easter Vigil, toward which the first Sunday of Lent is already pointing. The homilist points in this same direction.

63. Jesus resisted the devil’s temptation to turn stones into bread, but in the end and in ways the human mind could never have imagined, in his resurrection Jesus turns the "stone" of death into "bread" for us. Through his death he becomes the bread of the

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Eucharist. The congregation that feeds on this heavenly bread might well be reminded by a homilist that the victory of Jesus over temptation and death in which they share through the sacraments turns their "hearts of stone into hearts of flesh," as the Lord promised through his prophet, hearts that strive to make God’s merciful love tangible in their daily lives. Then Christian faith can act as a leaven in a world hungry for God, and stones are truly turned into the nourishment that fulfills the longing of the human heart.

19 Mon Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Lv 19:1-2, 11-18/Mt 25:31-46 (224)

20 Tue Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Is 55:10-11/Mt 6:7-15 (225)

21 Wed Lenten Weekday violet Rank II [ Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church] Jon 3:1-10/Lk 11:29-32 (226) Saint ,Monk,Bishop, Doctor of the Church † February 22, 1072 Born in Ravenna (Italy) in 1007, Peter died on 22 February 1072. After a career as a professor, he became a hermit monk. Ardent, energetic, and strict, he was an outspoken reformer of Church life and discipline. He was appointed cardinal- bishop of Ostia and became a diplomat and ecclesiastical statesman. He is remembered as a scholarly reformer possessing a deeply ascetical spirituality. Peter Damian died at Faenza, Italy, on February 22, 1072. In 1823 the Roman calendar incorporated his feast on February 23.

22 Thu The Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle white Rank II Feast 1 Pt 5:1-4/Mt 16:13-19 (535) Pss Prop The chair (cathedra) of a bishop is a preeminent sign of his teaching authority and pastoral oversight of a local Church. This feast, which was first observed in fourth century Rome, celebrates Peter, first among the Apostles, as founder of the See of Rome and the focus of unity in the communion of one faith. The feast of the chair of Peter on February 22 is attested to by the Depositio Martyrum (354).

“A plenary indulgence is granted [under the usual conditions] to the faithful who visit, the Cathedral church and there devoutly recite an Our Father and the Creed, on the liturgical celebration of the cathedra of St. Peter the Apostle.”

23 Fri Lenten Weekday violet Rank II

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[Saint , Bishop and Martyr] Ez 18:21-28/Mt 5:20-26 (228) Polycarp of Smyrna † February 23, 155 Born about the year A.D.69, Polycarp died on this day about 155 at Smyrna (Turkey), where he had been the beloved and respected bishop. He was a of Saint (27 December) and wrote to the Philippians to strengthen their faith and to defend the Church against heresy. Because of the account of his martyrdom he is remembered for his fearless acknowledgement of Christ. Polycarp is honored as one of the "Apostolic Fathers" of the Church. The martyrdom of Polycarp at Smyrna, on February 23, 155, is recorded in the “Letter of the Church at Smyrna” (XXI). The same date is used in the fourth century Syriac breviary and is celebrated as his birthday by the Byzantine and Coptic rites. In the thirteenth century Rome began to celebrate the feast of Polycarp, but on January 26, which was, in fact, the memorial of the burial of Polycarp of Nicaea.

24 Sat Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Dt 26:16-19/Mt 5:43-48 (229)

25 ✠ SUN SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT violet Rank II Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18/Rom 8:31b-34/Mk 9:2-10 (26) Pss II Homiletic Directory— Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014. B. The Gospel of the Second Sunday of Lent 64. The Gospel on the second Sunday of Lent is always the account of the Transfiguration. It is striking that the glorious and unexpected transfiguration of Jesus’ body in the presence of three chosen disciples should take place immediately after his first prediction of his Passion. (These same three disciples – Peter, James, and John – will likewise be with Jesus during his agony in the garden as he enters into the very hour of his Passion.) In the context of the entire narrative of each of the three gospels, Peter has just confessed his faith in Jesus as Messiah. Jesus accepts this confession but immediately turns to teaching his disciples just what kind of Messiah he is. "He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days." Then he goes on to teach how the Messiah is to be followed: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." It is after this that Jesus takes three disciples up on a high mountain, and there divine glory bursts forth from his body. Moses and appear, and they are conversing with Jesus. Then a cloud of divine presence, like the one on Mount Sinai, envelops Jesus and his disciples, and from the cloud comes a voice, just as thunder on Sinai signaled that God was speaking to Moses and giving the Law, the Torah, to him. This is the voice of the Father, revealing the

65 deepest identity of Jesus and accrediting him. He says, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him" (Mk 9:7).

65. Many of the themes and patterns that this Directory has emphasized are concentrated in this stunning scene. Clearly, cross and glory belong together. Clearly, the whole Old Testament, represented in Moses and Elijah, concurs that cross and glory belong together. The homilist must speak of these things and explain them. Perhaps no better summary could be found of what the mystery means than the beautiful words of the Preface assigned to that day. As the Eucharistic prayer begins, the priest, speaking for the whole people, wants to give thanks to God through Christ our Lord for this mystery of transfiguration: "For after he had told the disciples of his coming Death, on the holy mountain he manifested to them his glory, to show, even by the testimony of the law and the prophets, that the Passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection." These are the words with which the community begins the Eucharistic Prayer on this day.

66. In each of the Synoptic accounts, the Father’s voice identifies Jesus as his beloved Son and commands, "Listen to him." In the midst of this scene of transcendent glory, the Father’s command draws attention to the path to glory. It is as if He says, "Listen to Him, in whom there is the fullness of my love, which will appear on the Cross." This teaching is a new Torah, the new Law of the Gospel, given on the holy mountain in the center of which there is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given to those who place their faith in Jesus and in the merits of His Cross. It is because he teaches this way that glory bursts forth from Jesus’ body and he is revealed as the Father’s beloved Son. Are we not here deep inside the very heart of the trinitarian mystery? It is the Father’s glory we see in the glory of the Son, and that glory is inextricably joined to the cross. The Son revealed in the Transfiguration is "Light from Light," as the Creed states it; and surely this moment in the Sacred Scriptures is one of the strongest warrants for the Creed’s formulation.

67. The Transfiguration holds an essential position in the season of Lent because the entire Lenten Lectionary is a lesson book that prepares the elect among the catechumens to receive the Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil, just as it prepares all the faithful to renew themselves in the new life into which they have been reborn. If the first Sunday of Lent is an especially striking reminder of Jesus’ solidarity with us in temptation, the second Sunday is meant to remind us that the glory that bursts forth from Jesus’ body is a glory that he means to share with all who are baptized into his death and resurrection. The homilist might well use the words and authority of St. Paul to establish this point, who said, "He [Christ] will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body" (Phil 3:21). This verse is found in the second reading of Cycle C, but the short phrase can bring the point succinctly to the fore in any year.

68. As the faithful come in procession to communion on this Sunday, the Church has them sing in the Communion Antiphon the very words of the Father heard in the Gospel: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."

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What the chosen three disciples heard and beheld at the Transfiguration exactly converges now with the event of this liturgy in which the faithful receive the Body and Blood of the Lord. In the Prayer after Communion we thank God for allowing us while "still on earth" to be partakers of the things of heaven. While still on earth, the disciples saw the divine glory shining in the body of Jesus. While still on earth, the faithful receive his Body and Blood and hear the Father’s voice speaking to them in the depths of their hearts: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."

26 Mon Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Dn 9:4b-10/Lk 6:36-38 (230)

27 Tue Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Is 1:10, 16-20/Mt 23:1-12 (231)

28 Wed Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Jer 18:18-20/Mt 20:17-28 (232) MARCH 2018 1 Thu Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Jer 17:5-10/Lk 16:19-31 (233)

2 Fri Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a/Mt 21:33-43, 45-46 (234)

3 Sat Lenten Weekday violet Rank II [USA: Saint , Virgin] Mi 7:14-15, 18-20/Lk 15:1-3, 11-32 (235) St. Katharine Drexel, S.B.S. School builder and founder of the Sisters of the for Native American and African-American peoples When she asked Pope Leo XIII to send more missionaries to Wyoming, he asked her, "Why don't you become a missionary?" As a young, wealthy, educated girl from Philadelphia, this was hardly the expected lifestyle for young Katharine Drexel. But raised in a devout family with a deep sympathy for the poor, Katharine gave up everything to become a missionary to the Indians and African Americans. She founded schools in thirteen states for African Americans, forty mission centers and twenty-three rural schools. She also established fifty missions for Indians in sixteen different states. She died at the age of ninety-six and was canonized in the year 2000. http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/saints/american- saints-and-blesseds.cfm

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KATHARINE DREXEL (1858-1955) Born in Philadelphia, , in the United States of America, on November 26, 1858, Katharine Drexel was the second daughter of Francis Anthony Drexel and Hannah Langstroth. Her father was a well known banker and philanthropist. Both parents instilled in their daughters the idea that their wealth was simply loaned to them and was to be shared with others.

When the family took a trip to the Western part of the United States, Katharine, as a young woman, saw the plight and destitution of the native Indian-Americans. This experience aroused her desire to do something specific to help alleviate their condition. This was the beginning of her lifelong personal and financial support of numerous missions and missionaries in the United States. The first school she established was St. Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico (1887).

Later, when visiting Pope Leo XIII in Rome, and asking him for missionaries to staff some of the Indian missions that she as a lay person was financing, she was surprised to hear the Pope suggest that she become a missionary herself. After consultation with her spiritual director, Bishop James O'Connor, she made the decision to give herself totally to God, along with her inheritance, through service to American Indians and Afro- Americans.

Her wealth was now transformed into a poverty of spirit that became a daily constant in a life supported only by the bare necessities. On February 12, 1891, she professed her first vows as a religious, founding the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament whose dedication would be to share the message of the Gospel and the life of the Eucharist among American Indians and Afro-Americans.

Always a woman of intense prayer, Katharine found in the Eucharist the source of her love for the poor and oppressed and of her concern to reach out to combat the effects of racism. Knowing that many Afro-Americans were far from free, still living in substandard conditions as sharecroppers or underpaid menials, denied education and constitutional rights enjoyed by others, she felt a compassionate urgency to help change racial attitudes in the United States.

The plantation at that time was an entrenched social institution in which the coloured people continued to be victims of oppression. This was a deep affront to Katharine's sense of justice. The need for quality education loomed before her, and she discussed this need with some who shared her concern about the inequality of education for Afro- Americans in the cities. Restrictions of the law also prevented them in the rural South from obtaining a basic education.

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Founding and staffing schools for both Native Americans and Afro-Americans throughout the country became a priority for Katharine and her congregation. During her lifetime, she opened, staffed and directly supported nearly 60 schools and missions, especially in the West and Southwest United States. Her crowning educational focus was the establishment in 1925 of Xavier University of Louisiana, the only predominantly Afro-American Catholic institution of higher learning in the United States. Religious education, social service, visiting in homes, in hospitals and in prisons were also included in the ministries of Katharine and the Sisters.

In her quiet way, Katharine combined prayerful and total dependence on Divine Providence with determined activism. Her joyous incisiveness, attuned to the Holy Spirit, penetrated obstacles and facilitated her advances for social justice. Through the prophetic witness of Katharine Drexel's initiative, the Church in the United States was enabled to become aware of the grave domestic need for an apostolate among Native Americans and Afro-Americans. She did not hesitate to speak out against injustice, taking a public stance when racial discrimination was in evidence.

For the last 18 years of her life she was rendered almost completely immobile because of a serious illness. During these years she gave herself to a life of adoration and contemplation as she had desired from early childhood. She died on March 3, 1955.

Katharine left a four-fold dynamic legacy to her Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, who continue her apostolate today, and indeed to all peoples: — her love for the Eucharist, her spirit of prayer, and her Eucharistic perspective on the unity of all peoples; — her undaunted spirit of courageous initiative in addressing social iniquities among minorities — one hundred years before such concern aroused public interest in the United States; — her belief in the importance of quality education for all, and her efforts to achieve it; — her total giving of self, of her inheritance and all material goods in selfless service of the victims of injustice.

Katharine Drexel was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1980 and canonized in 2000.. http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20001001_katharine- drexel_en.html

4 ✠ SUN THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT violet Rank II Ex 20:1-17 or 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17/1 Cor 1:22-25/Jn 2:13-25 (29) or, for Year A, Ex 17:3-7/Rom 5:1-2, 5-8/Jn 4:5-42 or 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42 (28) Pss III

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[Saint Casimir] † March 4, 1484. Casimir was born at Cracow (Poland) in 1458 and died in Lithuania on this day in 1484. Though a young prince of Poland, he preferred peace to being a soldier. He chose celibacy over marriage and favored prayer and penance rather than royal privilege. He is remembered for his generous life of austerity and devotion. e tales and legends. The saintly prince's special devotion to the Blessed Mother was also very dear to the Lithuanians; known for its many dedicated to her and sincere veneration.Casimir died at Vilna, Lithuania, on March 4, 1484. Casimir was the second son, born on October 3, 1458. He was renowned for a life of great piety, good works and virtue. Upon contracting tuberculosis, he died at the age of 25 on March 4,1483 in Gardinas. He was buried in . He was canonized in 1521 and his feast was placed in the Roman calendar in 1621. St. Casimir's casket was transferred from the Cathedral of Vilnius, and was taken to the church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Antakalnis (a suburb of Vilnius) in 1953. Homiletic Directory— Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014. C. The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent 69. "On the next three Sundays [of Lent], the Gospels about the Samaritan woman, the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus have been restored in Year A. Because these Gospels are of major importance in regard to Christian initiation, they may also be read in Year B and Year C, especially in places where there are catechumens. Other texts, however, are provided for Year B and Year C: for Year B, a text from John about Christ’s coming through his Cross and Resurrection, and for Year C, a text from Luke about conversion. [ … ] Because the readings about the Samaritan woman, the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus are now assigned to Sundays, but only for Year A (in Year B and Year C they are optional), provision has been made for their use on weekdays. Thus at the beginning of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Weeks of Lent optional Masses with these texts for the Gospel have been inserted and may be used in place of the readings of the day on any weekday of the respective week" (OLM 97, 98). The catechetical power of the Lenten season is especially highlighted by the readings and prayers for the Sundays in Cycle A. The association of the themes of water, light, and life with baptism are quite evident; by means of these biblical passages and the prayers of the liturgy, the Church is leading her elect toward sacramental initiation at Easter. Their final preparation is a fundamental concern, as the prayer texts used when the Scrutinies are celebrated make clear.

What of the rest of us? It may be helpful for the homilist to invite his listeners to view the Lenten season as a time for the reactivation of the graces of baptism and a purification of the faith that had been received. This process may be explained through the prism of Israel’s understanding of the Exodus experience. That event was crucial to Israel’s formation as the People of God, its discovery of its own limitations and unfaithfulness and also of the persistent and faithful love of God.

Throughout Israel’s subsequent history it served as a paradigm through which she could interpret her journey with God. So for us, Lent is a time when in the wilderness of our present existence with its difficulties, fears and infidelities we

70 rediscover the proximity of God, who despite everything is leading us to our Promised Land. This is a fundamental moment in our life of faith that challenges us.

The graces of baptism, received in infancy, are not to be forgotten, even though accumulated sin and human errors may suggest their absence. The desert is a place that tests our faith, but it also purifies it and strengthens it when we learn to base ourselves upon God in spite of contrary experiences. The un continually even in the face of sin (the Samaritan woman), ignorance (the underlying theme of these three Sundays is how faith can be nurtured blind man), and death (Lazarus). These are the "deserts" through which we travel through life, and in which we discover that we are not alone, because God is with us.

70. The relationship between those preparing for baptism and the rest of the faithful enhances the dynamism of the Lenten season, and the homilist should make an effort to associate the wider community with the preparation of the elect. When the Scrutinies are celebrated, provision is made for a prayer for the godparents during the Eucharistic Prayer; this can serve as a reminder that each member of the congregation has a role to play in "sponsoring" the elect and bringing others to Christ. We who already believe are called, like the Samaritan woman, to share our faith with others. Then, at Easter, the newly-initiated can say to the rest of the community, "We no longer believe because of your word, for we have heard for ourselves, and know that he is truly the Savior of the world."

71. The Third Sunday of Lent brings us back to the wilderness, with Jesus and Israel before him. The Israelites are thirsty, and their thirst causes them to question the wisdom of the journey God has launched them on. The situation seems hopeless, but help comes from a most surprising source: when Moses strikes the hard rock, water gushes forth! But there is a still harder, more obdurate substance – the human heart. The Responsorial Psalm makes an eloquent plea to those who sing and hear it: "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts." In the second reading, Paul tells us that the staff we wield is faith, which gives us access through Christ to the grace of God, and this in turn gives us hope. This hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts, enabling us to love. This divine love was given to us not as a reward for our merits, because it was given when we were still sinners, and yet Christ died for us. In just a few verses, the Apostle invites us to contemplate both the mystery of the Trinity and the virtues of faith, hope, and love.

The stage is set for the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, a conversation that is profound because it speaks of the fundamental realities of eternal life and true prayer. It is an illuminating conversation, because it manifests the pedagogy of faith. Jesus and the woman are initially talking on different levels.

Her practical, concrete mind is centered on the water in the well. Jesus, as if oblivious of her practical concerns, insists on speaking about the living waters of grace. Since their discourses fail to meet, Jesus touches upon the most painful moment of her life: her irregular marital situation. This recognition of her frailty

71 immediately opens her mind to the mystery of God, and she then asks about prayer. When she follows the invitation to believe in Jesus as the Messiah, she is filled with grace and is quick to share her discovery with those in her own town.

Faith, nourished by the Word of God, by the Eucharist and by the fulfilment of the will of the Father, opens to the mystery of grace that is depicted through the image of "living water." Moses struck the rock, and water flowed out; the soldier pierced the side of Christ, and blood and water flowed out. Mindful of this, the Church puts these words on the lips of the people as they process forward to receive Communion: "For anyone who drinks it, says the Lord, the water I shall give will become in him a spring welling up to eternal life."

72. But we are not the only ones who are thirsty. The Preface for today’s Mass says: "When he asked the Samaritan woman for water to drink, he had already created the gift of faith within her and so ardently did he thirst for her faith, that he kindled in her the fire of divine love." The Jesus who sat down by the well was tired and thirsty. (In fact, the homilist may want to point out how the Gospels on these three Sundays underscore Christ’s humanity: his exhaustion as he sat by the well, his making a mud with paste to heal the blind man, and his tears at the grave of Lazarus.) The thirst of Jesus will reach its climax in the final moments of his life, when from the Cross he cries out, "I thirst!" This is what it means for him to do the will of the one who sent him and to finish his work. Then from his pierced Heart flows the eternal life that nourishes us in the sacraments, giving us who worship in spirit and in truth the nourishment we need as we continue our pilgrimage.

5 Mon Lenten Weekday11 violet Rank II 2 Kgs 5:1-15b/Lk 4:24-30 (237)

6 Tue Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Dn 3:25, 34-43/Mt 18:21-35 (238)

7 Wed Lenten Weekday violet Rank II [Saints , Martyrs] Dt 4:1, 5-9/Mt 5:17-19 (239) Perpetua, a young woman with a newborn son, and Felicity, a pregnant slave, died at Carthage (Tunisia) on this day about 203. They were arrested with their catechist and several other African catechumens. Perpetua resisted her father’s appeals to renounce her faith. While in prison they were baptised and Felicity gave birth to a daughter. Thrown to wild beasts and then put to the sword, they died in the embrace of the sign of peace. They are remembered for the joyful courage of their final witness to Christ and are mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer I (The Roman Canon).The Depositio Martyrum and the Syriac breviary testify to

11 The following readings may be used on any day this week, especially in Years B and C when the Gospel of the Samaritan Woman is not read on the Third Sunday of Lent: Ex 17:1-7/Jn 4:5-42 (236).

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the burial of Perpetua and Felicity at Carthage on March 7, 202 or 203. Because it coincided with the feast of Thomas Aquinas, the feast of these saints has been celebrated on March 6 since 1908

8 Thu Lenten Weekday violet Rank II [Saint , Religious] Jer 7:23-28/Lk 11:14-23 (240) [Saint John of God, Religious] 8 MARCH JOHN OF GOD, RELIGIOUS FOUNDER Born in Portugal in 1495, John died in (Spain) on this day in 1550. When he was about forty years old, he directed the energies of his spiritual conversion toward hospitality for the destitute and care of the sick. He is remembered for this ministry, which was continued by his followers, who became the Order of Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God.John died at Granada, Spain, on March 8, 1550, and was canonized in 1690. His feast was entered in the Roman calendar in 1714.

9 Fri Lenten Weekday violet Rank II [Saint Frances of Rome, Religious] Hos 14:2-10/Mk 12:28-34 (241) [Saint Frances of Rome, Religious] Married Woman, Religious Founder Frances was born in Rome in 1384 and lived there until her death on this day in 1440. She is remembered as a dedicated laywoman who, in a time of plague and civil war, worked tirelessly for the poor and the sick yet without compromising her love for her husband and family. She established a community of laywomen who followed the Rule of Saint Benedict and ministered to the poor. Frances died at Rome on March 9, 1440, was canonized in 1608, and the same year her feast was entered in the Roman calendar.

10 Sat Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Hos 6:1-6/Lk 18:9-14 (242)

11 ✠ SUN FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT violet or rose Rank I 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23/Eph 2:4-10/Jn 3:14-21 (32) or, for Year A, 1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a/Eph 5:8-14/Jn 9:1-41 or 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38 (31) Pss IV

Homiletic Directory— Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014. 73. The Fourth Sunday of Lent is suffused with light, a light reflected on this "Laetare Sunday" by vestments of a lighter hue and the flowers that adorn the church. The association of the Paschal Mystery, baptism, and light is succinctly

73 captured in a line from the second reading: "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light." This association finds an echo and an elaboration in the Preface: "By the mystery of the Incarnation, he has led the human race that walked in darkness into the radiance of faith and has brought those born in slavery to ancient sin through the waters of regeneration to make them your adopted children." This illumination, begun in baptism, is enhanced each time we receive the Eucharist, a point underscored by the words of the blind man taken up in the Communion Antiphon: "The Lord anointed my eyes: I went, I washed, I saw and believed in God."

74. But it is not a cloudless sky we contemplate on this Sunday; the process of seeing is in practice more difficult than the blind man’s terse description. We are cautioned in the first reading: "Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart." This is a salutary warning both for the elect, whose anticipation grows as they draw near to Easter, and to the rest of the community as well. The Prayer after Communion states that God enlightens everyone who comes into the world: but the challenge is that, in great ways or small, we turn toward the light or away from it. The homilist can invite his listeners to notice the increasing vision of the man born blind and the growing blindness of Jesus’ adversaries. The cured man begins by describing his healer as "the man Jesus"; then he professes that he is a prophet; and by the end of the passage he proclaims, "I do believe, Lord" and worships Jesus. The Pharisees, for their part, become increasingly more blind: they begin by admitting that the miracle took place, then come to deny that it was a miracle, and finally expel the cured man from the synagogue. Throughout the narrative, the Pharisees continue to profess confidently what they know, while the blind man continually admits his ignorance. The Gospel ends with a warning by Jesus that his coming has created a crisis, in the literal meaning of that word, a judgment: he gives sight to the blind, but those who see become blind. In response to the Pharisees’ objection, he says: "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your blindness remains." The illumination given in baptism must be tended amid the lights and shadows of our pilgrimage, and so after Communion we pray: "O God … illuminate our hearts, we pray, with the splendor of your grace, that we may always ponder what is worthy and pleasing to your majesty and love you in all sincerity." 75. "Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him." Paul’s exhortation to rouse the sleeper on the previous Sunday finds vivid expression in the last and greatest of Jesus’ "signs" in the Fourth Gospel, the raising of Lazarus. The finality of death, emphasized by the fact that Lazarus had been already dead four days, seems to create an obstacle even greater than drawing water from a rock or giving sight to a man blind from birth. And yet, confronted with this state of affairs, Martha makes a profession of faith similar to Peter’s: "I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world." Her faith is not in what God could do in the future, but to what God is doing now: "I am the resurrection and the life." This "I am" runs through John’s Gospel, a clear allusion to the self-revelation of God to Moses, and it appears in the Gospels on each of these Sundays: When the Samaritan woman speaks about the Messiah, Jesus tells her, "I am he, the one speaking with you." In the story of the blind man,

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Jesus says, "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." And today he says, "I am the resurrection and the life." The key to receiving this life is faith: "Do you believe this?" But even Martha wavers after making her bold profession of faith, and objects when Jesus wants the stone to be removed that there will be a stench. Again, we are reminded that the following of Christ is the work of a lifetime, and whether we are about to receive the sacraments of initiation in two weeks time, or have lived many years as Catholics, we must struggle continually to deepen our faith in Christ.

76. The raising of Lazarus is the fulfillment of God’s promise enunciated through the prophet in the first reading: "I will open your graves and have you rise from them." The heart of the Paschal Mystery is that Christ came to die and rise again precisely to do for us what he did for Lazarus: "Untie him and let him go." He frees us, not only from physical death, but from the many other deaths that afflict us and bind us: sin, misfortune, broken relationships. This is why it is essential for us as Christians to immerse ourselves continually in his Paschal Mystery. As the Preface today proclaims: "For as true man he wept for Lazarus his friend and as eternal God raised him from the tomb, just as, taking pity on the human race, he leads us by sacred mysteries to new life." Our weekly encounter with the crucified and risen Lord is the expression of our faith that he IS, here and now, our resurrection and our life. It is that conviction that enables us to accompany him next Sunday as he enters Jerusalem, saying with Thomas, "Let us also go and die with him."

12 Mon Lenten Weekday12 violet Rank II Is 65:17-21/Jn 4:43-54 (244)

13 Tue Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Ez 47:1-9, 12/Jn 5:1-16 (245)

14 Wed Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Is 49:8-15/Jn 5:17-30 (246)

15 Thu Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Ex 32:7-14/Jn 5:31-47 (247)

16 Fri Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Wis 2:1a, 12-22/Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 (248)

17 Sat Lenten Weekday violet Rank II [, Bishop]

12 The following readings may be used on any day this week, especially in Years B and C when the Gospel of the Man Born Blind is not read on the Fourth Sunday of Lent: Mi 7:7-9/Jn 9:1-41 (243).

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Jer 11:18-20/Jn 7:40-53 (249)

[Patrick] Bishop, Missionary Born in Roman Britain around the end of the fourth century, Patrick died in Ireland about the middle of the fifth century. As a missionary bishop in Ireland, he faced hardship and opposition even from his friends and fellow Christians. Yet he worked to conciliate, to evangelize, and to educate local chieftains and their families. Patrick is remembered for his simplicity and pastoral care, for his humble trust in God, and for his fearless preaching of the gospel to those who had enslaved him in his youth.Several manuscripts of the of Jerome and Bede record the burial of Patrick in Ireland on March 17, 461. His feast appeared in the Roman calendar in 1631.

18 ✠ SUN FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT violet Rank I Jer 31:31-34/Heb 5:7-9/Jn 12:20-33 (35) or, for Year A, Ez 37:12-14/Rom 8:8-11/Jn 11:1-45 or 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45 (34) Pss I [Saint . Bishop and Doctor of the Church † 18 March 386 ] Cyril of Jerusalem † 18 March 386 Cyril was bishop for over thirty-five years in Jerusalem, where he was born about 315 and where he died in 386. He was deeply involved in debates with the Arians over the divinity of Christ and was exiled three times for supporting the orthodox, catholic faith. He is remembered especially for the baptismal catechesis he gave in the then-brand new (4th Century) basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. His famous 23 catechetical lectures (in Greek, Catecheses), which he delivered while still a priest in 347 or 348, contain instructions on the principal topics of Christian faith and practice, in a popular manner, full of a warm pastoral love and care for the catechumens to whom they were delivered. Each lecture is based upon a text of Scripture, and there is an abundance of Scriptural quotations throughout. Homiletic Directory— Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the

Sacraments, 29 June 2014. 73. The Fourth Sunday of Lent is suffused with light, a light reflected on this "Laetare Sunday" by vestments of a lighter hue and the flowers that adorn the church. The association of the Paschal Mystery, baptism, and light is succinctly captured in a line from the second reading: "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and

Christ will give you light." This association finds an echo and an elaboration in the Preface: "By the mystery of the Incarnation, he has led the human race that walked in darkness into the radiance of faith and has brought those born in slavery to ancient sin through the waters of regeneration to make them your adopted children."

This illumination, begun in baptism, is enhanced each time we receive the Eucharist, a point underscored by the words of the blind man taken up in the Communion Antiphon: "The Lord anointed my eyes: I went, I washed, I saw and believed in God."

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74. But it is not a cloudless sky we contemplate on this Sunday; the process of seeing is in practice more difficult than the blind man’s terse description. We are cautioned in the first reading: "Not as man sees does

God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart." This is a salutary warning both for the elect, whose anticipation grows as they draw near to Easter, and to the rest of the community as well.

The Prayer after Communion states that God enlightens everyone who comes into the world: but the challenge is that, in great ways or small, we turn toward the light or away from it. The homilist can invite his listeners to notice the increasing vision of the man born blind and the growing blindness of Jesus’ adversaries.

The cured man begins by describing his healer as "the man Jesus"; then he professes that he is a prophet; and by the end of the passage he proclaims, "I do believe, Lord" and worships Jesus. The Pharisees, for their part, become increasingly more blind: they begin by admitting that the miracle took place, then come to deny that it was a miracle, and finally expel the cured man from the synagogue. Throughout the narrative, the Pharisees continue to profess confidently what they know, while the blind man continually admits his ignorance. The

Gospel ends with a warning by Jesus that his coming has created a crisis, in the literal meaning of that word, a judgment: he gives sight to the blind, but those who see become blind. In response to the Pharisees’ objection, he says: "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your blindness remains." The illumination given in baptism must be tended amid the lights and shadows of our pilgrimage, and so after Communion we pray: "O God … illuminate our hearts, we pray, with the splendor of your grace, that we may always ponder what is worthy and pleasing to your majesty and love you in all sincerity."

75. "Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him." Paul’s exhortation to rouse the sleeper on the previous Sunday finds vivid expression in the last and greatest of Jesus’ "signs" in the Fourth Gospel, the raising of Lazarus. The finality of death, emphasized by the fact that Lazarus had been already dead four days, seems to create an obstacle even greater than drawing water from a rock or giving sight to a man blind from birth. And yet, confronted with this state of affairs, Martha makes a profession of faith similar to Peter’s: "I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world." Her faith is not in what God could do in the future, but to what God is doing now: "I am the resurrection and the life." This "I am" runs through John’s Gospel, a clear allusion to the self-revelation of God to Moses, and it appears in the

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Gospels on each of these Sundays: When the Samaritan woman speaks about the Messiah, Jesus tells her, "I am he, the one speaking with you." In the story of the blind man, Jesus says, "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." And today he says, "I am the resurrection and the life." The key to receiving this life is faith:

"Do you believe this?" But even Martha wavers after making her bold profession of faith, and objects when

Jesus wants the stone to be removed that there will be a stench. Again, we are reminded that the following of

Christ is the work of a lifetime, and whether we are about to receive the sacraments of initiation in two weeks time, or have lived many years as Catholics, we must struggle continually to deepen our faith in Christ.

76. The raising of Lazarus is the fulfillment of God’s promise enunciated through the prophet Ezekiel in the first reading: "I will open your graves and have you rise from them." The heart of the Paschal Mystery is that

Christ came to die and rise again precisely to do for us what he did for Lazarus: "Untie him and let him go." He frees us, not only from physical death, but from the many other deaths that afflict us and bind us: sin, misfortune, broken relationships. This is why it is essential for us as Christians to immerse ourselves continually in his Paschal Mystery. As the Preface today proclaims: "For as true man he wept for Lazarus his friend and as eternal God raised him from the tomb, just as, taking pity on the human race, he leads us by sacred mysteries to new life." Our weekly encounter with the crucified and risen Lord is the expression of our faith that he IS, here and now, our resurrection and our life. It is that conviction that enables us to accompany him next Sunday as he enters Jerusalem, saying with Thomas, "Let us also go and die with him."

19 Mon , SPOUSE OF BLESSED VIRGIN MARY white Rank I Solemnity 2 Sm 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16/Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22/Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a or Lk 2:41-51a (543) Pss Prop Solemnity. A carpenter, though born of the royal house of David, Joseph was an upright man who, as husband of the Virgin Mary, cared for Mary and the child Jesus. He was venerated in the East after the fourth century, and his cult flowered in the West during the fifteenth century, following the development of medieval nativity plays, the Christmas crib, and increased devotion to Mary. Several Western calendars dating from the tenth century commemorated Joseph on March 19. In 1479 his feast was introduced at Rome and in 1621 was extended to the universal calendar. Since the solemnity of Joseph always occurs during Lent, the Conferences of bishops have permission to transfer this celebration to another day outside Lent.

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20 Tue Lenten Weekday13 violet Rank II Nm 21:4-9/Jn 8:21-30 (252)

21 Wed Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Dn 3:14-20, 91-92, 95/Jn 8:31-42 (253)

22 Thu Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Gn 17:3-9/Jn 8:51-59 (254)

23 Fri Lenten Weekday violet Rank II [Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo, Bishop] Jer 20:10-13/Jn 10:31-42 (255) Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo, Bishop] Born in Majorca (Spain) in 1538, Toribio died on this day in 1606 at Santa () and was canonized in 1726. A professor of law and a judge of the Inquisition in Spain, he was still a layman when appointed archbishop of Lima, Peru. There he became an outstanding missionary reformer. He is remembered for his determined opposition to ecclesiastical abuses and to colonial exploitation, for his pastoral care and evangelization of the indigenous peoples in their own languages, and for his visitation of the vast diocese. Toribio built churches, hospitals, and the first seminary in the Americas. His memorial is listed in the general calendar because of his work in restoring ecclesiastical discipline in the Latin American Church.

24 Sat Lenten Weekday violet Rank II Ez 37:21-28/Jn 11:45-56 (256)

25 ✠ SUN PALM SUNDAY OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD Pss II red Rank II Mk 11:1-10 or Jn 12:12-16 (37)/Is 50:4-7/Phil 2:6-11/Mk 14:1—15:47 or 15:1-39 (38) Homiletic Directory— Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014. D. Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion 77. "On Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion the texts for the procession are selections from the Synoptic Gospels concerning the Lord’s solemn entry into Jerusalem. For the Mass the reading is the account of the Lord’s Passion" (OLM 97). Two ancient traditions shape this unique liturgical celebration: the custom of a procession in Jerusalem, and the reading of the Passion in Rome. The exuberance surrounding Christ’s regal entry immediately gives way to the reading of one of the Songs of the Suffering Servant and the solemn proclamation of the Lord’s Passion. And this liturgy takes place on Sunday, a day always associated with the

13 The following readings may be used on any Lenten day this week, especially in Years B and C when the Gospel of Lazarus is not read on the Fifth Sunday of Lent: 2 Kgs 4:18b-21, 32-37/Jn 11:1-45 (250).

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Resurrection of Christ. How can the preacher bring together the many theological and emotional elements of this day, especially since pastoral considerations suggest a rather short homily? The key is found in the second reading, the beautiful hymn from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, which admirably summarizes the whole Paschal Mystery. The homilist could briefly point out that as the Church enters , we will experience that Mystery in a way that speaks to our hearts. Various local customs and traditions draw people into the events of the final days of Jesus’ life, but the great desire of the Church for this week is not simply to touch our emotions, but to deepen our faith. In the liturgical celebrations of the coming week we do not simply commemorate what Jesus did; we are plunged into the Paschal Mystery itself, dying and rising with Christ.

26 Mon Monday of Holy Week violet Rank II Is 42:1-7/Jn 12:1-11 (257)

27 Tue Tuesday of Holy Week violet Rank II Is 49:1-6/Jn 13:21-33, 36-38 (258)

28 Wed Wednesday of Holy Week violet Rank II Is 50:4-9a/Mt 26:14-25 (259)

29 Thu Thursday of Holy Week (Holy Thursday)14 violet/Mass: white Rank I Chrism Mass: Is 61:1-3a, 6a, 8b-9/Rv 1:5-8/Lk 4:16-21 (260) Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Ex 12:1-8, 11-14/1 Cor 11:23-26/Jn 13:1-15 (39) Pss Prop Homiletic Directory— Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014. A. The Old Testament Reading on Holy Thursday 39. "On Holy Thursday at the evening Mass the remembrance of the meal preceding the Exodus casts its own special light because of the Christ’s example in washing the feet of his disciples and Paul’s account of the institution of the Christian Passover in the Eucharist" (OLM 99). The Paschal Triduum begins with the Evening Mass, where the liturgy remembers the Lord’s institution of the Eucharist. Jesus entered into his Passion by celebrating the meal prescribed in the first reading: its every word and image point to what Christ himself pointed to at table, his life- giving death. The words from the Book of Exodus (Ex 12:1-8, 11-14) find their definitive meaning in Jesus’ paschal meal, the same meal we are celebrating now.

14 If necessary, the Chrism Mass may be celebrated on a suitable day before Holy Thursday.

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40. "Every family shall join the nearest household in procuring a lamb." We are many households come together in one place, and we have procured a lamb. "The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish." Our unblemished lamb is no less than Jesus himself, the Lamb of God. "With the whole assembly of Israel present, the lamb shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight." As we hear those words, we grasp that we are the whole assembly of the new Israel, gathered in the evening twilight; Jesus lets himself be slaughtered as he hands over his body and blood for us. "They shall apply the lamb’s blood to the doorposts and lintels … and that same night eat its roasted flesh." We shall fulfill these prescriptions as we take the blood of Jesus, applying it to our lips and eat the flesh of the Lamb in the consecrated bread.

41. We are told to eat this meal "with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, like those who are in flight." This is a description of our Christian life in the world. The girt loins suggest readiness to flee, but also evoke the scene of the mandatum that is described in tonight’s Gospel and takes place after the homily: we are called to be of service to the world, but as those who are sojourning, whose true home is not here. It is at this point in the reading, when we are told to eat like those in flight that the Lord solemnly names the feast: "It is the Passover (in Hebrew pesach) of the Lord! For on this same night I will strike down the first-born in the land … but, seeing the blood, I will pass over you." The Lord fights for us to strike down our enemies, sin and death, and protects us through the blood of the Lamb.

42. This solemn announcement of the Pasch concludes with a final order: "This day shall be a memorial feast for you … a perpetual institution." Not only did faithfulness to this command keep the Pasch alive in every generation down to the time of Jesus and beyond, but our faithfulness to his command, "Do this in memory of me" brings every subsequent generation of Christians into communion with Jesus’ Pasch. This is precisely what we do at this moment as we begin this year’s Triduum. It is a "memorial feast" instituted by the Lord, a "perpetual institution," a liturgical re-enacting of Jesus’ total gift of self.

30 Fri Friday of the Passion of the Lord (Good Friday) red Rank I Is 52:13—53:12/Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9/Jn 18:1—19:42 (40) Pss Prop Homiletic Directory— Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014. B. The Old Testament Reading on Good Friday 43. "On Good Friday the liturgical service has as its center John’s narrative of the Passion of him who was proclaimed in Isaiah as the Servant of the Lord and who became the one High Priest by offering himself to the Father" (OLM 99). The selection from Isaiah (Is 52:13 - 53:12) is one of the passages from the Old Testament in which Christians first saw the prophets pointing to the death of Christ. In relating this passage to the Passion, we follow a very ancient apostolic tradition,

81 for this is what Philip did in his conversation with the Ethiopian eunuch (cf. Acts 8:26-40).

44. The assembly is well aware of the reason for today’s gathering: to remember the death of Jesus. The prophet’s words comment, as it were, from God’s point of view on the scene of Jesus hanging on the Cross. We are invited to see the glory hidden in the Cross: "See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted." Jesus himself, in John’s Gospel spoke on several occasions of being lifted up; it is clear in this Gospel that there are three intertwined dimensions to this "lifting up": on the Cross, in his Resurrection, and in his Ascension to his Father.

45. But immediately after this glorious beginning to the Father’s "comment," its counterpoint is pronounced: the agony of the crucifixion. The servant is described as one "whose look was marred beyond human semblance and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man." In Jesus, the Eternal Word has not only assumed our human flesh, but embraces death in its most hideous and dehumanizing form. "So shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless." These words describe the history of the world from that first Good Friday to today: the story of the Cross has startled nations and converted them, it has startled others and caused them to turn away. The prophetic words apply to our community and culture as well, and to the host of "nations" within each of us – our energies and tendencies which must be converted to the Lord.

46. What follows is no longer God’s voice, but the prophet’s: "Who would believe what we have heard?" He then proceeds with a description whose details lead us to a further contemplation of the Cross, a contemplation that interlaces passion and passage, suffering and glory. The depth of suffering is further described with an exactness that makes us understand how natural it was for the first Christians to read texts of this kind and understand them as a prophetic foreshadowing of Christ, perceiving the glory hidden within. And thus, as the prophet claims, this tragic figure is full of significance for us: "Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured … by his stripes we were healed."

47. Jesus’ own interior attitude to his Passion is also foretold: "Though he was harshly treated, he submitted … like a lamb led to the slaughter … he was silent and opened not his mouth …." These are all startling and amazing things. But in effect the Resurrection is obliquely foretold as well in what the prophet says: "If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendents in a long life." All believers are those descendents; his "long life" is the eternal life the Father gives him in raising him from the dead. And now the Father’s voice is heard again, continuing to proclaim the promise of Resurrection: "Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days … Therefore I will give him his portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because he surrendered himself to death … he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses."

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Easter Season 31 Sat Holy Saturday15 violet/Vigil: white Rank I Vigil: Gn 1:1—2:2 or 1:1, 26-31a/Gn 22:1-18 or 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18/ Ex 14:15—15:1/Is 54:5-14/Is 55:1-11/Bar 3:9-15, 32—4:4/Ez 36:16-17a, 18-28/ Rom 6:3-11/Mk 16:1-7 (41) Pss Prop Homiletic Directory— Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.

C. The Old Testament Readings of the Easter Vigil 48. "At the Vigil on the holy night of Easter there are seven Old Testament readings which recall the wonderful works of God in the history of salvation. There are two New Testament readings, the announcement of the Resurrection according to one of the Synoptic Gospels and a reading from St. Paul on Christian baptism as the sacrament of Christ’s Resurrection" (OLM 99). The Easter Vigil is, as the Roman Missal indicates, "the greatest and most noble of all solemnities" (Easter Vigil 2). The length of the Vigil does not allow for extended commentary on the seven readings from the Old Testament, but it should be noted that they are central, representative texts proclaiming whole blocks of essential Old Testament theology, moving from creation through Abraham’s sacrifice to the most important reading, the Exodus; four subsequent readings announce pivotal themes of the prophets. An understanding of these texts in relation to the Paschal Mystery, which is so explicit in the Easter Vigil, can inspire the homilist when these or similar readings appear at other times in the liturgical year.

49. In the context of the liturgy of this night, the Church progresses by way of these lessons to the climax of them all, the Gospel account of the Lord’s Resurrection. We are plunged into the stream of salvation history by means of the Sacraments of Initiation, celebrated on this evening, as Paul’s beautiful passage on Baptism reminds us. The links which are so clear in this night between creation and the new life in Christ, between the historical Exodus and the definitive Exodus of Jesus’ Paschal Mystery in which all the faithful share through Baptism, between the prophets’ promises and their realization in the very liturgies being celebrated – all these are links that can be made again and again throughout the liturgical year.

50. A very rich resource for understanding these links between Old Testament themes and their fulfillment in Christ’s Paschal Mystery is the prayers that follow each reading. These express with simplicity and clarity the Church’s profound Christological and sacramental understanding of the Old Testament texts, as they speak of creation, sacrifice, the exodus, baptism, divine mercy, the eternal

15 Nine readings are assigned to the Easter Vigil: seven from the Old Testament and two from the New. If circumstances demand in individual cases, the number of prescribed readings may be reduced. Three selections from the Old Testament, both from the Law and the Prophets, should be read before the and Gospel. In any case, the reading from Exodus about the escape through the Red Sea (reading 3) should never be omitted.

83 covenant, the cleansing of sin, redemption and life in Christ. They can serve as a school of prayer for the homilist not only as he prepares for the Easter Vigil, but also throughout the year when treating texts similar to those proclaimed this evening. Another useful resource for interpreting the Scripture passages is the responsorial psalm that follows each of the seven readings, the poems sung by Christians who have died with Christ and now share with him in his risen life. These should not be neglected through the rest of the year, for they demonstrate how the Church reads all Scripture in the light of Christ.

APRIL 2018 1 SUN EASTER SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION white Rank I Solemnity Acts 10:34a, 37-43/Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8/Jn 20:1-9 (42) or Mk 16:1-7 (41) or, at an afternoon or evening Mass, Lk 24:13-35 (46) Pss Prop Homiletic Directory— Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014. D. The Easter Lectionary 51. "The Gospel reading for the Mass on Easter day is from John on the finding of the empty tomb. There is also, however, the option to use the Gospel texts from the Easter Vigil or, when there is an evening Mass on Easter Sunday, to use the account in Luke of the Lord’s appearance to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. The first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles, which throughout the Easter season replaces the Old Testament reading. The reading from the Apostle Paul concerns the living out of the Paschal Mystery in the Church. … The Gospel readings for the first three Sundays recount the appearances of the risen Christ. The readings about the Good Shepherd are assigned to the Fourth Sunday. On the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Sundays, there are excerpts from the Lord’s discourse and prayer at the end of the " (OLM 99-100). Following upon the rich collection of readings from the Old and New Testaments heard during the Triduum, these are some of the most intense moments of the proclamation of the risen Lord in the life of the Church, and they are meant to be instructive and formative of the People of God throughout the whole liturgical year. During Holy Week and the Easter Season, the homilist will have occasion again and again to drive home the point, based on the scriptural texts themselves, of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ as the central content of the Scriptures. This is the privileged liturgical season during which the homilist can and must put forward the Church’s faith on this, her central proclamation: that Jesus Christ died for our sins "in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3) and that he rose on the third day "in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:4).

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2 Mon Monday within the Octave of Easter16 white Rank I Acts 2:14, 22-33/Mt 28:8-15 (261) Pss Prop

3 Tue Tuesday within the Octave of Easter white Rank I Acts 2:36-41/Jn 20:11-18 (262) Pss Prop [Francis of Paola] Hermit, Religious Founder Francis was born at Paola (Italy) in 1416 and died at Tours (France) on this day in 1507. While still a youth he became a hermit. Others were quickly attracted to his way of life and came to be renowned for their charity and austerity as well as for their commitment to Franciscan ideals. Francis lived to see them recognized as the Order of . He is remembered as a spiritual counsellor of kings and for his political peacemaking. Francis died on Good Friday near Tours, France, on April 2, 1507, and was canonized in 1519. His feast was placed in the Roman calendar in 1557, suppressed in 1568, and reintroduced in 1585.

4 Wed Wednesday within the Octave of Easter white Rank I Acts 3:1-10/Lk 24:13-35 (263) Pss Prop [Isidore] ISIDORE OF . BISHOP, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH Isidore was born about AD 560 in Seville (Spain) and died there in 636. Archbishop of Seville for thirty-six years, he labored successfully to bring the Visigoths from Arianism to orthodox belief, he presided over several councils significant for Church life in Spain, and codified the distinctive liturgy of the Spanish Church, “the Mozarabic Rite”, which is preserved to this day. Isidore is remembered for his prolific writings and as an influential educator, and is noted too for the pastoral care of his diocese. The Spanish calendars of the Middle Ages commemorate the burial of Isidore at Seville on April 4, 636. His feast was inscribed in the Roman calendar in 1722.

5 Thu Thursday within the Octave of Easter white Rank I Acts 3:11-26/Lk 24:35-48 (264) Pss Prop [] Priest, Religious, Missionary Vincent was born in Valencia (Spain) in 1350 and died at Vannes (France) on this day in 1419. A Dominican friar, Vincent quickly distinguished himself in converting many to Christ and is remembered chiefly for preaching repentance on his missions throughout France, Spain, and Italy. He was also influential in ending the schism between the Avignon and Roman papal claimants. Vincent died at Vanned, France, on April 5, 1419. He was canonized in 1455, and his feast was entered in the Roman calendar in 1667.

6 Fri Friday within the Octave of Easter white Rank I Acts 4:1-12/Jn 21:1-14 (265) Pss Prop

7 Sat Saturday within the Octave of Easter white Rank I Acts 4:13-21/Mk 16:9-15 (266) Pss Prop [John Baptist de la Salle: Priest, Educator, Religious Founder] John was born at Rheims (France) in 1651 and died at Rouen on this day in 1719. He was ordained to the presbyterate in 1678 after seminary studies at Saint Sulpice in Paris. He pioneered schools for poor boys and the working classes, the training of teachers, and the care of disturbed children. Despite much

16 Although not given the title of Solemnity, “[t]he first eight days of Easter Time constitute the Octave of Easter and are celebrated as Solemnities of the Lord” (Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, no. 24).

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internal conflict and external opposition, John formed his companions into the Brothers of the Christian Schools. He is remembered for devoting his entire life and resources to education. John died at Rouen, France, on April 7, 1719, and was canonized in 1900. His feast, celebrated on May, 15, appeared in the Roman calendar in 1904.

8 SUN white Rank I (OR SUNDAY OF DIVINE MERCY) Acts 4:32-35/1 Jn 5:1-6/Jn 20:19-31 (44) Pss Prop

9 Mon THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD white Rank I Solemnity Is 7:10-14; 8:10/Heb 10:4-10/Lk 1:26-38 (545) Pss Prop Solemnity [Annunciation] The Solemnity of the Annunciation is of Eastern origin. This feast originated in the East during the sixth century and gained universal observance in the West during the eighth century. It is a feast of the Lord, commemorating the announcement to the Virgin Mary of the Word made flesh, Mary’s acceptance of God’s will, and the conception of Christ nine months before Christmas. Its occurrence close to Easter links the incarnation with the whole mystery of human redemption in Christ. As the Liber Pontificalis indicates, it was adopted at Rome in the seventh century under the title “Annunciation of the Lord.” The Eastern rites and the Ambrosian rite have always considered it a solemnity of the Lord.

10 Tue Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 4:32-37/Jn 3:7b-15 (268) Pss II

11 Wed Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr red Rank III Memorial Acts 5:17-26/Jn 3:16-21 (269) Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Marty †April 11, 1079 Memorial. Born at Szczepanow (Poland) about 1030, Stanislaus died on this day in 1079 at Cracow. He became bishop of Cracow in 1072. His outspoken condemnation of corruption resulted in his murder on the orders of the king. Stanislaus is remembered for his reforms, his preaching, and his pastoral concern. As is recorded in the Chapter book at Cracow, Stanislaus was martyred there on April 11, 1079. He was canonized in 1253; in 1594 his feast was added to the Roman calendar on May 7.

12 Thu Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 5:27-33/Jn 3:31-36 (270)

13 Fri Easter Weekday white/red Rank III [Saint Martin I, Pope and Martyr] Acts 5:34-42/Jn 6:1-15 (271)

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[Saint Martin I, Pope and Martyr] Martin was born at Todi (Italy) and died in exile at Chersonesus (Crimea) on this day about 655. A deacon in Rome, Martin was sent as legate to Constantinople. After being elected pope in 649, he held a council at the Lateran which condemned the error that Christ did not have a human will. This and the council’s censure of two related imperial edicts led to his imprisonment and exile. Martin is remembered for the many hardships he suffered and is the last pope to be venerated as a martyr.The Vita graeca of Martin I indicates that he died in the Crimea on April 13, 656. This date is observed as his feast day in the Byzantine rite. The martyrology of Ado lists the burial of Martin on November 12, the day after the feast of Martin of Tours, and this has been the date of its celebration at Rome since the eleventh century.

14 Sat Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 6:1-7/Jn 6:16-21 (272)

15 SUN THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER white Rank I Acts 3:13-15, 17-19/1 Jn 2:1-5a/Lk 24:35-48 (47) Pss III

16 Mon Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 6:8-15/Jn 6:22-29 (273)

17 Tue Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 7:51—8:1a/Jn 6:30-35 (274)

18 Wed Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 8:1b-8/Jn 6:35-40 (275)

19 Thu Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 8:26-40/Jn 6:44-51 (276)

20 Fri Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 9:1-20/Jn 6:52-59 (277)

21 Sat Easter Weekday white/white Rank III [Saint Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church] Acts 9:31-42/Jn 6:60-69 (278) [Anselm] Monk, Bishop, Doctor of the Church. Born in 1033 at Aosta (Italy), Anselm died at Canterbury (England) on this day in 1109. He was a monk at Bec (Normandy), where he taught theology and devoted himself to the spiritual life. Later, as archbishop of Canterbury, his bitter disputes with the king resulted in his being exiled twice. He is remembered for his theological learning and

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writings and for organizing Church life in England.Anselm died at Canterbury, England, on April 21, 1109, and his feast was recorded in the Roman calendar in 1688.

22 SUN FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER white Rank I Acts 4:8-12/1 Jn 3:1-2/Jn 10:11-18 (50) Pss IV

23 Mon Easter Weekday white/red/red Rank III [, Martyr; Saint Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr] Acts 11:1-18/Jn 10:1-10 (279) [Saint George, Martyr; George was martyred at Lydda (Israel) around 303 in the persecution of the emperor Diocletian. His cult, which predates the legend of his slaying the dragon, spread quickly through East and West. During the crusades, George was seen to personify the ideals of Christian chivalry, and he was adopted as patron of several city-states and countries. The cult of George seems to have begun in Lydda, Palestine, and is very popular in the East as well as in the West. His memorial is retained on April 23, the day of its celebration at Rome since 683. The Syrian and Byzantine rites honor him on the same day whereas the Coptic rite celebrates his feast of April 18.

Saint Adalbert, Religious, Bishop and Martyr] Born in Bohemia (Czech Republic) about 956, Adalbert died near Gdansk (Poland) on this day in 997. Named Wojciech at baptism, he took the name Adalbert at the time of his confirmation while studying in Magdeburg (Germany). Around the age of twenty-six he became the first Czech bishop of Prague, but his efforts to further the Christian faith in Bohemia and Hungary met with vehement opposition and he withdrew to Rome in 990, becoming a monk. Returning to Prague for only a couple of years, he founded the abbey of Brevnov, which became a spiritual and missionary centre for the western Slavs. Adalbert was then released from his episcopal responsibilities and devoted himself to missionary work among the Prussians on the Polish coast, where he was martyred. He is remembered for his prayerfulness, his concern for the poor, and his courage in the face of opposition.

24 Tue Easter Weekday white/red Rank III [Saint , Priest and Martyr] Acts 11:19-26/Jn 10:22-30 (280) [Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Religious, Priest and Martyr] Born at Sigmaringen (Germany) in 1578, Fidelis died at Seewis (Switzerland) on this day in 1622. Fidelis became a Capuchin after briefly practicing as a lawyer noted for upholding the causes of the poor and oppressed. He is remembered for his care of the sick and for his preaching, especially among Protestants in Switzerland,

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where he was martyred. Fidelis suffered martyrdom at Seewis, Switzerland, on April 24, 1622, and was canonized in 1746. His feast was entered in the Roman calendar in 1771.

25 Wed Saint Mark, Evangelist red Rank II Feast 1 Pt 5:5b-14/Mk 16:15-20 (555) Pss Prop Feast. Mark died about the year 74. He is usually identified with the John Mark whose mother’s house in Jerusalem was a meeting place for the apostles, and with the young man who followed Christ after his arrest (Mark 14:51). A cousin of Saint Barnabas (11 June), Mark accompanied Saint Paul (29 June) on his first missionary journey and later followed him to Rome. A companion of Saint Peter (29 June), he is traditionally credited with the gospel which reflects Peter’s teaching and memoirs. Mark is honored as the founder of the Church in Alexandria. The feast of Mark is celebrated on April 25 in the Byzantine and Coptic rites. It was adopted by Rome in the eleventh century.

26 Thu Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 13:13-25/Jn 13:16-20 (282)

27 Fri Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 13:26-33/Jn 14:1-6 (283)

28 Sat Easter Weekday white/red/white Rank III [Saint , Priest and Martyr; Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort, Priest] Acts 13:44-52/Jn 14:7-14 (284) [Peter Chanel] Priest, Religious, Missionary, Martyr Born at Cuet (France) in 1803, Peter died on Futuna (Southwest Pacific Ocean) on this day in 1841. Initially a diocesan priest, he was noted for his pastoral zeal, particularly his care of the sick. Later he joined the Society of Mary (Marists) and is remembered for his missionary work in the Pacific. Evangelization in the local language brought some success on the island of Futuna. When the chief's son asked for baptism, the chief was so angry that he sent warriors to kill the missionary. They clubbed the Peter to death and cut up his body with hatchets. Two years later, the whole island was Catholic. He is honored as the protomartyr of the Church in Oceania.Peter Aloysius Maria Chanel suffered martyrdom on the island of Futuna in the New Hebrides, on April 28, 1841; he was beatified in 1889 and canonized in 1954. It is appropriate that the first martyr of Oceania should be inscribed in the Universal calendar.

OR

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Louis Grignion de Montfort, Priest Louis was born at Montfort-la-Canne (France) in 1673 and died at St. Laurent- sur-Sèvre on this day in 1716. In his priestly ministry, he devoted himself to the poor and the sick and to preaching popular missions across western France. To further these works, he founded the Daughters of Wisdom and the Missionaries of the (Montfort Fathers and Brothers). He is remembered for his extensive spiritual writings concerning the Virgin Mary’s role in the mystery of salvation.

29 SUN FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER white Acts 9:26-31/1 Jn 3:18-24/Jn 15:1-8 (53) Pss I Saint , Virgin and Doctor of the Church Memorial. Catherine was born at Siena (Italy) in 1347 and died at Rome on this day in 1380. Committed to the practice of prayer and penance from an early age, she entered the Dominican Third Order while still an adolescent. She became an influential spiritual leader and made strenuous efforts to reconcile Church and state and to reform the Roman papacy. Catherine is remembered for her holiness and determination and, though she never learned to write, for the quality of her teachings. She is remembered also as a mystic and a reformer of religious life. Catherine died at Rome on April 29, 1380 and was canonized on the same day in 1461. In 1597 her commemoration was assigned to this day in the Roman calendar. Since this was also the feast of Peter of Verona, in 1628 her feast was transferred to the following day.

30 Mon Easter Weekday white/white Rank III [Saint Pius V, Pope] Acts 14:5-18/Jn 14:21-26 (285) [Saint Pius V, Religious, Pope] Ghislieri was born near Alessandria (Italy) in 1504 and died at Rome on this day in 1572. He taught philosophy and theology as a Dominican priest and became a . Elected pope in 1565, he was noted for his reforming zeal and for defending Christendom against the Ottoman empire. His excommunication of Queen Elizabeth I of England hardened the split between Catholics and Protestants. Chiefly he is remembered for implementing the reforms of the , including the Breviary, Missal, and Catechism. Pius died at Rome on , 1572, and was canonized in 1712. In 1713 his feast was assigned in the Roman calendar to May 5.

MAY 2018 1 Tue Easter Weekday white/white Rank III [Saint Joseph the Worker]

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Acts 14:19-28/Jn 14:27-31a (286) or, for the Memorial, Gn 1:26—2:3 or Col 3:14-15, 17, 23-24/Mt 13:54-58 (559) [Saint Joseph the Worker] This commemoration, instituted by Pius XII in 1955, proposes the example and intercession of Joseph as worker and provider. On this date many countries celebrate the dignity and cause of human labour. In 1955 Pius XII instituted the feast of Joseph the Worker for May 1. While this is a day dedicated to the dignity of work in some countries, other countries observe it another time and so it seemed best to have May 1 as an optional memorial.

2 Wed Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church white Rank III Memorial Acts 15:1-6/Jn 15:1-8 (287) Memorial. Athanasius was born in 295 and was buried on this day in 373 at Alexandria (Egypt). He attended the first ecumenical council of Nicaea as a deacon. Later, as bishop of Alexandria, he upheld that council’s doctrine in the face of great opposition from Arians, including several emperors. Athanasius was sent into exile a number of times. He is venerated as the “Father of Orthodoxy” for championing the true and equal divinity of the incarnate Son of God.The Byzantine and Coptic rites observe the burial of (373) on May 2. In 1550 his feast was accepted into the Roman calendar.

3 Thu Saints Philip and James, Apostles red Rank II Feast 1 Cor 15:1-8/Jn 14:6-14 (561) Pss Prop Feast. Saints Philip and James, Apostles Philip, from Bethsaida in Galilee, became a disciple of Jesus and one of the twelve. He is recorded in the Fourth Gospel as recognising in Jesus the one foretold by Moses and the prophets (John 1:45) and as introducing Gentiles to the Lord (John 12:20-22). According to Acts 8:5, he was the first to preach the gospel to non-Jews. James, son of Alphaeus, was also one of the twelve called by Jesus (Mark 3:18ff.). Known as James the Less, he has been venerated traditionally as the author of the letter of James and as leader of the Church in Jerusalem,where he died in the year 62. The feast of Philip and James is connected with the dedication of the Roman church of the Twelve Apostles, on May 1, 570. With the introduction of the feast of Joseph the Worker in 1955, their feast was transferred to the next free day, May 11. In the present revision, May 3 is the first free day after the memorial of Joseph.

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4 Fri Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 15:22-31/Jn 15:12-17 (289)

5 Sat Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 16:1-10/Jn 15:18-21 (290)

6 SUN SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER17 Pss II white Rank I Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48/PS 98:1, 2-3, 3-4/1 Jn 4:7-10/Jn 15:9-17 (56) Seventh Sunday of Easter (60) Acts 1:15-17, 20A, 20C-26/Psalm 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20/1 Jn 4:11-16/Jn 17:11b--19

7 Mon Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 16:11-15/Jn 15:26—16:4a (291)

8 Tue Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 16:22-34/Jn 16:5-11 (292) 9 Wed Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 17:15, 22—18:1/Jn 16:12-15 (293)

All Other U.S. Ecclesiastical Provinces: 10 Thu Easter Weekday white/white Rank III [USA: Saint Damien de Veuster, Priest] Acts 18:1-8/Jn 16:16-20 (294)

St. Damien de Veuster of Molokai, SS.CC. Missionary to the lepers of Molokai, Hawaii St. Damien of Molokai was born in Belgium in 1840 to a poor farmer and his wife. At the age of 13, he quit school to help his parents on the farm; when he was nineteen, he entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Damien's older brother, Pamphile, was also a priest in this congregation, and had offered his service to the care of the lepers on the Island of Molokai. When he fell ill and couldn't go to the mission, Damien volunteered to take his place. The saint offered to stay in the leper colony permanently - he built schools, churches, hospitals and coffins. He was later joined in his work by the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse, led by St. Marianne Cope. St. Damien contracted the disease himself, but continued to serve the mission until his death in 1889 .

The Office of Readings

17 When the Ascension of the Lord is celebrated on the following Sunday, the Second Reading and Gospel from the Seventh Sunday of Easter (see no. 60) may be read on the Sixth Sunday of Easter.

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SECOND READING A reading from the Letters of Saint Damien De Veuster, priest (Processus suppletivus Servi Dei Damiani De Veuster, Copia Publica, Rome, Archives of the SS.CC. General Postulation, vol. I & vol. II, 1951) I have accepted this disease as my particular cross Divine Providence, having compassion on the unfortunate, has thought fit to look upon your unworthy servant to care for the spiritual needs of a well-known leprosy hospital that our Government had to establish to preserve the whole archipelago from disease. Thus, it is in my role as pastor of an unusual parish of eight hundred lepers, nearly half of whom are now Catholics, that I take the liberty to write to you these lines.

Here I am in the midst of my dear lepers. They are so frightful to see, it is true, but they have souls redeemed at the price of the Precious Blood of our Divine Saviour. He also in his divine charity consoled lepers. If I can not cure them as he did, at least I can console them and by the holy ministry which in his goodness he has entrusted to me, I hope that many among them, purified from the leprosy of the soul, will present themselves before his tribunal prepared to enter the communion of the blessed.

My chapel, which was too big the first weeks I was here, has now become too small. Three weeks in a row I have had to ask some of the older Christians to stand outside along the windows in order to give their places to the new-comers or to the fallen away who have returned or to the catechumens of whom there are always some.

Besides Sunday, there are a good number who come regularly to Mass and evening rosary every day of the week. A good number receive communion every Sunday. Besides the consolations that the heart of a priest finds in the church, there is also much good to do by visiting homes, going from one hut to another, almost all of them filled with poor unfortunates who can hardly drag themselves around as often their hands and feet have been eaten away by this horrible disease. They are condemned to breathe foul air. Ordinarily they listen with great attention to the word of salvation which I share with each one according to their disposition.

Even though I am not a leper, I make myself a leper with the lepers; when I preach, I always use the expression, "We, lepers". Thus may I gain all for Christ as St. Paul.

As you know, it has been already quite a while that Divine Providence chose me to become a victim of this repugnant disease of ours. I hope to remain eternally grateful for this grace. It seems to me that this disease will shorten and narrow the way that will lead me to our dear homeland. In that hope accepted this disease as my particular cross; I try to bear it as did Simon of Cyrene, following in the footsteps of our Divine Master. Please assist me with your good prayers, so as to obtain for me the strength of perseverance, until I reach the summit of Calvary.

RESPONSORY Cf. Jn 15:13,16 R. There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.* To lay down one's life for one's friends. That is the fruit of true love.

V. I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain* To lay down one's life for one’s friends.

COLLECT Father of mercy,

93 who gave us in Saint Damien a shining witness of love for the poorest and most abandoned, grant that, by his intercession, as faithful witnesses of the heart of your Son Jesus, we too may be servants of the most needy and rejected. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

The English translation of Psalm Responses, Alleluia Verses, Gospel Verses from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL); the English translation of Antiphons, Invitatories, Responsories, Intercessions, Psalm 95, the Canticle of the Lamb, Psalm Prayers, Non-Biblical Readings from The Liturgy of the Hours © 1973, 1974, 1975, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

11 Fri Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 18:9-18/Jn 16:20-23 (295)

12 Sat Easter Weekday white/red/red Rank III [Saints Nereus and Achilleus, Martyrs; Saint Pancras, Martyr] Acts 18:23-28/Jn 16:23b-28 (296) Nereus and Achilleus, Pancras] The martyrology of Jerome records the burial of Nereus and Achilleus in the cemetery of Domitilla on May 12, the day of St. Pancras’ burial in the cemetery of Octavilla. The ancient Roman liturgical books commemorated Nereus and Achilleus, the martyrs of the Ardeatine Way, and Pancras, the martyr of the Aurelian Way, with separate Mass texts.

All Other U.S. Ecclesiastical Provinces: 13 SUN THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD white Rank I Solemnity Acts 1:1-11/Eph 1:17-23 or Eph 4:1-13 or 4:1-7, 11-13/Mk 16:15-20 (58) Pss Prop

14 Mon , Apostle red Rank II Feast Acts 1:15-17, 20-26/Jn 15:9-17 (564) Pss Prop Feast. Saint Matthias, Apostle A companion of Jesus and a witness to the resurrection, Matthias was chosen by lot to take the place of Judas and so to share the apostolic ministry of the twelve (Acts 1:15-26). He is named in Eucharistic Prayer I (The Roman Canon). Matthias, commemorated by the Coptic liturgy on March 4, and by the Byzantine liturgy on August 9, has been honored at Rome since the eleventh century on February 24. The martyrology of Jerome in the chapter “Notes on the places of the Apostles” records this date. Since it

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frequently occurs in Lent, the feast is transferred to May 14, so that it may be celebrated in the Easter season, close to the solemnity of the Ascension.

15 Tue Easter Weekday white/white Rank III [USA: Saints Isidore and Maria] Acts 20:17-27/Jn 17:1-11a (298) Isidore was born in 1070 to a peasant family near , Spain. He was baptized “Isidore” in honor of the famous archbishop of Seville. Isidore the farmer was actually a day laborer, working on the farm of the wealthy John de Vergas at Torrelaguna, just outside Madrid. He married a poor girl, . Their only child, a son, died in infancy.

The couple took a vow of continence to serve God. Isidore’s life is a model of simple Christian charity and faith. He prayed while at work. He shared what he had with the poor, even his meals. He often gave them more than he had for himself.

A story told about St. Isidore (feast day, May 15) is that he often came later to work in the fields than other laborers because he would first attend Mass in the morning. Yet his work never suffered and he always met the chores required of him. It was said two angels, one on either side of Isidore, appeared and joined their pious companion in plowing the fields.

St. Maria (feast day, September 9) always kept a pot of stew on the fireplace in their humble rural dwelling. She knew that her husband Isidore would often bring home anyone who was hungry. One day he brought home more hungry people than usual. After she served many of them, Maria told him that there simply was no more stew in the pot. He insisted that she check the pot again, and she was able to spoon out enough stew to feed them all.

In representations, St. Isidore is portrayed as a peasant with a sickle or staff, and sometimes with an angel or white oxen near him. He died in 1130 and was canonized in 1622.

After Isidore’s death, Maria became a hermit, but she too performed miracles and merited after her death the name of “Santa Maria de la Cabeza”, meaning Head, because her head (conserved in a reliquary and carried in procession) has often brought rain from heaven for an afflicted dry countryside. Her remains are honored by all of Spain by pilgrimages and processions at Torrelaguna, where they were transferred in 1615. She was beatified in 1697. https://catholicrurallife.org/resources/spiritual/isidore-and-maria-patron- saints-of-farmers/

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16 Wed Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 20:28-38/Jn 17:11b-19 (299)

17 Thu Easter Weekday white Rank III Acts 22:30; 23:6-11/Jn 17:20-26 (300)

18 Fri Easter Weekday white/red Rank III [Saint John I, Pope and Martyr] Acts 25:13b-21/Jn 21:15-19 (301) [Saint John I, Pope and Martyr] John died in prison at Ravenna on May 18, 526. He is remembered as a conciliator and peacemaker, the first bishop of Rome to visit Constantinople. He was imprisoned by Theodoric, ruler of Italy and an Arian, for excessive sympathy toward the Church of the East. In the twelfth century his feast was listed in the Roman calendar on May 27, the date of his burial in the Vatican basilica.

19 Sat Easter Weekday white Rank III Morning: Acts 28:16-20, 30-31/Jn 21:20-25 (302)

20 SUN PENTECOST SUNDAY red Rank I Solemnity Vigil (62): Gn 11:1-9 or Ex 19:3-8a, 16-20b or Ez 37:1-14 or Jl 3:1-5/Rom 8:22-27/Jn 7:37- 39 , or, for the Extended Vigil, Gn 11:1-9/Ex 19:3-8a, 16-20b/Ez 37:1-14/Jl 3:1-5/Rom 8:22-27/Jn 7:37- 39 (Lectionary for Mass Supplement, 62) Day (63): Acts 2:1-11/1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Gal 5:16-25/Jn 20:19-23 or Jn 15:26-27; 16:12-15 Pss Prop

[Saint Bernardine of Siena, Priest] Born in Tuscany (Italy) in 1380, Bernardine died at Aquila on this day in 1444. A Franciscan, theologian, and reformer, he was a popular preacher throughout Italy. He is remembered as a preacher, as a promoter of devotion to the name of Jesus, and for his efforts toward reunion of the Eastern and Western Churches at the Council of Florence.Bernadine died at Aquila, Italy, on May 20, 1444 and was canonized in 1450. His feast day was entered in the Roman calendar in 1657.

Ordinary Time (Season of the Year) 21 Mon Weekday (Seventh Week in Ordinary Time) green/red Rank IV

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[ Magallanes, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs] Jas 3:13-18/Mk 9:14-29 (341) Pss III

22 Tue Weekday green/white Rank IV [Saint , Religious] Jas 4:1-10/Mk 9:30-37 (342)

23 Wed Weekday green Rank IV Jas 4:13-17/Mk 9:38-40 (343)

24 Thu Weekday green Rank IV Jas 5:1-6/Mk 9:41-50 (344)

25 Fri Weekday green/white/white/white Rank IV [Saint Bede , Priest and Doctor of the Church; Saint Gregory VII, Pope; Saint de’ Pazzi, Virgin] Jas 5:9-12/Mk 10:1-12 (345) [Saint Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church;

Saint Gregory VII, Pope; Saint Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi, Virgin; BVM] Venerable Bede died at Jarrow, England, on May 25, 735. In 1899 the Roman calendar assigned his feast to May 27. Gregory VII died at Salerno, Italy, on May 25, 1085. His name was placed in the martyrology in 1584 but his feast did not enter the Roman calendar until 1728. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi died at Florence on May 25, 1607 and was canonized in 1669. A year later her feast was put in the Roman calendar for this date. In 1728, with the introduction of the feast of Gregory VII, it was moved to May 27, and in 1899, because of the feast of Bede, was moved again to May 29.

26 Sat Saint , Priest white Rank III Memorial Jas 5:13-20/Mk 10:13-16 (346) [Philip Neri] Philip died in Rome on May 26, 1595, was canonized in 1622, and three years later his feast was placed in the Roman calendar.

27 SUN THE MOST HOLY TRINITY white Rank I Solemnity Dt 4:32-34, 39-40/Rom 8:14-17/Mt 28:16-20 (165) Pss Prop Saint , Bishop] The older manuscripts of the martyrology of Jerome, dating from the eighth century, mention the burial of Augustine at Canterbury, England, on May 26, 604 or 605. His feast was added to the Roman calendar in 1882 on May 28.

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28 Mon Weekday (Eighth Week in Ordinary Time) green Rank IV 1 Pt 1:3-9/Mk 10:17-27 (347) Pss IV

29 Tue Weekday green Rank IV 1 Pt 1:10-16/Mk 10:28-31 (348)

30 Wed Weekday green Rank IV 1 Pt 1:18-25/Mk 10:32-45 (349)

31 Thu The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary white Rank II Feast The feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was instituted by Urban VI in the year 1389 to end the Western schism. It was placed on the Roman calendar July 2, the same day the celebrated the feast since 1263. Now it is transferred to the last day of May between the feasts of the Annunciation and the birth of St. , which is in accord with the gospel narrative. Zep 3:14-18a or Rom 12:9-16/Lk 1:39-56 (572) Pss Prop JUNE 2018 1 Fri Saint Justin, Martyr red Rank III Memorial 1 Pt 4:7-13/Mk 11:11-26 (351) Memorial. Justin the martyr died in Rome about 165, but the day of his burial is unknown. In 1882 his feast in the Roman calendar was assigned to April 14, the day after his commemoration in the martyrology of Florus of Lyons. Since this date often falls during the Easter solemnities, it is transferred to June 1, the day on which it has been observed by the Byzantine liturgy at least since the ninth century.

2 Sat Weekday green/red/white Rank IV [Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs; BVM] Jude 17, 20b-25/Mk 11:27-33 (352) [Marcellinus and Peter] The martyrology of Jerome records the burial of Marcellinus and Peter on June 2, about 304, in the cemetery between Two Laurels on the Labican Way.

3 SUN THE MOST HOLY BODY AND white Rank I Solemnity (Corpus Christi) Ex 24:3-8/Heb 9:11-15/Mk 14:12-16, 22-26 (168) Pss Prop

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Saint and Companions, Martyrs Memorial. Charles and twenty-one companions, the , were the first martyrs of black Africa. Charles and twelve others were martyred at Rubaga on June 3, 1886. The others were killed between May 26 of that same year and January 27, 1887. All were declared saints in 1964.

4 Mon Weekday (Ninth Week in Ordinary Time) green Rank IV 2 Pt 1:2-7/Mk 12:1-12 (353) Pss I

5 Tue , Bishop and Martyr red Rank III Memorial 2 Pt 3:12-15a, 17-18/Mk 12:13-17 (354) Boniface, baptized Winfrid, was martyred near Dokkum, Holland, on June 5, 754, and soon began to be venerated by the faithful. His feast was entered in the Roman calendar in 1874.

6 Wed Weekday green/white Rank IV [Saint Norbert, Bishop] 2 Tm 1:1-3. 6-12/Mk 12:18-27 (355) [Saint Norbert, Bishop] Norbert died at Magdeburg, Germany, on June 6, 1134. He was canonized in 1582, and his feast placed in the Roman calendar in 1620.

7 Thu Weekday green Rank IV 2 Tm 2:8-15/Mk 12:28-34 (356)

8 Fri THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS white Rank I Solemnity Hos 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9/Eph 3:8-12, 14-19/Jn 19:31-37 (171) Pss Prop

9 Sat The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary white Rank III Memorial 2 Tm 4:1-8 (358)/Lk 2:41-51 (573)

St , June 9, 378 Ephrem, honoured by Christian tradition with the title "Harp of the Holy Spirit" was born into a Christian family in Nisibis (modern-day Iraq) about 306 A.D. He was Christianity's most important Syriac-speaking representative and uniquely succeeded in reconciling the vocations of theologian and poet. He was educated and grew up assisting James, Bishop of Nisibis (303-338), and with him founded the theological school in his city. He was ordained a deacon and was intensely active in local Christian community life until 363, the year when Nisibis fell into Persian hands. Ephrem is remembered for his poetic and dogmatic works, for his

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holy and ascetical life, and for his devotion to the Virgin Mary Ephrem then emigrated to Edessa, where he continued his activity as a preacher. He died in this city in 373, a victim of the disease he contracted while caring for those infected with the plague. It is not known for certain whether he was a monk, but we can be sure in any case that he remained a deacon throughout his life and embraced virginity and poverty. According to the Chronicles of Edessa of 540, Ephrem died there on June 9, 378. In 1920, the Roman calendar assigned his feast to June 18.

10 SUN TENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Gn 3:9-15/2 Cor 4:13—5:1/Mk 3:20-35 (89) Pss II

11 Mon Saint Barnabas, Apostle red Rank III Memorial Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3 (580)/Mt 5:1-12 (359) The feast of Barnabas is celebrated on June 11 in the Byzantine and Syrian rites. Rome adopted it in the eleventh century. 12 Tue Weekday green Rank IV 1 Kgs 17:7-16/Mt 5:13-16 (360)

13 Wed Saint , Priest and Doctor of the Church white Rank III Memorial 1 Kgs 18:20-39/Mt 5:17-19 (361) Anthony died in Padua, Italy, on June 13, 1231. He was canonized the following year, and his veneration became widespread at once.

14 Thu Weekday green Rank IV 1 Kgs 18:41-46/Mt 5:20-26 (362)

15 Fri Weekday green Rank IV 1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-16/Mt 5:27-32 (363)

16 Sat Weekday green/white Rank IV [BVM] 1 Kgs 19:19-21/Mt 5:33-37 (364)

17 SUN ELEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Ez 17:22-24/2 Cor 5:6-10/Mk 4:26-34 (92) Pss III

18 Mon Weekday green Rank IV

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1 Kgs 21:1-16/Mt 5:38-42 (365)

19 Tue Weekday green/white Rank IV [Saint Romuald, Abbot] 1 Kgs 21:17-29/Mt 5:43-48 (366) [Saint Romuald, Abbot] Romuald died near Ravenna on June 19, 1027, and was canonized in 1032. In 1594 his feast entered in the Roman calendar for this date, but one year later was put back to February 7, the day his body was brought to Fabriano in 1481.

20 Wed Weekday green Rank IV 2 Kgs 2:1, 6-14/Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 (367)

21 Thu Saint , Religious white Rank III Memorial Sir 48:1-14/Mt 6:7-15 (368) Memorial. Aloysius died at Rome on June 21, 1591. He was declared a saint in 1726 and his feast was put in the Roman calendar in 1842.

22 Fri Weekday green/white/red Rank IV [Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop; Saints , Bishop, and , Martyrs] 2 Kgs 11:1-4, 9-18, 20/Mt 6:19-23 (369) Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop; Saints John Fisher, Bishop, and Thomas More, Martyrs; The burial of Paulinus at Nola, in Italy, is dated June 22, 451 in the martyrology of Jerome. His feast was introduced at Rome in the twelfth century. John Fisher was martyred in London on June 22, 1535, and Thomas More on July 6 of the same year. These two famous martyrs, one a bishop and the other a laymen, were canonized in 1935, and they are presented as examples of fidelity for today’s Christian.

23 Sat Weekday green/white Rank IV [BVM] 2 Chr 24:17-25/Mt 6:24-34 (370)

24 SUN THE NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST white Rank I Solemnity Vigil: Jer 1:4-10/1 Pt 1:8-12/Lk 1:5-17 (586) Day: Is 49:1-6/Acts 13:22-26/Lk 1:57-66, 80 (587) Pss Prop The celebration of the solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist on June 24, was already a tradition by the time of St. Augustine.

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25 Mon Weekday (Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time) green Rank IV 2 Kgs 17:5-8, 13-15a, 18/Mt 7:1-5 (371) Pss IV

26 Tue Weekday green Rank IV 2 Kgs 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36/Mt 7:6, 12-14 (372)

27 Wed Weekday green/white Rank IV [Saint , Bishop and Doctor of the Church] 2 Kgs 22:8-13; 23:1-3/Mt 7:15-20 (373) [Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church] The Coptic and Byzantine liturgies commemorate the burial of Cyril on June 27. In 1882 the Roman calendar introduced the feast on February 9.

28 Thu Saint , Bishop and Martyr red Rank III Memorial 2 Kgs 24:8-17/Mt 7:21-29 (374) The martyrology of Jerome records the burial of Irenaeus of Lyons on June 28 in approximately 202. In 1920 the Roman calendar assigned this date, but in 1960 the feast was transferred to July 3 because it coincided with the vigil of the apostle Peter and Paul.

29 Fri SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES red Rank I Solemnity Following a practice which dated from about 258, the Depositio Martyrum places the solemnity of these apostles on June 29. Vigil: Acts 3:1-10/Galatians 1:11-20/John 21:15-19 (590) Day: Acts 12:1-11/2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18/Matthew 16:13-19 (591) Psalms Prop

2006 Manual of : Grant 14 USE OF ARTICLES OF DEVOTION §1 A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who, on the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, make prayerful use of an article of devotion, as defined by Norm 15, that has been blessed by the Supreme Pontiff or by any bishop, provided the faithful also make a Profession of Faith using any legitimate formula. §2 A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who devoutly use such articles of devotion properly blessed by either a priest or a deacon.

30 Sat Weekday green/red/white Rank IV [The First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church; BVM] Lam 2:2, 10-14, 18-19/Mt 8:5-17 (376)

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[First Martyrs of the Church of Rome] In the revised calendar many feasts of early martyrs have been suppressed and their memorial has been placed on the day after the solemnity of Peter and Paul. These first martyrs of the Church of Rome were put to death in the Vatican Circus during the persecution of Nero in 64. Since 1923 their feast had been celebrated in Rome on June 27.

JULY 2018 1 SUN THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24/2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15/Mk 5:21-43 or 5:21-24, 35b-43 (98) Pss I

2 Mon Weekday green Rank IV Am 2:6-10, 13-16/Mt 8:18-22 (377)

3 Tue Saint Thomas, Apostle red Rank II Feast Eph 2:19-22/Jn 20:24-29 (593) Pss Prop The martyrology of Jerome commemorates the transfer of the body of St. Thomas to Edessa on July 3. This date is observed by the liturgy of the Western Syrian rite and by the Malabar rite. In the ninth century Rome adopted the feast and assigned it to December 21, but since it interferes with the major weekdays it is now transferred to July 3.

4 Wed Weekday green/white Rank III [USA: Independence Day] Am 5:14-15, 21-24/Mt 8:28-34 (379) or, for Independence Day, any readings from the Lectionary for Mass (vol. IV), the Mass “For the Country or a City,” nos. 882-886, or “For Peace and Justice,” nos. 887-891

5 Thu Weekday green/white/white Rank IV [Saint Anthony Zaccaria, Priest; USA: Saint ] Am 7:10-17/Mt 9:1-8 (380)

Anthony died at Cremona, Italy, on July 5, 1539, and was canonized in 1897. His feast was entered in the Roman calendar that same year.

[Elizabeth of Portugal] Elizabeth died at Estremoz, Portugal, on July 4, 1336, and was canonized in 1626. That same year her feast was put in the Roman calendar on this date. In 1694 it was moved outside the octave of the apostles Peter and Paul to July 8.

6 Fri Weekday green/red Rank IV [Saint , Virgin and Martyr] Am 8:4-6, 9-12/Mt 9:9-13 (381)

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[Saint Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr] Maria died at Cremona, Italy, on July 5, 1539, and was canonized in 1897. His feast was entered in the Roman calendar that same year.

7 Sat Weekday green/white Rank IV [BVM] Am 9:11-15/Mt 9:14-17 (382)

8 SUN FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Ez 2:2-5/2 Cor 12:7-10/Mk 6:1-6a (101) Pss II

9 Mon Weekday green/red Rank IV [Saint Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs] Hos 2:16, 17b-18, 21-22/Mt 9:18-26 (383)

10 Tue Weekday green Rank IV Hos 8:4-7, 11-13/Mt 9:32-38 (384)

11 Wed Saint Benedict, Abbot white Rank III Memorial Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12/Mt 10:1-7 (385) The burial of Benedict at Monte Cassino, on March 21, 547, is recorded in some manuscripts of the martyrology of Jerome and the martyrology of Bede, and from the eleventh century this date was celebrated as his memorial at Rome. As early as the eighth century in the Gallican liturgical books Benedict appears on July 11, although the origin of is unknown. The memorial is transferred to this date since March 21 always occurs during Lent.

12 Thu Weekday green Rank IV Hos 11:1-4, 8e-9/Mt 10:7-15 (386)

13 Fri Weekday green/white Rank III [Saint Henry] Hos 14:2-10/Mt 10:16-23 (387) [Saint Henry] Henry died at Bamberg, Germany, on July 13, 1024. He was canonized in 1146, and in 1631 his commemoration was listed in the Roman calendar to be observed on the day of St. Anacletus. In 1668 it was transferred to July 15.

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14 Tue Saint , Virgin [USA] white Memorial Ex 2:1-15a/Mt 11:20-24 (390) Rank III

[] Camillus died at Rome on July 14, 1614, and was declared a saint in 1746. In 1762 the Roman calendar included his feast on July 18.

Known as the “Lily of the Mohawks”, Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in Ossernenon (today Auriesville, New York) to a Catholic Algonquin mother and a Mohawk Chief. When she was four years old, her parents and brother died of smallpox. Kateri was also affected by the disease, which left her almost blind and badly scarred her face. She was taken in by her aunts and uncle, who were strongly opposed to Christianity.

When she was 10 years old, her village moved to Caughnawaga (today Fonda, New York). In 1667, her village was visited by the Jesuit missionaries Fathers Fremin, Bruyas and Pierron. From them, she received her first knowledge of Christianity. When Kateri turned 18, Father Jacques de Lamberville arrived to take charge of the mission in her village. Despite his misgivings, her uncle allowed her to be baptized as long as she remained in the village. Following her Baptism, Kateri lived a pious and faith-filled life, spending hours in prayer and fashioning crosses out of twigs. She also refused to marry, believing that she was married to God and that no man could take God’s place in her heart. Her beliefs were met with ridicule, hostility and threats. Thus, two years after her Baptism, she fled to St. Mission, a Christian Mohawk village in Kahnawake, Quebec.

There, she received her on Christmas Day 1677. She also made a vow of perpetual virginity on the Feast of the Annunciation in 1679. In Kahnawake, Kateri was known for her faith and holiness. She taught prayers to children, cared for the elderly and the sick, and would often attend mass at sunrise and sunset.

Kateri’s health deteriorated in the last years of her life. She died of tuberculosis on April 17, 1680, shortly before her 24th birthday, and was buried at St. Francis Xavier Mission. Her final words were: “Jesos Konoronkwa” (“Jesus, I love you”). Witnesses report that within minutes of her death, the smallpox scars vanished from her face, which then radiated with beauty.

Since Kateri's death many miracles have been performed through her intercession, with the sick being cured and many prayers being answered. Kateri was declared Venerable by Pope Pius XII on January 3, 1943, and beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 1980. On December 19, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI signed a decree officially acknowledging another miracle attributed to her intervention. Saint Kateri Tekakwitha was canonized by Pope

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Benedict XVI on , 2012, in Rome. She became “the first native North American to be raised to the glory of the altars”.

Today, there are a number of shrines and centres dedicated to Kateri in both the United States and Canada, including the National of St. Kateri Tekakwitha at the site of her Baptism in Fonda, New York, the Kateri Centre at her burial site at the St. Francis Xavier Mission in Kahnawake, which today is in the Diocese of Saint-Jean-Longueuil, and the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs at her birthplace in Auriesville, New York.)

15 SUN FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Am 7:12-15/Eph 1:3-14 or 1:3-10/Mk 6:7-13 (104) Pss III Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Bonaventure died at Lyons on July 15, 1274, and was canonized in 1482. At that time his feast was assigned to the second Sunday of July but in 1568 it was changed to July 14.

16 Mon Weekday green/white Rank IV [Our Lady of Mount Carmel] Is 1:10-17/Mt 10:34—11:1 (389) Our Lady of Mount Carmel] The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was begun by the between 1376 and 1386 and was included in the Roman calendar in 1726. In 1960 it was reduced to a commemoration.

17 Tue Weekday green Rank IV Is 7:1-9/Mt 11:20-24 (390)

18 Wed Weekday green/white Rank IV [USA: Saint Camillus de Lellis, Priest] Is 10:5-7, 13b-16/Mt 11:25-27 (391)

19 Thu Weekday green Rank IV Is 26:7-9, 12, 16-19/Mt 11:28-30 (392)

20 Fri Weekday green/red Rank IV [Saint Apollinaris, Bishop and Martyr] Is 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8/Mt 12:1-8 (393)

21 Sat Weekday green/white/white Rank IV [ of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church; BVM] Mi 2:1-5/Mt 12:14-21 (394) [] Lawrence of Brindisi died at , Portugal, on July 22, 1619. He was declared a saint in 1881 and his feast was placed in the Roman calendar in 1959 to be calendar on July 21.

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22 SUN SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Jer 23:1-6/Eph 2:13-18/Mk 6:30-34 (107) Pss IV Saint Mary Magdalene The martyrology of Bede mentions Mary Magdalene on July 22, the same day that she is honored in Coptic, Byzantine and Syrian liturgies. Her cult in the Western Church dates only from the twelfth century. On this day the revised Roman liturgy commemorates only Mary Magdalene, to whom Christ first appeared after his resurrection, and not Mary of Bethany, not the sinful woman mentioned in Luke 7:36-50.

23 Mon Weekday green/white Rank IV [Saint Bridget, Religious] Mi 6:1-4, 6-8/Mt 12:38-42 (395) Bridget died at Rome on July 23, 1373. She was canonized on October 7, 1391, the day chosen in 1623 to be her feast. In 1628 her commemoration was moved to the following day to avoid interfering with the feast of Pope St. Mark.

24 Tue Weekday green/white Rank IV [Saint Sharbel Makhlūf, Priest] Mi 7:14-15, 18-20/Mt 12:46-50 (396)

25 Wed Saint James, Apostle red Rank II Feast 2 Cor 4:7-15/Mt 20:20-28 (605) Pss Prop James was martyred at Passover time (Acts 12:2), but the martyrology of Jerome lists his feast on July 25, and since the ninth century Rome has commemorated him on that day.

26 Thu SS. Joachim & Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary white Rank III Memorial Jer 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13/Mt 13:10-17 (398) In the Byzantine rite the death of Ann is celebrated on July 25, the day the basilica at Constantinople was dedicated in her honor (about 550). In the West her cult begun only in the twelfth century, and in the following century her feast was placed on July 26. It was suppressed by Pius V in 1568 but reintroduced in the Roman calendar in 1584. The memorial of Joachim, her husband, is now joined to that of Ann. His feast had been included in the Roman calendar in 1584, on March 20. In 1738 it was moved to the Sunday after the Octave of the Assumption, and in 1913 it was changed to August 16.

27 Fri Weekday green Rank IV Jer 3:14-17/Mt 13:18-23 (399)

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28 Sat Weekday green/white Rank IV [BVM] Jer 7:1-11/Mt 13:24-30 (400)

29 SUN SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II 2 Kgs 4:42-44/Eph 4:1-6/Jn 6:1-15 (110) Pss I [Martha] In 1262 the Franciscan calendar added the feast of Martha on July 29, that is, the octave day of Mary Magdalene. Later in that same century Rome adopted it.

30 Mon Weekday green/white Rank IV [Saint , Bishop and Doctor of the Church] Jer 13:1-11/Mt 13:31-35 (401) Saint Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church] According to a recent interpretation of the ninth century Liber Pontificalis of the church of Ravenna Peter died sometime after 451 in the Forum of Cornelius, on July 31, not on December 2. In 1729 his feast entered the Roman calendar on December 4.

31 Tue Saint , Religious Founder, Priest white Rank III Memorial Jer 14:17-22/Mt 13:36-43 (402) Ignatius died at Rome on July 31, 1556. He was canonized in 1622, and in 1623 his feast was placed in the Roman calendar

AUGUST 2018 1 Wed Saint , Religious Founder, Bishop, Doctor of the Church white Rank III Memorial Jer 15:10, 16-21/Mt 13:44-46 (403) Alphonsus, † August 1, 1787; Born at Naples (Italy) in 1696. He had been a lawyer before he became a priest. Founded, in 1732, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), today numbering some 5,600 members. Alphonsus coped with much internal conflict within the congregation and external opposition. Opposed Jansenism, stressing Christ's love ("copiosa apud eum redemptio") and Mary's intercession. For thirteen years bishop of Sant’ Agata dei Goti, but he resigned due to ill health. Master of moral theology; patron of and moral theologians. Alphonsus died at Nocera, Italy, on August 1, 1787. He was canonized in 1839, and his feast entered the Roman calendar the same year, on August 2.

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2 Thu Weekday green/white/white Rank IV [Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop; Saint , Priest, Religious Founder] Jer 18:1-6/Mt 13:47-53 (404) Eusebius, † August 1, 371; Born in Sardinia in the early fourth century, Eusebius died at Vercelli (Italy) in 371. After his education in Rome, he was in Vercelli, then became its first bishop in 345. Inspired by St. Athanasius' Life of St. Anthony, he founded a cœnobium among his Cathedral clergy--considered the founder of the in the West. A defender of St. Athanasius (2 May) he was exiled to Palestine, Cappadocia and the Thebaid by the emperor Constantius with St. Hilary (13 Jan.) because of his opposition to Arianism. He suffered many hardships, but was eventually restored to his diocese. He is remembered for his preaching, his doctrinal orthodoxy, and his defense of Saint Athanasius (2 May). The burial of Eusebius at Vercelli, Italy, on August 1, 371, is recounted in the martyrology of Jerome. His feast appeared in the Roman calendar in 1602 on December 15, the day of his ordination as a bishop (c. 345). In 1728 it was later moved to December 16 because of the octave of the feast of the .

Peter Julian Eymard, † 1 August 1868; Peter Julian was born in La Mure d’ Isère (France) 4 Feb. 1811 and died there in 1868. Originally ordained a priest of the diocese of Grenoble, he joined the Society of Mary (Marists) in 1839. He founded the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (Blessed Sacrament Fathers) in 1856 (today numbering some 900 members); and in 1858, with Marguerite Guillot, the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament--a contemplative women's community. Both congregations had as their special purpose promotion of perpetual exposition and adoration of the Eucharist. Peter Julian is remembered for his lifelong devotion to Christ’s eucharistic presence and for promoting among priests and people; influenced the founding of the Eucharistic Fraternity for the laity, the Association of Priest Adorers, and international Eucharistic congresses

3 Fri Weekday green Rank IV Jer 26:1-9/Mt 13:54-58 (405)

4 Sat Saint John Vianney, Priest white Rank III Memorial Jer 26:11-16, 24/Mt 14:1-12 (406) John Marie Vianney † August 4, 1859. Born near Lyons (France) in 1786, John Vianney died at Ars on this day in 1859. He overcame various obstacles, including little education and lack of means, to be ordained a priest. He served in the remote parish of Ars, where his sanctity attracted thousands of visitors. He is

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remembered for his preaching and confessional counsel and is honored as a model and patron for parish clergy. Canonized in 1925, in 1928 his feast day appeared in the Roman calendar on August 9, and in 1960 was moved to August 8 because of the vigil of Saint Lawrence.

5 SUN EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Ex 16:2-4, 12-15/Eph 4:17, 20-24/Jn 6:24-35 (113) Pss II [Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome] This major stational church of the ancient Roman liturgy, originally erected in the fourth century, was rebuilt and dedicated by Pope Sixtus III on August 5, as the martyrology of Jerome mentions, following the proclamation at the Council of Ephesus (431) of the doctrine of Mary, Mother of God (Theotokos). It is considered the oldest church dedicated to our Lady in the Western world. A legend associated with its founding gave rise in the fourteenth century to the title of the feast as “Dedication of our Lady of the Snows.” In 1568 this feast was assigned to the Roman calendar.

6 Mon The Transfiguration of the Lord white Rank II Feast Dn 7:9-10, 13-14/2 Pt 1:16-19/Mk 9:2-10 (614) Pss Prop This feast had its origin in the East in the fourth century as the commemoration of the dedication of the Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. The Transfiguration is celebrated on August 6 by the Syrian, Byzantine, and Coptic rites. The Armenians celebrate it on the following Sunday. In the eighth century the feast was introduced to the West and placed in the Roman calendar in 1457. The feast celebrates the divine radiance shining in Christ’s human flesh and God’s glory shining forth in the lives of Christians

7 Tue Weekday green/red/white Rank IV [Pope Saint Sixtus II, Felicissimus and Agapitus, , & Companions, Martyrs; Saint Cajetan, Priest, Religious Founder] Jer 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22/Mt 14:22-36 or 15:1-2, 10-14 (408) Sixtus II † August 6 258 was a Greek philosopher and an adult convert to Christianity who became a deacon in Rome. He was elected pope in 257 to succeed Stephen and served in that capacity for less than a year. He was martyred during the persecution of the emperor Valerian. Pope Sixtus was seized while offering Mass at the catacombs of along the Appian Way. Sixtus II and four deacons: Januarius, Vincentius, Magnus, and Stephanus, were apprehended and beheaded with him on August 6, 258. He is mentioned in the Eightieth Letter of Cyprian who was himself beheaded the following month. According to Saint Cyprian (16 Sept.), he was “not so much killed as crowned,” .

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The Depositio Martyrum testifies to their burial in the cemetery of Callistus on the same day. Two other deacons of the Roman deacons, Felicissimus and Agapitus, suffered martyrdom on the same day, were buried in the cemetery of Praetextatus. (Lawrence suffered on August 10th). Sixtus is one of the most popular Roman martyrs; and the most highly venerated of the after Saint Peter. He is mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer I (The Roman Canon). Their memorial is postponed because of the feast of the Transfiguration.

Cajetan † August 7, 1547 was born at Venice (Italy) in 1480 and died at Naples on this day in 1547. He was a distinguished theologian and lawyer before being ordained a priest. He established confraternities of clergy and laity to work among the sick and the poor. In 1524, he co-founded, with Gian Piero Carafa (later Pope Paul IV), the Congregation of Clerks Regular ‘Theatines’ (who today number about 200) to encourage reform among diocesan clergy. Cajetan is remembered for his pastoral care, his reforming zeal, and his practical help for the poor and the afflicted.

8 Wed , Religious Founder, Priest white Rank III Memorial Jer 31:1-7/Mt 15:21-28 (409) Dominic de Guzman, † August 6, 1221; born about 1170 in Caleruega, Spain. As an Augustinian canon he was noted for prayer, penance, and an exemplary life. Founded the Order of Preachers, today numbering some 6,000 religious; an elective, fraternal form of community life devoted to contemplation, study, and preaching. In a time of violent crusades he sought the reconciliation of Albigensian heretics through instruction, prayer, and living evangelical poverty. Order's ideal (coined by Saint Thomas Aquinas): Dominic died at Bologna on August 6, 1221. He was canonized in 1234 and his feast was assigned to August 5 in the Roman calendar. In 1568 it was transferred to August 4 because of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome (Our Lady of the Snows- August 5). It is now celebrated on August 8 because of the feast of the Transfiguration. 9 Thu Weekday green/red Rank IV [Saint Teresa Benedicta de Cruce, Religious, Virgin and Martyr co-patroness of Europe] Jer 31:31-34/Mt 16:13-23 (410) Teresa, Blessed of the Cross † August 9, 1942 was born at Breslau, Germany on 12 October 1891, the youngest of 11in here Jewish family. She studied philosophy under Husserl, the leading phenomenologist of his day, becoming an influential philosopher in her own rite following her extensive studies at major German universities.

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In the summer of 1921. she spent several weeks in Bergzabern with Hedwig Conrad-Martius, another pupil of Husserl's. One evening Edith picked up an autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila and read this book all night. "When I had finished the book, I said to myself: This is the truth." On 1 January 1922 Edith Stein was baptized in the Catholic Church, and wished to join a Carmelite at once, but was dissuaded by her spiritual director. She became a major force in the German intellectual life. Edith joined the Carmelite Convent of Cologne on 14 October 1933. Edith Stein was now known as Sister Teresia Benedicta a Cruce - Teresa, Blessed of the Cross. At the end of 1939 she moved to the convent at Echt (Holland) on account of the Nazi persecution of Jews. She was arrested by the Gestapo on 2 August 1942, while she was in the chapel with the other sisters. She was to report with her sister Rosa, who had also converted and was serving at the Echt Carmel. Together with many other Jewish Christians, the two women were taken to a transit camp in Amersfoort and then to Westerbork. This was an act of retaliation against the letter of protest written by the Dutch Roman Catholic Bishops against the pogroms and deportations of Jews. On 7 August, early in the morning, 987 Jews were deported to Auschwitz. It was probably on 9 August that Sister Teresia Benedicta a Cruce, her sister and many other of her people were gassed. Edith Stein was beatified in Cologne on 1 May 1987, and Pope St. John Paul II canonized her in 1998. Her writings include The Mystery of Christmas, Eternal Infinite Being, The Science of the Cross, and Hymns to the Church. In 1999, along with St. Catherine of Siena (29 April) and St. Bridget of Sweden (23 July), she was declared co-patroness of Europe

10 Fri Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr red Rank II Feast 2 Cor 9:6-10/Jn 12:24-26 (618) Pss Prop Lawrence, † August 10, 258 Lawrence died at Rome on this day in 258, four days after Saint Sixtus II and Companions (7 August). The Depositio Martyrum mentions the burial of Lawrence on August 10 in the field of Verano on the Via Tiburtina. He is honored for his almsgiving. He became, after the Apostles, the most celebrated martyr of the Church of Rome. His cult spread throughout the Church from the fourth century. He is mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer I (The Roman Canon), and five ancient Roman churches are dedicated to him.

11 Sat Saint Clare, Virgin white Rank III Memorial Hb 1:12—2:4/Mt 17:14-20 (412) Clare, † August 11, 1253. Born at Assisi (Italy) in 1193 or 1194. From a well-to-do family, Clare embraced an evangelical way of life after hearing the preaching of Saint Francis of Assisi (4

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October). She founded the order of the Poor Ladies, now the Poor Clares. Clare is remembered for her life of extreme poverty, austerity, contemplation, and charity. In 1255 she was canonized and her feast placed in the Roman calendar on August 12.

12 SUN NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II 1 Kgs 19:4-8/Eph 4:30—5:2/Jn 6:41-51 (116) Pss III

13 Mon Weekday green/red Rank IV [Saints Pontian, Pope, and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs] Ez 1:2-5, 24-28c/Mt 17:22-27 (413) [Saints Pontian, Pope, and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs] Pontian, † c. 236 a native Roman, became Pope in 230 but was exiled to Sardinia, where he abdicated the papacy during the persecution of the emperor Maximinus in 235. Hippolytus † c. 236, a brilliant, conservative theologian and priest,became embroiled by what he perceived as theologically suspect certain teachings of the Callistus who succeeded . In reaction, Hippolytus and some followers went into schism in 217. Attempts were made by Callistus’ successors, Popes Urban and Pontian, to bring reconciliation. Exiled along with Pontian, he was reconciled to the Church. Both died of mistreatment in 235 or 236, and their remains were brought back to Rome by Pope Saint Fabian (236- 250) for burial. The Depositio Martyrum mentions that on August 13, the body of Pontian was transferred to the cemetery of Callistus and the remains of Hippolytus to his own cemetery on the Via Tiburtina. In the twelfth century Pontian was inscribed in the Roman calendar on November 19, the day before his memorial in the martyrology of Florus. Until recently, he has been regarded as the sole author of the Apostolic Tradition, whose (eucharistic prayer) forms the basis of Eucharistic Prayer II in the Roman Missal.

14 Tue Saint , Religious, Priest, and Martyr red Rank III Memorial Ez 2:8—3:4/Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 (414) Maximilian Mary Kolbe, †August 14, 1941. Born near Lódz (Poland) in 1894, Maximilian died at Auschwitz (Oswiecim) on this day in 1941. As a Conventual Franciscan priest, he used the printing press in Poland and in Japan to promote devotion to Mary, publisher and the founder of the “City of the Immaculate.”. Interned in Auschwitz in 1941, he endured hard labour and offered his life in place of a fellow prisoner who had a family. He was condemned to death by starvation and was finally killed by lethal injection. He is remembered for his energy and poverty, his compassionate ministry, and his

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self-sacrifice. He is remembered for his prophetic words, “Hatred is not a creative force. Only love is a creative power.”

He was canonized by Pope St. John Paul II on October 10, 1982, and his memorial entered the universal calendar in 1983. His memorial is celebrated on August 14 before the evening Vigil of the Assumption is to be celebrated.

15 Wed THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY white Rank I Solemnity [Holyday of Obligation] Vigil: 1 Chr 15:3-4, 15-16; 16:1-2/1 Cor 15:54b-57/Lk 11:27-28 (621) Day: Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab/1 Cor 15:20-27/Lk 1:39-56 (622) Pss Prop This feast originated in Jerusalem before the fifth century as the “Falling-Asleep of the Mother of God.” It was adopted in Rome in the mid-seventh century and was renamed the “Assumption” in the next century. It celebrates Mary’s passing over, body and soul, from this world into the glory of her risen Son. As early as the fifth century a commemoration of the Mother of God was celebrated at Jerusalem on August 15. During the next century the solemnity of the Dormition of Mary spread throughout the East. About the middle of the seventh century Rome adopted it under the same title and by the eighth century it was known as the .

16 Thu Weekday green/white Rank IV [ of Hungary] Ez 12:1-12/Mt 18:21—19:1 (416) Stephen, †August 15, 1038 Born in Hungary about 975, at birth named Vaik. Son of the Magyar Duke Geza & his wife Sarolta; one of the few Magyar women who was truly Christian. His mother took great care of his early training, and he had excellent Italian and Czech tutors. In 986 Saint Adalbert of Prague (May 23), came on a preaching mission to Hungary. Geza and his young son were baptized in 986, he was given the baptismal name Stephen (István). Stephen married Gisela of Bavaria, the daughter of Henry II the Wrangler (future emperor Saint Henry II; July 13).

As Duke of the Magyars, he established dioceses and monasteries and used state power to enforce Christianity. With papal approval, he was crowned king of Hungary about 1000. Stephen is remembered for making Christianity the religion of the nation and for his justice to the oppressed and charity for the poor. Stephen died at Szekesfehervar on 15 August 1038. He was canonized in 1083, and in 1631 his commemoration was included in the Roman calendar on August 20, the feast of St. Bernard. In 1686/7 Pope Innocent XI appointed his festival for September 2, the day on which Emperor Leopold won Buda back from the Turks.

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In Hungary his feast is still kept on August 20, the day of the translation of his relics.

17 Fri Weekday green Rank IV Ez 16:1-15, 60, 63 or 16:59-63/Mt 19:3-12 (417)

18 Sat Weekday green/white Rank IV [BVM] Ez 18:1-10, 13b, 30-32/Mt 19:13-15 (418)

19 SUN TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Prv 9:1-6/Eph 5:15-20/Jn 6:51-58 (119) Pss IV Saint Religious Founder, Educator, Priest John Eudes, † August 19 1680 John was born in Normandy (France) in 1601 and died at Caen on this day in 1680. Originally an Oratorian, he was active in preaching missions and in caring for the sick. He founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Eudists), dedicated to the formation of priests, and to care for wayward women he helped to begin a community of women religious now known as the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. He is remembered also for his promotion of devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He was canonized in 1925 and his feast was placed in the Roman calendar in 1928.

20 Mon Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church white Rank III Memorial Ez 24:15-24/Mt 19:16-22 (419) Bernard, † August 20, 1153 Bernard was born at Fontaines near Dijon (France) in 1090 and died at Clairvaux on this day in 1153. At the age of 21, Bernard and thirty-one companions (including his uncle and his five brothers) joined the impoverished, reformed Benedictine abbey of Citeaux. Three years later he became the founding abbot of Clairvaux and pioneered the reform and expansion of the Cistercian Order (founding sixty-eight monasteries in his years). He was a prolific writer on theology and spirituality (e.g., On Loving God; eighty-six sermons on the Canticle of Canticles), an eloquent preacher (preached against the Albigensians; preached the 2nd Crusade), and an adviser of popes and kings, he denounced injustice and worked for peace. He is remembered as the most influential churchman of his age, for his inspirational leadership, and for his devotion to the humanity of Christ and to the Blessed Virgin. known as Doctor mellifluus; patron of Gibraltar. Canonized in 1174. In the thirteenth century his feast was placed in the Roman calendar.

21 Tue Saint Pius X, Pope white Rank III Memorial

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Ez 28:1-10/Mt 19:23-30 (420) Saint Pius X †August 20, 1914 Giuseppe Sarto was born at Riese (Italy) in 1835 and died at Rome on 20 August 1914. After being bishop of Mantua and patriarch of Venice, he was elected pope in 1903. In pursuit of his motto, “to renew all things in Christ,” he initiated reforms of the liturgy and of canon law and took stern measures against “modernist” trends in theology. His efforts to avert world war were frustrated. He is remembered for his poverty and for his promotion of liturgical participation, especially of frequent communion, to which he admitted young children. Pius died at Rome on August 20, 1914, and was canonized in 1954. In 1955 his feast entered the Roman calendar on September 3.

22 Wed The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary white Rank III Memorial Ez 34:1-11/Mt 20:1-16 (421) The Queenship of Mary was established by Pius XII in 1955 and celebrated on May 31. This memorial will now be on August 22, to stress its relationship with the solemnity of the Assumption.

23 Thu Weekday green/white Rank IV [Saint , Virgin] Ez 36:23-28/Mt 22:1-14 (422) Isabel de Oliva, † August 23, 1617 at age thirty-one; Born at Lima (Peru) in 1586 Peruvian mystic; nicknamed "Rosa" because of her beauty. Having chosen not to marry, she joined the Dominican Third Order and modeled herself on Saint Catherine of Siena (29 April), A recluse and mystic who lived a life of penance and solitude, caring for the homeless, elderly, and sick; Rose is remembered for her radiant love of God and for the severe penance and hardships she endured during serious illness. First declared saint of the New World (1672); friend of Saint (Nov.3); patroness of the Philippines and of , especially Peru; also of florists and gardeners. In 1727 her feast was included in the Roman calendar on August 30

24 Fri Saint Bartholomew, Apostle red Rank II Feast Rv 21:9b-14/Jn 1:45-51 (629) Pss Prop Named in the list of apostles in all the Gospels. Probably as a surname in the Synoptic gospels, meaning "son of Tolmai"; is generally identified with Nathaniel of Cana in John's Gospel; associated with Saint Philip (3 May); said to have preached the gospel in India and Armenia where, according to tradition, he was martyred by being flayed alive. The Byzantine rite observes August 25 as the memorial of the transfer of the body of this Apostle. From the ninth century the

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medieval calendars celebrate the feast of either August 24 or 25, but after 1568 the Roman calendar lists it on August 24.

25 Sat Weekday green/white/white/white Rank IV [Saint Louis, King of France; Saint , Religious Founder, Priest; BVM] Ez 43:1-7ab/Mt 23:1-12 (424) Louis IX of France, † August 25 1270; Born at Poissy (France) in 1214, Louis died near Tunis (Tunisia) on this day in 1270. As Louis IX, he was a devoted husband and the father of eleven children, whom he helped to raise in the Christian faith. He was regarded as a model Christian king at a time of great cultural achievement, a Third Order Franciscan who cared especially for lepers; but he led two disastrous crusades, on the second of which he died of typhoid. He is remembered for his impartial justice, for his care of the poor and the sick, and for honouring his word. built Sainte Chapelle in Paris as a reliquary for the crown of thorns. He was canonized in 1297, and his feast was at once placed in the Roman calendar.

Joseph Calasanz, † August 25 1648; Born in (Spain) in 1557, Joseph died at Rome on this day in 1648. A lawyer, theologian, and priest, he gave away much of his family fortune and devoted himself to providing free education for poor children in Rome. He founded (1617) the Clerks Regular of the Christian Schools (Piarists) and suffered many trials in later life at the hands of jealous colleagues and Church authorities, including the temporary suppression of his Institute. He is remembered especially for his patience in the midst of suffering. patron of all Christian schools dedicated to assisting the poor. Clerics Regular of Religious Schools (Piarists), today numbering some 1,400 religious. Joseph Calasanz died at Rome on August 25, 1648. He was canonized in 1767 and two years later his feast was added to the Roman calendar on August 27.

26 SUN TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b/Eph 5:21-32 or 5:2a, 25-32/Jn 6:60-69 (122) Pss I

27 Mon Saint Monica white Rank III Memorial 2 Thes 1:1-5, 11-12/Mt 23:13-22 (425) Monica, † 387 (Cf. Augustine's Confessions Book 6, no. 2). Monica was probably born at Tagaste, in Roman Africa (Algeria) about 331 and died at Ostia (Italy) in 387. Before her marriage her faith bore fruit in her recovery from a drinking problem and later helped bring her husband and mother-in-law to Christianity.

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Following some 30 years of penance and prayer for her brilliant but wayward son Saint Augustine (28 August), Monica lived to see his conversion. Following his baptism in Milan by Saint (Dec 7), she died at the beginning of her journey home to Africa. She is remembered for her parental devotion, her patience, and her persistence in prayer. patroness of mothers. In the fifteenth century, the Augustine Order celebrated May 5 as the feast of St. Augustine’s conversion. Since the birthday of Monica was unknown, the Order celebrated it on May 4. About 1550 the feast was assigned to the same date in the Roman calendar.

28 Tue Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church white Rank III Memorial 2 Thes 2:1-3a, 14-17/Mt 23:23-26 (426) Augustine, † August 28, 430; Born at Tagaste (Algeria) in 354, Augustine died at Hippo (Tunisia) in 430. Though enrolled by his mother Monica as a catechumen as a child, he renounced the Christian faith and espoused Manicheism. He taught in Carthage, Rome, and Milan. He lived for fifteen years with a woman who remains unknown and with whom he had a son, named Adeodatus. After a long inner struggle and under the influence of Saint Ambrose (7 December) and the prayers of his mother, Saint Monica (27 August), Augustine was converted and baptised at age thirty-three as well as his son in 387.

For thirty-four years he was bishop of Hippo; combatted Manichees, the Donatists, and Pelagius; most noted for his Confessions and City of God; over 500 homilies are extant. He is remembered as a model pastor and as a preacher and writer whose thought has had an enduring influence in Christian history. He lived a communal life with his clergy serving the many needs of his people at a time of political and cultural collapse; considered a founder of monastic life in the West, his Rule (whose mantra for community life is anima una et cor unum in Deum) is observed by some one hundred religious communities today. One of the four great doctors of the ; called the "Doctor of grace." In the fifth century Victor of Vitensis speaks of the burial of Augustine at Hippo, North Africa, on August 28, 430, and since at least the eighth century his feast was celebrated at Rome on this day.

29 Wed The Passion of Saint John the Baptist red Rank III Memorial 2 Thes 3:6-10, 16-18 (427)/Mk 6:17-29 (634) Pss Prop Saint John the Baptist † 1st c. The execution of John the Baptist is recorded in the Gospels (Matthew 14; Mark 6) and is placed by the historian Josephus at the fortress of Machaerus near the Dead Sea. As early as the fifth century the commemoration of John the Baptist was observed at Jerusalem on August 29.

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This was probably the anniversary of the dedication of the Basilica in honor of the Precursor of the Lord at Sebaste, Palestine where, according to tradition, he was buried by his followers. In the sixth and seventh centuries this feast spread throughout the East and the West and came to be known as the passion or the beheading of John the Baptist.

“The Tomb of Nabi Yahia/St. John the Baptist in Sabastiya: Documentation and Historical Analysis Carla Benelli Associazione Pro Terra Sancta Sabastiya Conference 14/4/2011 Bir Zeit University.”

In the middle of the present village, in the area that was probably just outside the wall in the eastern side of the Roman city, a maqam (sanctuary) built inside the shell of a Crusader cathedral recalls the place where Muslims and Christians honoured the tomb of Saidna Yahia/St. John the Baptist. But why Sabastiya?

From Christian sources, we learn that during 4th century AD, the tradition began about the remains of John the Baptist being buried in Sebaste, next to prophets Elisha and ’s tombs. We do not know how and when St. John’s body arrived in Sebaste. According to the Gospels and the Koran, the Roman ruler Herod Antipas (the son of Herod the Great) had imprisoned the prophet Yahya/St. John because he was reproaching him for the adulterous relations with Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip I. At a party for Herod’s birthday, Herodias’s daughter Salome danced before the king and his guests. Her dancing pleased Herod so much that he promised to give her anything she desired. Herodias suggested Salome to ask for the head of the prophet.

The Gospels continue the narration, writing that after his death his disciples took the Baptist’s body and buried it, but they did not explain where.According to the historian Flavius Josephus, John had been beheaded in Machaerus fortress, in Transjordan (Antiquities, XVIII, 5, 2). His head was handed over by Salome to her mother Herodias and we have to suppose that John’s disciples, having taken what remained of the body, left the tetrarchy, where Herodias could still persecute them. During the first centuries of Christianity, John’s disciples, called the Baptists, were everywhere in Samaria.

The Baptist’s tomb was located for the first time in Sebaste by Rufinus from Aquileia, who lived in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives, who describes the pagan reaction against the Christians in 361-362 under the reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate, when the remains of John the Baptist were taken from the tomb and burnt, then the ashes dispersed. However, some of the remains were rescued by passing monks from the monastery of deacon Philip of Jerusalem.“At the times of Emperor Julian [...] in Sebaste, city of Palestine, the pagans invaded John the Baptist’s sepulchre: they first dispersed his bones, but then they collected them again to burn them; they mixed the sacred ashes with dust and dispersed them all in the countryside and villages. But for God’s will, some monks came along from Philip’s monastery in Jerusalem ... they mixed up with those who where collecting the bones to burn, they collected some too with carefulness and pious devotion, at the best of their ability, and they went away stealthily bringing the venerable remains to the saint Father Philip” (Hist. Eccles. VII, 4)

In Bethlehem around the year 390, St. Jerome, while translating in Latin the Onomasticon of the Holy Sites written between the end of the III and the beginning of the IV century by the Greek Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, adds about Samaria/Sebaste: “where the remains of John the Baptist are guarded”. The same author recalls the tomb of St. John in Sebaste in his account of St.

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Paula’s pilgrimage to the Holy Sites.The Palestinian monk John Rufus, bishop of Majuma in Gaza, is the first to recall a church, around 512, built on the Baptist’s tomb in Sebaste: “This site, in fact, was a particular chapel of the church, enclosed within gates because it contains two urns covered in gold and silver, in front of which burn perennial lamps: one is John the Baptist’s, the other is Prophet Elisha’s.” (Plerophoriae, PO 8, 70).

The Byzantine church is shown in the 8th century floor mosaic of St. Stephan’s church in Umm Rasas, in Jordan.Two sanctuaries were dedicated to the Baptist in Sebaste. A second small basilica, built in the V century, was excavated by John W. Crowfoot in 1932 on the southern side of the acropolis. According to the Orthodox-Christian tradition, it marks the prison and death of John the Baptist and the spot where his head was buried by Herodias (5th century Life of John the Baptist (cf. PO 4, 531), Joannes Phocas 1185).We do not know what happened to the tomb during the first Islamic period, but the Byzantine church of John the Baptist was probably destroyed by an earthquake, whereas the tomb was preserved and continued to be visited by pilgrims.

Around 808 the Commemoratorium de Casis Dei records that the church has fallen to the ground “All that is left is the place of the glorious Baptist’s tomb, which has not been entirely destroyed”.Nothing much remains of that first Christian building. The lower portion of its northern wall is still standing, and it is clearly visible from the north-eastern external corner. Some columns and basements of that period are scattered in the nearby area.

The Crusaders entered Sebaste and the entire Samaria region in 1099, soon after conquering Jerusalem. Here they soon built a monastery and a fortified rural settlement, the Casale Sancti Iohannes Sebaste, as part of the King of Jerusalem’s domains. A Russian abbot, , found already in his visit during 1106-8 a Latin religious community established in the ruined church at Sebaste. “The tomb of John the Precursor is here and there is a fine church dedicated to him and there is a very rich Frankish monastery (de Khitrowo 58).In 1142 Usamah ibn Munqidh, emir of Shaizar in central Syria, wrote “I visited the tomb of Yahia, Zaccharia’s son – God bless both! – in the village of Sabastiya in Nablus. After my prayers, I entered an enclosed space in front of the tomb site. I found a half-closed door, I opened it and entered the church. Inside there were ten old man....and they give hospitality...” (Kitab al Asa). The account indicates that the Baptist’s tomb and the church occupied separate parts of the area. Soon after Usamah’s visit the condition of the church at Sebaste was radically altered, in 1145, William I, patriarch of Jerusalem, reported the casual finding of the saint’s remains and granted a 40-day indulgence to all those who would contribute to rebuild the church. From that moment, the collection of money to rebuild the new John the Baptist’s cathedral started. The pilgrim Theodoric (1169-72) wrote that part of the relics were displayed in the church itself, but he is the first to describe the flight of steps going down the crypt. “Moreover, a piece of his arms is held there in great veneration. He was buried, however, in the crypt between the prophets Elisha and Obadiah, ..... One enters it down thirty- five steps” .

In 1185 the city was visited by the Greek monk John Phocas, who relates that the crypt by the altar where John the Baptist was allegedly beheaded preserves the sarcophagi of the saint’s parents, Zaccharia and Elisabeth, while the ashes of John the Baptist and Elisha are in the superior church, in two sarcophagi carved in white marble.

In July 1187 Sebaste was conquered by Saladin’s nephew, Husam ed-Din Muhammad. He partially transformed the cathedral, building a dome on the crypt of the tomb, and turning the right aisle into a mosque by adding a mihrab. “he made a halt at Sabastiya, where lies the tomb of

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Zechariah. ... then he gave access to the Muslims and established the site of the mihrab for the direction of prayers” (Imad al Din RHC Or, IV, 302)

In the following centuries, John the Baptist’s tomb continued to be visited by Muslim and Christian pilgrims (Yaqut, Burchard of Mount Sion, Nicolas of Poggibonsi, Evliya Celebi and many others). In the 16th century Fr. Pantaleone d’Aveiro records that Christians kept lamps burning beside three tombs and Boniface of Ragusa locates the chapel in the south-eastern part of the church. Deacon Domenico Laffi from Bologna, in 1679 was in Sabastiya and relates that the building “ at present is divided down the middle, the Greeks officiating on one side and the Muslims on the other.Around 1892, under the Ottoman Sultan Abd el Hamid II, the mosque that had so far occupied the two bays west of the southern nave was removed and a new mosque was built along the presbytery on the east side. The new building, still in use today, brought to the demolition of what remained of the apse, the dangerous portions of the vaults and the consolidation of the remaining structure.Very little documentation was done before our projects about the tomb (see Survey of Western Palestine 1882)

Thanks to a series of initiatives of private fund raising, in 2010 we succeeded to carry out a small project of documentation and emergency conservation (electrical system and hand rail), which was carried out by the local community for free.

Starting from today’s floor level, in the third bay of the central nave, under two bitter orange trees, a small dome gives access to a narrow staircase leading to the Roman tomb. The tomb is composed of a barrel-vaulted chamber and six sepulchral niches arranged in two rows on the southern wall. In the lower row, Christian tradition tells us the tomb of John the Baptist rests, between the prophets Elisha and Obadiah, while local narrative recalls also the tomb of his mother and his father Zaccharia.

The floor in opus sectile dates back probably to the Byzantine period (Bagatti), but the current arrangement of the tomb dates back to the Crusader period.From the plans prepared by Arch. Osama Hamdan, it is evident that the crypt and the Roman tomb were transformed after the building of the Crusader pilaster to built the cathedral. The entrance through the steps is one, but a closed door at the end of the corridor make possible the presence of another flight of steps to exit.

From the sections and prepared by Arch. Osama Hamdan we can see that the second room was added to the maqam, probably after the removal of the mosque to the east in 1892.

Conclusion: We cannot say why the tomb of the Baptist was located in Sabastiya, but we can mention two different hypothesis:

1.the disciples of John wanted to preserve the body of the Saint, and brought it far from Herodias, in a place where Herod Antipas has no power (Samaria was under the direct control of Romans). They chose as burial a holy place, a tomb where other Prophets were already buried. In Samaria there were many disciples of the Baptist.

2.The local narrative (both Christians and Muslims) recalls that the tomb of the Baptist was near the ones of Elisabeth and Zacharia, suggesting that it was the tomb of the family.

30 Thu Weekday green Rank IV 1 Cor 1:1-9/Mt 24:42-51 (428)

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31 Fri Weekday green Rank IV 1 Cor 1:17-25/Mt 25:1-13 (429)

SEPTEMBER 2018 1 Sat Weekday green/white Rank IV [BVM] 1 Cor 1:26-31/Mt 25:14-30 (430)

2 SUN TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Dt 4:1-2, 6-8/Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27/Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 (125) Pss II Anniversary of Episcopal Ordination (1976) of Bishop Emeritus Victor Herman Balke, D.D.

3 Mon Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church white Rank III Memorial 1 Cor 2:1-5/Lk 4:16-30 (431) Gregory, † 12 March 604; Born about 540, Gregory died in Rome in 604. While of Rome, he founded monasteries there and in Sicily and himself became a Benedictine monk.Called to be a deacon of Rome by Pope Benedict I, he was then sent as to Constantinople.Elected pope in 590, he reorganised Church life and administration in a time of crisis, noted for liturgical reform and chant; sent missionaries to England; wrote on many moral and theological subjects (e.g., Moralia on , Dialogues, and Pastoral Rule); one of the four great doctors of the Latin Church; called himself the "servus servorum Dei"; patron saint of music. Since the eighth century the feast of Gregory the Great had been celebrated on the day of his burial, March 12, 604. This always occurs during Lent and the 1969 calendar therefore moved his memorial to September 3, the date of his Episcopal ordination in 590.

4 Tue Weekday green Rank IV 1 Cor 2:10b-16/Lk 4:31-37 (432)

5 Wed Weekday green Rank IV 1 Cor 3:1-9/Lk 4:38-44 (433)

6 Thu Weekday green Rank IV 1 Cor 3:18-23/Lk 5:1-11 (434)

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7 Fri Weekday green Rank IV 1 Cor 4:1-5/Lk 5:33-39 (435)

8 Sat The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary white Rank II Feast Mi 5:1-4a or Rom 8:28-30/Mt 1:1-16, 18-23 or 1:18-23 (636) Pss Prop Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary 1st c. In Jerusalem, from the end of the fifth century, marked the anniversary of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Anne, built, according to tradition, on the location of the home of Ss. Anne and Joachim, “where Mary was born.”This fifth century feast (September 8) enjoyed the same rank as the Assumption. By the seventh century, the Roman and the Byzantine liturgies celebrated this day as the Birth of Mary. The Syrian rite celebrated it on the same day while the Coptic liturgy observes it on the seventh. it was later used to determine the date of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. Because of her importance in salvation history, Mary’s birthday is celebrated as well as those of her Son, the Lord, and of Saint John the Baptist (24 June). patroness of Cuba.

9 SUN TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Is 35:4-7a/Jas 2:1-5/Mk 7:31-37 (128) Pss III , Religious, Priest † September 8, 1654 Born at Verdú (Spain) in 1580, Peter died in Cartagena (Colombia) on 8 September 1654. After entering the he felt called to mission work in the New World and was sent to Colombia in 1610. He was ordained in 1616 in Cartagena, a major port of entry for slaves brought from Africa. For the next thirty-four years, in the face of opposition from slave owners, he met the slave ships with a band of helpers and interpreters and ministered to the physical and spiritual needs of the slaves, catechizing and baptizing thousands. He died after suffering four years of debilitating illness. Peter called himself “the slave of the slaves” and is remembered for his total devotion to their needs and dignity. September 1, 2017 WASHINGTON—Bishop George V. Murry, SJ, of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, Chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, called on Catholics and all people of faith to observe an annual Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities on September 9, the Feast of St. Peter Claver. "St. Peter Claver is a model for us in understanding that hard work and perseverance is required to combat the sin of racism and build community; we must begin and end this effort in prayer together, even as we seek to act in concrete ways," Bishop Murry continued. "To help dioceses, parishes and other places of worship, communities, and families observe this National Day of Prayer, the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism and USCCB staff offer pastoral and prayer resources which can be found at www.usccb.org/racism." The Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism was formed by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, after the recent shocking events in Charlottesville, Virginia. Bishop Murry was appointed as the Ad Hoc Committee's first chairman. The Committee will focus on addressing the sin of racism in our society, and even in our Church, as well as the urgent need to come together to find solutions.

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"Last year, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, then-President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called for a day of prayer for peace in our communities at a time of intense strife over police-related shootings," said Bishop Murry. "Archbishop Kurtz also formed a Task Force that, among other things, recommended that the National Day of Prayer become an annual observance. As the Chairman of the newly-formed Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, it is my honor to continue this call for prayer, and to do so every year on this feast." St. Peter Claver (1580-1654) was a Spanish-born Jesuit priest who dedicated his life to ministering to people enslaved by the African slave trade. He worked tirelessly to improve the lives of those he served, and heroically sought an abolition of the slave trade. "Resources for this day, including a prayer card, Prayers of the Faithful, bishops' statements, teaching resources, and stories. . . of how faith communities around the country are working for racial justice are available at www.usccb.org/racism." Prayer of the Faithful for the Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities

For an end to the violence perpetrated by harsh words, deadly weapons, or cold indifference. May our homes, our nation, and countries around the world become havens of peace, let us pray to the Lord.

For the grace to see every human being as a child of God, regardless of race, language or culture, let us pray to the Lord.

For the wisdom to receive the stories and experiences of those different from ourselves and to respond with respect, let us pray to the Lord.

For the strength to teach our children how to resolve differences non-violently and respectfully, and the courage to model it in our own behavior, let us pray to the Lord.

For our faith community, that we may celebrate and welcome the diverse faces of Christ in our worship, our ministries, and our leaders, let us pray to the Lord.

For our faith community, that we may respond boldly to the Holy Spirit's call to act together to end violence and racism, let us pray to the Lord.

For healing and justice for all those who have experienced violence and racism, let us pray to the Lord.

For the protection of all police and first responders who risk their lives daily to ensure our safety; for fair and just policing that will promote peace and wellbeing in all our neighborhoods, let us pray to the Lord.

For our public , that they will strive to work for fair education, adequate housing, and equal opportunities for employment for all, let us pray to the Lord.

For our parish, that we may cultivate welcome, extend hospitality, and encourage the participation of people of all cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds, let us pray to the Lord.

For the courage to have difficult conversations about racism, and for a better appreciation of how our words and actions – or even our silence – can impact our communities, let us pray to the Lord.

For solidarity in our global human family, that we may work together to protect those who are most vulnerable and most in need, let us pray to the Lord.

10 Mon Weekday green Rank IV

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1 Cor 5:1-8/Lk 6:6-11 (437)

11 Tue Weekday green Rank IV 1 Cor 6:1-11/Lk 6:12-19 (438) 12 Wed Weekday green/white Rank IV [The Most Holy Name of Mary] 1 Cor 7:25-31/Lk 6:20-26 (439) The Most Holy Name of Mary In accordance with Jewish custom Ss. Anne and Joachim named her eight days after her birth, and were inspired to call her Mary. The memorial of the Holy Name of Mary therefore follows that of her [Nativity] Birthday, as the memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus [January 3] follows Christmas. God the Father is glorified by the exalted role in salvation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The feast originated in Spain and was approved by the Holy See in 1513; Innocent XI extended its observance to the whole Church in 1683 in thanksgiving to our Lady for the victory on September 12, 1683 by John Sobieski, king of Poland, over the Turks, who were besieging Vienna and threatening the West.

Thus, her name is a name of honor, a holy name, a maternal name, and a name responsive to the needs of the Church. A memorial of the Most Holy Name of the Virgin is celebrated on September 12... In this Mass God the Father is glorified first of all on account of "the name of Jesus," that is, on account of "the person of his Son," his power and saving mission: "In no other name is there salvation"; "at his command every knee must bend, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth." (Philippians 2:10) The Father is then glorified on account of "the name of Mary," that is, on account of the person of Christ's mother and her mission in the history of salvation. 19

God the Father is glorified by the exalted role in salvation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thus, her name is a name of honor, a holy name, a maternal name and a name responsive to the needs of the Church. (See, Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary, no. 21)

13 Thu Saint John Chrysostom, Monk, Bishop, and Doctor of the Church white Rank III Memorial 1 Cor 8:1b-7, 11-13/Lk 6:27-38 (440) St. John Chrysostom, † 14 Sept. 407 John was born in Antioch about 347 and died in exile in Comana, in Pontus (Turkey) on 14 September 407 the feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross. . After some years as a hermit-monk, he was ordained a priest at Antioch, where his brilliant preaching and catechesis earned him the nickname “Chrysostom” (golden-mouthed). He was appointed

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Patriarch of Constantinople in 397. Outstanding preacher; defended the poor; sought reform of the clergy; twice exiled due to royal opposition; authored many theological treatises as well as letters and many sermons; He is remembered for his simplicity of life, his care of the poor, the courage of his witness, and his effective preaching of the Scriptures. One of the four great Fathers of the Eastern Church; patron of preachers and of Istanbul (Constantinople). From the thirteenth century until the reform of the Calendar in 1969, the celebrated his feast on January 27, the anniversary of the transfer of his body to Constantinople in 438.

14 Fri The Exaltation of the Holy Cross red Rank II Feast Nm 21:4b-9/Phil 2:6-11/Jn 3:13-17 (638) Pss Prop This feast celebrates a double anniversary. In Jerusalem, Constantine erected a round church, the Anastasis, above the empty grave of Jesus, and a basilica, the Martyrium; in the square between the two churches, a shrine, Calvarium, marking the place of the crucifixion (Golgotha ad Crucem). Dedicated in 335, they were destroyed by the Persians in 614.

As early as the fifth century, the wood of the Holy Cross was exposed for veneration by the people of Jerusalem on the day after the Anniversary of the Dedication of the Churches. This custom gave rise to a feast on this day, which was a major celebration in all the Eastern rites. In the seventh century it was adopted in Rome. The feast spread in the West after the recovery of the relics of the cross from Persia in the seventh century.

The two churches were rebuilt by Patriarch Modestus of Jerusalem c. 626, but were later destroyed again by the Muslims in 1009. The present church of the Holy Sepulcher, rebuilt by the Crusaders, was dedicated in 1149. Today also commemorates the discovery of the Lord's cross by the empress, St. Helena (18 Aug.), in 320. The “invention” of the Holy Cross is so named because that this day the Holy Cross was found [in Latin, inventa]. This feast is called the “elevation” of the Holy Cross in the Eastern Churches, because it was “raised up” from the ground. A feast of the Lord, it celebrates the “lifting up” of the Son of Man on the cross, into glory, and the paradox of the cross as a symbol of humiliation and death, yet the source of victory and life.

PN Formerly, the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday following the feast of the Holy Cross were observed as Ember Days, a time to give thanks to God for the first fruits of the harvest. Rural communities may wish to celebrate the Order for a Blessing on the Occasion of Thanksgiving for the Harvest (BB, nos. 1007-1023) on one of these days or on some other occasion.

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Today would be an excellent day to have a more formal procession led by Cross and Candles. “An carrying the processional cross, with the image of the crucified to the front, walking between at least two other , carrying candlesticks with lighted candles.” 18

As early as the fifth century, the wood of the Holy Cross was exposed for veneration by the people of Jerusalem on the day after the feast of the dedication of the Basilica of the Resurrection (September 13, 335). This custom gave rise to a feast on this day, which was a major celebration in all the Eastern rites. In the seventh century it was adopted in Rome.

15 Sat Our Lady of Sorrows white Rank III Memorial 1 Cor 10:14-22 (442)/Jn 19:25-27 or Lk 2:33-35 (639) Pss Prop This commemoration originated in the medieval devotion to the seven sorrows of Mary. Approved for the Servite order in the seventeenth century, it was extended to the whole Western Church in 1814 by Pius VII in thanksgiving for his release from captivity under Napoleon. In the light of Simeon’s prophecy about a sword piercing Mary’s soul (Luke 2:35), the feast celebrates Mary, first disciple and first to share in the pain and triumph of the cross.

By the 14th c., the sorrows of Mary numbered seven: the presentation of Jesus in the Temple; the flight into Egypt; Jesus being lost in Jerusalem; the meeting of Mary and Jesus on the way to Calvary; the crucifixion; the taking down of Jesus' body from the cross; and his burial. In 1667 an indult was given to the Servite Order to celebrate this feast, and in 1814 it was introduced into the Roman calendar for the third Sunday in September. In 1913 it was moved to September 15.

The Ordo notes that in addition to the Proper prayer texts & common preface, the texts from the Collection of Masses in Honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, “Lent: The Blessed Virgin Mary at the Foot of the Cross” (nos. 11-12) may be used.19

18 GIRM 117, see also CB, 129. cf. BLS 91, GIRM 307-8, especially GIRM 122 19 The Collection of Masses in Honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments in 1986, was approved by the Congregation in response to those who wished to a have a greater variety of texts for celebrating Mary's participation in the mystery of Christ through every season of the liturgical year. The forty-six formularies in the Collection come from different periods and sources. Originally published in two volumes, a Sacramentary and a Lectionary, its status as an official confers an authority both on the individual Masses as well as the principles contained in the General Introduction. The texts come from a number of sources: early , the Missal of Blessed Pope Paul VI, formularies recently composed by religious congregations or dioceses, and texts newly composed by members of the Congregation. These new Masses can be considered an enlargement of the Marian texts found in the Missal of Blessed Pope Paul VI. The most frequently used Marian Mass, the ‘Common of the Blessed Virgin’, has been described as "theologically thin and thematically monotonous." The Collection now provides a rich variety of Scriptural and liturgical texts for celebrating the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin on Saturdays or for votive Masses in harmony with the liturgical year. Many of the references to Mary are taken from Blessed Pope

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Alternately, one might opt to use a preface from the Collection of Masses in Honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary corresponding to the Gospel proclaimed: for Saint Luke’s Gospel “Mary and the Presentation of the Lord” (P-7) or for Saint John’s Gospel “Commending of the Virgin Mary”(P-13).

On Masses this day the “At the Cross Her Station Keeping” (Stabat Mater dolorosa), is optional.20 The Sequence may be sung by all together [after the responsorial psalm] before the Gospel Acclamation on certain days, or in alternation between the congregation and choir and cantor, or by the choir or cantor alone. The text from the Lectionary for Mass may be used, or a metrical paraphrase may be sung, provided that it is found in an approved collection of liturgical songs (i.e. a Catholic hymnal).21 If it is used, it would be of great pastoral advantage the the faithful to make note of the origins and purpose of the Sequence in the introduction to the Liturgy.

16 SUN TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Is 50:5-9a/Jas 2:14-18/Mk 8:27-35 (131) Pss IV Saints Cornelius,Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs September 14, 258, is the recorded date of Cyprian’s martyrdom at Carthage. The Depositio Martyrum confirms this and adds that his cult existed in Rome from the middle of the fourth century. Cyprian was born at the beginning of the third century and died in Carthage (Tunisia) on 14 September 258. A lawyer, teacher, and adult convert, he was elected bishop of Carthage in 249 and led this Church in times of persecution. He took a moderate position on the reconciliation of the lapsed but, like other African bishops, demanded the rebaptism of heretics even though their baptism was recognized by the Church of Rome.

Cornelius was elected Pope in 251 and, in June, 253, died in exile in Civitavecchia (Italy). Supported by Cyprian, he defended the power of the Church to reconcile those who had lapsed under persecution.Cornelius and Cyprian are both remembered as compassionate pastors who developed the Church’s teaching and practice of reconciliation. Antagonists in theological debate, they were united in sharing the crown of martyrdom and are named together in Eucharistic Prayer I (The Roman Canon).

As early as the fourth century his feast was associated with Cyprian’s and the Roman liturgical books have always had one formulary for the Mass in honor of these two saints. The feast of Cornelius and Cyprian was moved to by Gregory IX (1370-1378) because of the Triumph of the Cross (September 14) and the octave of the Birth of Mary (September 15)

Paul Vl's 1974 Apostolic Exhortation, Marialis Cultus: dwelling place of the Spirit, Mother of the Church, disciple of Christ, model of faith, our sister, the new woman, etc.

20 GIRM, 2002, no. 64.

21 USCCB Committee on Divine Worship. Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship, (a revision of Music in Catholic Worship). November 14, 2007. nos. 165-166.

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Cornelius and Cyprian † 250’s September 14, 258, is the recorded date of Cyprian’s martyrdom at Carthage. The Depositio Martyrum confirms this and adds that his cult existed in Rome from the middle of the fourth century. Cyprian was born at the beginning of the third century and died in Carthage (Tunisia) on 14 September 258. A lawyer, teacher, and adult convert, he was elected bishop of Carthage in 249 and led this Church in times of persecution. He took a moderate position on the reconciliation of the lapsed but, like other African bishops, demanded the rebaptism of heretics even though their baptism was recognized by the Church of Rome. Cornelius was elected Pope in 251 and, in June, 253, died in exile in Civitavecchia (Italy). Supported by Cyprian, he defended the power of the Church to reconcile those who had lapsed under persecution.

Cornelius and Cyprian are both remembered as compassionate pastors who developed the Church’s teaching and practice of reconciliation. Antagonists in theological debate, they were united in sharing the crown of martyrdom and are named together in Eucharistic Prayer I (The Roman Canon).

As early as the fourth century his feast was associated with Cyprian’s and the Roman liturgical books have always had one formulary for the Mass in honor of these two saints. The feast of Cornelius and Cyprian was moved to September 16 by Gregory IX (1370-1378) because of the Triumph of the Cross (September 14) and the octave of the Birth of Mary (September 15).

St Cyprian of Carthage September 14, 258 Cyprian was born at the beginning of the third century and died in Carthage (Tunisia) on 14 September 258. As and adult, he became acquainted with the writings of the Apologist Tertullian, and became convinced of the truth of Christianity. At 46 years of age he was received as a catechumen. Before accepting Baptism, he distributed his property to the poor. Two years after his Baptism, he was ordained to the priesthood. When Bishop Donatus of Carthage died, St Cyprian was unanimously chosen as bishop. He gave his consent, and was consecrated Bishop of Carthage in the year 248.

A persecution by the emperor Decius (249-251) forced him to go into hiding. His life was necessary to his flock for the strengthening of faith and courage among the persecuted. Before his departure from his diocese, the saint distributed the church funds among all the clergy for the aid of the needy, and in addition he sent further funds.

During the persecution, some Christians, broken by torture, offered sacrifice to the pagan gods. These lapsed Christians appealed to their confessors, asking to give them what is called a letter of reconciliation, i.e. an certificate for accepting them back into the Church. St Cyprian wrote a general letter to all the Carthaginian Christians, stating that those who lapsed during a time of persecution might be admitted into the Church, but this must be preceded by an investigation of the circumstances under which the falling away came about. It was necessary to determine the sincerity of contrition of the lapsed.

When a new persecution against Christians spread under the emperor Valerian (253-259), the Carthaginian governor ordered Cyprian to offer sacrifice to idols. At the trial, St Cyprian calmly and firmly refused to offer sacrifice to idols and was sentenced to beheading with a sword, September 14, 258. St Cyprian left a precious legacy: his many writings and 80 letters. The works of St Cyprian were accepted by the Church as a model of the Catholic faith and read at two

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Ecumenical Councils (Ephesus and Chalcedon). The Depositio Martyrum adds that he was venerated as a Saint in Rome from the middle of the fourth century.

17 Mon Weekday green/white Rank IV [Saint , Bishop and Doctor of the Church] 1 Cor 11:17-26, 33/Lk 7:1-10 (443) Saint Robert Bellarmine, Religious, Bishop, Doctor of the Church † September 17, 1621 Robert was born in Tuscany (Italy) in 1542 and died in Rome on this day in 1621. A Jesuit priest and professor of theology at Louvain and Rome, he became a cardinal and then archbishop of Capua (Italy). After three years, he returned to Rome as a theological adviser to Paul V. An outstanding theologian, he expounded Church teaching in catechisms for the faithful and defended it comprehensively against Protestant positions; systematic apologist of the Counter Reformation; most noted for his Catechism and Disputationes de Controversiis Christianae Fidei. He is remembered for his dedication to the truth, his charity in disputation, and his austerity of life, and involved in the Galileo affair. Robert died at Rome on September 17, 1621, and was canonized in 1930. Two years later his feast was assigned to May 13. patron of catechists and catechumens.

18 Tue Weekday green Rank IV 1 Cor 12:12-14, 27-31a/Lk 7:11-17 (444)

19 Wed Weekday green/red Rank IV [Saint Januarius, Bishop and Martyr] 1 Cor 12:31—13:13/Lk 7:31-35 (445) Januarius, † September 19, c. 305; according to his legend, thrown to bears at Pozzuolo under Diocletian; bishop of Benevento; as early as 1389, his blood has liquified on this and other days each year; patron of Naples. Januarius, bishop of Benevento (Italy), is said to have been martyred near Naples in the great persecution of the emperor Diocletian at the beginning of the fourth century. Since the Middle Ages, a of his blood has been specially venerated in Naples.

In this day’s Office of Readings, Saint Augustine (28 August) recalls that we are saved by the blood of Christ, and in this common redemption he sees the source of strength for the ministry of bishop.

The burial of Januarius at Puteoli, near Naples, on September 19, is recorded in the martyrology of Jerome. His feast was listed in the Roman calendar in 1586.

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20 Thu Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs red Rank III Memorial 1 Cor 15:1-11/Lk 7:36-50 (446) Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Paul Choñg Hasang & Companions, † 19th cent. This memorial commemorates 103 of the numerous , representatives from all walks of life: men and women, married and unmarried, the elderly, teenagers and children, missionary bishops and priests. They are remembered for their fearless witness in the face of torture and death.

Christianity came to during the Japanese invasion in 1592 when some Koreans were baptized, probably by Christian Japanese soldiers. Evangelization was difficult because Korea refused all contact with the outside world except for an annual journey to Beijing to pay taxes. On one of these occasions, around 1777, Christian literature obtained from Jesuits in China led educated Korean Christians to study the faith. When a Chinese priest managed to enter secretly a dozen years later (1789), he found four thousand Catholics, none of whom had ever seen a priest.

Seven years later (1796) there were ten thousand Catholics. Pope St. John Paul II said of the Catholic Church in Korea: "The Korean Church is unique because it was founded entirely by laypeople. This fledgling Church, so young and yet so strong in faith, withstood wave after wave of fierce persecution. Thus, in less than a century, it could boast 10,000 martyrs.”

After more than two centuries of lay leadership, the Church in Korea was subject to fierce persecutions between 1839 and 1867. Andrew was born in in 1821. His father, Blessed Ignatius Kim, was martyred during the persecution of 1839 and was beatified in 1925.

After being baptized at age 15, Kim studied at a seminary in the Portuguese colony of Macau. He was the first native Korean ordained a priest (1844) in Shanghai by the Bishop Jean Joseph Ferréol of the Paris Foreign Mission Society. He returned to Korea to preach and evangelize. In 1846, at age 25, he was tortured and beheaded.

Paul Choñg Hasang was a Korean Catholic lay apostle and a married man who defended the faith before the government of Korea, and reunited Christians in the midst of the persecutions, encouraging them to stay strong in the faith. In

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response to Paul’s direct appeals, Pope Gregory X confirmed the Korean Church and sent more priests to Korea. Paul was martyred in 1839, aged forty-five.

Pope St. John Paul II canonized these martyrs on , 1984, and inserted their memorial into the calendar of the Universal Church.

21 Fri Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist red Rank II Feast Eph 4:1-7, 11-13/Mt 9:9-13 (643) Pss Prop Matthew † 1st c. Matthew, also known in the Gospels of Mark and Luke as "Levi"; Son of Alphaeus, a Galilean Jew who collected taxes for the Romans at Capernaum. Mentioned five times in the New Testament; first in Matthew 9:9, when called by Jesus to follow Him, and then four times in the list of the Apostles, where he is mentioned in the seventh (Luke 6:15, and Mark 3:18), and again in the eighth place (Matthew 10:3, and Acts 1:13). The man designated in Matthew 9:9, as "sitting in the custom house", and "named Matthew" is the same as Levi, recorded in Mark 2:14, and Luke 5:27, as "sitting at the receipt of custom".

According to the bishop Papias of Hieropolis in Phrygia (c. 125), the Church's canonical text of Matthew draws upon the Aramaic traditions associated with his name.

Tradition to the mid-20th century placed the composition of Matthew about the time of the persecution under Herod Agrippa (mentioned in Acts 12-circa 44 A.D) or between the time of this 'diaspora' and the Council of Jerusalem (between 44 A. D. and 50 A. D.) Contemporary Catholic scholarship dates the composition to circa AD 85; the gospel is generally arranged in an alternating pattern of narrative and discourse which highlights Jesus’ role as Messiah and underlines the presence of the kingdom of God in the Church. Intended for a largely Jewish-Christian audience, it seeks to portray Christianity as consistent with the Jewish tradition and a continuation of it.

Nothing definite is known about his later life. There is a tradition that points to Ethiopia [Ethiopia to the south of the Caspian Sea (not Ethiopia in Africa)], as his field of labor; other traditions make mention of Parthia and Persia, Macedonia, and Syria. It is likewise uncertain whether he died a natural death or received the crown of martyrdom.

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He is symbolized by the winged human being (cf. Ezekiel 1); mentioned in the Roman Canon; patron of accountants and customs officers.

22 Sat Weekday green/white Rank IV [BVM] 1 Cor 15:35-37, 42-49/Lk 8:4-15 (448)

23 SUN TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Wis 2:12, 17-20/Jas 3:16—4:3/Mk 9:30-37 (134) Pss I Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Religious, Priest September 23 Pius of Pietrelcina, † September 23, 1968 Francesco Forgione was born to Grazio Mario Forgione and Maria Giuseppa de Nunzio Forgione on May 25, 1887 in the small Italian village of Pietrelcina. He joined the Capuchin Franciscan Friars at the age of sixteen and received the name Pius (Pio); was ordained a priest seven years later. For fifty years at the monastery of San Stefano Rotundo he was a much sought after spiritual advisor, and intercessor whose life was devoted to the Eucharist and prayer. Yet despite such notoriety, he would often say "I only want to be a poor friar who prays."

Pope St. John Paul II announced on June 16, 2002 that the "liturgical commemoration of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina will be inserted in the Roman Calendar to be observed as an obligatory memorial on 23 September, the day of his birth in heaven." This celebration is new to the USA Liturgical Calendar in the Roman Missal Third Edition.

24 Mon Weekday green Rank IV Prv 3:27-34/Lk 8:16-18 (449)

25 Tue Weekday white Rank I ANNIVERSARY OF DEDICATION OF CATHEDRAL (CR)

ANNIVERSARY OF DEDICATION OF CATHEDRAL (CR) (solemnity in cathedral only) Symbols:F Wh R1 Hours*:Common of dedic MP: prop antt pss Sun I DP: current pss (DP: prop antt compl pss NP: Sun II) Mass: Common of dedic Gl Pf of Dedic II (sol: Gl Cr Pf of Dedic I) Readings:701-706 (sol: 3 rdgs)

26 Wed Weekday green/red Rank IV [Saints Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs] Prv 30:5-9/Lk 9:1-6 (451)

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Cosmas and Damian, † c. 287 Martyred at Cyrrhus in Syria; As early as the 4th century, churches dedicated to the twin saints were established at Jerusalem, in Egypt, and in Mesopotamia.

They came into wide veneration in the 5th & 6th centuries when Basilicas in both Rome (by Pope Felix IV & Theodoric, 527) and Constantinople (originally built by Patriarch Proclus c.440 was restored by Emperor Justinian I (527-565) were dedicated to them.

Brothers & physicians known as unmercenary ("moneyless ones") for their gratuitous care of the sick; mentioned in the Roman Canon; patrons of physicians, surgeons, druggists, barbers, and the blind.

27 Thu Saint , Priest white Rank III Memorial Eccl 1:2-11/Lk 9:7-9 (452) Vincent de Paul, † 1660 Died in Paris; born in Pouy; renewed the clergy and defended the poor and the abandoned; founded (1625) the Congregation of the Missions (Vincentians), today numbering some 3,975 members; mission preachers and seminary educators; with Saint (15 March), founded the Daughters of Charity; preached against Jansenism; patron of charities, of hospitals, of prisoners, and of the Malagasy Republic (Madagascar).

28 Fri Weekday green/red/red Rank IV [Saint Wenceslaus, Martyr; Saint Lawrence Ruiz and Companions, Martyrs] Eccl 3:1-11/Lk 9:18-22 (453) Wenceslaus, † 929 Born about 907, died at age twenty-two in 929; duke of Bohemia; s Raised a Christian by his grandmother, he ruled Bohemia with Christian principles, worked for the education of his people, and sought harmony with neighboring Germanic peoples. Opposition to these policies led to his martyrdom at the hands of his pagan brother Boleslaus’ followers. This earliest Slav saint is remembered for his selflessness in promoting the Christian faith. Patron of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

or

Lawrence Ruiz and Companions, † 17th cent.

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This commemoration marks the witness of sixteen among the many martyred in Nagasaki (Japan) between 1633 and 1637. They include Lawrence Ruiz, a Filipino husband and father of three children & protomartyr of the Philippines, together with other associates of the Dominican order; they included nine Japanese, four , one Frenchmen, one Italian, lay women and men, religious and priests. After Lawrence was unjustly accused of murder, he fled with Christian missionaries to Japan where he was tortured for the faith and died professing: "I shall die for God, and for him I would give many thousands of lives if I had them." All are remembered as courageous missionaries who sowed abundant seeds of the Christian faith in the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan and who remained fearless in the face of death. After enduring horrible tortures, their bodies were burned and their ashes scattered by order of the ruler, Tokugawa Yemitsu; They were canonized by St.John Paul II on 18 October 1987.

29 Sat Saints Michael, and , white Rank II Feast Dn 7:9-10, 13-14 or Rv 12:7-12a/Jn 1:47-51 (647) Pss Prop The cult of Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael began in the East. In the West, this day first marked the dedication of a fifth century Church of Saint Michael in Rome. This festival of Michaelmas came to be very popular and widely celebrated in medieval Europe. Raphael and Gabriel were added to the Roman calendar in the twentieth century, and the three are now celebrated together.

In the Scriptures (for example, Revelation 12:7-9, Luke 1:26-38, Tobit 3:16-25), each of the three angels is named as a messenger of God, entrusted with special divine missions on earth. These biblical messengers signify God's transcendence and loving care: Michael (meaning "Who is like God?"), Gabriel ("God's Strength"), and Raphael ("God's Remedy"); Michael: patron of security forces and of the sick; Gabriel: of telecommunications and the postal service; Raphael: of travellers and the blind.

30 SUN TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Nm 11:25-29/Jas 5:1-6/Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 (137) Pss II Jerome Monk, Priest, Doctor of the Church Jerome was born about 340 at Strido on the Adriatic coast and died in Bethlehem on this day in 420. Baptised in Rome while studying the classics, he became a hermit in Syria for a time and was ordained a presbyter. Later retained as papal secretary by Saint Damasus (11 December), he began work on a new Latin translation of the Bible, known as the Vulgate. Finally settling in Bethlehem, where he founded monasteries, he devoted himself to studying the Scriptures, writing, and teaching. Often irascible and intolerant, he is remembered for his

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asceticism and scholarship and, above all, for his incomparable service to the word of God.

OCTOBER 2018

1 Mon Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church white Rank IV Memorial Jb 1:6-22/Lk 9:46-50 (455) see 649: Is 66:10-14c Mt 18:1-5 In no. 649 of the Lectionary, vs. 5 of the gospel is mistakenly omitted: "And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me."

Thérèse Martin was born at Alençon (France) in 1873, died in the Carmel of Lisieux of tuberculosis at age twenty-four. From a devout family, she entered a Carmelite monastery at fifteen, where she embraced the suffering of her ill-health with love and in service to the missionary spread of the gospel. Known and loved for her unaffected simplicity through her popular autobiography,The Story of a Soul. Thérèse is remembered for her humble obedience and her fidelity to ordinary duties as the path to sanctity, she urged all to follow "the little way". Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II, 19 October 1997; patroness of the missions, of florists, and of France; secondary patroness of the Apostleship of Prayer.

2 Tue The Holy Guardian Angels white Rank IV Memorial Jb 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23 (456)/Mt 18:1-5, 10 (650) Pss Prop This memorial originated in Spain & Portugal early in the sixteenth century and assigned this memorial to the first free day following Michaelmas day in 1670. It is based on the belief that God assigns everyone an angel to guard body and soul, an expression of God’s personal care for each individual. A similar belief is also found in Jewish and other religious thought. The feast associates the human race with the eternal song of praise in heaven (Matthew 18:10).

3 Wed Weekday green Rank IV Jb 9:1-12, 14-16/Lk 9:57-62 (457)

4 Thu Saint Francis of Assisi, Religious Founder, Deacon white Rank III Memorial Jb 19:21-27/Lk 10:1-12 (458)

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Francis, † 3 Oct. 1226 Noted for his charismatic personality, deep compassion for all, and love for God's creation; renounced wealth to follow "Lady Poverty"; deacon; founded the Franciscan Family which is made up today of the Friars Minor (Capuchins [numbering about 11,130 religious], Conventuals [c. 4,520 religious], and those of the Leonine Union [c. 15,250 religious]), Poor Clares, Third Order Religious, and the Secular Franciscan Order; wrote Canticle of the Sun; received the stigmata 14 Sept. 1224; canonized only two years after his death; patron of ecologists and of Italy.

PN Today, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, or on another appropriate day, the community or a household may join in the blessing of pets and other animals. For the Order of Blessing of Animals, see BB, nos. 942-965 or HB, 154-157.

5 Fri Weekday green/white Rank IV [USA: Blessed , Priest] Jb 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5/Lk 10:13-16 (459) On July 25, 2014, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments confirmed the inscription of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, Priest, into the Proper Calendar for the Dioceses of the United States of America. He is celebrated each year as an Optional Memorial on October 5.His proper liturgical texts in Latin and English were also confirmed the same day. The texts in Spanish were confirmed on September 23, 2015. Below are the proper liturgical texts for Bl. Francis Xavier Seelos in English:

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, Religious, Priest †October 4, 1867 Born in Füssen, Germany in 1819, he entered the diocesan seminary and, coming to know the charism of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, joined it and was sent to North America. Ordained a priest in 1844, he began his pastoral ministry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as assistant pastor of his confrere Saint John Neumann, serving also as Master of Novices and dedicating himself to preaching. He became a full-time itinerant missionary preacher, preaching in both English and German in a number of different states. He died in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 4, 1867

Office of Readings Second Reading From the letters of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, Priest (Archives of the Baltimore Province)

Place nothing ahead of God's love

This desire to bring a sacrifice to God again and again extends to everything that I ever loved in this life, and upon which my heart was set. When I think of the beauties of nature, these do not stir up longing and melancholy, but I am filled with the greatest joy, because, since I am not giving God any real and true

137 gifts, I can give him imagined and pretended ones. At the same time, in the overflowing of my good fortune, I cannot at all get away from the thought that in heaven God will give me those that, for him, I have forsaken in the world, and for this I also constantly pray.

And so, the novitiate and its completion, the taking of vows, the life with confreres of the Order, and above all, the insight to cherish these goods to the best of my ability, so that there is nothing left for me to desire, except to fulfill my duties better—these were the first blessings of divine mercy.

Everything was completely against my nature. But precisely the joyful acceptance of them, in God's boundless grace, made so clear to me the mystery of renunciation and patience in this world that I feel that I am much too fortunate in the possession of my religious confreres and all the spiritual and temporal blessings that are bound together with it. And what is still more, that God has exalted me so high as to announce the Gospel to the poor, and to teach, and share with them his treasures.

Every offering has value only insofar as one snatches it away from one's own benefit and dedicates it to God through this self-conquest. One loves and gives precisely because one loves, and because one considers what is given as a good, as a treasure. Love of creatures must be subordinated to the love of God, whom one is pledged to love above all things.

Time, in which we have found nothing to offer up to God, is lost for eternity. If it is only the duties of our vocation that we fulfill with dedication to the will of God; if it is the sweat of our faces that, in resignation, we wipe from our brow without murmuring; if it is suffering, temptations, difficulties with our fellowmen—everything we can present to God as an offering and can, through them, become like Jesus his Son. Where the sacrifice is great and manifold, there, in the same proportion, is the hope of glory more deeply and more securely grounded in the heart of him who makes it.

Responsory Psalm 119:1-2; Mark 8:34

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. —Blessed are they who keep his decrees, who seek him with all their heart.

Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. —Blessed are they who keep his decrees,

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Collect O God, who made your Priest Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos outstanding in love, that he might proclaim the mysteries of redemption and comfort those in affliction, grant, by his intercession, that we may work zealously for your glory and for the salvation of mankind. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

6 Sat Weekday green/white/white/white Rank IV [Saint , Priest; USA: Blessed , Virgin; BVM] Jb 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17/Lk 10:17-24 (460) Bruno, † 1101 in Calabria; celebrated teacher at Reims and close advisor to his former pupil, Pope Urban II (1088-1099); founded (1084), near Grenoble, La Grande Chartreuse (or Charterhouse [in Latin: Carthusia]), the mother house of the , who today number about 335 religious; sought "to seek God assiduously, to find God promptly, and to possess God fully"; their motto: "While the world changes, the cross stands firm."

Marie-Rose, † 1849 at age thirty-eight; born in St.-Antoine, Québec; began the first Canadian parish sodality for young women; founded the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary for Christian education.

7 SUN TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Gn 2:18-24/Heb 2:9-11/Mk 10:2-16 or 10:2-12 (140) Pss III

8 Mon Weekday green Rank IV Gal 1:6-12/Lk 10:25-37 (461)

9 Tue Weekday green/red/white Rank IV [Saint Denis, Bishop, and Companions, Martyrs; Saint , Religious Founder Priest] Gal 1:13-24/Lk 10:38-42 (462)

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Denis, or Dionysius, † 258; first bishop of Paris; martyred with the presbyter, Eleutherius, and the deacon, Rusticus, on Montmartre (or "mount of martyrs"); patron of Paris and of France.

John Leonardi, † 1609 in Rome; from Lucca; founded (1574) the Congregation of Clerics Regular of the Mother of God (today numbering about sixty members); in 1579 he formed the Confraternity of Christian Doctine, and published a compendium of Christian doctrine in use until the 19th c.; cofounded with Philip Neri (26 May) at Rome the Collegio Urbano which, under the charge of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, still trains priests for the foreign missions.

10 Wed Weekday green Rank IV Gal 2:1-2, 7-14/Lk 11:1-4 (463)

11 Thu Weekday green/white Rank IV [Saint John XXIII, Pope] Gal 3:1-5/Lk 11:5-13 (464) Saint John XXIII, Pope † June 3, 1963. Angelo Joseph Roncalli was born in Sotto il Monte (Bergamo province, Italy) in 1881. At eleven years old, he entered the seminary of Bergamo, continuing then at the Pontifical Roman Seminary. Ordained a priest in 1904, he was secretary to Bishop of Bergamo. He began his service to the Holy See as Italian president of the Central Council of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith in 1921; as and then Apostolic Delegate in Bulgaria in 1925; as Apostolic Delegate in Turkey and Greece in 1935; and as the Apostolic to France in 1944. In 1953 he was created a cardinal and appointed Patriarch of Venice. He was elected pope in 1958. He convoked the Roman Synod, established the Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law, and convened the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. He died on the evening of 3 June 1963.

Emmanuela Maria Soledad Acosta-Torres was born in Madrid, the 2nd of December of 1826 and died the 11th of October 1887. Born into a poor family, in 1848 she was asked to head a new Congregation of women devoted to Mary and dedicated to care for the sick, especially in their homes. On August 15, 1851, Maria Soledad and six other young women began their religious life; the Handmaids of Mary Serving the Sick. Maria Soledad died in Madrid, October 11, 1887, and was canonized by Paul VI on January 25, 1970. Today, the Congregation has members serving throughout twenty countries.

Saint John XXIII, Pope

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From the Common of Pastors, for a pope

Office of Readings Second Reading From the addresses of St. John XXIII, pope. (In the solemn inauguration of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 11 October 1962: AAS 54 [1962], 786-787. 792-793.)

The Church is the most loving mother of all

Today, Venerable Brethren, is a day of joy for Mother Church: through God's most kindly providence the longed-for day has dawned for the solemn opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, here at St. Peter's shrine. And Mary, God's Virgin Mother, on this feast day of her noble motherhood, gives it her gracious protection.

Certain it is that the critical issues, the thorny problems that wait upon man's solution, have remained the same for almost twenty centuries. And why? Because the whole of history and of life hinges on the person of Jesus Christ. Either men anchor themselves on Him and His Church, and thus enjoy the blessings of light and joy, right order and peace; or they live their lives apart from Him; many positively oppose Him, and deliberately exclude themselves from the Church. The result can only be confusion in their lives, bitterness in their relations with one another, and the savage threat of war.

In these days, which mark the beginning of this Second Vatican Council, it is more obvious than ever before that the Lord's truth is indeed eternal. Human ideologies change. Successive generations give rise to varying errors, and these often vanish as quickly as they came, like mist before the sun.

The Church has always opposed these errors, and often condemned them with the utmost severity. Today, however, Christ's Bride prefers the balm of mercy to the arm of severity. She believes that, present needs are best served by explaining more fully the purport of her doctrines, rather than by publishing condemnations. Not that the need to repudiate and guard against erroneous teaching and dangerous ideologies is less today than formerly. But all such error is so manifestly contrary to rightness and goodness, and produces such fatal results, that our contemporaries show every inclination to condemn it of their own accord—especially that way of life which repudiates God and His law, and which places excessive confidence in technical progress and an exclusively material prosperity. It is more and more widely understood that personal dignity and true self-realization are of vital importance and worth every effort to achieve. More important still, experience has at long last taught men that physical violence, armed might, and political domination are no help at all in providing a happy solution to the serious problems which affect them.

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The great desire, therefore, of the Catholic Church in raising aloft at this Council the torch of truth, is to show herself to the world as the loving mother of all mankind; gentle, patient, and full of tenderness and sympathy for her separated children. To the human race oppressed by so many difficulties, she says what Peter once said to the poor man who begged an alms: "Silver and gold I have none; but what I have, that I give thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk." (Acts 3:6) In other words it is not corruptible wealth, nor the promise of earthly happiness, that the Church offers the world today, but the gifts of divine grace which, since they raise men up to the dignity of being sons of God, are powerful assistance and support for the living of a more fully human life. She unseals the fountains of her life-giving doctrine, so that men, illumined by the light of Christ, will understand their true nature and dignity and purpose. Everywhere, through her children, she extends the frontiers of Christian love, the most powerful means of eradicating the seeds of discord, the most effective means of promoting concord, peace with justice, and universal brotherhood.

Responsory (cf. Mt 16:18; Ps 48:9) R/. Jesus said to Simon, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, * And the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. V/. God has established it forever. * And the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

Collect O almighty and eternal God, who throughout all the world made in blessed Pope John a living radiant example of Christ the Good Shepherd, grant us, we ask, that through his intercession, we may be enabled to pour out an abundance of Christian charity. (Through our Lord Jesus Christ...) (Through Christ our Lord. Amen.)

Original Latin: Omnípotens sempitérne Deus, qui per orbem terrárum in beáto Ioánne, papa, Christi boni pastóris vivum effulgére fecísti exémplum, concéde nobis, quaésumus, ut, eius intercessióne, abundántiam christiánae caritátis laetánter effúndere valeámus. Per Christum.

12 Fri Weekday green Rank IV Gal 3:7-14/Lk 11:15-26 (465)

13 Sat Weekday green/white Rank IV [BVM] Gal 3:22-29/Lk 11:27-28 (466)

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14 SUN TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Wis 7:7-11/Heb 4:12-13/Mk 10:17-30 or 10:17-27 (143) Pss IV

15 Mon Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church white Rank III Memorial Gal 4:22-24, 26-27, 31—5:1/Lk 11:29-32 (467) Teresa of Avila, † 1582 at Alba; Spanish mystic who, with St. (14 Dec.), founded the reformed (Discalced) Carmelite friars and nuns, for which she had to endure great trials; authored Way of Perfection, Interior Castle, and an autobiography; first woman declared "Doctor of the Church" (1970); patroness of Spain.

16 Tue Weekday green/white/white Rank IV [Saint Hedwig, Religious; Saint , Virgin] Gal 5:1-6/Lk 11:37-41 (468) Hedwig, † 1243; born in Bavaria; duchess of Silesia and mother of seven; peacemaker dedicated to the poor and prisoners; as a widow, retired to a Cistercian convent.

Margaret Mary, † 17 Oct. 1690 at age forty-three; French Visitandine mystic who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a feast which helped free the Church from the spirit of Jansenism; promoted first Friday devotion.

17 Wed Saint , Bishop and Martyr red Rank III Memorial Gal 5:18-25/Lk 11:42-46 (469) Ignatius, † c. 107 under Trajan in Rome's amphitheater; from Syria; Apostolic Father known as the second successor of St. Peter in Antioch; wrote seven letters to local communities on church unity and structure, especially the mono- espicopacy; first to use the term "Catholic Church" as a collective designation for Christians; mentioned in the Roman Canon.

18 Thu Saint Luke, Evangelist red Rank II Feast 2 Tm 4:10-17b/Lk 10:1-9 (661) Pss Prop Luke, † 1st c.; Syrian physician from Antioch and companion of St. Paul; He was a Gentile by birth and a physician by profession (Col. 4, 14). He was one of the earliest converts to the faith and later became the missionary companion of St. Paul, whom he accompanied on part of the second and third missionary journeys (Acts 16, 10-17; 20, Sf-21, 17), and attended him during the Caesarean (Acts 24, 23) and Roman captivity (Acts 27--28; Col. 4, 14).

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Little is known with certainty of his subsequent life. A tradition going back to c. AD 165, the “Prefatio vel Argumentum Lucæ", of Julius Africanus states that he was unmarried, that he wrote the Gospel in

Achaia, and that he died at the age of seventy-four in Bœotia. St. Epiphanius (4th cen.) has it that he preached in Dalmatia (where there is a tradition to that effect), Galatia, Italy, and Macedonia. As an Evangelist, he must have suffered much for the Faith, but it is uncertain whether he actually died a martyr's death. St. Jerome writes of him (De Vir. III., vii) that his relics were taken to Constantinople, along with a reliquary of the Apostle St. Andrew. Later traditions from Theophylact identified him as the companion of Cleopas at Emmaus; St. Epiphanius believed him to be one of the ‘Apostles of the Seventy’ (Lk 10:1-24).

The unanimous tradition of the Church ascribes the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles to St. Luke. Allusions to and citations from the Gospel are most frequent in early Christian writings, and even heretics made diligent use of this inspired book. The Gospel itself shows that its author was a person of literary powers, a physician and a companion of St. Paul. It speaks of God's mercy, universal salvation, love of the poor and the marginalized, absolute renunciation, prayer, and the Holy Spirit.

Tradition prior to the mid-20th century placed the composition of the Gospel before the destruction of Jerusalem, AD 70, for it does not refer to the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy (Luke 19 & 21) The thinking was that the Gospel of St. Luke, written first, must have been written prior to AD 63; since the Acts of the Apostles closes its narrative with the year AD 63 or 64. Contemporary Catholic scholars generally date the composition of both the Gospel and Acts between AD 70-85.

Luke is represented by a winged ox (cf. Ezekiel 1); patron of the medical profession, painters, artists, sculptors, and butchers.

PN On the feast of St. Luke, a "White Mass" may appropriately be celebrated honoring doctors, nurses, medical technicians, hospital administrators, and emergency personnel in appreciation for their service to the local community. Another day may be chosen. Suggested Mass formulary: For the Laity, #10, when permitted.

19 Fri USA: Saints John de Brébeuf and Jogues, Priests, red Rank III and Companions, Martyrs Memorial [In the USA, the optional memorial of , priest, is perpetually transferred to 20 October.]

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Eph 1:11-14/Lk 12:1-7 (471) John de Brébeuf (1593-1649) and (1607-1646) are named in this group of eight North American martyrs, French Jesuits who suffered between 1642 and 1649; Against a background of conflict between French and English and between Huron, Mohawk, and Iroquois, they went as missionaries teaching the message of Christ in the local languages. They are remembered for the hardships they suffered for the sake of the gospel, eventually embracing even torture and death: St. Isaac on 18 Oct. 1646 near Albany; St. John 16 Mar. 1649 near Georgian Bay; other martyrs were Frs. Antony Daniel, Gabriel Lalemant, Charles Garnier, Noel Chabanel, and oblates René Goupil and Jean de la Lande; secondary patrons of Canada.

Celebrating the saints liturgically clearly illustrates the principle of juxtaposition. This is particularly so when we place the deaths of Martyrs alongside the death of Jesus Christ to see their correspondence (compare Acts 7:54-60 with Luke 23:44-49). To feast the North American Martyrs is actually to celebrate the passion of Christ seen anew through Saints Jean de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, Réné Goupil, Jean de la Lande, Antoine Daniel, Gabriel Lalement, Charles Garnier, and Noël Chabanel. The Prayer over the Offerings for this feast expresses this relationship well: As we venerate the passion of your Martyrs… grant that… we may proclaim worthily the Death of your Only Begotten Son… Paul Ragueneau, the Jesuit Martyrs’ superior, alluded to clear similarities between the passion of Christ and of his confrères: Saint Isaac’s thumbs were cut off, so that he would be unable to hold the host at Mass (cf. Mark 15: 17-20); Saint Antoine went out to meet his attackers alone so that the Wendat (Huron) under his charge might escape death – the attackers “stop in astonishment… and even recoil backwards” (cf. John 17:12-19; 18:6); and Saints Jean and Gabriel were taunted as they were “baptized” with scalding water (cf. Mark 15: 29-32). Fittingly, the Entrance Antiphon on this day parallels the entrance antiphon for the Triduum: May we never boast, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the word of the Cross is the power of God to us who have been saved. Connections between martyrs and Jesus extend beyond the ways in which they died to embrace also the lives they had lived. A deathly “baptism,” for example, only makes sense in light of actual pastoral practice. And since a great number have been executed without being named martyrs, concentrating solely on death is to overlook their significance. Saint Noël, the least accomplished of the martyrs in his ministry, was ill at ease in virtually every aspect in the New World. Resisting the temptation to return to Europe where he could be more useful, “he never wished to come down from the cross upon which God had placed him, nor did he ever ask for an easy way out” (cf. Matthew 4:1-11). Such dedication to ministry is highlighted in the Prayer after Communion in the request that

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we may be ever united in heart to the charity and suffering of your Son Alternatively, St. Charles took readily to immersion in a new language and culture and appears to have been well received by the Wendat: “[he] spoke to all… of piety and chastity, and this whether he was in prayer or in ordinary conversation or spoke of God or even, when… he was engaged in social tasks” (cf. Luke 4:22).

The Opening Prayer for the feast highlights this broadened conception of martyrdom: God, who chose to manifest the blessed hope of your eternal Kingdom by the toil of Saints John de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues and their companions and by the shedding of their blood… But ultimately, every liturgical feast is not simply about remembering the past. All of the prayers above can certainly be understood as referencing the Martyrs whose memory we honour. But in the liturgy past events are understood as anticipating the future coming of Christ, in the hope that we might live out our vocation as children of the kingdom in the present. Consequently, these prayers ultimately ask God to act on our behalf, so that celebrating Saints John, Isaac, and companions becomes a proclamation of who we ought to be. This means that we must move beyond historical circumstance; while it is possible to assign blame for the death of Jesus to the Roman or Jewish authorities, or the death of the North American martyrs to Iroquoian warriors, it is far more helpful to investigate their motivations for having done so in an attempt to see who we would be in those stories.

Jesus and the Jesuit martyrs brought new understandings of faith into religious cultures which challenged what onlookers knew experientially to be right and proper. Jesus challenged many of the ways in which Judaism was lived– the Jesuits challenged many of the most fundamental ideas in the native Wendat religion. Their proclamation elicited a response: some believed, some rejected. Will we judge the future offered by the Gospel to be too distasteful, uncomfortable, or unfamiliar? Or will we accept the call to serve as the vessels through which the counter-cultural in-breaking of the God who cannot be constrained by human activity is incarnated anew? May the words of Jesus in the Communion Antiphon influence our response: Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

20 Sat Weekday green/white/white Rank IV [USA: Saint Paul of the Cross, Priest; BVM] Eph 1:15-23/Lk 12:8-12 (472)

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Paul of the Cross, † 18 Oct. 1775; Born at Ovada (Italy) in 1694; After some years of uncertainty, he felt called to found a new congregation, the , who combined a strict penitential discipline with intense devotion to the passion of Christ and whose work was both active and contemplative. Paul is remembered for his prophetic preaching in parish missions, for calling sinners to repentance, and for his special gifts of healing. Founded (1720) the Passionists, today numbering 2,200 members.

21 SUN TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Is 53:10-11/Heb 4:14-16/Mk 10:35-45 or 10:42-45 (146) Pss I

22 Mon Weekday green/white Rank IV [Saint John Paul II, Pope] Eph 2:1-10/Lk 12:13-21 (473) On October 12, 2012, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments confirmed the inscription of Saint John Paul II, Pope, into the Proper Calendar for the Dioceses of the United States of America. Two years later, on May 29, 2014, Pope Francis ordered the inscription of Saint John Paul II into the . St. John Paul is celebrated each year as an Optional Memorial on October 22

Charles Joseph Wotjtyła was born in 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. After his ordination to the priesthood and theological studies in Rome, he returned to his homeland and resumed various pastoral and academic tasks. He became first and, in 1964, Archbishop of Krakow and took part in the Second Vatican Council. On October 16, 1978 he was elected pope and took the name John Paul II. His exceptional apostolic zeal, particularly for families, young people and the sick, led him to numerous pastoral visits throughout the world. Among the many fruits which he has left as a heritage to the Church are above all his rich Magisterium and the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as the Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church and for the Eastern Churches. In Rome on April 2, 2005, the eve of the Second Sunday of Easter (or of Divine Mercy), he departed peacefully in the Lord.

Collect O God, who are rich in mercy and who willed that Saint John Paul the Second should preside as Pope over your universal Church, grant, we pray, that instructed by his teaching, we may open our hearts to the saving grace of Christ, the sole Redeemer of mankind. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

LECTIONARY FOR MASS

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Aside from the usual Mass readings of the day, any Lectionary readings from the Common of Pastors: For a Pope may be used for St. John Paul II. If a more solemn celebration is desired, the following readings are recommended from no. 663A of the Lectionary for Mass Supplement:

First Reading – Isaiah 52:7-10 All the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8a, 10 R/. Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Gospel Acclamation – John 10:14 I am the good shepherd, says the Lord, I know my sheep, and mine know me.

Gospel – John 21:15-17 Feed my lambs, feed my sheep..

Office of Readings

Second Reading From the Homily of Saint John Paul II, Pope, for the Inauguration of his Pontificate (October 22, 1978: AAS 70 [1978], 945-947) Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ.

Peter came to Rome! What else but obedience to the inspiration received from the Lord could have guided him and brought him to this city, the heart of the Empire? Perhaps the fisherman of Galilee did not want to come here. Perhaps he would have preferred to stay there, on the shores of Lake of Genesareth, with his boat and his nets. Yet guided by the Lord, obedient to his inspiration, he came here!

According to an ancient tradition, Peter tried to leave Rome during Nero’s persecution. However, the Lord intervened and came to meet him. Peter spoke to him and asked. “Quo vadis, Domine?” — “Where are you going, Lord?” And the Lord answered him at once: “I am going to Rome to be crucified again.” Peter went back to Rome and stayed here until his crucifixion.

Our time calls us, urges us, obliges us, to gaze on the Lord and to immerse ourselves in humble and devout meditation on the mystery of the supreme power of Christ himself.

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He who was born of the Virgin Mary, the carpenter’s Son (as he was thought to be), the Son of the living God (as confessed by Peter), came to make us all “a kingdom of priests."

The Second Vatican Council has reminded us of the mystery of this power and of the fact that Christ’s mission as Priest, Prophet-Teacher and King continues in the Church. Everyone, the whole People of God, shares in this threefold mission. Perhaps in the past the tiara, that triple crown, was placed on the Pope’s head in order to signify by that symbol the Lord’s plan for his Church, namely that all the hierarchical order of Christ’s Church, all “sacred power” exercised in the Church, is nothing other than service, service with a single purpose: to ensure that the whole People of God shares in this threefold mission of Christ and always remains under the power of the Lord; a power that has its source not in the powers of this world, but instead in the mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection.

The absolute, and yet sweet and gentle, power of the Lord responds to the whole depths of the human person, to his loftiest aspirations of intellect, will and heart. It does not speak the language of force, but expresses itself in charity and truth.

The new Successor of Peter in the See of Rome today makes a fervent, humble and trusting prayer: Christ, make me become and remain the servant of your unique power, the servant of your sweet power, the servant of your power that knows no dusk. Make me a servant: indeed, the servant of your servants.

Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power. Help the Pope and all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ’s power to serve the human person and the whole of mankind.

Do not be afraid. Open, I say open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid. Christ knows “that which is in man”. He alone knows it. So often today, man does not know that which is in him, in the depths of his mind and heart. So often he is uncertain about the meaning of his life on this earth. He is assailed by doubt, a doubt which turns into despair. We ask you, therefore, we beg you with humility and with trust, let Christ speak to man. He alone has words of life, yes, of life eternal.

Responsory Do not be afraid. The Redeemer of mankind has revealed the power of the Cross and has given his life for us. —Open, open wide the doors for Christ.

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In the Church we are called to partake of his power. —Open, open wide the doors for Christ. Prayer

O God, who are rich in mercy and who willed that Saint John Paul the Second should preside as Pope over your universal Church, grant, we pray, that instructed by his teaching, we may open our hearts to the saving grace of Christ, the sole Redeemer of mankind. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever

23 Tue Weekday green/white Rank IV [Saint John of Capistrano, Religious, Missionary, Priest] Eph 2:12-22/Lk 12:35-38 (474) John of Capistrano, † 1456; O.F.M.; reformer of the Franciscans and Poor Clares; preached devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus (3 Jan.); sought an end to the Western Schism; animated resistance against the Turks at the battle of Belgrade (1456); patron of military chaplains. Born in Capestrano (Italy) in 1386, John died on this day in 1456 at Ilok (Croatia). Though a married man and governor of Perugia, he decided to join the Friars Minor. After being released from his marriage vows, he was professed as a Franciscan at the age of thirty and was ordained a presbyter three years later. John was a successful preacher, committed Franciscan reformer, zealous inquisitor in Vienna, and spiritual leader of a victorious crusade against the Ottoman forces. He is remembered for his preaching and austerity of life.

24 Wed Weekday green/white Rank IV [Saint , Religious Founder, Bishop] Eph 3:2-12/Lk 12:39-48 (475) Anthony Claret, † October 24 1870; from Catalonia; vigorous reforming bishop of Santiago, Cuba; founded (1849) the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Claretians), today numbering about 3,050 members; fostered credit unions and the apostolate of the press. Anthony was born in Sallent (Spain) in 1807 and died in exile in France on this day in 1870. After more than a decade preaching missions and retreats in Catalonia, he founded a religious institute, later known as the Claretians, for this work. Appointed archbishop of Santiago (Cuba), he aroused opposition for his spiritual and social reforms and for championing the rights of the indigenous peoples. Finally, as chaplain to Queen Isabella II, he drew the arts and sciences into his missionary endeavour. He is

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remembered for his work of religious renewal through the spoken and printed word.

25 Thu Weekday green Rank IV Eph 3:14-21/Lk 12:49-53 (476)

26 Fri Weekday green Rank IV Eph 4:1-6/Lk 12:54-59 (477)

27 Sat Weekday green/white Rank IV [BVM] Eph 4:7-16/Lk 13:1-9 (478)

28 SUN THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Jer 31:7-9/Heb 5:1-6/Mk 10:46-52 (149) Pss II SIMON AND JUDE, APOSTLES (F) Simon “the Less” is also called “the Canaanite” and “the Zealot.” Jude “(son) of James” (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13) was traditionally thought to be the same person as Jude, brother of James and author of the letter of Jude; he may also be the one called “Thaddeus” (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18). A tradition has Simon and Jude preaching and being martyred in Persia. They are honoured among the twelve apostles, the first followers of Christ.

29 Mon Weekday green Rank IV Eph 4:32—5:8/Lk 13:10-17 (479)

30 Tue Weekday green Rank IV Eph 5:21-33 (480) or 5:2a, 25-32 (122)/Lk 13:18-21 (480)

31 Wed Weekday green Rank IV Eph 6:1-9/Lk 13:22-30 (481) PN During November, we are called in a special way "to our departed brothers and sisters…give kind admittance to your kingdom" (Eucharistic Prayer II). A book might be made available in some convenient location in which the faithful could inscribe the names of their beloved dead who would be remembered in prayer during this month. Other practices are encouraged. See HB, 161-162.

NOVEMBER 2018 1 Thu ALL SAINTS white Rank I Solemnity [Holyday of Obligation] Rv 7:2-4, 9-14/1 Jn 3:1-3/Mt 5:1-12a (667) Pss Prop

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First mentioned in the 4th c. Eastern feast of All Martyrs (13 May) and attested to by St. Ephrem of Edessa († 373), this feast came to be celebrated on other days as well in the East, e.g., Easter Friday, and the Sunday after Pentecost, the day of its observance in some places in the West. In 609/610, the Roman Pantheon was dedicated on 13 May under the title St. Maria ad Martyres. Many see in this the origin of All Saints Day. For reasons which are unclear, Pope Gregory IV (827-844) transferred the feast from May to 1 November, adopting perhaps the English-Gallican practice dating from the first quarter of the 8th c. Honored today are all holy men and women in glory with Christ: known or unknown, mighty or lowly, all whose lives were modeled on the Beatitudes and on the great commandment of love.

• For pastoral reasons, where it is the custom, EP for the Dead may be celebrated following EP II of All Saints.

PN Today it is recommended that relics of the saints be exposed for veneration by the faithful. Relics might also be carried in the opening procession of the Mass and placed before the altar or some other location of honor.

2 Fri Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed white/violet/black Rank I (All Souls’ Day) Wis 3:1-9/Rom 5:5-11 or Rom 6:3-9/Jn 6:37-40 (668) or any readings from no. 668 or from the Lectionary for Mass (vol. IV), the Masses for the Dead, nos. 1011-1016 Pss Prop Rooted in ancient Christian tradition (2nd c. and Tertullian), St. Odilo of Cluny (1 Jan.) established a memorial of all the faithful departed in 988. Fixed on this day, it spread more widely after the tenth century; it was accepted in Rome in the 13th c. and now ranks with the principal feast days in the liturgical calendar. Commonly known as All Souls, it expresses Christian faith in the and our need to pray for one another in the Church, especially those souls in purgatory, “who have been buried in their human imperfection.”

• An of Pope Benedict XV in 1915 granted all priests the privilege of celebrating three Masses today for the following intentions: one Mass for a particular intention, another Mass for all the faithful departed, and a third Mass for the intention of the pope. A stipend may be received only for the first intention mentioned above.

PN The month of November, especially All Souls Day, is a traditional time for visiting graves of loved ones, as is the anniversary of death. For the Order of Visiting a Cemetery, see BB, nos. 1734-1754 or HB, 158-160.

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3 Sat Weekday green/white/white Rank IV [Saint Martin de Porres, Religious; BVM] Phil 1:18b-26/Lk 14:1, 7-11 (484) Martin, †, 1639; born in Lima of a Spanish father and a black slave mother; O.P. lay brother who humbly ministered to the poor and the sick, especially African slaves; devoted to the Holy Eucharist; a close friend of Rose of Lima; patron of social justice and of peoples of mixed races.

4 SUN THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II Dt 6:2-6/Heb 7:23-28/Mk 12:28b-34 (152) Pss III

5 Mon Weekday green Rank IV Phil 2:1-4/Lk 14:12-14 (485)

6 Tue Weekday green Rank IV Phil 2:5-11/Lk 14:15-24 (486)

7 Wed Weekday green Rank IV Phil 2:12-18/Lk 14:25-33 (487)

8 Thu Weekday green Rank IV Phil 3:3-8a/Lk 15:1-10 (488)

9 Fri The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica white Rank II Feast Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12/1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17/Jn 2:13-22 (671) Pss Prop Feast of the Dedication Of the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior (Basilica of St. John Lateran ) The Lateran Basilica, built by Constantine near the palace of the same name, is the first Basilica of the West. The date of the dedication of Constantine the Great’s basilica by Pope Saint Miltiades (about 324) is unknown, but since the eleventh century it has been observed at Rome on November 9.

It was, and remains, the Cathedral of the diocese of Rome; its title is the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior. The adjacent Lateran Palace was inhabited by the Popes until 1308, when they moved to Avignon. Twelve councils, four of which were ecumenical, have assembled at the Lateran; the first in 649, the last in 1512.

A plenary indulgence (under the usual three conditions) can be gained by visiting the Cathedral on this day and praying the Our Father and Creed. (Sacred

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Apostolic Penitentiary. Manual of Indulgences: Norms and Grants. translation of Enchiridion Indulgentiarum quarto editur (1999). (Washington, DC: USCCB Publishing, 2006) #33 §1, 3.d, p.101.)

10 Sat Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church white Rank III Memorial Phil 4:10-19/Lk 16:9-15 (490) Leo the Great, † 461; eminent pastor and preacher; defender of the Roman primacy; combatted Pelagianism and Manichaeism; his Tome on Christ's two natures was adopted by the (451); many of his prayers are found in the Roman Missal; saved Rome from marauding and Vandals. The burial of Leo on November 10, 461, is recorded in the martyrology of Jerome and the eighth century calendar of Willibrord. Rome celebrated his feast on the vigil of Peter and Paul, which was also the date his body was transferred to the Vatican church by Pope St. Sergius (687-701). The Gallican books assigned this feast to April 11, and Rome introduced it on this day in the twelfth century.

11 SUN THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME green Rank II 1 Kgs 17:10-16/Heb 9:24-28/Mk 12:38-44 or 12:41-44 (155) Pss IV [Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop.Memorial. The martyrology of Jerome records the burial of Martin at Tours, France, on November 11, 397, and since the sixth century his feast has been celebrated at Rome.]

12 Mon Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr red Rank III Memorial Ti 1:1-9/Lk 17:1-6 (491) Josaphat Kuncevych, † 1623; Born 1580 in Vladimir in what was at the time Poland (Ukraine) raised Ukrainian Orthodox; becoming a Basilian monk of the Ruthenian Rite at Vilna; archbishop of Polotsk; His strenuous work to uphold and spread the Union of Brest-Litovsk by which Churches of the province of Kiev, with their Byzantine liturgy and customs, had entered into communion with Rome led to his martyrdom at Vitepsk, Russia, on November 12, 1623. In a complex situation of national and religious antagonism, he was killed by violent opponents. He is remembered for his energetic pastoral reform and courageous ecumenism. The first formally canonized saint of the Eastern Rite (1867). In 1882 his feast was placed in the Roman calendar and assigned to November 14.

13 Tue USA: Saint , Virgin, Religious Founder white Rank III Memorial

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Ti 2:1-8, 11-14/Lk 17:7-10 (492) Frances Xavier Cabrini, † in Chicago, 22 Dec. 1917; Born in a little village in Lombardy (Italy) in 1850, so fragile at birth that she was brought immediately to Church to be baptized. While from her youth she dreamed only of being a missionary, she was three times rejected when applying to a convent. At age 27, she Founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart; for twenty-eight years labored in U.S. and South America, establishing some sixty-seven institutions (schools, hospitals, and orphanages); now in eight countries in Europe, North, South, and Central America; first U.S. citizen canonized (1946); patroness of immigrants and migrants.

14 Wed Weekday green Rank IV Ti 3:1-7/Lk 17:11-19 (493)

15 Thu Weekday green/white Rank III [Saint Albert the Great, Religious, Bishop, Doctor of the Church] Phlm 7-20/Lk 17:20-25 (494) Albert the Great, † 1280 Born in Lauingen (Germany) about 1200 died at Cologne on November 15, 1280, at Cologne. The “Universal Doctor” was a Dominican friar and teacher, most notably in Paris and in Cologne where Saint Thomas Aquinas (28 January) was his pupil. He was briefly bishop of Regensburg, but resigned the see to return to teaching and writing. Albert is remembered for the outstanding breadth of his learning in the natural sciences, Jewish and Arabic studies, and Greek philosophy, all of which he brought to the service of his theology. prolific writer (thirty-eight quarto volumes in print); wrote on the cult of the Sacred Heart; patron of scientists. Albert was canonized in 1931. The following year his feast entered in the Roman calendar.

16 Fri Weekday green/white/white Rank IV [Saint Margaret of Scotland Married Woman; Saint Gertrude, Virgin] 2 Jn 4-9/Lk 17:26-37 (495) Margaret of Scotland, † 1093 Born in Hungary about 1046, Margaret died in Edinburgh (Scotland) on this day in 1093. Of Anglo-Saxon and Hungarian parentage, she found refuge from the Norman conquest of England with Malcolm III of Scotland. They were married in 1070, and she bore eight children. Margaret reformed the royal court, founded monasteries, and sponsored major reforms of Church life. She is remembered for the happiness of her marriage, for her devotion to prayer and learning, and especially for her generosity to the poor. Margaret died at Edinburgh on November 16, 1093, and was buried at Dunfermine. On June 19, 1250 her body was raised up out of the grave.

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Gertrude the Great of Helfta, † 1302 Born about 1256, Gertrude died at Helfta (Germany) about 1302. From five years of age, she was entrusted to Benedictine or possibly Cistercian nuns, among whom she experienced a deep conversion at the age of twenty- five and lived a life of mystical contemplation. Gertrude found Christ in the liturgy and Scripture, and on this foundation she developed her devotion to the humanity of Jesus and, together with it, a love of the heart of Jesus. She is remembered as one of the most important of medieval mystics. Although she was never formally canonized, her feast appeared in the Roman calendar in 1738. In 1729 it was moved to November 15. When the feast of Albert the Great was introduced in 1932, it was moved to November 16.

17 Sat Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Married Woman, Religious white Rank III Memorial 3 Jn 5-8/Lk 18:1-8 (496) Elizabeth of Hungary, † November 17, 1231 Born in Bratislava (Slovakia) in 1207, Elizabeth was married at the age of fourteen, widowed at twenty, Elizabeth died at Marburg, Germany, on November 17, 1231, at age twenty-three or twenty-four and was canonized in 1235. She was happily married to Louis (Ludwig) VI of Thuringia and mother of three. When Ludwig died of the plague while on crusade, she continued to protect the poor and founded orphanages and hospitals, living this life of service as a Franciscan tertiary despite the hostility of her relatives and the harshness of her confessor. She is remembered for her good-humored resilience in adversity and for her humility in menial service of the needy. She was canonized only four years after her death; patroness of the Franciscan Third Order and of Catholic charities. In 1670, the date of her burial, November 19, became her memorial.

18 SUN THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIMEgreen Rank II Dn 12:1-3/Heb 10:11-14, 18/Mk 13:24-32 (158) Pss I THE DEDICATION OF THE BASILICAS OF THE APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL IN ROME The present Vatican Basilica was consecrated on November 18, 1629, and St. Paul’s Outside-the- Walls on December 10, 1854. Both replaced ancient buildings erected by Constantine in the fourth century over the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul. The dedications of these churches have been commemorated together on this day since the eleventh century. As on 29 June, the universal Church joins the Church of Rome in honoring its founding Apostles.

Rose Philippine Duchesne, virgin

PN (USA) It is suggested that, beginning tomorrow, the days before Thanksgiving be set aside for deeds of charity, for penance, and for prayers for economic justice. See HB, 188-189.

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19 Mon Weekday green Rank IV Rv 1:1-4; 2:1-5/Lk 18:35-43 (497)

20 Tue Weekday green Rank IV Rv 3:1-6, 14-22/Lk 19:1-10 (498)

21 Wed The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary white Rank III Memorial Rv 4:1-11/Lk 19:11-28 (499) This memorial has its origins in the the Dedication in 543 of the Basilica Church of the Virgin Mary near the Temple of Jerusalem. Although the church has fallen victim to time and many invasions, the East took it up as a celebration of Mary’s presentation to God in the Temple at the age of three, a non-biblical story from the apocryphal Gospel of James. It was adopted by the papal chapel at Avignon in 1373. Likely due to its apocryphal provenance, it was removed from the calendar by Pope St. Pius V in 1568 following the Council of Trent. It was returned to the calendar in 1585. It celebrates Mary in her grace-filled life, wholly given over to the Holy Spirit from the time of her conception.

22 Thu , Virgin and Martyr red/white Rank III Memorial [USA: Thanksgiving Day] Cecilia, † 3rd c.? The titular church of Saint Cecilia in Rome dates to before AD 313. According to the Liber Pontificalis it was already observed in 545 in the basilica across the Tiber. Nothing is known of Cecilia’s life or death. Information comes from her legendary 5th c. Passio, a poem which exalts Christian virginity, and in the sixteenth century she was named the patroness of sacred music because of the song of God in her heart. Tradition remembers Cecilia as a virgin, martyred for the faith. Her name is included in Eucharistic Prayer I (The Roman Canon).

Rv 5:1-10/Lk 19:41-44 (500) Symbols: M Rd Wh V2R2 Hours: Pss I Seasonal wkdy Sanctoral Common of one martyr or virgins Mass: Prop Collect Common of martyrs or virgins or any Sun Pf of Holy Martyrs or of Holy Virgins and Religious (USA: For pastoral advantage, the proper Mass of Thanksgiving Day may be used: see below) Readings: 500: Rv 5:1-10 Ps 149:1-6,9 Lk 19:41-44 see 681: Hos 2:16b,17b,21-22 Mt 25:1-13 The destruction of Jerusalem is foretold (2). As the Lamb of the heavenly Jerusalem, his praises are sung (Ps) by God's people (1).

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Thanksgiving Day is observed today (USA). The following is used: Symbols: Wh V2R2 Sanctoral Prop (see Fourth Thursday in November) Gl prop Pf or, for Thanksgiving Day, any readings from the Lectionary for Mass (vol. IV), the Mass “In Thanksgiving to God,” nos. 943-947 [For pastoral advantage, the Mass “In Thanksgiving to God” may be used for Thanksgiving Day. Readings are of the day (no. 500), or may be taken from the Lectionary for Ritual Masses (vol. IV), nos. 943-947 (see esp. Sir 50:22-24 [943.2]/1 Cor 1:3-9 [944.1]/Lk 17:11-19 [947.6])] Readings: 684A: In Thanksgiving to God: 943-947 (Lectionary, vol. IV): Sugg: Sir 50:22-24 (943.2) Ps 138:1-5 (945.3) 1 Cor 1:3-9 (944.1) Lk 17:11-19 (947.6) As suggested: What wonders God has done (1)! Let us thank the God (Ps) who heals us (3) and calls us to communion with Christ (2).

PN Individuals or families may bring food to Mass to be blessed for their Thanksgiving dinner, or to be distributed to the poor. The blessing may take place outside Mass. For the Blessing of Food on Thanksgiving Day, see BB, nos. 1755-1780 or HB, 177-179 and 312-314.

23 Fri Weekday green/red/white/red Rank IV [Saint Clement I, Pope and Martyr; Saint Columban, Abbot; USA: Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, Priest and Martyr] Rv 10:8-11/Lk 19:45-48 (501) Clement I, † c.100 Martyred in Rome under Trajan; fourth bishop of Rome; His name is included in Eucharistic Prayer I (The Roman Canon). He is remembered for a letter written from the Church at Rome to the Church at Corinth, an important witness to the emergence of ministries and authority in the Church and to the pastoral responsibility of Rome to another Church. The martyrology of Jerome and all the Roman liturgical books record the burial of Pope St. Clement on this day. The Byzantine rite observes his feast on the 24th.

Columban, or Columbanus, † 615; Born in Leinster (Ireland) about 543, Columban died on this day in 615 at Bobbio (Italy). A monk and teacher at Bangor until middle aged, he left with twelve companions as “exiles for Christ” to found monasteries in Burgundy (France). Against opposition, he insisted on maintaining strict Celtic customs and usages. Expelled for denouncing royal misconduct, he went on to extend the Irish mission through the Alps and into Italy. Died at Bobbio, buried there on this day in 615, as recorded in the earliest manuscript of the martyrology of Jerome Author of a monastic rule and a penitential, he is remembered for his austerity of

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life, his missionary energy, and his role in the development of individual confession.

Blessed José Ramón Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez † 23 Nov. 1927 Born in 1891, in Guadalupe, Zacatecas, Mexico; he was the third of eleven children, four of whom died as infants or young children. Two of his sisters joined the convent. He entered the Jesuit novitiate at El Llano on August 15, 1911. then went to study in Granada, Spain (1915–19), and then taught in Nicaragua from 1919 to 1922. For his theological studies Pro was sent to Enghien, Belgium. There he was ordained a priest on August 31, 1925.

Fr. Pro’s martyrdom was a part of the larger (1926–29) also known as La Cristiada; a mass popular uprising and attempted counter-revolution against the anti-Catholicism of the ruling Mexican government. Based in western Mexico, the rebellion was set off by the enforcement of the Mexican Constitution of 1917; beginning a 10 year persecution of Catholics, resulting in the death of thousands. Partially as a response to the situation in Mexico, Pope Pius XI, issued the papal encyclical Quas Primas, instituting the Feast of Christ the King, on 11 December 1925.

Fr. Miguel had a great love for the Mass, devotion to , and apostolic zeal for ordinary working people. Despite the fierce persecution of the Mexican Government as well as his own debilitating illnesses, Fr. Pro continued his ministry to the faithful. On November 23, 1927, Fr. Miguel was executed without trial. At his beatification on September 25, 1988, Pope St. John Paul II honored Fr. Pro with these words:

“Neither suffering nor serious illness, neither the exhausting ministerial activity, frequently carried out in difficult and dangerous circumstances, could stifle the radiating and contagious joy which he brought to his life for Christ and which nothing could take away. Indeed, the deepest root of self-sacrificing surrender for the lowly was his passionate love for Jesus Christ and his ardent desire to be conformed to him, even unto death.”

24 Sat Saint Andrew Dũng-Lạc, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs red Rank III Memorial Rv 11:4-12/Lk 20:27-40 (502) Andrew Dũng-Lạc † 1839

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Andrew (1795-1839), baptized at the age of fifteen, worked first as a lay missionary and then as a diocesan priest before being beheaded at Hanoi (Vietnam).

During the 17th-19th centuries in Vietnam, some 130,000 Christians suffered cruel martyrdom, many by decapitation or strangulation; today 117, most of them killed during the reigns of Emperors Minh-Mang (1820-1840) and Tu-Duc (1847-1883), are remembered; they include eleven Spanish Dominicans, ten members of the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris, and ninety-six Vietnamese (thirty-seven priests, including St. Andrew,), and fifty-nine laypersons, including one seminarian and ten Dominican Tertiaries; all canonized 19 June 1988 by Pope St.John Paul II.

PN The hymn, Dies Iræ, found in Appendix V of vol. IV of the Liturgy of the Hours, may be sung on ferias of this last week of Ord Time.

25 SUN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE white Rank I Solemnity Dn 7:13-14/Rv 1:5-8/Jn 18:33b-37 (161) Pss Prop November 25th Saint , virgin and martyr optional memorial This martyr was a learned woman of the early fourth century, who, following her conversion at the age of eighteen, preached the Gospel throughout Alexandria in Egypt. While imprisoned by the emperor Maximus, she converted both the empress and 200 of the Empress’ bodyguard. Catherine was sentenced to be tortured on a spiked wheel, but the wheel flew apart and the fragments killed many of her accusers. After this and other marvels, Catherine was beheaded, and from her veins flowed not blood but milk. The angels carried her to Mount Sinai, where St. Catherine's Monastery is now located. She is traditionally revered as one of the . In 1969 the Catholic Church removed her feast day from the General Roman Calendar; however, she continued to be commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on November 25. In 2002, her feast was restored to the Universal Roman Calendar as an optional memorial.

Texts: Prayer texts from either the Common of Martyrs or the Common of Virgins may be used for this celebration. The following readings from the Lectionary for Mass may be used for this celebration: Revelation 21: 5-7 (LFM 714.4) Psalm 123: 2-3. 4-5. 7b-8 (LFM 715.3) Alleluia: We praise you, O God, we acknowledge you to be Lord; the noble army of martyrs praise you, O Lord. (LFM 717.6 ) Matthew 10: 28-33 (LFM 718.2)

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26 Mon Weekday (Thirty-Fourth or Last Week in Ordinary Time) green Rank IV Rv 14:1-3, 4b-5/Lk 21:1-4 (503) Pss II

27 Tue Weekday green Rank IV Rv 14:14-19/Lk 21:5-11 (504)

28 Wed Weekday green Rank IV Rv 15:1-4/Lk 21:12-19 (505)

29 Thu Weekday green Rank IV Rv 18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3, 9a/Lk 21:20-28 (506)

30 Fri Saint Andrew, Apostle red Rank II Feast Rom 10:9-18/Mt 4:18-22 (684) Pss Prop Andrew, † 1 st c.; Born at Bethsaida (Galilee), Andrew was a fisherman and a disciple of Saint John the Baptist (24 June). He introduced his brother, Simon Peter (29 June), to Jesus and became one of the first to follow Christ. He is mentioned a number of times in the Gospels, for example, in introducing some Gentiles to Jesus (John 12:20ff.). Widely venerated since ancient times, he is remembered as one of the Twelve who bore witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Tradition holds he preached north of the Black Sea and in Greece, and died bound to an X-shaped cross, at Patras, Greece; patron of Russia and Scotland; as "Protoclete" (or "First Called") [see Jn 1:40], patron of the Greek Church; patron of fishing industry; mentioned in the Roman Canon.

DECEMBER 2018 1 Sat Weekday green/white Rank IV [BVM] Rv 22:1-7/Lk 21:34-36 (508)

• With EP I of the First Sunday of Advent, the new Year of the Church begins. The lectionary cycles are as follows: Year C: Sunday cycle; Cycle I: Weekday cycle in Ordinary Time.

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• Volume I of the Liturgy of the Hours is used until the end of the Christmas season. Beginning tonight at Compline, through 1 February, the final anthem may be Alma Redemptoris mater.

Hours: EP I of First Sunday of Advent: Seasonal prop: begin Pss I

YEAR C – WEEKDAYS I

2 SUN FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT violet Rank I Jer 33:14-16/1 Thes 3:12—4:2/Lk 21:25-28, 34-36 (3) Pss I 3 Mon Saint Francis Xavier, Priest white Rank III Memorial Is 2:1-5/Mt 8:5-11 (175)

4 Tue Advent Weekday violet/white Rank III [Saint John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the Church] Is 11:1-10/Lk 10:21-24 (176) John Damascene , PRESBYTER, Monk, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH John was born about 675 in Damascus (Syria) and died near Jerusalem about 749. A Christian official in a Moslem government, he became a monk and later presbyter at monastery near Jerusalem, where he was renowned as a theologian and biblical commentator. He is remembered for his vigorous defence of the veneration of images against the iconoclasts, for his theological writings synthesising the thought of the Greek Fathers, and for his poetry and hymnody. Called the last of the Greek Doctors of the Church.

5 Wed Advent Weekday violet Rank III Is 25:6-10a/Mt 15:29-37 (177)

6 Thu Advent Weekday violet/white Rank III [, Bishop] Is 26:1-6/Mt 7:21, 24-27 (178)

7 Fri Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church white Rank III Memorial Is 29:17-24/Mt 9:27-31 (179) St. Ambrose of Milan † 4 April 397

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Ambrose was ordained bishop on 7 December in 374 and died at Milan (Italy) on Holy Saturday (4 April) in 397. Ambrose was born a citizen of Rome in Augusta Treverorum (Trier, Germany), between 337 and 340. His family were Christians. His father was prefect of Gallia Narbonensis, his mother a woman of intellect. He was educated in Rome for a career following that of his father. As his education in literature, law, and rhetoric progressed he made consular prefect with headquarters in Milan. In this position he established himself as an excellent administrator. Ambrose was most known for his administrative talents, given his education and early experience before becoming a bishop by popular acclaim. He was in the forefront in the doctrinal issues of the day, particularly those concerning the Arian heresy. He encouraged monasticism and defended the independence of the Church against secular authority. His writings are important on the sacraments and Christian ethics; his sermons were famous and influential in the conversion of St. Augustine. His hymn writing became a model for hymns of dignified simplicity for future times, some of which are still sung today. Ambrose is credited with introducing antiphonal chanting wherein one choir alternates with another. He is one of the four great Latin Doctors of the Church, along with Sts. Gregory the Great, Augustine, and Jerome.

8 Sat THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE white Rank I BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (Patronal Feastday of the United States of America) Solemnity [Holyday of Obligation] Gn 3:9-15, 20/Eph 1:3-6, 11-12/Lk 1:26-38 (689) Pss Prop Patronal Feastday of the United States of America

(Lumen Gentium #56)“It is no wonder therefore that the usage prevailed among the Fathers whereby they called the mother of God entirely holy and free from all stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature.(Origen, Tertullian, et al) Adorned from the first instant of her conception with the radiance of an entirely unique holiness, the Virgin of Nazareth is greeted, on God's command, by an angel messenger as "full of grace",(Luke 1:28) and to the heavenly messenger she replies: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word".(Luke 1:38) Thus Mary, a daughter of Adam, consenting to the divine Word, became the mother of Jesus, the one and only Mediator. Embracing God's salvific will with a full heart and impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally as a handmaid of the Lord to the person and work of her Son, under Him and with Him, by the grace of almighty God, serving the mystery of redemption. Rightly therefore the holy Fathers see her as used by God not merely in a passive way, but as freely cooperating in the work of human salvation through faith and obedience.”

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9 SUN SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT violet Rank I Bar 5:1-9/Phil 1:4-6, 8-11/Lk 3:1-6 (6) Pss II

Saint Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548) Readings for the Memorial of St. Juan Diego

From the Common of Holy Men and Women: For One Saint; Suggested readings are below.

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON See Ps 21 (20): 2-3 In your strength, O Lord, the just one rejoices; how greatly your salvation makes him glad! You have granted him his soul's desire.

COLLECT O God, who by means of Saint Juan Diego showed the love of the most holy Virgin Mary for your people, grant, through his intercession, that, by following the counsels our Mother gave at Guadalupe, we may be ever constant in fulfilling your will. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

FIRST READING 6:6-8 With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow before God most high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriad streams of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my crime, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 R./ Blessed are they who hope in the Lord. or R./ Blessed are they who delight in the law of the Lord. or R./ The just will flourish like the palm tree in the garden of the Lord.

Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night. R./ He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers. R./ Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. For the Lord watches over the way of the just,

164 but the way of the wicked vanishes. R./

GOSPEL READING Matthew 7:21-27 Jesus said: "Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.' "Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."

PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS Through the present , O Lord, which we offer in commemoration of blessed Juan Diego, bestow on your faithful, we pray, the gifts of unity and peace. Through Christ our Lord.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON See Mt 16: 24 Whoever wishes to come after me, must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me, says the Lord.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION May the Sacrament we have received, O Lord, in commemoration of blessed Juan Diego, sanctify our minds and hearts, that we may merit to be made sharers in the divine nature. Through Christ our Lord.

The Liturgy of the Hours Juan Diego

From the Common of Holy Men The following is suggested as a second reading and responsory:

Office of Readings

SECOND READING

From a Homily on the Canonization of Juan Diego by Pope John Paul II

What was Juan Diego like? Why did God look upon him? The Book of Sirach, as we have heard, teaches us that God alone "is mighty; he is glorified by the humble." Saint Paul's words, also proclaimed at this celebration, shed light on the divine way of bringing about salvation: "God chose what is low and despised in the world ... so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." The Virgin Mary, the handmaid "who glorified the Lord," reveals herself to Juan Diego as the Mother of the true God. As a sign, she gives him precious roses, and as he shows them to the Bishop, he discovers the blessed image of Our Lady imprinted on his tilma. "The Lord looks down from heaven, he sees all the sons of men," we recited with the Psalmist, once again confessing our faith in God, who makes no distinctions of race or culture. In accepting the Christian message without forgoing his indigenous identity, Juan Diego discovered the profound truth of the new humanity, in which all are called to be children of God. Thus he facilitated the fruitful meeting of two worlds and became the catalyst for the new Mexican identity, closely united to Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose mestizo face expresses her spiritual motherhood which embraces all Mexicans. This is why the witness of his life must continue to be the inspiration for the building up of the Mexican nation, encouraging brotherhood among all its children and ever helping to reconcile Mexico with its origins, values and traditions. Blessed Juan Diego, a good, Christian Indian, whom simple

165 people have always considered a saint! We ask you to accompany the Church on her pilgrimage in Mexico, so that she may be more evangelizing and more missionary each day. Encourage the Bishops, support the priests, inspire new and holy vocations, help all those who give their lives to the cause of Christ and the spread of his Kingdom. Happy Juan Diego, true and faithful man! We entrust to you our lay brothers and sisters so that, feeling the call to holiness, they may imbue every area of social life with the spirit of the Gospel. Bless families, strengthen spouses in their marriage, sustain the efforts of parents to give their children a Christian upbringing. Look with favour upon the pain of those who are suffering in body or in spirit, on those afflicted by poverty, loneliness, marginalization or ignorance. May all people, civic leaders and ordinary citizens, always act in accordance with the demands of justice and with respect for the dignity of each person, so that in this way peace may be reinforced. Beloved Juan Diego, "the talking eagle"! Show us the way that leads to the "Dark Virgin" of Tepeyac, that she may receive us in the depths of her heart, for she is the loving, compassionate Mother who guides us to the true God. Amen.

RESPONSORY See 1 Cor 1:27-29; Lk 1:51-5 God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and even those who count for nothing - so that no human being might boast before God. He has shown might with his arm, and lifted up the lowly. - so that no human being might boast before God.

COLLECT O God, who by means of Saint Juan Diego showed the love of the most holy Virgin Mary for your people, grant, through his intercession, that, by following the counsels our Mother gave at Guadalupe, we may be ever constant in fulfilling your will. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The English translation of Psalm Responses, Alleluia Verses, Gospel Verses from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL); the English translation of Antiphons, Invitatories, Responsories, Intercessions, Psalm 95, the Canticle of the Lamb, Psalm Prayers, Non-Biblical Readings from The Liturgy of the Hours © 1973, 1974, 1975, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

10 Mon Advent Weekday violet Rank III Is 35:1-10/Lk 5:17-26 (181)

11 Tue Advent Weekday violet/white Rank III [Saint Damasus I, Pope] Is 40:1-11/Mt 18:12-14 (182)

12 Wed USA: Our Lady of Guadalupe white Rank II Feast Zec 2:14-17 or Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab/Lk 1:26-38 or Lk 1:39-47 (690A), or any readings from the Lectionary for Mass (vol. IV), the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary, nos. 707-712 Pss Prop

In the 1969 reform of the general liturgical calendar, December 12 was the Optional Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal. In 1971 the Congregation for Divine Worship confirmed the addition of the Memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the same day for the United States. Our Lady of Guadalupe was raised to a Feast in 1987 for the United States. In 2008, in the supplement for the Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia, the

166 orations for this feast were added to the general Roman calendar and thus into our English missal and Jane Frances de Chantal was moved to August 12.

In January 1999, Pope St. John Paul II named her, “...Our Lady of Guadalupe, Star of the first and the new evangelization of America.” (Homily Sunday, 24 January 1999).

13 Thu , Virgin and Martyr red Rank III Memorial Is 41:13-20/Mt 11:11-15 (184)

14 Fri Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church white Rank III Memorial Is 48:17-19/Mt 11:16-19 (185)

15 Sat Advent Weekday violet Rank III Sir 48:1-4, 9-11/Mt 17:9a, 10-13 (186)

16 SUN THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT violet or rose Rank I Zep 3:14-18a/Phil 4:4-7/Lk 3:10-18 (9) Pss III

17 Mon Advent Weekday violet Rank II Gn 49:2, 8-10/Mt 1:1-17 (193)

18 Tue Advent Weekday violet Rank II Jer 23:5-8/Mt 1:18-25 (194)

19 Wed Advent Weekday violet Rank II Jgs 13:2-7, 24-25a/Lk 1:5-25 (195)

20 Thu Advent Weekday violet Rank II Is 7:10-14/Lk 1:26-38 (196)

21 Fri Advent Weekday violet Rank II [Saint , Priest and Doctor of the Church] Sg 2:8-14 or Zep 3:14-18a/Lk 1:39-45 (197)

22 Sat Advent Weekday violet Rank II 1 Sm 1:24-28/Lk 1:46-56 (198)

23 SUN FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT violet Rank I

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Mi 5:1-4a/Heb 10:5-10/Lk 1:39-45 (12) Pss IV

24 Mon Advent Weekday violet Rank II Morning: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16/Lk 1:67-79 (200)

25 Tue THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD (Christmas) white Rank I Solemnity [Holyday of Obligation] Vigil: Is 62:1-5/Acts 13:16-17, 22-25/Mt 1:1-25 or 1:18-25 (13) Night: Is 9:1-6/Ti 2:11-14/Lk 2:1-14 (14) Dawn: Is 62:11-12/Ti 3:4-7/Lk 2:15-20 (15) Day: Is 52:7-10/Heb 1:1-6/Jn 1:1-18 or 1:1-5, 9-14 (16) Pss Prop

26 Wed Saint Stephen, The First Martyr red Rank II Feast Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59/Mt 10:17-22 (696) Pss Prop

27 Thu Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist white Rank II Feast 1 Jn 1:1-4/Jn 20:1a, 2-8 (697) Pss Prop

28 Fri The Holy Innocents, Martyrs red Rank II Feast 1 Jn 1:5—2:2/Mt 2:13-18 (698) Pss Prop

29 Sat Fifth Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord white Rank II [Saint , Bishop and Martyr] 1 Jn 2:3-11/Lk 2:22-35 (202) Pss Prop

30 SUN THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH white Rank II Feast Sir 3:2-6, 12-14/Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17/Lk 2:41-52 or, for Year C, 1 Sm 1:20-22, 24-28/1 Jn 3:1-2, 21-24/Lk 2:41-52 (17) Pss Prop

31 Mon Seventh Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lordwhite Rank II [Saint Sylvester I, Pope] 1 Jn 2:18-21/Jn 1:1-18 (204) Pss Prop

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