Liturgical Year 2020-2021, Vol. 2

Ordinary Time before Lent

by Jennifer Gregory Miller and Darden Brock (editors)

Second of six volumes covering the 2020-2021 Catholic liturgical year, including all the days of the initial portion of Ordinary Time which falls between Christmas and Lent.

Trinity Communications CatholicCulture.org P.O. Box 582 Manassas, VA 20108 © Copyright Trinity Communications 2021 Book ID: LY20202021-V2-OTBL-jmgmdb

The chapters of this book appeared first on the Trinity Communications website, CatholicCulture.org.

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We look forward to seeing you at www.catholicculture.org. Table of Contents

Introduction to the Liturgical Year 6 Introduction to Ordinary Time 9 Ordinary Time: January 11th (Monday of the First Week of Ordinary Time) 11 Ordinary Time: January 12th (Tuesday of the First Week of Ordinary Time) 15 Ordinary Time: January 13th (Wednesday of the First Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorial of St. Hilary of Poitiers, bishop and doctor; Memorial of St. Kentigern, bishop (Scotland)) 21 Ordinary Time: January 14th (Thursday of the First Week of Ordinary Time) 26 Ordinary Time: January 15th (Friday of the First Week of Ordinary Time; Our Lady of Prompt Succor; Black Christ of Esquipulas (Guatemala) ) 34 Ordinary Time: January 16th (Saturday of the First Week of Ordinary Time) 41 Ordinary Time: January 17th (Second Sunday of Ordinary Time) 45 Ordinary Time: January 18th (Monday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time) 50 Ordinary Time: January 19th (Tuesday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time) 53 Ordinary Time: January 20th (Wednesday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorials of St. Fabian, pope and martyr; St. Sebastian, martyr) 59 Ordinary Time: January 21st (Memorial of St. Agnes, virgin and martyr; Our Lady of High Grace (Dominican Republic)) 64 Ordinary Time: January 22nd (Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children) 70 Ordinary Time: January 23rd (Saturday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorials of St. Vincent of Saragossa, deacon & martyr; St. Marianne Cope) 75 Ordinary Time: January 24th (Third Sunday of Ordinary Time) 81 Ordinary Time: January 25th (Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle) 85 Ordinary Time: January 26th (Memorial of Sts. Timothy and Titus, bishops) 89 Ordinary Time: January 27th (Wednesday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorial of St. Angela Merici, virgin) 95 Ordinary Time: January 28th (Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor) 99 Ordinary Time: January 29th (Friday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time) 105 Ordinary Time: January 30th (Saturday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time) 108 Ordinary Time: January 31st (Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time) 112

Ordinary Time: February 1st (Monday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time; Feast of St. Brigid, Virgin (Ireland) (NZ, Opt. Mem.)) 117 Ordinary Time: February 2nd (Feast of the Presentation of the Lord) 121 Ordinary Time: February 3rd (Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorial of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr; St. Ansgar, bishop ) 129 Ordinary Time: February 4th (Thursday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time) 134 Ordinary Time: February 5th (Memorial of St. Agatha, virgin and martyr) 138 Ordinary Time: February 6th (Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions, martyrs) 143 Ordinary Time: February 7th (Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time ) 148 Ordinary Time: February 8th (Monday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorials of St. Jerome Emiliani, priest; St. Josephine Bakhita, virgin) 152 Ordinary Time: February 9th (Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time; St. Teilo (Wales)) 159 Ordinary Time: February 10th (Memorial of St. Scholastica, virgin) 163 Ordinary Time: February 11th (Thursday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes) 167 Ordinary Time: February 12th (Friday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time) 173 Ordinary Time: February 13th (Saturday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time) 177 Ordinary Time: February 14th (Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time) 182 Ordinary Time: February 15th (Monday of the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time; St. Claude de la Colombiere, priest (some places)) 186 Ordinary Time: February 16th (Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time) 192 LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 6

Introduction to the Liturgical Year

The Church inculcates Christ and His mission through the patterns and rhythms of her Liturgical Year. She is herself the universal sacrament of salvation and the visible manifestation on earth of the presence of the Kingdom of God even now. But the Church also has various ministries and means by which she carries out her special mission. The Liturgical Year is perhaps the most important means she uses to sanctify the concept of time itself. During the course of the Liturgical Year, the saving actions of Christ are presented again to the Faithful in an effective spiritual sequence that provides occasions for deepening our experience of Christ, for giving scope to our need for fasts and feasts, penance and joy, the remission of sin and the foretaste of heavenly glory. The annual cycle invites us to live the Christian mysteries more deeply, to let the Christ-life seep into our very bones, and in so doing to transform and renew all human endeavors, all human culture. The backbone of the Liturgical Year is the Liturgical Calendar, an annual cycle of seasons and feasts which both commemmorate and invite us to more fully enter into the real history of our salvation. At the same time, the days devoted to the celebration of many of the Church’s saints provide us with inspiring models of what it means to exemplify the love and virtues which Our Lord and Savior so zealously wishes us to share. In this way, we may develop in and through time a heart like unto His own. On the CatholicCulture.org website, we have collected and organized a great many resources for helping all of us to live the Liturgical Year more consciously and more actively. In addition to the accounts of the nature, history and purposes of the great feasts, and of course the lives of the saints, we have brought together a wide variety of customs for celebrating the various seasons and feasts which have grown up in cultures throughout the world. And in connection with these customs, we have also collected appropriate prayers and devotions, family activities, and even receipes—the better to help us taste and see the glory of the Lord! (Ps 34:8) All of these resources are organized according to the Liturgical Calendar, and many of them are deliberately oriented toward use by the family, or what recent popes have referred to as the domestic church. The family is to be the Church in miniature, the first of all Christian communities, the warm embrace in which new souls are claimed for Christ and nourished in every way for His service. The family is also the source of the

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Church’s manifold vocations, including the vocations of those who dedicate themselves exclusively to Christ and the Church’s service as priests and religious. Thus, in every way, the Church public, the Church as a whole, the mystical body of Christ in its fulness, depends on the health and strength of the domestic church, even as she nourishes the domestic church through her presence, her sacraments, her counsel, her teaching—and, of course, her Liturgical Year. It is not possible in an eBook to reproduce the full richness and flexibility of these resources as they are presented on our website ( www.catholicculture.org). The visual displays of eBooks cannot, in most cases, equal those of web pages, and it is generally not as easy to follow the many links available to explore the full range of offerings. What we have done in the volumes of this series is to present the days of the Liturgical Year in sequence, grouped in their proper seasons, so that the user can follow the unfolding of the Liturgical Year with immediate access to the meaning of each day, complete with its spiritual and liturgical explanations, and its biographies of the saints. Following the basic presentation for each day are many links to additional information, prayers, activities and recipes which relate specifically to that day or the Season as a whole. These materials can be used with profit by anyone. However, if we were to offer specific advice to parents on how they may make the best use of all the resources in their own families, we would emphasize the following two points: First, remember that all of us, but especially children, grow spiritually when we have the opportunity to associate living examples, customs and activities with God’s love and saving power. This sort of participation helps children to learn the Faith along with their mother’s milk, so to speak—or, as we said above, to get it into their very bones. Children also need heroes, and one way or another they will find them. The saints make the best of all possible heroes. Second, avoid trying to do too much. Select carefully and emphasize a few things that you believe will work well in your situation. Keep your attitude joyful and relaxed. With a little judicious planning, let your family’s own customs grow and develop over time. Much of this will be carried on for generations to come, generations which trace their own faith to and through you. A word, finally, on the sources of much of the material presented both in this eBook and on the much larger web site. Many of these wonderful books are, sadly, out of print, but we owe a great debt to them. You may enjoy pursuing some of these sources on your own. The years listed are the original publication dates; some have gone through multiple editions. They include:

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Berger, Florence. Cooking for Christ (National Catholic Rural Life Conference) 1949 Burton, Katherine and Helmut Ripperger. The Feast Day Cookbook, 1951 Butler, Alban. Butler’s Lives of the Saints (updated since the 18th century, up to 12 volumes depending on edition) Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy 2002 Gueranger, OSB (Abbot). The Liturgical Year, 1983 Kelly, Fr. George A. Catholic Family Handbook, 1959 Lodi, Enzo. Saints of the Roman Calendar, 1993 McLoughlin, Helen. My Nameday—Come for Dessert, 1962 Mueller, Therese. Our Children’s Year of Grace, 1943 Newland, Mary Reed. Saints and Our Children, 1958 Newland, Mary Reed. We and Our Children, 1954 Newland, Mary Reed. The Year and Our Children, 1956 Parsch, Dr. Pius. The Church’s Year of Grace (5 volumes), 1953 Trapp, Maria Augusta. Around the Year with the Trapp Family, 1955 Weiser, Francis X., SJ. The Easter Book, 1954.

May you find in this series of volumes on the Liturgical Year a true gateway to the riches of Christ!

View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/introduction-to-liturgical-year/

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Introduction to Ordinary Time

The rhythm of the liturgical seasons reflects the rhythm of life—with its celebrations of anniversaries and its seasons of quiet growth and maturing. Ordinary Time, meaning ordered or numbered time, is celebrated in two segments: from the Monday following the Baptism of Our Lord up to Ash Wednesday; and from Pentecost Monday to the First Sunday of Advent. This makes it the largest season of the Liturgical Year. In vestments usually green, the color of hope and growth, the Church counts the thirty-three or thirty-four Sundays of Ordinary Time, inviting her children to meditate upon the whole mystery of Christ–his life, miracles and teachings–in the light of his Resurrection. If the faithful are to mature in the spiritual life and increase in faith, they must descend the great mountain peaks of Easter and Christmas in order to “pasture” in the vast verdant meadows of tempus per annum, or Ordinary Time. Sunday by Sunday, the Pilgrim Church marks her journey through the tempus per annum as she processes through time toward eternity. In her revision of the Liturgy, the Church has sought to reestablish the preeminence of Sunday, that feast day par excellence, over every other feast day. Recognizing, too, that Our Lord is really present when Sacred Scripture is read during the Liturgy, she has opened up the “treasures of the bible so that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God’s Word” (Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 51). To encourage her children to have a warm and living love for Scripture, the Church has enlarged the Sunday Lectionary so that the various books of the New Testaments are read roughly from beginning to end over a period of weeks, and the synoptic Gospels are read in a three-year cycle: Year A—Matthew; Year B—Mark; Year C—Luke. Old Testament readings and Psalms are chosen to correspond to the Gospel passages and to bring out the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the New. The revised weekday lectionary for Ordinary Time complements the Sunday lectionary with its two-year cycle of readings presenting all the major portions of the Bible, and a one-year cycle for the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. While insisting that the feasts that commemorate the mysteries of salvation take precedence, the Church nonetheless includes the celebration of the feast days of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the saints in the liturgical calendar:

By inserting into the annual cycle the commemoration of the martyrs and other

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saints on the occasion of their anniversaries, “the Church proclaims the Easter mystery of the saints who suffered with Christ and with him are now glorified” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 102). When celebrated in the true spirit of the liturgy, the commemoration of the saints does not obscure the centrality of Christ, but on the contrary extols it…. The intrinsic relationship between the glory of the saints and that of Christ is built into the very arrangement of the liturgical year, and is expressed most eloquently in the fundamental and sovereign character of Sunday as the Lord’s Day. (John Paul II, Dies Domini, 78)

Parents are challenged to keep the Easter mystery alive in their families throughout the season of Ordinary Time—to focus on the mysteries of Christ which the Church sets before them in the weekly Mass readings and to apply those readings to their daily lives. In this way, faith will bear fruit within their homes, intensifying through the fertile weeks of Ordinary Time until its conclusion, the crowning feast of Christ the King. Then, at the close of every Liturgical Year, we look forward with renewed hope to Christ’s coming again in glory to reign as Lord forever. For it is Jesus Christ we seek when we strive to live the Liturgical Year with the Church. He is the “Lord of time; he is its beginning and its end; every year, every day and every moment are embraced by his Incarnation and resurrection, and thus become part of the ‘fullness of time’.” (Easter Vigil Liturgy, Blessing of the Paschal Candle) The second and final segment of Ordinary Time in the Liturgical Year is very long, running from the day after Pentecost (the close of the Easter season) to the day before Advent. The first half of this period is covered in Volume 5 of our series on the Liturgical Year, and the second half in Volume 6.

View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/introduction-to-ordinary-time/

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Ordinary Time: January 11th

Monday of the First Week of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: St. Hyginus, pope and martyr; St. Theodosius, abbot (Hist)

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Hyginus. During the four years of his pontificate (138-142), he had to oppose the heresy of Valentinus who at this period came to propagate his errors in the heart of the Christian community in Rome. It is also historically the feast of St. Theodosius, abbot, born in Cappadocia in the village of Magarisso, who after having endured great sufferings for the Catholic faith, took his rest in peace at the monastery which he had erected on a lonely hill in the diocese of Jerusalem.

St. Hyginus The crown of the empire belonged to Antonius Pius. Hyginus, as Telesphorus’ successor, not only had to endure his relentless persecutions but also had to cope with the heretics who made their way to Rome. Hyginus was a Greek from Athens who, like his contemporary Justin Martyr, was a philosopher. He is said to have done some organizing of the clergy, and it is likely that he addressed the Roman clergy on the subjects of sin in general and of obedience to the Church. The emergence of Gnosticism is probably the most significant development of

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The emergence of Gnosticism is probably the most significant development of Hyginus’ pontificate. Cerdo came from Syria and Valentinus from Egypt, and together they taught this system of mystical belief, which was a combination of Greek philosophy and Oriental superstitions regarding Christ. For years Cerdo vacillated between teaching error and repenting, returning to the Church, then falling from grace. Valentinus, however, staunchly defended his cause. Hyginus perceived this as heresy, for it deviated greatly from the true teachings of the Apostles. Hyginus was said to have suffered gloriously and he was buried on Vatican Hill.

Things to Do:

Read more about Pope St. Hyginus at Catholic365.com and from Butler’s Lives of the Saints. What is Gnosticism? Read this in depth article at New Advent to find out. For a synopis of this heresy, see Catholic Answers.

St. Theodosius St. Theodosius was so inspired by Abraham’s example of leaving his loved ones and homeland for God that he left his homeland of Cappadocia to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. There St. Theodosius took as his guide the holy man Longinus, who placed him in charge of a church near Bethlehem. Theodosius did not stay there long, however, but he went to live in a cave on a nearby mountain. He was known for his holiness, and many desired to dedicate their lives to God as monks under Theodosius. He built a monastery at Cathismus, as well as three hospices: for the sick, the elderly and the mentally ill. When Emperor Anastasius was persecuting Christians who did not accept the Eutychian heresy, which states that Christ has only one nature, St. Theodosius preached orthodoxy throughout Palestine, even stating from the pulpit in Jerusalem: “If anyone receives not the four general councils as the four gospels, let him be anathema.” The Saint renewed the courage of those in whom the Emperor’s edicts had instilled fear. Anastasius banished Theodosius, though he was later recalled by Anastasius’ successor.

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Theodosius died at the age of 105; many miracles occurred at his funeral.

— Excerpted from Saints Calendar and Daily Planner, Tan Books

Things to Do:

Read more about St. Theodosius here.

Daily Readings for: January 11, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Attend to the pleas of your people with heavenly care, O Lord, we pray, that they may see what must be done and gain strength to do what they have seen. 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.

RECIPES

Salata de Cartofi (Greek Potato and Olive Salad) Greek Homestyle Chicken Greek Salad

ACTIVITIES

Practical Suggestions for Christian Living (Baptism)

PRAYERS

Christmas Table Blessing 1

LIBRARY

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None

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Ordinary Time: January 12th

Tuesday of the First Week of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: Benedict Biscup, abbot (Hist)

Today the Church in Canada celebrates the memorial of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, renowned for her work, her spirituality and her impact on society and the Church in North America. In 1982 Pope John Paul II canonized her making her the first canonized woman saint who worked in Canada. Historically the Church celebrates the feast of the illustrious Northumbrian monk Biscop Baducing (628-690). St. Benedict Biscop, as he has come to be known, established the twin-foundation Anglo-Saxon monastery of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey. The saint caused his model monastery to be constructed with stone and glass in the Romanesque fashion (techniques and materials new to England) and furnished it with sacred pictures, service books, and a vast library collected during his five journeys to Rome. He also engaged Abbot John, Arch-cantor of St. Peter’s in Rome to instruct the monks in the singing of the Roman chant. This venerable abbot sought to enrich his fellow countrymen with the finest treasures of sacred architecture, art, music, and learning from the continental Church and the Eternal City.

St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Marguerite Bourgeoys was born in Troyes, France in 1620 and died in Montreal in 1700. As one of the older girls of a Christian, middle-class family, Marguerite had to assume the responsibility for the household when her mother died. At the age of twenty, she had a conversion experience during a religious procession that profoundly influenced her future mission and focused her values. She felt singled out by the Blessed Virgin. In response, she joined a local group of women who gathered to do charitable work as an extension of a cloister in Troyes. Marguerite served as leader of this extern group and, as

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 16 extension of a cloister in Troyes. Marguerite served as leader of this extern group and, as her service, taught the children in the poor section of town. In 1653 Paul de Maisonneuve, founder of Montreal, passed through Troyes and invited Marguerite to join him in Ville Marie as a lay teacher to instruct the children of the colonists and the Native Americans. In June 1653, she sailed from Nantes on a three-month voyage to the New World. Marguerite’s humanitarian and Christian work in Canada was principally as educator and founder. The wilderness was so hard on the colonists that she had to wait for five years before children survived until school age. In the interim, she instructed the Indian children. In 1658 she opened her first school in a stone stable given her by the town leaders. Marguerite had a broad concept of education. She saw the school as a vehicle of religious and social development. Unique to her time, she provided education for all, giving special attention to girls, the poor and the natives. Education in Marguerite’s schools consisted in the basics of literacy, religious instruction, home economics, and the arts. Beyond the classroom, she worked with families, assisted in faith formation in the parish, and addressed the social service needs of the colonists. Noteworthy among her contributions to the colony is the special vocational schools she established to provide the domestic skills a young woman would need to run a home in the wilderness. She became the official guardian to the “filles du roi,” young orphan girls sent by the monarch to establish new families. She lodged them in her own home, served as a matchmaker, and prepared them for their new life as pioneers. Her signature appears as a witness on many of the early marriage contracts in Montreal. As a result of these activities she was affectionately referred to as “the Mother of the Colony.” Marguerite made three trips back to France to recruit other women to join her in her work of education and to obtain civil approbation from the king. Marguerite’s apostolic spirituality was a special gift to the Church. She was a woman of action inserted into her time as is attested to by the mark she left on the history of Montreal and education in Canada. She was a woman of faith, deeply committed to the service of the Gospels. She was personally motivated by the missionary journeying of Mary in service to her cousin, Elizabeth, and desired to form a group of uncloistered women who would imitate Mary in this mystery of the Visitation.

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Marguerite had an exceptional and practical love of God and neighbor. She had a great desire to serve the Church in its most local form, the parish. She exhorted her extern congregation of educators to be “daughters of the parish” - to worship with the people and use the local church as a source of spiritual nourishment. Her Congregation received Church approbation in 1698 and at that time pronounced vows as uncloistered religious. Today the Congregation de Notre Dame numbers 2600 sisters in North America, Japan, Latin America, and the Cameroons in service to the people of God in the spirit of the Visitation. On November 12, 1950 Pope Pius XII beatified Marguerite Bourgeoys. Canonizing her October 31, 1982, Pope John Paul II gave the Canadian Church its first woman saint.

Patron: Against poverty; impoverishment; loss of parents; people rejected by religious orders; poverty.

Things to Do:

Say a prayer to St. Marguerite. Learn more about the congregation, Congregation of Notre Dame de Montreal, St. Marguerite founded. Read the Vatican’s biography of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys. Have some fun with the family making “La tire Ste Catherine” (St. Catherine’s Pull Taffy).

St. Benedict Biscup Born in c.628 to one of Northumbria’s noble families, Biscop Baducing—Benedict’s original name—initially served as a thane of the local king, Oswiu. In 653 he left this service and gave up his estate to persue an interest in the church, travelling to Rome’s holy sites. Northern England’s Christianity derived from Irish sources and the style of church Benedict found in Rome—which formed Europe’s mainstream—was quite different but evidently to his liking, because he pledged himself to it.

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Benedict returned to Northumbria and, with a companion called Wilfrid, began promoting the Roman form of Christianity, contributing to the declaration of Oswiu in 664 which turned his kingdom from Irish to Roman forms. Benedict returned to Rome in 666 AD before joining the monastery on Lerins, an island to the south of France; it was here that Biscop Baducing changed his name to Benedict. In 668 he returned to Rome, intending to further study the ways of Roman Christianity and Monasticism. While in Rome Benedict was asked by the Pope to accompany Theodore of Tarsus to England: Theodore was both England’s Archbishop and a Greek who’d never been to the island before. On their arrival in 669 Theodore appointed Benedict abbot of the Monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul in Canterbury, a position he held for two years before returning to Rome to learn yet more about Monastic practice and the mainland traditions. After returning to Northumbria in 673, Benedict secured from Oswiu’s successor—King Ecgfrith—permission to found a monastery in the kingdom and a large endowment to found it on. The monastery of St. Peter was begun in Wearmouth in 674, its very structure reflecting the years of continental tradition Benedict had absorbed. Masons and glaziers were hired from France to build a stone church in a Roman style, a sharp contrast to everything in a region which built used mainly timber to build. A Benedictine rule was introduced and the books Benedict had collected in his travels formed the library, but this clearly wasn’t sufficient for a man who had such experience. In 679 Benedict was back in Rome on a mission to equip his monastery with relics, art and quality manuscripts, as well as study vestments, practice and new ideas. He returned with, not only these resources, but Rome’s head of liturgy to teach and privileges from the Pope. Benedict was back in England by 680. In 681 a second endowment from Ecgfrith enabled Benedict to found a twin house dedicated to St. Paul in Jarrow (also in Northumbria), prompting another journey to Rome in 682. This lasted four years and his return again enriched the houses with important manuscripts and knowledge. However, his health declined and he was bedridden from 686/687; never recovering, he died on January 12 690 AD. Benedict’s role in establishing the Roman church in northern England can’t be underestimated. By importing continental ideas into, and creating a considerable library and art collection for, his monastery he transformed it into a focus for brilliant scholarship which enthused the region with new thought. Indeed, one of Benedict’s earliest intake, Bede, grew in these rich surroundings to become the period’s greatest scholar, sending new ideas from England back into Europe. One of Bede’s works was ‘The Lives of The Holy Abbots of Weremouth and

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Jarrow,’ a self-explanatory account which begins thus:

The pious servant of Christ, Biscop, called Benedict, with the assistance of the Divine grace, built a monastery in honour of the most holy of the apostles, St. Peter, near the mouth of the river Were, on the north side. The venerable and devout king of that nation, Egfrid, contributed the land; and Biscop, for the space of sixteen years, amid innumerable perils in journeying and in illness, ruled this monastery with the same piety which stirred him up to build it. If I may use the words of the blessed Pope Gregory, in which he glorifies the life of the abbot of the same name, he was a man of a venerable life, blessed (Benedictus) both in grace and in name; having the mind of an adult even from his childhood, surpassing his age by his manners, and with a soul addicted to no false pleasures. He was descended from a noble lineage of the Angles, and by corresponding dignity of mind worthy to be exalted into the company of the angels. Lastly, he was the minister of King Oswy, and by his gift enjoyed an estate suitable to his rank; but at the age of twenty five years he despised a transitory wealth, that he might obtain that which is eternal. He made light of a temporal warfare with a donative that will decay, that he might serve under the true King, and earn an everlasting kingdom in the heavenly city. He left his home, his kinsmen and country, for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, that he might receive a hundredfold and enjoy everlasting life…

— Excerpted from ‘The Lives of The Holy Abbots of Weremouth and Jarrow’ by Bede, translated by J. Giles

Things to Do:

Read more about St. Benedict Biscup here.

Daily Readings for: January 12, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Attend to the pleas of your people with heavenly care, O Lord, we pray, that they may see what must be done and gain strength to do what they have seen.

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that they may see what must be done and gain strength to do what they have seen. 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.

RECIPES

Old Fashioned Pull Taffy

ACTIVITIES

Namedays What is a Nameday?

PRAYERS

Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals Ordinary Time (3rd Plan) Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals Ordinary Time (4th Plan) Prayer to St. Marguerite Bourgeoys

LIBRARY

None

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Ordinary Time: January 13th

Wednesday of the First Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorial of St. Hilary of Poitiers, bishop and doctor; Memorial of St. Kentigern, bishop (Scotland) Old Calendar: Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

St. Hilary of Poitiers (310-367) was one of the great champions of the Catholic belief in the divinity of Christ. By his preaching, his treatise on the Trinity, his part in the Councils, his daring opposition to the Emperor Constantius, he showed himself a courageous apostle of the truth. He could not tolerate that the specious plea of safeguarding peace and unity should be allowed to dim the light of Gospel teaching. Bl. Pius IX proclaimed him a doctor of the Church. In Scotland St. Kentigern’s feast is a memorial. He was a missionary to Scotland and bishop of the Strathclyde Britons. Exiled, he fled to Wales. He died in 603. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ that marks the end of the Christmas season.

St. Hilary St. Hilary was one of those great Christian heroes who poured out their lives laboring and suffering in defense of Christ’s divinity. Scarcely had the days of bloody persecution ended (313), when there arose, now within the Church, a most dangerous enemy of another sort, Arianism. The heresy of Arianism denied the divinity of Christ; it was, in

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 22 fact, hardly more than a form of paganism masquerading as the Christian Gospel. The smoldering strife soon flared into a mighty conflict endangering the whole Church; and its spread was all the more rapid and powerful because emperors, who called themselves Christian, proved its best supporters. Once again countless martyrs sealed in blood their belief in Christ’s divinity; and orthodox bishops who voiced opposition were forced into exile amid extreme privations. Among the foremost defenders of the true faith stood Hilary. He belonged to a distinguished family and had received an excellent education. Though a married man, he was made bishop of Poitiers by reason of his exemplary life. It was not long before his valiant defense of the faith precipitated his exile to Phrygia. Here he composed his great work on the Blessed Trinity (in twelve books). It is a vigorous defense of the faith, which, he said, “triumphs when attacked.” Finally, after four years he was permitted to return to his native land. He continued his efforts, and through prudence and mildness succeeded in ridding Gaul of Arianism. Because of his edifying and illustrious writings on behalf of the true religion, the Church honors him as one of her doctors. Here is an example of Hilary’s vigorous style: “Now it is time to speak, the time for silence is past. We must expect Christ’s return, for the reign of Antichrist has begun. The shepherds must give the warning signals because the hirelings have fled. Let us lay down our lives for the sheep, for brigands have entered the fold and the roaring lion is rampaging about. Be ready for martyrdom! Satan himself is clothed as an angel of light.” A favorite motto of St. Hilary was Ministros veritatis decet vera proferre, “Servants of the truth ought speak the truth.”

— From Pius Parsch, The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Against snakes; backward children; snake bites.

St. Kentigern St. Kentigern was also known as Mungo (“dear one” or “darling”), his mother was a British princess named Thenaw (or Thaney or Theneva). When it was discovered that she was pregnant of an

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 23 unknown man, she was hurled from a cliff and, when discovered alive at the foot of the cliff, was set adrift in a boat on the Firth of Forth. She reached Culross, was given shelter by St. Serf, and gave birth to a child to whom Serf gave the name Mungo. Raised by the saint, he became a hermit at Glasgow and was so renowned for his holiness that he was consecrated bishop of Strathclyde about 540. Driven to flight because of the feuds among the neighboring chieftains, he went to Wales, met St. David at Menevia, and founded a monastery at Llanelwy. About 553, Kentigern returned to Scotland, settled at Hoddam, and then returned to Glasgow, where he spent his last days. He is considered the first bishop of Scotland and with Thenaw is joint patron of Glasgow.

— From John J. Delaney, Dictionary of Saints

Glasgow’s Coat of Arms includes a bird, a fish, a bell and a tree; the symbols of Kentigern. The Bird commemorates the pet robin owned by Saint Serf, which was accidentally killed by monks who blamed it on Saint Kentigern. Saint Kentigern took the bird in his hands and prayed over it, restoring it to life. The Fish was one caught by Saint Kentigern in the Clyde River. When it was slit open, a ring belonging to the Queen of Cadzow was miraculously found inside it. The Queen was suspected of intrigue by her husband, and that she had left with his ring. She had asked Saint Kentigern for help, and he found and restored the ring in this way to clear her name. The Bell may have been given to Saint Kentigern by the Pope. The original bell, which was tolled at funerals, no longer exists and was replaced by the magistrates of Glasgow in 1641. The bell of 1641 is preserved in the People’s Palace. The Tree is symbol of an incident in Saint Kentigern’s childhood. Left in charge of the holy fire in Saint Serf’s monastery, he fell asleep and the fire went out. However he broke off some frozen branches from a hazel tree and miraculously re-kindled the fire.

Patron: Glasgow, Scotland; salmon.

Symbols: Bell; bird; fish; ring; robin; salmon; tree.

Things to Do:

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Things to Do:

Make a custard pie in honor of St. Kentigern.

Daily Readings for: January 13, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Attend to the pleas of your people with heavenly care, O Lord, we pray, that they may see what must be done and gain strength to do what they have seen. 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.

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we may rightly understand and truthfully profess the divinity of your Son, which the Bishop Saint Hilary taught with such constancy. 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.

RECIPES

Custard Pastries Shortcrust Pastry

ACTIVITIES

How to be a Good Father How to be a Good Mother What Your Child Needs

PRAYERS

Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Sacred Triduum (2nd Plan)

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Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Easter Season (2nd Plan) Prayer for Perseverance in Faith

LIBRARY

Saint Hilary of Poitiers | Pope Benedict XVI The Saintly Scholars of the Church | Fr. Stephen McKenna

View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-01-13

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Ordinary Time: January 14th

Thursday of the First Week of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: St. Hilary, bishop and doctor; St. Felix of Nola, priest and martyr

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Felix who lived in the third century. He was a priest and suffered greatly in the Decian persecution. The tomb of St. Felix at Nola, a small town in the south of Italy, was a much frequented place of pilgrimage in Christian antiquity, and in the Middle Ages veneration of him spread throughout the west. Along with St. Hilary his feast is celebrated today on the Extraordinary Form Calendar. St. Hilary’s feast is celebrated on January 13 in the Ordinary Form Calendar. It is also the feast of the Infant Jesus of Prague. The image of the Child Jesus known as the “Infant Jesus of Prague” was in reality of Spanish origin. In the 17th century, this beautiful statue was brought by a Spanish princess to Bohemia and presented to a Carmelite monastery. For many years this statue has been enshrined on a side altar in the Church of Our Lady of Victory in the city of Prague. It is of wax, and is about nineteen inches high. It is clothed in a royal mantle, and has a beautiful jeweled crown on its head. Its right hand is raised in blessing; its left holds a globe signifying sovereignty.

St. Felix In one of the early persecutions the priest Felix was first tortured on the rack, then thrown into a dungeon. While lying chained on broken glass, an angel appeared, loosed his bonds, and led him out to freedom. Later, when the persecution had subsided, he converted many to the Christian faith by his

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 27 subsided, he converted many to the Christian faith by his preaching and holy example. However, when he resumed his denunciation of pagan gods and false worship, he was again singled out for arrest and torture; this time he escaped by hiding in a secret recess between two adjacent walls. No sooner had he disappeared into the nook than a thick veil of cobwebs formed over the entrance so that no one suspected he was there. Three months later he died in peace (260), and is therefore a martyr only in the wider sense of the word. St. Paulinus of Nola (see June 22), who cherished a special devotion toward St. Felix, composed fourteen hymns (carmina natalicia) in his honor. In his day (fifth century) the saint’s tomb was visited by pilgrims from far and wide and was noted for its miraculous cures.

— The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Against eye disease; against eye trouble; against false witness; against lies; against perjury; domestic animals; eyes.

Symbols: Cobweb; deacon in prison; spiderweb; young priest carrying an old man (Maximus) on his shoulders; young priest chained in prison with a pitcher and potsherds near him; young priest with a bunch of grapes (symbolizes his care of the aged Maximus); young priest with a spider; young priest with an angel removing his chains.

Things to Do:

Let us be convinced that if we strive and struggle in God’s behalf, we may also rely on His special protection. God shields you from your enemies, even, if need be, by a spider’s web. Spend some time recalling occasions when you were protected in an unusual way from harm.

Infant Jesus of Prague Devotion to the Child Jesus under the title “Infant Jesus of Prague” is over three and a half centuries old. The devotion originated in Spain, spread to what is now

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Czechoslovakia, and from there to all parts of the globe. Replicas of the original statue dressed in royal priestly vestments are to be found in thousands of churches and private homes. In the United States, there is a national shrine in honor of the Christ Child under this title in Prague, Oklahoma. In 1556, Maria Manriquez de Lara brought a precious family heirloom, a statue of the child Jesus, with her to Bohemia when she married the Czech nobleman Vratislav of Pernstyn. The statue of the child is eighteen inches tall, carved of wood, and thinly coated with wax. The left foot is barely visible under a long white tunic. The statue stands on a broad pedestal, and there is a waist-high silver case which holds it upright. The left-hand holds a miniature globe surmounted by a cross, signifying the worldwide kingship of Christ. The right hand is extended in blessing in a form usually used by the Supreme Pontiff; the first two fingers are upraised to symbolize the two natures in Christ, while the folded thumb and last two fingers touch each other to represent the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Since 1788, there have been two jeweled rings on the fingers of the statue. These were gifts of a noble family in thanks for the miraculous cure of their daughter. The head of the image has a wig of blond human hair. Old carvings and pictures indicate that at one time the wig may have been white. In 1655, the statue was solemnly crowned in a special coronation ceremony. The crown was presented by the supreme burgrave of the Czech kingdom. The original garments worn by the statue when it arrived in Bohemia are still preserved. Since the great cholera epidemic of 1713, however, the garments of the statue have been changed with the liturgical season. The wardrobe of the Infant of Prague resembles liturgical vestments. There are a number of sets of vestments belonging to the statue which are of artistic and historic importance, including sets presented in thanksgiving by Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Ferdinand. Today, the nuns from St. Joseph’s Church in the Mala Strana quarter of Prague enjoy the privilege of clothing the Infant in keeping with the ancient custom. At the time the change of vestments is made, numerous devotional objects such as medals, pictures and rosaries are touched to the statue to be distributed to all parts of the world. Princess Polyxena Lobkowitz inherited the statue of the infant from her mother. She had a great devotion to it, honoring it highly in her own home. On the death of her husband in 1623, she determined to spend the rest of her life in works of charity and

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 29 piety. She was particularly generous to the Discalced Carmelites of Prague. Their monastery had been founded by Emperor Ferdinand II. After the emperor moved to Vienna, the monastery, having lost its wealthy founder and patron, fell on hard times, often not even having enough to eat. (At that time, cloistered monasteries depended heavily on donations for their daily needs.) In 1628, Princess Polyxena presented her beloved statue to the friars, telling them, prophetically, that as long as they honored the Child Jesus as king, venerating His image, they would not want. Her prediction was verified, and as long as the Divine Infant’s image was honored the community prospered, spiritually and temporally. However, when the devotions relaxed, it seemed as if God’s blessing departed from the house. The statue was set up in the oratory of the monastery, and twice daily special devotions were performed before it. The novices were particularly devoted to the Holy Infant. One of them, Cyrillus of the Mother of God, was suffering interior trials. After prayers to the Child Jesus, he found a sudden relief from his worries and became the greatest apostle of the Holy image. During the Thirty Years’ War, the novitiate was moved to Munich, Germany in 1630. In 1631, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, an inveterate foe of Catholicism, invaded, and many inhabitants of Prague fled, including all of the Carmelites except two who remained to protect the monastery. The enemy took possession of the monastery in November of 1631, and the house was plundered. The image of the Infant was thrown in a heap of rubbish behind the high altar, where it lay forgotten for seven years. In 1637, Father Cyrillus returned to Prague. The monastery had suffered many reverses in recent years, and the city was again overrun with hostile troops. The prior of the community called the monks together to offer prayers. Father Cyrillus remembered the favors formerly received through the intercession of the Infant, and he asked

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 30 permission to search the monastery in hopes that the statue might have been left behind when the monastery was plundered. At last the statue was found, and Father Cyrillus placed the dusty little image on an altar in the oratory, where the long-forgotten devotions were renewed with vigor. One day, after the other monks had left the oratory, Father Cyrillus remained kneeling in front of the statue for hours, meditating on the divine goodness. In a mystical ecstasy, he heard the statue speak these words: “Have pity on me, and I will have pity on you. Give me my hands, and I will give you peace. The more you honor me, the more I will bless you!” Startled, the priest looked and noticed for the first time that the statue’s hands had been broken off. He went immediately to the prior to beg him to have the statue restored. The prior, not having the same devotion or understanding as Father Cyrillus, excused himself by saying that the monastery was too poor. Shortly thereafter, a wealthy and pious man came to Prague and fell ill. Father Cyrillus was called to the dying man, who offered financial help to repair the statue. The prior, however, used the donated money to buy an entirely new statue instead of having the old one repaired. On its very first day, the new statue was shattered by a falling candlestick. To Father Cyrillus, this was an indication that the wishes of the Infant must be fulfilled literally. The sorrowing priest took the damaged statue to his cell, where he prayed through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin for the money to repair the statue. No sooner had he finished his prayer than he was called to the church, where he found a noble lady waiting for him. She handed him a considerable amount of money and then disappeared. Happily, Father Cyrillus took the money to the prior and again requested the repair of the statue. At last, the prior agreed, provided the repairs did not exceed a certain amount. Unfortunately, the estimates were too high, so again the statue was not repaired. Interiorly, the priest heard a voice telling him to place the statue at the entrance of the sacristy. He did so, and soon a stranger came and noticed the broken hands of the statue. The stranger offered to have the statue repaired at his own expense, an offer that was joyously accepted. At last the repaired statue was placed in the church. A pestilence was raging in Prague at the time, and the prior himself nearly died. He vowed to spread the devotion of the Infant if he were cured. Shortly thereafter, he ordered a general devotion to the Infant,

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 31 in which all the friars took part. At last the Infant had won the hearts of the Carmel of Prague and become a cornerstone of their devotion. In 1641, a generous benefactress donated money to the monastery for the erection of an altar to the Blessed Trinity with a magnificently gilded tabernacle as the resting place for the miraculous statue, which was then exposed for public veneration In 1642, a baroness financed the erection of a handsome chapel for the Infant which was blessed in 1644 on the feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, which has remained the principal feast day of the miraculous Infant ever since. In 1648, the Archbishop of Prague gave the first ecclesiastical approval of the devotion when he consecrated the chapel and gave permission to priests to say Mass at the chapel altar. In 1651 the Carmelite general made a canonical visitation to the monastery to examine matters regarding the devotion. The statue was solemnly crowned in 1655. In 1741, the statue was moved to its final magnificent shrine on the epistle side off the church of Our Lady of Victory. It became one of the most famous ,and popular shrines in the world. In 1739 the Carmelites of the Austrian Province made the spread of the devotion a part of their apostolate. The popularity of the little King of Prague spread to other countries in the eighteenth century. Pope Leo XIII confirmed the Sodality of the Infant of Prague in 1896 and granted many indulgences to the devotion. Pope St. Pius X unified an organizing membership into a confraternity under the guidance of the Carmelites which increased the spread of the devotion in our own century. Church authorities have canonically established a U.S. national shrine to the Infant Jesus of Prague at Prague, Oklahoma. Excerpt from the book “A Handbook of Catholic Sacramentals,” by Ann Ball, published by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., Huntington, Indiana 46750.

Patron: Invoked against: Financial Distress

Symbols: Raised right hand, globe, crown

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Things to Do:

Read more about the Infant Jesus of Prague at Sensus Fidelium. Also visit the Meditations from Carmel for more information. Make a virtual visit to the Muzeum of the Infant Jezus of Prague in Poland.

Daily Readings for: January 14, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Attend to the pleas of your people with heavenly care, O Lord, we pray, that they may see what must be done and gain strength to do what they have seen. 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.

RECIPES

Spiedini Romano

ACTIVITIES

Practical Suggestions for Christian Living (Confirmation)

PRAYERS

Little Litany of the Holy Souls

LIBRARY

None

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View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-01-14

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Ordinary Time: January 15th

Friday of the First Week of Ordinary Time; Our Lady of Prompt Succor; Black Christ of Esquipulas (Guatemala) Old Calendar: St. Paul, confessor, the first Hermit; St. Maurus, abbot; Our Lady of Prompt Succor

It was from St. Jerome (+ 420) that the west learned of the life of St. Paul the Hermit; the book, which he devoted to the life of the first Christian hermit, charmed and instructed generations of the faithful and formed the inspiration of many artists. St. Paul is said to have died in 341, in a hermitage in the region of Thebes in Egypt after having received at the age of 113 a visit from St. Antony. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, St. Paul is celebrated as a Confessor, III class and St. Maurus is commemorated. St. Maurus was one of the first disciples of St. Benedict. In this son of a patrician Roman family, entrusted by his parents to the father of western monasticism, Benedictine tradition celebrates the perfect monk, and the model of childlike obedience. Many monasteries, particularly in France, adopted him as patron. He died about A.D. 580. In some places in the United States today the feast of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Patroness of the State of Louisiana, is celebrated. The feast of the Black Christ of Esquipulas (Santo Cristo de Esquipulas) appears in Appendix I of the U.S. edition of the Misal Romano, Tercera Edicion (2018). Respecting the liturgical norms, this feast may be celebrated for pastoral reasons whnever Votive Masses are permitted.

St. Paul, the first hermit

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St. Paul, the first hermit St. Paul is called “the first hermit” in the Missal and Breviary, a rare distinction, for such titles are seldom appended. Our saint was the standard-bearer of those courageous men who for the love of Christ left the world and entered the wilderness to dedicate themselves wholly to contemplation amid all the privations of desert life. The hermits were the great men of prayer in those difficult times when the Church was locked in fierce struggle with heresy after heresy. For centuries the example of their lives served as the school of Christian perfection. Their action set the background for the rise of monasticism and religious orders in the Church. The Breviary retains an edifying legend concerning today’s saint. One day St. Anthony, then ninety, was divinely inspired to visit the hermit Paul. Though they had never met previously, each greeted the other correctly by name. While they were conversing at length on spiritual matters, the raven that had always brought Paul half a loaf of bread, came with a whole loaf. As the raven flew away, Paul said: “See, the Lord, who is truly good and merciful, has sent us food. Every day for sixty years I have received half a loaf, but with your arrival Christ sent His servants a double ration.” Giving thanks, they ate by a spring. After a brief rest, they again gave thanks, as was their custom, and spent the whole night praising God. At daybreak Paul informed Anthony of his approaching death and asked him to fetch the cloak he had received from St. Athanasius, that he might wrap himself in it. Later, as Anthony was returning from his visit, he saw Paul’s soul ascending to heaven escorted by choirs of angels and surrounded by prophets and apostles. Further traditional matter may be found in The Life of Paul the Hermit, written by St. Jerome about the year 376.

Patron: Clothing industry; weavers.

Symbols: Dead man whose grave is being dug by a lion; man being brought food by a bird; man clad in rough garments made of leaves or skins; old man, clothed with palm-leaves, and seated under a palm-tree, near which are a river and loaf of bread; with Saint Anthony the Abbot.

Things to Do:

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Bake a loaf of bread to celebrate this feast, as it is recounted in the Golden Legend how St. Paul received his daily bread every day from God. Read St. Jerome’s account of the Life of St. Paul. The Order of St. Paul the Hermit (Paulines) runs the Shrine of Our Lady of Chestochowa in Doylestown, PA. Read more about the order and if in the neighborhood pay a visit (or a virtual visit) to the Shrine.

St. Maurus In Benedictine history Maurus holds a distinguished place, taught and trained by St. Benedict himself. While still very young, Maurus and another youth, Placid, were brought by their parents to be reared in monastic life by the Patriarch of Monks. An incident reveals Maurus’ spirit of childlike obedience. One day Placid was sent to a near-by lake to draw water. Soon he was at the shore, where, boy that he was, he fell victim to his own heedlessness. Eager to fill the vessel quickly, he reached out too far and was dragged in by the rapidly filling jar. He was being borne along by the waves when from his cell St. Benedict realized what had happened. “Hurry, run to the lake! Placid has fallen in!” he called to Maurus. Stopping only for his spiritual father’s blessing, Maurus sped to the lake, seized Placid by the hair and brought him ashore. Imagine his shock and amazement when he realized that he had run some distance on water! His explanation? Such a miracle could not have happened save by virtue of his master’s command! St. Gregory relates the incident in his Second Book of Dialogues along with much other interesting detail from the life of St. Benedict. The Martyrology makes this comment on the miracle: How greatly he advanced in faith under his teacher (St. Benedict) is attested by an occurrence unheard of since the days of St. Peter; for, on one occasion he walked upon water as though it were dry land. The tradition that Maurus later became abbot at Glanfeuil in France lacks historical support.

Patron: Against cold; against gout; against hoarseness; charcoal burners; cobblers; cold; coppersmiths; gout; hoarseness; shoemakers.

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Symbols: Monk saving Saint Placid from drowning while a cowl floats above him; abbot with crozier; abbot with book and censer; holding the weights and measures of food and drink given him by Saint Benedict.

Our Lady of Prompt Succor Devotion to Our Lady of Prompt Succor dates back to 1802, when the Ursuline Order in New Orleans pleaded for help in sustaining the Order with new sisters from France. Their prayers were answered with papal permission for sisters to be transferred from France to New Orleans. In thanksgiving for this favor, the Ursulines dedicated a statue in their convent chapel to Our Lady of Prompt Succor in 1810. In 1812, a terrible fire broke out in New Orleans, and the wind was blowing the flames toward the convent. Prayers before the statue of Our Lady were answered with a reversal of the wind direction and the convent was spared. During the Battle of New Orleans, in 1815, the sisters again invoked the assistance of Our Lady of Prompt Succor. As the sound of guns and cannons thundered around the chapel during Mass, they vowed to have a Mass of Thanksgiving sung every year if the Americans were victorious. At Communion time, a messenger arrived with the news that Gen. Andrew Jackson’s overmatched army had successfully driven the British from the city. Once again Our Lady had responded promptly. In 1928, the Holy See approved the selection of Our Lady of Prompt Succor as the Patroness of the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. The Mass of Thanksgiving is offered each January 8 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor in New Orleans.

Patron: State of Louisiana; the Archdiocese of New Orleans; City of New Orleans

Things to Do:

Read a brief but remarkable history of the devotion to Our Lady of Prompt

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Succor at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.

Black Christ of Esquipulas The statue of the Black Christ (El Cristo Negro) was commissioned by Spanish conquistadors for a church in Esquipulas. It was carved in 1594 by Quirio Cataño in Antigua and installed in the church in 1595. By 1603, a miracle had already been attributed to the icon, and it attracted increasing numbers of pilgrims over the years. The history of the Basilica begins in 1735, when a priest named Father Pedro Pardo de Figueroa experienced a miraculous cure after praying before the statue. When he became Archbishop of Guatemala, he commissioned a beautiful basilica to properly shelter the beloved statue. The church was completed in 1759. The main church, which the Vatican upgraded to the category of Basilica in 1968, is the home of the “Cristo Negro de Esquipulas” or “Black Christ of Esquipulas,” in English. It is one of the most popular images of the Catholic faith, because of the many miracles attributed to it, devotees all over the country pray to the Black Christ for personal petitions. The sculpture of the Black Christ dates back to 1595 and is made of cedar wood. It was commissioned by Spanish conquistadors for a church in Esquipulas. It was carved in 1594 by Quirio Cataño in Antigua and installed in the church in 1595. It inspires one of the most important Catholic pilgrimages, topped only by the Virgin of Guadeloupe in Mexico. Quirio Cataño sculpted the dramatic art piece in March 9, 1595. Nine years later, in 1603, it had already performed at least one miracle. In 1736, the Bishop of Guatemala XV and first metropolitan Archbishop Fray Pedro Pardo de Figueroa began the process of the construction of a grand Baroque temple to house the Santo Cristo de Esquipulas. On November 4, 1758, the church was inaugurated, that now shelters the venerated image . The Basilica Esquipulas is the second most important religious site in the Americas, after the Virgin of Guadeloupe in Mexico.

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Daily Readings for: January 15, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Attend to the pleas of your people with heavenly care, O Lord, we pray, that they may see what must be done and gain strength to do what they have seen. 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.

RECIPES

Date and Nut Bread Whole Wheat Bread I

ACTIVITIES

How God Provides Nameday Prayers and Ideas for St. Paul the Apostle On Parental Duty and How Parents Let Their Children Risk Chastity Story of St. Paul the Hermit

PRAYERS

Blessing of Saint Maurus over the Sick Prayer for Those Suffering Despair Litany of Saint Maurus Litany of Our Lady of Prompt Succor

LIBRARY

Bl. Claude La Colombiere: A Priest after Christ’s Heart | Rev. Walter Kern

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View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-01-15

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Ordinary Time: January 16th

Saturday of the First Week of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: St. Marcellus, pope and martyr; St. Honoratus, archbishop (Hist)

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Marcellus who was elected Pope just at the time when Diocletian had spent somewhat his first violence against the Church. In Rome he reorganized the Catholic hierarchy disrupted by the persecution. He was exiled and put to labor. He is considered a martyr as he died in 309 because of his treatment during his exile. Historically today is the feast of St. Honoratus who was born in Gaul (modern France) about 350, and came from a distinguished Roman family. After a pilgrimage to Greece and Rome, he became a hermit on the isle of Lerins, where he was joined by Sts Lupus of Troyes (July 29), Eucherius of Lyons (November 16), and Hilary of Arles (May 5), among others.

St. Marcellus Diocletian’s terrible persecution had taken its toll. It was reported that within a period of thirty days, sixteen thousand Christians were martyred. The Church in Rome was left scattered and disorganized, and the Holy See remained vacant for over two years. It wasn’t until the ascension of Emperor Maxentius and his policy of toleration that a pope could be chosen. Marcellus, a Roman priest during the reign of Marcellinus, was elected. The new pope was confronted with enormous problems. His first challenge was to reorganize the badly

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 42 problems. His first challenge was to reorganize the badly shaken Church. He is said to have accomplished this by dividing Rome into twenty-five parishes, each with its own priest. The next task was more challenging. Once again a pope was faced with the problem of what to do with the many brethren who had compromised their faith during the reign of Diocletian. Marcellus upheld the doctrine of required penance before absolution. The apostates keenly desired readmission to communion, but they violently opposed the harshness of the penance demanded by the rigorist, Marcellus. Riots broke out throughout the city, and even bloodshed, to the point that Emperor Maxentius intervened. He believed that the pontiff was the root of the problem, and in the interest of peace, he banished Marcellus; the pope died a short time later. Apart from persecution, this was the first time that the secular government was known to have interfered with the Church. There is some confusion whether his body was brought back to Rome or whether he was allowed to return to the Holy See before his death. There is no doubt, however, that he was buried in the cemetery of Priscilla on the Via Salaria.

Symbols: Pope with a donkey or horse nearby; pope standing in a stable.

St. Honoratus St. Honoratus was of a consular Roman family settled in Gaul. In his youth he renounced the worship of idols, and gained his elder brother, Venantius, to Christ. Convinced of the hollowness of the things of this world, they wished to renounce it with all its pleasures, but a fond pagan father put continual obstacles in their way. At length, taking with them St. Caprais, a holy hermit, for their director, they sailed from Marseilles to Greece, with the intention to live there unknown in some desert. Venantius soon died happily at Methone, and Honoratus, being also sick, was obliged to return with his conductor. He first led a hermitical life in the mountains near Frejus. Two small islands lie in the sea near that coast; on the smaller, now known as St.

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Honoré, our Saint settled, and, being followed by others, he there founded the famous monastery of Lerins, about the year 400. Some of his followers he appointed to live in community; others, who seemed more perfect, in separate cells as anchorets. His rule was chiefly borrowed from that of St. Pachomius. Nothing can be more amiable than the description St. Hilary has given of the excellent virtues of this company of saints, especially of the charity, concord, humility, compunction, and devotion which reigned among them under the conduct of our holy abbot. He was, by compulsion, consecrated Archbishop of Arles in 426, and died, exhausted with austerities and apostolical labors, in 429.

Excerpted from Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]

Daily Readings for: January 16, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Attend to the pleas of your people with heavenly care, O Lord, we pray, that they may see what must be done and gain strength to do what they have seen. 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.

RECIPES

Sole with Red Wine and Onions

ACTIVITIES

Practical Suggestions for Christian Living (Holy Eucharist)

PRAYERS

Collect Prayer for the Feast of St. Marcellus

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LIBRARY

Masses for the Repose of Souls | Fr. William Saunders

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Ordinary Time: January 17th

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: Second Sunday after Epiphany

John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi…, where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see” (John 1:35-37). Today is the feast of St. Anthony the Abbot which is superseded by the Sunday Liturgy.

Sunday Readings The first reading is taken from the first Book of Samuel 3:3b-10, 19 and gives an account of Samuel’s vocation to take over the leadership of the Chosen People. The second reading is from the first Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20 in which St. Paul makes it crystal clear that justifying fornication as part of Christian liberty is an incorrect interpretation of his preaching and that the body must be preserved from all immorality. The Gospel is from St. John 1:35-42 and gives an account of the vocation of the first four Apostles who followed Jesus. It was a momentous event in the history of salvation. It was the beginning of a stream of vocations that would grow and spread down through the ages until the end of the world. It was momentous, firstly, in that Christ, who had come to open heaven for all men and who could find means of bringing them all to that eternal home without help from any man, decided instead to let men co-operate with him in this divine task. He decreed to set up a kingdom in this world—his Church—which would be run by mere mortals for their fellow-mortals, but which would be under his

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 46 protection and assisted by his divine aid until the end of time. Christ chose this very human way, in order to make his Church more acceptable to our limited, human understanding and more approachable for sinful, human nature. Christ, as God, could deal directly with every human being on earth. He could teach the infallible truth; he could pardon sins; he could give all the graces needed to travel successfully to heaven. There would then be no need for a Church with its teaching magisterium, no need for the sacrament of Baptism, or of Penance, nor of the Holy Eucharist itself or of any other such aids. Christ could do all that his Church does for the salvation of mankind, and more successfully, of course, but yet he chose the way which divine wisdom saw was best. We mortals know that God can speak directly to our hearts, and actually has done so to many men in the past. We know that he can do directly all that is done by his Church, to whom he gave the power, with its teaching magisterium and sacraments. If he were to act in this way we should be open to continuous doubts about the source of our inspirations and the objectivity of the graces we thought we were receiving. It was to remove such doubts, and the possibility of self-deception that Christ left to us the external visible kingdom to which he gave all the powers necessary for men’s salvation. It was for the security and peace of men’s consciences that he set up a visible Church founded on the Apostles, men like ourselves, but transformed by his assisting grace. Another momentous fact in Christ’s choice of the Apostles on whom he was to build his Church, is that he “chose the lowly and the humble to confound the wise.” The first four Apostles, as well as the other eight, were simple, lowly fishermen from Galilee. They may possibly have been able to read and write a little, but they were certainly not men of education or any social standing in their communities. He could have converted and chosen some of the more highly educated scribes of Jerusalem, or some of the Roman centurions then in Palestine, or some of the many philosophers in Greece, or even Roman senators whose influence as Christian teachers would carry such weight with the educated elite of the empire. But he did not. The instrument he chose to carry his message to all men was not dependent on human ingenuity or on the educational or

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 47 social standing of his witnesses. Rather it was to stand on the power of God, of which it was the expression and proof. We can see clearly the divine wisdom governing Christ’s choice of Apostles! Had his message of salvation been spread and promulgated by men of learning and social standing, the cry would soon go up on all sides: “This religion is the invention of philosophers; it is a clever plan of the upper classes to keep the poor and humble workers in subjection.” But it was the poor and working classes who spread Christ’s message, and who suffered imprisonment and death itself at the hands of the educated and upper classes for so doing. Today, let us thank our blessed Lord who provided so humanly—and yet so divinely for our eternal welfare. In the Church, which he founded on the lowly but solid foundation of simple fishermen of Galilee, he erected an institution against which the gates of hell, the power of all the enemies of our salvation, cannot prevail, for his divine guidance and help will be with it forever. It has had enemies and opposition from the beginning; they may be more numerous and more destructive than ever today. But the promise of Christ still holds good, his word cannot fail. Therefore, neither the opposition of materialistic enemies from without, nor the even more insidious attacks from faint-hearted and worldly-minded members from within, can affect the safety and permanence of the building which Christ built on the Rock. “If God is with us,” it matters not “who is against us.”

— Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O’Sullivan, O.F.M.

Commentary for the Readings in the Extraordinary Form: Second Sunday after Epiphany “A wedding took place … (Mary) said to Jesus, ‘They have no wine.’ … Jesus said to (the attendants), ‘Fill the jars with water … Draw out now’ … When the chief steward had tasted the water … become wine … (he said to the bridegroom), ‘Thou hast kept the good wine until now’” (Gospel). A lesson to our young married couples of today! Believe and trust in Him to keep your family if you keep His Word! A spiritual change also took place, since “His

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disciples believed in Him” (Gospel). Consider the daily miracle of God’s “grace that has been given us” (Epistle), to change from evil to good in both single and married life. Jesus “kept the good wine” of Divine Life for us (symbolized by Chalice at left in the picture). We must “fill the jars … (of our good will) to the brim” (Gospel). Let us recognize the “great things” (Offertory) done for our soul through Mary’s prayers to Jesus. Like the disciples, let us “believe” and “do whatever He tells” us (Gospel).

— Excerpted from My Sunday Missal, Confraternity of the Precious Blood

Daily Readings for: January 17, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, who govern all things, both in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the pleading of your people and bestow your peace on our times. 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.

RECIPES

Bride’s Cake I Bride’s Cake II Italian Wedding Cookies Kourambiedhes Wedding Cakes

ACTIVITIES

Attending a Catholic Wedding

PRAYERS

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Married Couple’s Prayer to the Sacred Heart Book of Blessings: Orders for the Blessing of a Married Couple Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Ordinary Time (2nd Plan)

LIBRARY

Christian Marriage: a Covenant of Love and Life | Cardinal Bernard Law

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Ordinary Time: January 18th

Monday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: St. Prisca, virgin and marty; St. Peter’s Chair at Rome (Hist)

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Peter’s Chair at Rome and the commemoration of St. Prisca, virgin and martyr. The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on February 22. Regarding St. Prisca, the Martyrology reads: “In the city of Rome, the holy virgin and martyr Prisca; after many tortures she gained the crown of martyrdom under Emperor Claudius II (about 270).” Prisca should not be confused with Priscilla, the wife of Aquila, mentioned in the Acts, whose feast dates to the earliest days of Christianity.

St. Prisca Prisca, who is also known as Priscilla, was a child martyr of the early Roman Church. Born to Christian parents of a noble family, Prisca was raised during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius. While Claudius did not persecute Christians with the same fervor as other Roman emperors, Christians still did not practice their faith openly. In fact, Prisca’s parents went to great lengths to conceal their faith, and thus they were not suspected of being Christians. Prisca, however, did not feel the need to take precaution. The young girl openly professed her dedication to Christ, and eventually, she was reported to the emperor. Claudius had her arrested, and commanded her to make a sacrifice to Apollo, the pagan god of the sun. According to the legend, Prisca refused and was tortured

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According to the legend, Prisca refused and was tortured for disobeying. Then, suddenly, a bright, yellow light shone about her, and she appeared to be a little star. Claudius ordered that Prisca be taken away to prison, in the hopes that she would abandon Christ. When all efforts to change her mind were unsuccessful, she was taken to an amphitheatre and thrown in with a lion. As the crowd watched, Prisca stood fearless. According to legend, the lion walked toward the barefoot girl, and then gently licked her feet. Disgusted by his thwarted efforts to dissuade Prisca, Claudius had her beheaded. Seventh-century accounts of the grave sites of Roman martyrs refer to the discovery of an epitaph of a Roman Christian named Priscilla in a large catacomb and identifies her place of interment on the Via Salaria as the Catacomb of Priscilla.

— Excerpted from Ordinary People Extraordinary Lives.

Daily Readings for: January 18, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, who govern all things, both in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the pleading of your people and bestow your peace on our times. 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.

RECIPES

Ham a la King on Corn Bread Squares

ACTIVITIES

Practical Suggestions for Christian Living (Penance)

PRAYERS

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Collect for the Feast of St. Prisca Novena for Church Unity Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity

LIBRARY

None

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Ordinary Time: January 19th

Tuesday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: Sts. Marius, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum, martyrs; St. Canute, martyr; St. Henrik, martyr

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Sts. Marius, Martha, Audivax and Abachum, a group of Persian martyrs of the third century who died for the faith in Rome. St. Canute was king of Denmark; he was put to death out of hatred of his faith and his zeal in working for its extension in his kingdom. He was killed in St. Alban’s Church in Odense. It is also the feast of St. Henrik or Henry an Englishman, and preached the faith in the North with his countryman, Cardinal Nicholas Breakspear, the apostle of Norway, and legate of the holy see, afterward Pope Adrian IV. by whom he was raised to this see, in 1148. Saint Eric, or Henry, (for it is the same name,) was then the holy king of Sweden. Our saint, after having converted several provinces, went to preach in Finland, which that king had lately conquered. He deserved to be styled the apostle of that country, but fell a martyr in it, being stoned to death at the instigation of a barbarous murderer, whom he endeavored to reclaim by censures, in 1151. His tomb was in great veneration at Upsal, until his ashes were scattered on the change of religion, in the sixteenth century.

St. Marius and Family Their feast does not appear in the Roman calendar until the twelfth century. The Acts of these martyrs are wholly legendary. They give the following details. Marius was a Persian of noble extraction. With his wife, who was also noble-born, and his two sons, Audifax and Abachus, he came to Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius II (268-270) to venerate the graves of the martyrs. They visited the Christians in prison, encouraged them by word and deed, and shared with them their goods. And like Tobias

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 54 encouraged them by word and deed, and shared with them their goods. And like Tobias of old, they buried the bodies of the saints. It was not long before they themselves were arrested; and when neither threats nor allurements could make them offer sacrifice to the idols, they were savagely flogged. Martha was the first to die, but not before she had fervently exhorted her husband and sons to endure steadfastly whatever tortures might be inflicted for the faith. All were beheaded in the same place and their bodies thrown into the fire. Felicitas, a saintly Roman woman, succeeded in recovering the half-burnt bodies and buried them on her estate.

St. Canute St. Canute, king of Denmark, was murdered in St. Alban’s Church, Odense, July 10, 1086. The Martyrology confuses him with his nephew, St. Canute the Duke, who died on January 7, 1131, and was canonized November 8, 1169, by Pope Alexander III. St. Canute is also called Canute the holy, or Danish Knut, or Knud, Den Hellige, or Sankt Knut, or Knud. The son of King Sweyn II Estrithson of Denmark, Canute succeeded his brother Harold Hen as king of Denmark. Canute opposed the aristocracy and kept a close association with the church in an attempt to create a powerful and centralized monarchy. In ecclesiastical matters, Canute generously patronized several churches, including the Cathedral of Lund, Denmark’s archbishopric; established a Benedictine abbey at Odense; and supported apostolic preaching throughout Denmark. In temporal matters, he attempted an administrative reform, particularly an enforced levying of tithes that incurred the wrath of the rural aristocracy. In 1085 he reasserted the Danish claims to England and, with the count of Flanders and King Olaf III of Norway, prepared a massive invasion fleet that alarmed the Norman-English king William I the Conqueror. Canute’s plan, however, had to be abandoned suddenly, for those aristocrats who opposed his tax policy revolted as he was preparing to embark for England. He fled from the rebels, led by his brother Prince Olaf, to St. Alban’s Church, Odense, which he had founded, and was assassinated there with the entire royal party. Canute was buried in St. Alban’s, renamed c. 1300 St. Canute’s Cathedral. Miracles

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Canute was buried in St. Alban’s, renamed c. 1300 St. Canute’s Cathedral. Miracles were recorded at his tomb, and, at the request (1099) of King Erik III Evergood of Denmark, he was canonized (1101) by Pope Paschal II.

Patron: Zeeland, Denmark.

Symbols: Knight with a wreath, lance, and ciborium.

St. Henrik To call St. Henrik obscure is only possible to an English speaking Catholic. For us, he is so obscure that he does not even have an entry in the voluminous 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia. But, to Finnish Catholics, he is the nation’s patron and one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages, and of today. Henrik was born Henry, an Englishman, sometime in the early 12th century. It is unknown where he began his ecclesiastical career, but in 1152 he appears as a companion of papal legate and fellow Englishman Nicholas Breakspear (later Pope Adrian IV), who spent two years in Scandinavia trying to organize the Church in that region. Henrik appears to have remained behind, where he was later appointed Bishop of Uppsala, primatial See of Sweden, in 1156. This was around one year after Eric IX Jedvardsson, also known as King Eric the Saint, took the throne of Sweden. Henrik, who had a heart for missionary work, found a friend and supporter in the zealous King Eric, who was anxious to spread the Faith into neighboring Finland as a means of not only winning souls, but stabilizing his own borders. Allegedly, Eric organized a sort of crusade to bring Finland under Swedish rule and spread the Faith, although there is no contemporary evidence of such a military adventure. What is certain is that, at the behest of King Eric, the Bishop of Uppsala was persuaded to go to Finland to spread the Faith in that region. He was not in Finland long when he was murdered by a pagan Finn, to whom tradition assigns the name Lalli.

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According to some accounts, his martyrdom occurred as a result of Henrik attempting to enforce a canonical penalty on a murderer; in the more popular tale, Henrik stops to purchase some food from a local woman before crossing a frozen lake by slegde. When the woman’s husband Lalli returns home, she tells him only that Henrik came and took the food but neglects to mention that he also paid for it. In anger, Lalli follows Henrik out upon the ice of the lake where he murders him and takes his mitre home in gloating triumph. According to tradition, Henrik was martyred on January 20th, 1156. Finnish cultural tradition has taken a macabre interest in speculating about the fate of Lalli, the murderer. All traditions agree that Lalli died soon after Henrik, unrepentant and tormented. The favorite story of Lalli tells how he came home from the murder wearing the bishop’s mitre. When he went to remove it from his head, his scalp came off with it; thus St. Henrik is often depicted in medieval iconography standing on top of Lalli, who is always depicted as bald. Other stories tell of Lalli being pursued relentlessly by a band of mice who constantly tried to eat him alive. There are tales of Lalli climbing a tree or moving from house to house to escape the gnawing mice; finally he seeks refuge at sea, but the mice some how find him and he and the mice end up drowning together. The gnawing mice which relentlessly seek to devour Lalli are an apt symbol of the gnawing of conscience. Henrik soon became the national saint of Finland, although he was largely ignored outside of Scandinavia. In Scandinavian countries, his feast day (January 20th) is the occasion of a tremendous festival called Heikinpäivä. The Heikinpäivä festival, though originally a Finnish solemnity, is actually more important in other areas of the world that were settled by Finns than in Finland itself, which has lost touch with much of its Catholic past. The region of the world that is best known for its festive celebration of Heikinpäivä is Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which was settled by Finns in the 19th century. The Michigan celebrations are largely civic and cultural in nature, having lost a lot of the relevance to the martyr-saint, but it is still a real treat to visit the north during the time of the this festival.

Excerpted from Unam Sanctam Catholicam

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Patron: Against storms, Finland.

Symbols: Bishop being murdered at Mass with young King Saint Eric; bishop being murdered by a man wielding an axe; trampling on Lalli.

Things to Do:

Read this article from Catholic World Report, Finland’s patron saint, rediscovered. Read about the history and significane of St. Henrik here. Read about St. Henry’s Pilgrimage.

Daily Readings for: January 19, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, who govern all things, both in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the pleading of your people and bestow your peace on our times. 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.

RECIPES

Danish Cinnamon Snails

ACTIVITIES

St. Canute’s Day

PRAYERS

Novena for Church Unity Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity

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Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity Commemoration of St. Canute

LIBRARY

None

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Ordinary Time: January 20th

Wednesday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorials of St. Fabian, pope and martyr; St. Sebastian, martyr Old Calendar: Sts. Fabian and Sebastian

St. Fabian and St. Sebastian have always been venerated together, and their names were coupled in the ancient martyrologies, as they are still in the Litany of Saints. St. Fabian was Pope from 236 to 250 AD. He promoted the consolidation and development of the Church. He divided Rome into seven diaconates for the purpose of extending aid to the poor. He was one of the first victims of the persecution of Decius, who considered him as a rival and personal enemy. St. Sebastian, a native of Milan, was an officer in Diocletian’s imperial guard. He became a Christian and suffered martyrdom upon orders of the emperor around 288. He is the patron of athletes.

St. Fabian St. Fabian, a Roman, was as energetic as he was admired and respected. He was able to accomplish a great deal during his long pontificate. Escaping the persecution of Emperor Maximus Thrax, who had been assassinated, Fabian enjoyed peace in the Church under the reigns of succeeding emperors. One of St. Fabian’s first acts was to reorganize the clergy of Rome to better serve the increasing flock. He is also credited with beautifying and enlarging the cemeteries. He ordered paintings to adorn the vaults, and he erected a church above the cemetery of Calixtus. The Church flourished under St. Fabian as a succession of emperors left the

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The Church flourished under St. Fabian as a succession of emperors left the Christians to themselves. This peaceful time came to an abrupt end with the ascension of Emperor Decius. He was a cruel enemy and he decreed that all Christians were to deny Christ by openly worshipping pagan idols. The Church was to lose many followers, but more stood firm to suffer torture and even death. Certainly, one of the first was Pope Fabian. Arrested, he was thrown in prison and died at the hands of his brutal captors. He is buried in the cemetery of Calixtus.

Things to Do:

Pope Fabian’s two special interests were the poor and the liturgy. Offer your Mass today for someone in spiritual need since this is the worst poverty and the greatest charity.

St. Sebastian The name of Sebastian is enveloped in a wreath of legends. The oldest historical account of the saint is found in a commentary on the psalms by St. Ambrose; the passage reads: “Allow me to propose to you the example of the holy martyr Sebastian. By birth he was a Milanese. Perhaps the persecutor of Christians had left Milan, or had not yet arrived, or had become momentarily more tolerant. Sebastian believed that here there was no opportunity for combat, or that it had already passed. So he went to Rome, the scene of bitter opposition arising from the Christians’ zeal for the faith. There he suffered, there he gained the crown.” St. Sebastian was widely venerated during the Middle Ages, particularly as a protector against the plague. Paul the Deacon relates that in 670 a great pestilence at Rome ceased when an altar was dedicated in his honor. The Breviary account of the saint is highly legendary; in part it reads: “Diocletian tried by every means to turn Sebastian from the faith of Christ. After all efforts had proven fruitless, he ordered him tied to a post and pierced with arrows. When everyone thought him dead, a devout woman named Irene arranged for his burial during the night; finding him still alive, she cared for him in her own house. After his recovery he appeared again before Diocletian and boldly

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 61 her own house. After his recovery he appeared again before Diocletian and boldly rebuked him for his wickedness. Enraged by the saint’s sharp words, the emperor ordered him scourged until he expired. His body was thrown into a sewer.”

— Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Archers; armourers; arrowsmiths; athletes; bookbinders; diseased cattle; dying people; enemies of religion; fletchers; gardeners; iron mongers; lacemakers; laceworkers; lead workers; masons; plague; police; racquet makers; Rio de Janeiro; soldiers; Spanish police officers; stone masons; stonecutters.

Symbols: Arrows of martyrdom; naked youth tied to a tree and shot with arrows; arrows; crown.

Things to Do:

Read a longer account of St. Sebastian’s life. St. Sebastian’s Day is marked in Sicily and in Kerala, India with huge celebrations. Try a Sicilian or Kerala dish for dinner tonight in honor of the saint. If you have an athlete in your family teach them the prayer to St. Sebastian.

Daily Readings for: January 20, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, who govern all things, both in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the pleading of your people and bestow your peace on our times. 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.

O God, glory of your Priests, grant we pray, that, helped by the intercession of your Martyr Saint Fabian, we may make progress by communion in the faith and by worthy service. 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.

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Grant us, we pray, O Lord, a spirit of fortitude, so that, taught by the glorious example of your Martyr Saint Sebastian, we may learn to obey you rather than men. 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.

RECIPES

Chicken Curry Gaddina Catanisi - Catania-Style Chicken Risotto Formaggi

ACTIVITIES

Religion in the Home for Elementary School: January Religion in the Home for Preschool: January

PRAYERS

Prayer to St. Sebastian Collect for the Feast of St. Sebastian Litany of St. Sebastian Novena for Church Unity Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity

LIBRARY

None

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Ordinary Time: January 21st

Memorial of St. Agnes, virgin and martyr; Our Lady of High Grace (Dominican Republic) Old Calendar: St. Agnes

St. Agnes (c. 304) like St. Cecilia, is to be numbered among the most famous martyrs of Rome. When the Diocletian persecution was at its height, and when priests as well as laymen were apostatizing from the faith, Agnes, a girl of twelve, freely chose to die for Christ. When she was commanded to offer incense to false gods, she raised her hand to Christ and made the Sign of the Cross. When the heathens threatened to bind her hand and foot, she herself hastened to the place of torture as a bride to her wedding feast. Pain had no terror for her—although the fetters slipped from her small hands while even the pagan bystanders were moved to tears. When the son of the Roman prefect offered to marry her, she replied: “The one to whom I am betrothed is Christ Whom the angels serve.” When the executioner, who was to behead her, hesitated, she encouraged him with the words: “Strike, without fear, for the bride does her Spouse an injury if she makes Him wait”. The name of “Agnes” means “lamb-life,” and hence the lamb is the symbol of the modesty and innocence of the virgin-martyr. The feast of Our Lady of High Grace (Bienaventurada Virgen Maria de Altagracia) appears in Appendix I of the U.S. edition of the Misal Romano, Tercera Edicion (2018). Respecting the liturgical norms, this feast may be celebrated for pastoral reasons whenever Votive Masses are permitted.

St. Agnes Agnes is one of the most glorious saints in the calendar of the Roman Church. The

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 65 greatest Church Fathers vie with one another in sounding her praise and glory. St. Jerome writes: “All nations, especially their Christian communities, praise in word and writing the life of St. Agnes. She triumphed over her tender age as well as over the merciless tyrant. To the crown of spotless innocence she added the glory of martyrdom.” Our saint’s name should be traced to the Greek hagne - the pure, rather than to the Latin agna - lamb. But the Latin derivation prevailed in the early Church. The reason may have been that eight days after her death Agnes appeared to her parents with a train of virgins, and a lamb at her side. St. Augustine knew both derivations. “Agnes”, he writes, “means ‘lamb’ in Latin, but in Greek it denotes ‘the pure one’”. The Latin interpretation occasioned the yearly blessing of the St. Agnes lambs; it takes place on this day in the Church of which she is patron, and the wool is used in weaving the palliums worn by archbishops and, through privilege, by some bishops. In the church built by the Emperor Constantine over the saint’s grave, Pope Gregory the Great preached a number of homilies. Reliable details concerning the life of St. Agnes are very few. The oldest material occurs in St. Ambrose’s De Virginibus, parts of which are read today at Matins. The value of the later (definitely unauthentic) “Passion” of the saint is enhanced by the fact that various antiphons and responsories in the Office are derived from it. From such liturgical sources we may construct the following “life of St. Agnes”. One day when Agnes, then thirteen years old, was returning home from school, she happened to meet Symphronius, a son of the city prefect. At once he became passionately attracted to her and tried to win her by precious gifts. Agnes repelled him, saying: “Away from me, food of death, for I have already found another lover” (r. Ant.). “With His ring my Lord Jesus Christ has betrothed me, and He has adorned me with the bridal crown” (3. Ant., Lauds). “My right hand and my neck He has encircled with precious stones, and has given me earrings with priceless pearls; He has decked me with lovely, glittering gems” (2. Ant.). “The Lord has clothed me with a robe of gold, He has adorned me with priceless jewels” (4. Ant.). “Honey and milk have I received from His mouth, and His blood has reddened my cheeks” (5. Ant.). “I love Christ, into whose chamber I shall enter, whose Mother is a virgin, whose Father knows not woman, whose music and melody are sweet to my ears. When I love Him, I remain chaste; when I touch Him, I remain pure; when I possess Him, I remain a virgin” (2.

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Resp.). “I am betrothed to Him whom the angels serve, whose beauty the sun and moon admire” (9. Ant.). “For Him alone I keep my troth, to Him I surrender with all my heart” (6. Ant.). Incensed by her rebuff, Symphronius denounced Agnes to his father, the city prefect. When he threatened her with commitment to a house of ill fame, Agnes replied: “At my side I have a protector of my body, an angel of the Lord” (2. Ant., Lauds). “When Agnes entered the house of shame, she found an angel of the Lord ready to protect her” (1. Ant., Lauds). A light enveloped her and blinded all who tried to approach. Then another judge condemned her to the stake because the pagan priests accused her of sorcery. Surrounded by flames she prayed with outstretched arms: “I beseech You, Father almighty, most worthy of awe and adoration. Through Your most holy Son I escaped the threats of the impious tyrant and passed through Satan’s filth with feet unsullied. Behold, I now come to You, whom I have loved, whom I have sought, whom I have always desired.” She gave thanks as follows: “O You, the almighty One, who must be adored, worshipped, feared - I praise You because through Your only begotten Son I have escaped the threats of wicked men and have walked through the filth of sin with feet unsullied. I extol You with my lips, and I desire You with all my heart and strength.” After the flames died out, she continued: “I praise You, Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, because by Your Son the fire around me was extinguished” (4. Ant., Lauds). And now she longed for union with Christ: “Behold, what I yearned for, I already see; what I hoped for, I already hold in embrace; with Him I am united in heaven whom on earth I loved with all my heart” (Ben. Ant.). Her wish was granted; the judge ordered her beheaded. —The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Affianced couples; betrothed couples; bodily purity; chastity; Children of Mary; Colegio Capranica of Rome; crops; engaged couples; gardeners; Girl Scouts; girls; rape victims; diocese of Rockville Centre, New York; virgins.

Symbols: Lamb; woman with long hair and a lamb, sometimes with a sword at her throat; woman with a dove which holds a ring in its beak; woman with a lamb at her side.

Things to Do:

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Read St. Ambrose’s De Virginibus about the martyrdom of St. Agnes. “It is the birthday of a martyr, let us offer the victim. It is the birthday of St. Agnes, let men admire, let children take courage, let the married be astounded, let the unmarried take an example.”

Our Lady of High Grace The Dominican Republic, where the evangelization of the New World began, is under the protection of the Virgin under two titles: Our Lady of Mercy, the principal patroness who was so proclaimed in 1616 during the Spanish colonial rule, and the Virgin of Altagracia, Protector and Queen of the hearts of the Dominicans. “Tatica from Higuey,” as the natives of Quisqueya fondly refer to her, has her story and legend. There are historic documents that prove that in 1502, in the island of Santo Domingo, the Most Blessed Virgin was honored under the title of our Lady of la Altagracia, whose portrait had been brought from Spain by Alfonso and Antonio Trejo, brothers who were among the first European settlers of the island. When the brothers moved to the city of Higuey, they took the image with them. Later they offered it to the parish church so that everyone could venerate it. The first shrine was completed in 1572, and in 1971 the present Basilica was consecrated. Popular piety has it that the devout daughter of a rich merchant had asked him to bring her a portrait of Our Lady of Altagracia from Santo Domingo. The father tried to get it for her, but with no success. Neither clergymen nor tradesmen had ever heard that Marian title. Back at Higuey, the merchant decided to stay overnight at a friend’s house. After dinner, feeling sorry for his daughter’s disappointment when he should arrive empty-handed, he described to those present his unsuccessful search. As he spoke, an old man with a long beard, who was passing by, took out of his knapsack a rolled up painting and gave it to the merchant saying, “This is what you are looking for.” It was the Virgin of Altagracia. At day break the old man had disappeared. The portrait of Our Lady of Altagracia is thirty-three centimeters wide by forty-five

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 68 high. Expert opinion has it that it is a primitive work of the Spanish school, painted towards the end of the fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century. The painting, which depicts a Nativity scene, was restored successfully in Spain in 1978, and its original beauty and color can now be appreciated. The rigor of time, candles’ smoke and rubbing by the hands of the devotees had so altered the surface of the portrait that it had become nearly unrecognizable. The scene of Jesus’ birth is painted on a fine cloth. The Virgin, lovely and serene, occupies the center of the picture; she is looking with tenderness at the child who lies nearly naked on the straw of the manger. A blue cloak sprinkled with stars envelops her and a white scapular closes her garments in front. Maria of Altagracia wears the colors of the Dominican flag; anticipating in this manner the national identity. A radiant crown and twelve stars frame her head which now has a crown on it. The frame which holds the painting is probably the most refined example of Dominican gold work. This marvel made of gold, precious stones and enamel, is the work of an unknown eighteenth-century artist. Possibly he used the jewels that the Virgin’s devotees gratefully offered her. The image of Our Lady of Altagracia had the privilege of being crowned twice: on August 15, 1922 - during the pontificate of Pius XI - and by Pope John Paul II, who on January 25, 1979, during his visit to Santo Domingo, personally crowned the image with a golden silver tiara, his personal gift to the Virgin, the first evangelizer of the Americas. Source: University of Dayton, http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/engthree.html

Daily Readings for: January 21, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, who choose what is weak in the world to confound the strong, mercifully grant, that we, who celebrate the heavenly birthday of your Martyr Saint Agnes, may follow her constancy in the faith. 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.

RECIPES

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Lamb Cake

ACTIVITIES

Celebration for the Feast of St. Agnes Customs on the Feast of St. Agnes

PRAYERS

Prayer to St. Agnes Hymn to St. Agnes Novena for Church Unity Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity

LIBRARY

Divini Amoris Scientia (Apostolic Letter Proclaiming St. Therese of Lisieux a Doctor of the Church) | Pope Saint John Paul II The Role of the Woman in the Life of the Church | Fides Dossier

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Ordinary Time: January 22nd

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children Old Calendar: Saints Vincent and Anastasius, martyrs

January 22 is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and the day established by the Church of penance for abortion, has been formally named as the “Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children.” On this day (or January 23rd when January 22nd falls on a Sunday) your parish, school or religious formation program may celebrate the Mass for Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life. This Mass, found in our newly-translated Missal, may now be used on occasions to celebrate the dignity of human life. The relevant change reads: “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.” In addition to this special Mass on this day, perhaps your parish, school or religious formation program could encourage traditional forms of penance, host pro-life and chastity speakers, lead informative projects that will directly build up the culture of life, show a pro-life film, raise funds for local crisis pregnancy centers or offer additional prayer services. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Sts. Vincent and Anastasius. During the early years of the fourth century, Vincent, a young deacon, was inhumanly tortured by Dacian, Roman governor of Valencia in Spain. Vincent rejoiced in his sufferings until he drew his last breath. More than three hundred years later, Anastasius the Persian, a convert from the priestly caste of Magi, endured a similar martyrdom in distant Assyria. Through all the

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Christian sacrifices to that of Calvary for the salvation of every man born into the world.

The Love of Life Love is not merely a feeling, but is rather the desire for the best possible good for those whom we love. Through our natural intelligence and through Divine Revelation we become aware of the value of this most basic of all gifts which is life. Mere reason leads us to comprehend that it is better to be alive than never have had been in existence. The knowledge of the value of life that comes through revelation leads us to understand better this gift and to appreciate it: as a result, we worship and love more and more the Giver of this gift. This love is what moves us to protect the life of the unborn or any who might be unjustly treated. We are also led to protect women that might feel tempted or forced to commit abortion, as we know the devastating consequences that abortion will have in their lives. Last but not least we have to love, even if most of them seem to be utterly unlovable, the many perpetrators of abortion: medical personnel, and pro-abortion activists and politicians. We have to do everything that we can to convince them of their errors so that they repent and change their ways, both for their own benefit and for the benefit of society. All human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. Using a traditional scholastic term, we can state that He is the exemplary cause of every human being, in other words, He is the model on which all human beings are created. He looked upon himself and wished that other beings would share in His own happiness. So if we reflect upon ourselves, we can begin to understand our participation in the greatness of our Creator. This participation on His greatness leads us to comprehend that He has brought us out of nothing with a purpose, because knowing His intelligence and His loving nature it is clear that all His actions are always guided by a magnificent purpose. The first intention for which He has created us is that we should enjoy for an eternity His loving company in Heaven. All human persons are called to this eternal and loving company, no one is excluded, save those who, through their own actions, exclude themselves. This manner of creation brings us to understand the unique essential dignity of every human being. A dignity that is not lost for any deprivation of the many external perfections that we might expect to find in a human person. A person might be born with a disability, or may suffer disability through injury or disease, but these deprivations do not affect his basic dignity. A Christian also has the hope that one day when the doors of Paradise will be opened for those children, all their human imperfections will be healed

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Paradise will be opened for those children, all their human imperfections will be healed and they will enjoy forever the beatific vision that we all long for. We are also created to be collaborators in the salvation of the World. The Lord normally does not intervene directly in the world; He does it through our free collaboration in his plans of salvation. He gives to us the saving truths through Holy Scripture, our natural reason and the mediation of the Church and we have to manifest them in our daily lives. If we love those truths we should be impelled to share them with all whom the Lord places in front of us. So when we speak with love and conviction of those truths we cannot be accused of carrying out an exaggerated rhetoric when we defend human life from its biological beginning until natural death. Nobody in his right mind can call it “vitriolic rhetoric” when we denounce that millions upon millions of unborn babies have been killed in the womb in the U.S. and in the rest of the world. It is literally a question of life and death, for the victim, for the mother of the baby and for the perpetrator of abortion, assisted suicide or euthanasia. The victim will have his earthly life terminated; the mother will suffer greatly for her actions, and the perpetrator and the mother will live under the shadow of the unhappiness of having rejected the loving truths of their Creator and certainly they will place their eternal salvation in jeopardy. Our main solidarity has to be always with the victim of the crime, because if the conscience of the nation is not moved by this growing injustice, we know that a growing number will be victimized in the future. Our solidarity is also with the mothers of those babies because often they have been misled or forced into committing this terrible action. Last but not least we wish and pray that all abortionists will understand the terrible consequences of their actions and be converted.

Excerpted from Spirit & Life, Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula, Interim President, Human Life International

St. Anastasius The Martyrology relates: At Bethsaloen in Assyria, St. Anastasius, a Persian monk, who after suffering much at Caesarea in Palestine from imprisonment, stripes, and fetters, had to bear many afflictions from Chosroes, king of Persia, who caused him to be beheaded. He had sent before him to martyrdom seventy of his companions, who were drowned in a river. His head was brought to Rome, at Aquæ Salviæ, together

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 73 with his revered image, by the sight of which demons are expelled, and diseases cured, as is attested by the Acts of the second Council of Nicea. The saint was venerated highly in Rome.Things to Do:

Read more about St. Anastasius at St. Anastasios the Persian and about St. Anastasius and St. Vincent here

Daily Readings for: January 22, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: God our Creator, we give thanks to you, who alone have the power to impart the breath of life as you form each of us in our mother’s womb; grant, we pray, that we, whom you have made stewards of creation, may remain faithful to this sacred trust and constant in safeguarding the dignity of every human life. 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.

RECIPES

Pollo Chilindrón

ACTIVITIES

A Day of Penance and Prayer

PRAYERS

Novena for Church Unity Prayer to End Abortion Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity

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LIBRARY

The Catholic Duty to Be Pro-life | Austin B. Vaughan

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Ordinary Time: January 23rd

Saturday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorials of St. Vincent of Saragossa, deacon & martyr; St. Marianne Cope Old Calendar: St. Raymund of Penafort, confessor; St. Emerentiana, virgin and martyr; St. John the Almoner (hist)

St. Vincent of Saragossa, one of the greatest deacons of the Church, suffered martyrdom in Valencia in the persecution under Diocletian. He was born in Huesca, Spain. 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. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite today is the feast of St. Raymond of Penafort which is now celebrated on January 7 on the General Roman Calendar. It is also the commemoration of St. Emerentiana whose veneration is connected with that of St. Agnes. She was venerated at Rome not far from the Basilica of St. Agnes-Outside-the-Walls on the via Nomentana. The acts of St. Agnes make Emerentiana her foster sister; according to this source, while still a catechumen she was stoned at the tomb of the youthful martyr where she had gone to pray.

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St. Vincent of Saragossa Vincent of Saragossa was one of the Church’s three most illustrious deacons, the other two being Stephen and Lawrence. He is also Spain’s most renowned martyr. Ordained deacon by Bishop Valerius of Saragossa, he was taken in chains to Valencia during the Diocletian persecution and put to death. From legend we have the following details of his martyrdom. After brutal scourging in the presence of many witnesses, he was stretched on the rack; but neither torture nor blandishments nor threats could undermine the strength and courage of his faith. Next, he was cast on a heated grating, lacerated with iron hooks, and seared with hot metal plates. Then he was returned to prison, where the floor was heavily strewn with pieces of broken glass. A heavenly brightness flooded the entire dungeon, filling all who saw it with greatest awe. After this he was placed on a soft bed in the hope that lenient treatment would induce apostasy, since torture had proven ineffective. But strengthened by faith in Christ Jesus and the hope of everlasting life, Vincent maintained an invincible spirit and overcame all efforts, whether by fire, sword, rack, or torture to induce defection. He persevered to the end and gained the heavenly crown of martyrdom. — The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Portugal; vine dressers; vinegar makers; vintners; wine growers; wine makers.

Symbols: Deacon holding a ewer; deacon holding several ewers and a book; deacon with a raven; deceased deacon whose body is being defended by ravens; deacon being torn by hooks; deacon holding a millstone.

Things to Do:

Read this account of St. Vincent’s martyrdom. Pray to St. Vincent for those ordained deacons in the Church, especially those in your own parish. Read Acts of the Apostles 6:1-7 to discover the role of deacons in the early

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Read Acts of the Apostles 6:1-7 to discover the role of deacons in the early Church. Cook a Spanish dish in honor of St. Vincent.

St. Marianne Cope St. Marianne Cope was born in western Germany in 1838. She entered religious life in Syracuse, N.Y. in 1862. She served as a teacher and principal in several schools in the state and established two of the first hospitals in the central New York area: St. Elizabeth Hospital in Utica and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse. In 1883, Mother Marianne’s community was the only one of fifty to respond positively to an emissary from Hawaii who requested Catholic sisters to provide health care on the Hawaiian Islands, especially to those with leprosy. Over the next five years, St. Marianne set up a system of long-term education and care for her patients. She ministered to patients at Kalaupapa on the island of Molokai. Her time of service overlapped with the last years of St. Damien of Molokai, a priest who served victims of Hansen’s disease and himself died of leprosy. St. Marianne promised her sisters that none of them would ever contract the disease. To this day, no sister has. Her care earned her the affectionate title “beloved mother of the outcasts.” She died in 1918 and was beatified on May 14, 2005 and canonized on October 21, 2012, both by Pope Benedict XVI. “At a time when little could be done for those suffering from this terrible disease, Marianne Cope showed the highest love, courage and enthusiasm,” Pope Benedict XVI said in his homily during the Mass for her canonization. “She is a shining and energetic example of the best of the tradition of Catholic nursing sisters and of the spirit of her beloved Saint Francis.”

Excerpted from Catholic News Agency

Things to Do:

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Things to Do:

For more information on St. Marianne Cope visit Hawaii Magazine and the Vatican Watch this YouTube video about St. Marianne Cope

St. Emerentiana St. Emerentiana was a Roman virgin, the foster sister of St. Agnes who died at Rome in the third century. Already as a catechumen she was conspicuous for her faith and love of Christ. One day she boldly upbraided the idolaters for their violent attacks on the Christians. The enraged mob retaliated by pelting her with stones. She died in the Lord praying at the tomb of St. Agnes, baptized in her own blood. A church was built over her grave which, according to the Itineraries, was near the church erected over the place of burial of St. Agnes, and somewhat farther from the city wall. In reality Emerentiana was interred in the coemeterium majus located in this vicinity not far from the coemeterium Agnetis.

Patron: Those who suffer from digestive disorders.

Symbols: Young girl with stones in her lap, usually holding a palm or lily.

St. John the Almoner St. John was married, but when his wife and two children died he considered it a call from God to lead a perfect life. He began to give away all he possessed in alms, and became known throughout the East as the Almoner. He was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria; but before he would take possession of his see he told his servants to go over the town and bring him a list of

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 79 his lords-meaning the poor. They brought word that there were seventy-five hundred of them, and these he undertook to feed every day. On Wednesday and Friday in every week he sat on a bench before the church, to hear the complaints of the needy and aggrieved; nor would he permit his servants to taste food until their wrongs were redressed. The fear of death was ever before him, and he never spoke an idle word. He turned those out of church whom he saw talking, and forbade all detractors to enter his house. He left seventy churches in Alexandria, where he had found but seven. A merchant received from St. John five pounds weight of gold to buy merchandise. Having suffered shipwreck and lost all, he had again recourse to John, who said, “Some of your merchandise was ill-gotten,” and gave him ten pounds more; but the next voyage he lost ship as well as goods. John then said, “The ship was wrongfully acquired. Take fifteen pounds of gold, buy corn with it, and put it on one of my ships.” This time the merchant was carried by the winds without his own knowledge to England, where there was a famine; and he sold the corn for its weight in tin, and on his return he found the tin changed to finest silver. St. John died in Cyprus, his native place, about the year 620. Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]

Things to Do:

See Saint John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria and The Life of St John the Almsgiver by Leontius

Daily Readings for: January 23, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, who govern all things, both in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the pleading of your people and bestow your peace on our times. 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.

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Almighty ever-living God, mercifully pour out your Spirit upon us, so that our hearts may possess the strong love by which the Martyr Saint Vincent triumphed over all bodily torments. 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.

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.

RECIPES

Soft Molasses Cookies

ACTIVITIES

Practical Suggestions for Christian Living (Anointing of the Sick)

PRAYERS

Novena for Church Unity Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity

LIBRARY

None

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Ordinary Time: January 24th

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: Third Sunday after Epiphany

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they abandoned their nets and followed him (Mark 1:16-19). The feast of St. Francis de Sales, which is ordinarily celebrated today, is superseded by the Sunday liturgy.

The first reading is taken from the Book of the Prophet Jonah 3:1-5, 10 and tells the story of Jonah’s call from God to go to a pagan city and preach repentance to the sinful people there. The second reading is from the first Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. St. Paul admonishes his converts to do what our Lord himself advised his follower—always to be ready for the judgment. The Gospel is from Mark 1:14-20. Jesus came to announce to all men the good news of God’s eternal plan for them. He spent his public life convincing the Jews of Palestine of the truth of this message, and he died on the cross because he claimed to be that he was God’s divine Son, who had come in human nature to raise all men to the standing and status of adopted sons of God. That very death, cruel and unjust though it was, was part of the divine plan. He conquered death and was raised from the grave to prove that we too, if we accept his divine gospel and live by it, will be raised from the dead and reign with Christ in the kingdom of his Father forever. Christ preached this doctrine in Palestine. It is the doctrine for which he gave his human life and which he gave to his Apostles to hand down to all future generations. This is the self-same doctrine preached by Christ’s Church to all men today. It is the good news of God’s mercy and love toward us weak, mortal creatures. To some it seems too good to be true; it would indeed be so if God were a limited, finite being like us, but he is Being itself. He is without limit, his

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 82 goodness and love are limitless as is his nature. What God can see in creatures has ever been a puzzle to thinking man. One of the psalm-writers said centuries ago: “What is man that you should spare a thought for him, the son of man that you should care for him” (Ps. 8 :4)? Many a saint too, has repeated this remark ever since. We cannot hope to fathom the mind of God, nor do we need to. He has gone to such a length as the humiliation of his divine Son in the incarnation in order to give us a new standing in relation to himself and a new mode of eternal living after death. We are still God’s creatures, “the work of his hands,” but through accepting Christ and his gospel—his message of divine truth—we are no longer mere mortals. We shall die, but death is the beginning of the true life which God has arranged for us. It is no wonder that St. Paul could cry out: “O death where is your victory, O death, where is your sting?” We Christians should be the happiest people on earth. We know why we are here, we know where we are going and we know how to get there. There are trials and troubles which beset us on our journey; there are rough parts of the road and weaknesses in our human nature which often lead us off the right road, but we are not left to our own human resources. We have help from above to strengthen and comfort us on our journey. We have divine aids in the Church which Christ set us and we have the guarantee of our Good Shepherd that he will keep us in his fold or bring us back should we foolishly wander from it (Jn. 10: 14; Lk. 1.5:4-7). We Christians can indeed be the happiest people on earth, if we live according to the divine good news revealed to us through Christ. “Repent and believe in the gospel,” Christ told the people of Galilee. The same call goes out from our loving Savior to each of us today: repent—change your outlook on life— and see it as God sees it to be for us, a short journey toward heaven. If we really believe in the gospel of Christ, the revelation of God’s plan for our eternal happiness, our earthly troubles will look small, our trials and temptations will appear to us as they really are—a means of earning the eternal victory. Christ, the innocent victim for our salvation, has gone before us, carrying his heavy cross; can we refuse to carry the relatively lighter cross which he places on our shoulders as our means of making atonement for our own failings and for those of our fellowmen? God forbid that we should! If we have failed in the past, let us repent today and show our belief in the truth of the Christian gospel, by living as true Christians who are on their way to heaven.

— Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O’Sullivan, O.F.M.

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Commentary for the Readings in the Extraordinary Form: Third Sunday after Epiphany “Only say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Gospel). By a twofold display of His mercy Jesus first confirmed His Divinity before the Jewish priests when He cleansed the despised leper (picture in background), then before the Gentiles by curing the centurion’s paralyzed servant. We, too, publicly profess faith in His Divinity by our mercy in taking “the words of grace” to leprous, paralyzed sinners (Communion Verse). What kind of mercy? St. Paul outlines certain practices in the Epistle: refrain from rendering “evil for evil;” “provide good things” to “all men;” peace to our enemy, leaving “vengeance” to God Who know how to “repay.”

— Excerpted from My Sunday Missal, Confraternity of the Precious Blood

Daily Readings for: January 24, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. 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.

RECIPES

Fall or Winter Sunday Dinner Menu

ACTIVITIES

Teaching About the Mass

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PRAYERS

Ordinary Time, Pre-Lent: Table Blessing 1 Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Ordinary Time (1st Plan) Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Ordinary Time (2nd Plan)

LIBRARY

None

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Ordinary Time: January 25th

Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle Old Calendar: Conversion of St. Paul

St. Paul, named Saul at his circumcision, a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, was born at Tarsus, the capitol of Cilicia. He was a Roman citizen. He was brought up as a strict Jew, and later became a violent persecutor of the Christians. While on his way to Damascus to make new arrests of Christians, he was suddenly converted by a miraculous apparition of Our Lord. From a fierce persecutor he became the great Apostle of the Gentiles. He made three missionary journeys which brought him to the great centers of Asia Minor and southern Europe, and made many converts. Fourteen of his Epistles are found in the New Testament. He was beheaded in Rome around 66 A.D., and his relics are in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls near the Ostian Way.

St. Paul St. Paul was born at Tarsus, Cilicia, of Jewish parents who were descended from the tribe of Benjamin. He was a Roman citizen from birth. As he was “a young man” at the stoning of Stephen and “an old man” when writing to Philemon, about the year 63, he was probably born around the beginning of the Christian era. To complete his schooling, St. Paul was sent to Jerusalem, where he sat at the feet of the learned Gamaliel and was educated in the strict observance of the ancestral Law. Here he also acquired a good knowledge of exegesis and was trained in the practice of disputation. As a convinced and zealous Pharisee, he returned to Tarsus before the public life of Christ opened in Palestine.

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 86 of Christ opened in Palestine. Some time after the death of Our Lord, St. Paul returned to Palestine. His profound conviction made his zeal develop to a religious fanaticism against the infant Church. He took part in the stoning of the first martyr, St. Stephen, and in the fierce persecution of the Christians that followed. Entrusted with a formal mission from the high priest, he departed for Damascus to arrest the Christians there and bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was nearing Damascus, about noon, a light from heaven suddenly blazed round him. Jesus with His glorified body appeared to him and addressed him, turning him away from his apparently successful career. An immediate transformation was wrought in the soul of St. Paul. He was suddenly converted to the Christian Faith. He was baptized, changed his name from Saul to Paul, and began travelling and preaching the Faith. He was martyred as an Apostle in Rome around 65 AD.

— Excerpted from Lives of the Saints

Patron: Against snakes; authors; Cursillo movement; evangelists; hailstorms; hospital public relations; journalists; lay people; missionary bishops; musicians; poisonous snakes; public relations personnel; public relations work; publishers; reporters; rope braiders; rope makers; saddlemakers; saddlers; snake bites; tent makers; writers; Malta; Rome; Poznan, Poland; newspaper editorial staff Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Diocese of Covington, Kentucky; Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama; Diocese of Las Vegas, Nevada; Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island; Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts.

Symbols: Book and sword; three fountains; two swords; scourge; serpent and a fire; armour of God; twelve scrolls with names of his Epistles; phoenix; palm tree; shield of faith; sword; book.

Often portrayed as: Thin-faced elderly man with a high forehead, receding hairline and long pointed beard; man holding a sword and a book; man with 3 springs of water nearby.

Things to do:

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Things to do:

Visit this section on Catholic Culture prepared for the Year of St. Paul in 2008.

Daily Readings for: January 25, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, who taught the whole world through the preaching of the blessed Apostle Paul, draw us, we pray, nearer to you through the example of him whose conversion we celebrate today, and so make us witnesses to your truth in the world. 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.

RECIPES

Insalata Di Tarocci Almond Horseshoe Cakes Apostle Cookies Crown Cake Genoise Book Cake Hobby Horse Cake Horseshoe Cookies St. Martin’s Horseshoes

ACTIVITIES

Apostle Cookies Nameday Prayers and Ideas for St. Paul the Apostle St. Paul and the Epistle Charades St. Paul’s Day, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London

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St. Paul’s Day, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London St. Paul’s Family Tree The Veneration of Saints

PRAYERS

Litany of Saint Paul the Apostle Novena for Church Unity Novena for Purification Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity Prayer to St. Paul the Apostle A Prayer to St. Paul for the Printing of Good Books The Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

LIBRARY

Life of Saint Paul before and after Damascus | Pope Benedict XVI St Paul and the Church | Pope Benedict XVI St. Paul and the Apostles | Pope Benedict XVI St. Paul Apostle to the Gentiles | Unknown St. Paul’s New Outlook | Pope Benedict XVI The Keys of Forgiveness: The Loving Power of the Successor of Peter | Sandro Magister The Life of St. Paul | Salvatore J. Ciresi Ut Unum Sint (That They May Be One) | Pope Saint John Paul II

View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-01-25

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Ordinary Time: January 26th

Memorial of Sts. Timothy and Titus, bishops Old Calendar: St. Polycarp, bishop and martyr; St. José Gabriel Brochero (new)

St. Timothy, born in Galatia in Asia Minor, was baptized and later ordained to the priesthood by St. Paul. The young Galatian became Paul’s missionary companion and his most beloved spiritual son. St. Paul showed his trust in this disciple by consecrating him bishop of the great city of Ephesus. St. Timothy was stoned to death thirty years after St. Paul’s martyrdom for having denounced the worship of the goddess Diana. In the 1962 Missal, St. Timothy’s feast is celebrated on January 24 and the feast of St. Titus is on February 6. St. Titus, a convert from paganism, was a fellow laborer of St. Paul on many apostolic missions. St. Paul later made him bishop of Crete, a difficult charge because of the character of the inhabitants and the spread of erroneous doctrines on that island. St. Paul’s writings tell us that St. Titus rejoiced to discover what was good in others and drew the hearts of men by his wide and affectionate sympathy. Today is also the feast of St. Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, a Roman Catholic Argentinian priest who suffered leprosy throughout his life. He is known for his extensive work with the poor and the sick. He became affectionately known as “the Gaucho priest” and the “cowboy priest”. Pope Francis canonized Saint Brochero in 2016. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Polycarp, which is now celebrated in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite on February 23.

St. Timothy Timothy was Paul’s dearest disciple, his most steadfast associate. He was converted during the apostle’s first missionary journey. When Paul revisited Lystra, Timothy, though still very young

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When Paul revisited Lystra, Timothy, though still very young (about twenty) joined him as a co-worker and companion. Thereafter, there existed between them a most intimate bond, as between father and son. St. Paul calls him his beloved child, devoted to him “like a son to his father” (Phil. 2:22). Of a kindly disposition, unselfish, prudent, zealous, he was a great consolation to Paul, particularly in the sufferings of his later years. He also assisted the apostle in the establishment of all the major Christian communities and was entrusted with missions of highest importance. Timothy was with Paul during his first Roman imprisonment. Paul made his self-sacrificing companion bishop of Ephesus, but the finest monument left him by his master are the two canonical Epistles bearing his name.

— Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Intestinal disorders; stomach diseases.

Symbols: Club and stones; broken image of Diana.

Things to Do:

No one understood the heart of St. Paul better than St. Timothy. His finest legacy is the two epistles he wrote to Timothy. Today would be an opportune occasion to study these epistles and to apply personally the high ideals proposed. Look up the descriptions St. Paul gives of his traveling companion, Tim: 1, Cor. 4:17, Phil. 2:19-20, Rom. 16:21, and 2 Tim. 1:4-5. Pray that the Church may be blessed with bishops, priests, and deacons, endowed with all those qualifications St. Paul requires from the dispensers of the mysteries of God. Say the following invocation frequently: “Jesus, Savior of the world, sanctify Thy priests and sacred ministers.”

St. Titus St. Titus, a pagan by birth, became one of St. Paul’s most illustrious disciples. He accompanied the apostle on several of his missionary journeys and was entrusted with important missions. Finally he came with St. Paul to the island of Crete, where he was

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Finally he came with St. Paul to the island of Crete, where he was appointed bishop. He performed this duty in accordance with the admonition given him, “… in all things show yourself an example of good works” (Tit. 2:7). Tradition tells us that he died a natural death at the age of 94, having lived in the state of virginity during his whole life. St. Paul left a worthy monument to Titus, his faithful disciple, in the beautiful pastoral letter which forms part of the New Testament. Today’s feast in his honor was introduced in 1854.

— Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Crete.

Symbols: Broken images; ruined temple of Jupiter.

Things to Do:

St. Paul left a worthy monument to Titus, his faithful disciple, in his letter. Read this letter. Even though St. Timothy and Titus were disciples, bake some apostle cookies and adapt them for this feast.

St. José Gabriel Brochero St. José Gabriel is known in Argentina as the “cowboy priest.” This gaucho, as local cattle-herders are known, served a large parish spread over miles of mountainous terrain. St. José showed bravery in his first years as a priest by ministering to victims of a cholera epidemic in the city of Cordoba, Argentina. At 29 he was assigned to St. Albert, a remote parish numbering about ten

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 92 thousand souls with neither schools nor roads. Padre José went on the back of a mule along the mountains to care for his flock, carrying a Mass kit and an image of the Blessed Mother. His flock was, in a sense, “lost,” so remote were they from the larger society. Father José said of his people that “they were abandoned by everyone, but not by God.” Early in his tenure, he desired spiritual renewal for his parish and so he led a group across mountains in a snowstorm to a retreat being held at Cordoba on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. This beginning in prayer produced much fruit in the parish. His priestly ministry drew him to the people, to “go out,” as Jesus and his apostles went out to where the people were to be found. This “going out” involved risk: the danger of terrain, long days far from home, and the unexpected. Pope Francis has especially encouraged priests and generally all Christians to get out on the roads and into the public squares as a necessary first step in evangelization, in sharing Christ. St. José Gabriel was not unknown to the public for his incarnational way of ministering. He worked alongside his people. A Cordoba newspaper wrote about this priest’s way of serving in an 1887 article:

“He practices the gospel. Are you missing a carpenter? He’s a carpenter. Are you missing a laborer? He’s a laborer. He rolls up his cassock wherever he is, takes the shovel or hoe and opens a public road in 15 days aided by his parishioners.”

In these tasks St. José found a space of communion in labor with his parishioners and a solid imitation of his patron, St. Joseph. He worked to build roads, schools, and to get mail and telegraph couriers for the good of the people. In his letter to those gathered for the beatification ceremony, Pope Francis said: “This shepherd who smelled of sheep became poor among the poor.” St. José Gabriel was born in 1840, the same year of birth as St. Damien of Molokai. Like Damien, José Gabriel served those who were considered untouchable, the lepers, and like Damien he died a leper. He continued to pray and offer Mass although ill and blind. His “going out” was a complete emptying of self. Pope Francis wrote: “Brochero did not stay in the parish offices: he would exhaust himself riding his mule and he ended up being sick with leprosy.” St. José Gabriel died January 26, 1914. The beatification ceremony at Cordoba was attended by close to 150,000 people, including three thousand gauchos wearing the traditional ponchos of the Argentine cowboy. This priest was a lone ranger when he had to be and, like his Divine Master, was brave, courageous, and bold.

Excerpted from Dominican Friars | Province of St. Joseph

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Excerpted from Dominican Friars | Province of St. Joseph

Things to Do:

Read more about St. Jose Brochero here, here and at Zenit.

Daily Readings for: January 26, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, who adorned Saints Timothy and Titus with apostolic virtues, grant through the intercession of them both, that, living justly and devoutly in this present age, we may merit to reach our heavenly homeland. 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.

RECIPES

Apostle Cookies

ACTIVITIES

Apostle Cookies Namedays What is a Nameday?

PRAYERS

Prayer for Priests Prayer for a Priest A Prayer for Priests and Bishops Novena for Purification

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LIBRARY

Timothy and Titus | Pope Benedict XVI

View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-01-26

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Ordinary Time: January 27th

Wednesday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorial of St. Angela Merici, virgin Old Calendar: St. John Chrysostom, bishop, confessor and doctor; St. Angela Merici

St. Angela was born in northern Italy. In 1516, she founded the Order of Ursulines, the first teaching order for women approved by the Church. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. John Chrysostom (September 13 in the Ordinary Form). St. Angela Merici’s feast is celebrated on June 1, except in the convents of her order where it is also celebrated today.

St. Angela Merici The saint was born in 1474 in the diocese of Verona. Early in life she dedicated herself to Christ as His bride. After the death of her parents, she desired to live solely for God in quiet and solitude, but her uncle insisted that she manage his household. She renounced her patrimony in order to observe most perfectly the rule for Franciscan Tertiaries. During a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1524, she lost her eyesight temporarily. Pope Clement VII, whom she visited in Rome, desired her to remain in the Holy

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City. Later she founded a society for girls, under the protection of St. Ursula; this was the beginning of the Ursuline Order. St. Angela was almost seventy when she died; her body remained incorrupt for thirty days. Remarkable phenomena occurred at her burial in the Church of St. Afra.

— Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Bodily ills; disabled people; handicapped people; illness; loss of parents; physically challenged people; sick people; sickness.

Symbols: Cloak; ladder.

Things to Do:

Read more about the life of St. Angela and her travels to the Holy Land. St. Angela formed the Company of St. Ursula, a secular institute. Read more about secular institutes and their role in the Church. Read Jeff Mirus’ review Stages on the Road by Sigrid Undset. The book includes an essay on St. Angela Merici.

Daily Readings for: January 27, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. 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.

May the Virgin Saint Angela never fail to commend us to your compassion, O Lord, we pray, that, following the lessons of her charity and prudence, and express

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it in what we do. 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.

RECIPES

Pasticcio di Polenta Genoise Book Cake Overnight Basic Italian Polenta Risi e Bisi Rose Petal Coconut Cake Rose Petal Pound Cake Salmon Primavera with Lemon Butter Sauce

ACTIVITIES

Nameday Celebration Prayers and Ideas for St. Angela Merici Practical Suggestions for Christian Living (Holy Orders)

PRAYERS

Litany of St. Angela Merici Novena for Purification

LIBRARY

None

View this item on CatholicCulture.org:

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Ordinary Time: January 28th

Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor Old Calendar: St. Peter Nolasco, confessor

St. Thomas Aquinas is the Dominican order’s greatest glory. He taught philosophy and theology with such genius that he is considered one of the leading Christian thinkers. His innocence, on a par with his genius, earned for him the title of “Angelic Doctor.” St. Thomas’ feast is celebrated on March 7 in the 1962 Missal. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Peter Nolasco, who was born in southern France. After the death of his wealthy parents, he spent his inheritance in Barcelona to rescue Christians enslaved by the Moors. He formed a lay confraternity, which later developed into the religious order of the Mercedarians, and led his fellow workers into Moorish territory to purchase the freedom of Christian captives, and to make numerous conversions among the non-Christians. Later Peter’s Mercedarians labored among the Indians of the far-flung Spanish American Empire.

St. Thomas Aquinas St. Thomas ranks among the greatest writers and theologians of all time. His most important work, the Summa Theologiae, an explanation and summary of the entire body of Catholic teaching, has been standard for centuries, even to our own day. At the Council of Trent it was consulted after the Bible.

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To a deeply speculative mind, he joined a remarkable life of prayer, a precious memento of which has been left to us in the Office of Corpus Christi. Reputed as great already in life, he nevertheless remained modest, a perfect model of childlike simplicity and goodness. He was mild in word and kind in deed. He believed everyone was as innocent as he himself was. When someone sinned through weakness, Thomas bemoaned the sin as if it were his own. The goodness of his heart shone in his face, no one could look upon him and remain disconsolate. How he suffered with the poor and the needy was most inspiring. Whatever clothing or other items he could give away, he gladly did. He kept nothing superfluous in his efforts to alleviate the needs of others. After he died his lifelong companion and confessor testified, “I have always known him to be as innocent as a five-year-old child. Never did a carnal temptation soil his soul, never did he consent to a mortal sin.” He cherished a most tender devotion to St. Agnes, constantly carrying relics of this virgin martyr on his person. He died in 1274, at the age of fifty, in the abbey of Fossa Nuova. He is the patron saint of schools and of sacred theology.

— Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Academics; against storms; against lightning; apologists; book sellers; Catholic academies; Catholic schools; Catholic universities; chastity; colleges; learning; lightning; pencil makers; philosophers; publishers; scholars; schools; storms; students; theologians; universities; University of Vigo.

Symbols: Chalice; monstrance; ox; star; sun; teacher with pagan philosophers at his feet; teaching.

Things to do:

Read G.K. Chesterton’s biography, St. Thomas Aquinas, The Dumb Ox, which is full of Chestertonian profundity and wit online or purchase it from Amazon. Dive into the intellectual depth and beauty of St. Thomas’ thought in his Summa Theologiae. Familiarize yourself with his method of inquiry by reading his section on God’s attributes, especially the goodness of God. Here is a Bibliography in English.

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Nearly everyone, especially young people, knows and appreciates the story of St. Thomas chasing the prostitute from his room with a burning log. (She was sent by his wealthy family to tempt him away from the religious life.) After he drove away the temptress, two angels came to him and fastened a mystical chastity cord around his waist. Buy or fashion your own chastity belt, easy to make from braided yarn or thin, soft rope. (St. Joseph chastity belts are available at some Catholic shops.) This would be a beautiful alternative or addition to the “True Love Waits” chastity pledge and ring. It is a wonderful low-key symbol for self-conscious teens. It also serves as an excellent reminder to pray daily for the virtue of chastity. Meditate upon the profound humility of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose intellectual capacity far surpasses any since his time. He stopped writing at the end of his life after having a vision of the glory of God, claiming that ‘All that I have written seems to me like straw compared to what has now been revealed to me.’ How often do we take pride in our own intellectual achievements, fully crediting them to ourselves? If you are a student or teacher, or at all concerned about the crisis of Catholic education, make ample use of the Prayer to St. Thomas Aquinas for Schools and the Prayer to the Angel of Schools. Read Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical, Aeterni Patris, strangely relevant to our time in its exhortation towards a renewal in philosophical study with a focus on the Angelic Doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas. Finally, read Pope John Paul II’s encyclical, Fides et Ratio, especially the section on The enduring originality of the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. He expresses a similar intent to that of Pope Leo XIII’s in the following words, “If it has been necessary from time to time to intervene on this question, to reiterate the value of the Angelic Doctor’s insights and insist on the study of his thought, this has been because the Magisterium’s directives have not always been followed with the readiness one would wish.” From the Catholic Culture library: Light from Aquinas , The Meaning of Virtue in St. Thomas Aquinas and The Philosophy of Woman of St. Thomas Aquinas. For many more documents search the library for “aquinas”.

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St. Peter Nolasco One night while Peter Nolasco was praying, the Blessed Virgin appeared (1228) and told him how greatly pleased she and her divine Son would be if a religious order were established in her honor for the express purpose of delivering Christians held in bondage by the infidels. In compliance with her wish, Peter, together with St. Raymond of Penafort and James I, King of Aragon, founded the Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the ransom of captives. Besides the usual vows, all members were required to take a fourth, one by which they bound themselves to become captives of the pagans, if necessary, to effect the emancipation of Christians. On one occasion Peter Nolasco ransomed 400 at Valencia and Granada; twice he traveled to Africa as “the Ransomer,” not without peril to his own life; and records show that through his personal efforts a total of 890 Christians regained their liberty. He died with these words from Psalm 110 on his lips: The Lord has sent redemption to His people.

Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Things to Do:

To find out more about the history of the Mercedarian Order read this account.

Daily Readings for: January 28, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, who made Saint Thomas Aquinas outstanding in his zeal for holiness and his study of sacred doctrine, grant us, we pray, that we may understand what he taught and imitate what he accomplished. 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.

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RECIPES

Cappelletti all’uso di Romagna (Soup with Little Hats) Mostarda di Cremona (Fruited Mustard) Pasticcio di Polenta Risotto alla Milanese Brodo Apostolorum Crown Cake Genoise Book Cake German Cinnamon Stars Lamb Cake Little Hats Cappelletti Nameday Sugar Cookies Overnight Basic Italian Panettone Polenta Ship Cake Star-Studded Chiffon Pie Symbolic Pastries Vegetable Soup with Rice

ACTIVITIES

Eucharist Hymn: Adoro Te Devote - Hidden God Eucharist Hymn: Pange Lingua Eucharist Hymn: Sacris Solemniis - At This Our Solemn Feast Eucharist Hymn: Tantum Ergo - Down in Adoration Falling Eucharist Hymn: Verbum Supernum - The Word of God

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Nameday Celebration Prayers and Ideas for Saint Thomas Practical Suggestions for Christian Living (Matrimony)

PRAYERS

Prayer to St. Thomas Aquinas for Schools Prayer to the Angel of Schools Litany of St. Thomas Aquinas Novena for Purification

LIBRARY

Saint Thomas Aquinas (2) | Pope Benedict XVI Saint Thomas Aquinas (3) | Pope Benedict XVI Saint Thomas Aquinas | Pope Benedict XVI Studiorum Ducem (On St. Thomas Aquinas) | Pope Pius XI The Meaning of Virtue in St. Thomas Aquinas | Fr. John A. Hardon S.J. The Philosophy of Woman of St. Thomas Aquinas | Kristin M. Popik The Teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas in Regard To the Apostles | Nicholas Halligan O.P. Thomas and the Experience of God | Fr. Inos Biffi Thomas Aquinas: a Doctor for the Ages | Romanus Cessario Thomas Aquinas: the Angelic Doctor | Sal Ciresi

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Ordinary Time: January 29th

Friday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: St. Francis De Sales, bishop, confessor and doctor; St. Gildas the Wise, abbot (Hist)

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Francis de Sales. In the Ordinary Rite his feast is celebrated on January 24. Historically today is the feast of St. Gildas the Wise, Scottish bishop and author and sometimes listed as Badonicus. He was born in the Clyde River area of Scotland. After becoming a disciple of St. Finnian, Gildas was a hermit for a time in Wales. He was also trained by St. Illtyd. He was famous for writing De Excidiio Britanniae, a Latin work describing moral decline in Britain.

St. Gildas the Wise He was probably born about 517, in the North of England or Wales. His father’s name was Cau (or Nau) and that he came from noble lineage. He lived in a time when the glory of Rome was faded from Britain. The permanent legions had been withdrawn by Maximus, who used them to sack Rome itself and make himself Emperor. Gildas noted for his piety was well educated, and was not afraid of publicly rebuking contemporary monarchs, at a time when libel was answered by a sword, rather than a Court order. He lived for many years as an ascetic hermit on Flatholm Island in the Bristol Channel. Here he established his reputation for that peculiar Celtic sort of holiness that consists of extreme self-denial and isolation. At around this time, according to the Welsh, he also preached to Nemata, the mother of St David, while she was pregnant with the

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 106 he also preached to Nemata, the mother of St David, while she was pregnant with the Saint. In about 547 he wrote De Excidio Britanniae (The Ruin of Britain). In this he writes a brief tale of the island from pre-Roman times and criticizes the rulers of the island for their lax morals and blames their sins (and those that follow them) for the destruction of civilization in Britain. The book was avowedly written as a moral tale. He also wrote a longer work, the Epistle. This is a series of sermons on the moral laxity of rulers and of the clergy. In these Gildas shows that he has a wide reading of the Bible and of some other classical works. Gildas was an influential preacher, visiting Ireland and doing missionary work. He was responsible for the conversion of much of the island and may be the one who introduced anchorite customs to the monks of that land. He retired from Llancarfan to Rhuys, in Brittany, where he founded a monastery. Of his work on the running of a monastery (one of the earliest known in the Christian Church), only the so-called Penitential, a guide for Abbots in setting punishment, survives. He died around 571, at Rhuys. The monastery that he had founded became the center of his cult. St. Gildas is regarded as being one of the most influential figures of the early English Church. The influence of his writing was felt until well into the Middle Ages, particularly in the Celtic Church.

Things to Do:

Read St. Gildas’s work The Ruin of Britain here.

Daily Readings for: January 29, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. 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.

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RECIPES

Glowing Menorah Cake

ACTIVITIES

Attitudes on Confession Examination of Conscience

PRAYERS

Act of Contrition Prayer Before Confession Prayer Before Confession - 2 Novena for Purification

LIBRARY

None

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Ordinary Time: January 30th

Saturday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: St. Martina, virgin and martyr; St. Bathildes (Hist)

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Martina who was a Roman virgin born of an illustrious family. Both of her parents died while she was very young. She distributed among the poor the immense wealth which she inherited and so laid up for herself unfailing treasures in heaven. With great constancy she refused to offer sacrifices to false gods. She was tortured in various inhuman ways, she was exposed to the attacks of beasts in the amphitheater, and was finally beheaded about the year 228. Today is the historical feast of St. St. Bathildes, wife of Clovis II, King of the Franks. She was Queen of the Franks and Abbess of Chelles. She died as a nun on January 30, 679 in Chelles, Seine Et Marne, France.

St. Martina She was a noble Roman virgin, who glorified God, suffering many torments and a cruel death for her faith, in the capital city of the world, in the third century. There stood a chapel consecrated to her memory in Rome, which was frequented with great devotion in the time of St. Gregory the Great. Her relics were discovered in a vault, in the ruins of her old church and translated with great pomp in the year 1634, under the Pope Urban VIII, who built a new church in her honor, and composed himself the hymns used in her office in the Roman Breviary. The city of Rome ranks her among its particular patrons. The history of the discovery of her relics was published by Honoratus of Viterbo, an Oratorian.

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— Taken from Vol. I of The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints by the Rev. Alban Butler, the 1864 edition published by D. & J. Sadlier, & Company.

Patron: Nursing mothers; Rome, Italy.

Symbols: Maiden with a lion; being beheaded by a sword; tortured by being hung on a two-pronged hook; receiving a lily and the palm of martyrdom from the Virgin and Child.

Things to Do:

Read about the Roman Church dedicated to St Luke the Evangelist and St Martina. Pray to St. Martina for the courage to destroy those idols of our affections, to which we are so prone to offer the sacrifice of our hearts. Examine your conscience and try to identify what these idols might be.

St. Bathildes St. Bathildes was an Englishwoman, who was carried over whilst yet young into France, and there sold as a slave, at a very low price, to Erkenwald, mayor of the palace under King Clovis II. When she grew up, her master was so much taken with her prudence and virtue that he placed her in charge of his household. The renown of her virtues spread through all France, and King Clovis II. took her for his royal consort. This unexpected elevation produced no alteration in a heart perfectly grounded in humility and the other virtues; she seemed to become even more humble than before. Her new station furnished her the means of being truly a mother to the poor; the king gave her the sanction of his royal authority for the protection of the Church, the care of the poor, and the furtherance of all religious undertakings. The death of her husband left her regent of the kingdom. She at once forbade the enslavement of Christians, did all in her power to promote piety and filled France with hospitals and religious houses. As soon as her son Clotaire was of an age to govern, she withdrew from the world

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As soon as her son Clotaire was of an age to govern, she withdrew from the world and entered the convent of Chelles. Here she seemed to entirely forget her worldly dignity and was to be distinguished from the rest of the community only by her extreme humility, her obedience to her spiritual superiors, and her devotion to the sick, whom she comforted and served with wonderful charity. As she neared her end, God visited her with a severe illness, which she bore with Christian patience until, on the 30th of January, 680, she yielded up her soul in devout prayer.

Excerpted from Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]

Daily Readings for: January 30, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. 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.

RECIPES

Poor Man’s Feast

ACTIVITIES

Life of St. Martina

PRAYERS

Hymn to St. Martina Novena for Purification

LIBRARY

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None

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Ordinary Time: January 31st

Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: Septuagesima Sunday

In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him (Mark 1:23-26). The feast of St. John Bosco, which is ordinarily celebrated today, is superseded by the Sunday liturgy.

Sunday Readings The first reading is taken from the Book of Deuteronomy 18:15-20. This central section of this book describes the various offices and officers of the theocratic society which Yahweh, through his servant Moses, is setting up for the Chosen People. The second reading is from the first Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 7:32-35. He devotes chapter 7 to answering questions concerning marriage and virginity. In today’s extract he emphasizes freedom to serve God fully, freedom from earthly cares which those who choose a life of celibacy have. The Gospel is from St. Mark 1:21-28. St. Mark makes it clear that, from the very first day of Christ’s public ministry, his messianic power began to be manifested to those who saw and heard him. The Jews of Capernaum were “astonished” at his teaching and “amazed” at his power over the evil spirits. “What is this,” they asked one another, “a new teaching and the unclean spirits obey him!” But they were still a long way from recognizing him for what he was, the Messiah and Son of God. This is as might be expected, the astounding mystery of the incarnation was way beyond human expectation or human imagination. And it was our Lord’s own plan to reveal this mystery, slowly

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 113 and gradually, so that when the chain of evidence had been completed by his resurrection, his followers could look back and see each link in that chain. Then they would be ready to accept without hesitation the mystery of the incarnation and realize the infinite love and power of God that brought it about. We look back today through the eyes of the Evangelists, and, like them, know that Christ was God as well as man—two natures in one person. We should not therefore be “amazed” at the teaching of Jesus or at his power over the unclean spirits. What should amaze us really is the love that God showed mankind in becoming one of our race. We are creatures with nothing of our own to boast of. We were created by God, and every talent or power we possess was given us by God. God’s benevolence could have stopped there and we would have no right to complain. But when we recall the special gifts he gave man, which raise him above all other created things, we see that he could not, because of his own infinitely benevolent nature, leave us to an earthly fate. What thinking man could be content with a short span of life on earth? What real purpose in life could an intelligent being have who knew that nothing awaited him but eternal oblivion in the grave? What fulfillment would man’s intellectual faculties find in a few years of what is for the majority of people perpetual struggle for earthly survival? No, God created us to elevate us, after our earthly sojourn, to an eternal existence where all our desires and potentialities would have their true fulfillment. Hence the incarnation, hence the life, death and resurrection of Christ, who was God’s Son, as the central turning point of man’s history. Today, while amazed at God’s love for us, let us also be justly amazed at the shabby and grudging return we make for love. Many amongst us even deny that act of God’s infinite love, not from convincing historical and logical proofs, but in order to justify their own unwillingness to co-operate with the divine plan for their eternal future. This is not to say that their future, after death, does not concern them; it is a thought which time and again intrudes on all men, but they have allowed the affairs of this world which should be stepping stones to their future life, to become instead mill-stones which crush their spirits and their own true self-interests. While we sincerely hope that we are not in that class, we can still find many facets in our daily Christian lives which can and should make us amazed at our lack of gratitude to God and to his incarnate Son. 'Leaving out serious sin which turns us away from God if not against him, how warm is our charity, our love of God and neighbor? How much of our time do we give to the things of God and how much to the things of Caesar? How often does our daily struggle for earthly existence and the grumbles and grouses which it causes, blot out from our view the eternal purpose God had in giving us

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 114 this earthly existence. How often during the past year have we said from our heart: “Thank you, God, for putting me in this world, and thank you a thousand times more, for giving me the opportunity and the means of reaching the next world where I shall live happily forevermore in your presence”? If the true answer for many of us is “not once,” then begin today. Let us say it now with all sincerity, and say it often in the years that are left to us.

— Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O’Sullivan, O.F.M.

Things to Do:

Learn more about the tradition associated with Septuagesima Sunday (Extraordinary Rite) in Catholic Culture’s library, Burying the Alleluia: Burning Strawmen, Mourning Choirboys Also see Farewell to Alleluia by Fr. Weiser, S.J. and Farewell to Alleluia by Therese Mueller.

Commentary for the Readings in the Extraordinary Form: Septuagesima Sunday “Why do you stand here all day idle? … Go you also into the vineyard” (Gospel). As athletes of Christ we are called to a competitive “race” (Epistle). As workers with Christ we are ordered into the “vineyard” (Gospel). It is a “race” with death for the “prize” of life eternal. Only “one receives the prize” by His own right, Christ! But, remember, He still runs in us if we do not lag in this “race,” as did Israel under “Moses” (Epistle). God comes to us “early” in life. Unitl the last “hour” He repeats, “Why … stand … idle?” Each “hour” brings us nearer to the “evening” of reward, not due to the excellence of our work in itself but mercifully given by God as a recompense (Gospel).

— Excerpted from My Sunday Missal, Confraternity of the Precious Blood

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Daily Readings for: January 31, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Grant us, Lord our God, that we may honor you with all our mind, and love everyone in truth of heart. 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.

RECIPES

Cool Sunday Dinner Sample Menu

ACTIVITIES

Farewell to Alleluia Farewell to Alleluia Pre-Lent, or Carnival in the Home

PRAYERS

Ordinary Time, Pre-Lent: Table Blessing 3 Ordinary Time, Pre-Lent: Table Blessing 4 Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Ordinary Time (2nd Plan)

LIBRARY

None

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Ordinary Time: February 1st

Monday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time; Feast of St. Brigid, Virgin (Ireland) (NZ, Opt. Mem.) Old Calendar: St. Ignatius, bishop and martyr;

Surnamed “the Mary of the Gael,” St. Brigid was born at Faughart, near Dundalk. She took the veil in her youth and eventually founded the nunnery of Kildare, the first to be erected on Irish soil, thus becoming the spiritual mother of all Irish nuns. Around her name there have been formed hundreds of legends, which could be fittingly described as “the Little Flowers of St. Brigid,” the keynote being mercy and pity for the poor. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is also the feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch. His feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on October 17.

St. Brigid Bridget (Brigid, Bride, Bridey) of Kildare was born around 450 into a Druid family, being the daughter of Dubhthach, court poet to King Loeghaire. At an early age, Brigid decided to become a Christian, and she eventually took vows as a nun. Together with a group of other women, she established a nunnery at Kildare. She was later joined by a community of monks led by Conlaed. Kildare had formerly been a pagan shrine where a sacred fire was kept perpetually burning.

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 118 where a sacred fire was kept perpetually burning. Rather than stamping out this pagan flame, Brigid and her nuns kept it burning as a Christian symbol. (This was in keeping with the general process whereby Druidism in Ireland gave way to Christianity with very little opposition, the Druids for the most part saying that their own beliefs were a partial and tentative insight into the nature of God, and that they recognized in Christianity what they had been looking for.) As an abbess, Brigid participated in several Irish councils, and her influence on the policies of the Church in Ireland was considerable. Many stories of her younger days deal with her generosity toward the needy.

Patron: Babies; blacksmiths; boatmen; cattle; chicken farmers; children whose parents are not married; dairymaids; dairy workers; fugitives; infants; Ireland; Leinster; mariners; midwives; milk maids; newborn babies; nuns; poets; poultry farmers; poultry raisers; printing presses; sailors; scholars; travelers; watermen.

Symbols: Abbess; usually holding a lamp or candle; often with a cow nearby.

Things to Do:

Read Amy Steedman’s biography of Saint Brigid of Ireland to gain a greater appreciation and devotion for this holy woman, who had a great tenderness for mothers and their children. Read Saint Brigit: The Mary of the Gael (Catholic Culture Library) or go to this fascinating page St. Brigit - The Giveaway where you will find some folklore and recipes. Saint Brigid always recognized Christ in the sick and the poor. Visit Christ in a nursing home or hospital today, and pray for the grace of clear vision, even when you encounter Him in a distressing disguise. Meditate on today’s beautiful reading, in 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13. Is this the kind of love you share with your family? Pray to Saint Brigid for the grace to be patient, kind, and gentle with those entrusted to your care. For more recipes and for a craft go to Brigid’s Day Foods and How to Make a Traditional St. Brigid’s Cross.

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Daily Readings for: February 01, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Grant us, Lord our God, that we may honor you with all our mind, and love everyone in truth of heart. 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.

RECIPES

Barm Brack Barmbrack Boxty Dumplings Boxty Pancakes Colcannon I Colcannon II Irish Potato Pancakes III Irish Scones Irish Soda Bread I Irish Soda Bread IV Irish Tea Barmbrack Parsley Jelly Potato Dish Potato Pancakes II Steak and Oyster Pie

ACTIVITIES

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Irish Hospitality St. Brigid of Ireland

PRAYERS

Litany of Saint Brigid of Kildare Novena for Purification

LIBRARY

Benedict XVI Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland | Pope Benedict XVI Our Lady in Old Irish Folklore and Hymns | James F. Cassidy St. Brigit: The Mary of the Gail | Hugh de Blacam

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Ordinary Time: February 2nd

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord Old Calendar: Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Lord which occurs forty days after the birth of Jesus and is also known as Candlemas day, since the blessing and procession of candles is included in today’s liturgy. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is referred to as the “Purification of Mary.” This is known as a “Christmas feast” since it points back to the Solemnity of Christmas. Many Catholics practice the tradition of keeping out the Nativity creche or other Christmas decorations until this feast. On February 2nd a quaint tradition unfolds, known well to schoolchildren and adults alike. The fate of Spring hangs in the balance as a burrowing animal looks for its shadow. But where did this tradition come from? See the link below for an that explains this tradition.

The Readings Today’s first reading gives us an important insight to understand profoundly the mystery of the Lord’s Presentation in the Temple by Mary and Joseph, in accordance with the canons of Mosaic Law. The text, taken from the Prophet Malachi says, ‘I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord who you seek’ (Mal 3:1). From all the Gospels, we know that it is the Precursor, St John the Baptist who was born 6 months before Jesus, that God sent to prepare His way. Putting these evangelical facts together, we can comprehend the words of the Prophet Malachi. The Lord God promised that He would send a Precursor to prepare His way. Since there is only 6 months between the birth of St John the Baptist and Jesus it is clear that the prophecy meant that suddenly after the Precursor, the Lord Himself will come.

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 122 that the prophecy meant that suddenly after the Precursor, the Lord Himself will come. So, soon after the Baptist’s birth, God entered His temple. Jesus’ presentation signifies God’s entrance to His temple. God made man entered His temple, presenting Himself to those who were really searching for Him. Today’s Gospel introduces us to different people and events that in themselves provide numerous lessons and themes for further reflection. First of all, Mary and Joseph respect the Mosaic Law by offering the sacrifice prescribed for the poor: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Simeon and Anna were two venerable elderly people dedicated to prayer and fasting and so their strong religious spirit rendered them able to recognize the Messiah. In this sense we can see in the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple an extension of the ‘Pro Orantibus Day’ (For those who pray) that is celebrated on the feast of the Presentation of Mary (21 November). On this day, the Church demonstrates its gratitude to all those in the community that dedicate themselves in a privileged way to prayer, to those who have a particular religious vocation to the contemplative life. In the figure of the venerable Simeon, Jesus’ presentation in the temple, also reminds us that prayer and contemplation are not just a waste of time or an obstacle to charity. On the contrary, time could not be better spent than in prayer as true Christian charity is a consequence of a solid interior life. Only those who pray and offer penance, like Simeon and Anna, are open to the breath of the Spirit. They know how to recognize the Lord in the circumstances in which He manifests Himself because they possess an ample interior vision, and they have learned how to love with the heart of the One whose very name is Charity. At the end of the Gospel Simeon’s prophecy of Mary’s sufferings is emphasized. Pope John Paul II taught that, ‘Simeon’s words seem like a second Annunciation to Mary, for they tell her of the actual historical situation in which the Son is to accomplish his mission, namely, in misunderstanding and sorrow.’ (Redemptoris Mater, n16) The archangel’s announcement was a fount of incredible joy because it pertained to Jesus’ messianic royalty and the supernatural character of His virginal conception. The announcement of the elderly in the temple instead spoke of the Lord’s work of redemption that He would complete

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 123 associating Himself through suffering to His Mother. Therefore, there is a strong Marian dimension to this feast and so in the Liturgical Calendar of the Extraordinary Form it is called the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This refers to the other aspect of the presentation that consists of the ritual purification of Jewish women after they had given birth. In Mary’s case this purification was not necessary, but it indicates the renewal of her total offering of herself to God for the accomplishment of His Divine Plan. Simeon’s prophecy also announces that Christ will be ‘a sign of contradiction’. St Cyril of Alexandria, in one of his homilies, interpreted the words ‘sign of contradiction’ like a noble cross, as St Paul wrote to the Corinthians ‘a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles’ (1 Cor 1:23) […] It is a sign of contradiction in the sense that those who loose appear as foolish while in those who recognize its power [the cross] reveals salvation and life’ (c.f PG 77, 1044-1049).

— Excerpted from Congregation for the Clergy

Presentation of the Lord The feast was first observed in the Eastern Church as “The Encounter.” In the sixth century, it began to be observed in the West: in Rome with a more penitential character and in Gaul (France) with solemn blessings and processions of candles, popularly known as “Candlemas.” The Presentation of the Lord concludes the celebration of the Nativity and with the offerings of the Virgin Mother and the prophecy of Simeon, the events now point toward Easter. "In obedience to the Old Law, the Lord Jesus, the first-born, was presented in the Temple by his Blessed Mother and his foster father. This is another ‘epiphany’ celebration insofar as the Christ Child is revealed as the Messiah through the canticle and words of Simeon and the testimony of Anna the prophetess. Christ is the light of the nations, hence the blessing and procession of candles on this day. In the Middle Ages this feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or ‘Candlemas,’ was of great importance. "The specific liturgy of this Candlemas feast, the blessing of candles, is not as widely celebrated as it should be, except of course whenever February 2 falls on a Sunday

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 124 and thus takes precedence. There are two ways of celebrating the ceremony, either the Procession, which begins at a ‘gathering place’ outside the church, or the Solemn Entrance, celebrated within the church."

— From Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year

Until 1969, the ancient feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, which is of Oriental origin, was known in the West as the feast of the Purification of Our Lady, and closed the Christmas Cycle, forty days after the Lord’s birth. This feast has for long been associated with many popular devotional exercises. The faithful:

gladly participate in the processions commemorating the Lord’s entry into the Temple in Jerusalem and His encounter with God, whose house He had come to for the first time, and then with Simeon and Anna. Such processions, which in the West had taken the place of licentious pagan events, always had a penitential character, and were later identified with the blessing of candles which were carried in procession in honor of Christ, ‘the light to enlighten the Gentiles’ (Lk 2, 32); are sensitive to the actions of the Blessed Virgin in presenting her Son in the Temple, and to her submission to the Law of Moses (Lk 12, 1-8) in the rite of purification; popular piety sees in the rite of purification the humility of Our Lady and hence, 2 February has long been regarded as a feast for those in humble service.

Popular piety is sensitive to the providential and mysterious event that is the conception and birth of new life. Christian mothers can easily identify with the maternity of Our Lady, the most pure Mother of the Head of the mystical Body — notwithstanding the notable differences in the Virgin’s unique conception and birth. These too are mothers in God’s plan and are about to give birth to future members of the Church. From this intuition and a certain mimesis of the purification of Our Lady, the rite of purification after birth was developed, some of whose elements reflect negatively on birth.

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The revised Rituale Romanum provides for the blessing of women both before and after birth, this latter only in cases where the mother could not participate at the baptism of her child. It is a highly desirable thing for mothers and married couples to ask for these blessings which should be given in accord with the Church’s prayer: in a communion of faith and charity in prayer so that pregnancy can be brought to term without difficulty (blessing before birth), and to give thanks to God for the gift of a child (blessing after birth). In some local Churches, certain elements taken from the Gospel account of the Presentation of the Lord (Lk 2, 22-40), such as the obedience of Joseph and Mary to the Law of the Lord, the poverty of the holy spouses, the virginity of Our Lady, mark out 2 February as a special feast for those at the service of the brethren in the various forms of consecrated life. The feast of 2 February still retains a popular character. It is necessary, however, that such should reflect the true Christian significance of the feast. It would not be proper for popular piety in its celebration of this feast to overlook its Christological significance and concentrate exclusively on its Marian aspects. The fact that this feast should be ‘considered […] a joint memorial of Son and Mother’ would not support such an inversion. 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.

— Excerpted from Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy

Things to Do:

Ask your parish priest to bless the candles that you will be using on your home altar this year. Have a family Candlemas procession, found in the prayer links. Read Luke 2:22-35, the account of the presentation including the Canticle of Simeon. Meditate on the constant fiat of Our Lady of Sorrows, who embraced the will of

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God even as Simeon predicted that a sword would pierce her heart. Read this article to see what the connection between Candlemas and Groundhog Day.

Daily Readings for: February 02, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, we humbly implore your majesty that, just as your Only Begotten Son was presented on this day in the Temple in the substance of our flesh, so, by your grace, we may be presented to you with minds made pure. 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.

RECIPES

Crepes for the Feast of St. Bernadette Crepes Saint-Gwenole Crepes Suzette Rosca de Reyes Strawberry Cream Crepes

ACTIVITIES

Antiphon for Candlemas Day Candlemas Ceremony Candlemas Day Celebrating the Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Family and Friends of Jesus Scrapbook Album Feasts of Mary in the Family

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Feasts of Our Lady in the Home Marian Hymn: ’Tis Said of Our Dear Lady Marian Hymn: A Single Branch Three Roses Bore Marian Hymn: Ave Maria Dear Marian Hymn: Beautiful, Glorious Marian Hymn: Hail Mary, Queen in Heav’n Enthroned Marian Hymn: Salve Regina Marian Hymn: Stella Matutina Marian Hymn: Virgin Blessed, Thou Star the Fairest Mary Garden Procession on Candlemas Reflections on the Feast of the Presentation Shadow-Box Show and Procession for Candlemas The Feasts of Light: Christmas, Epiphany and Candlemas The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary Candlemas in the Home

PRAYERS

Excerpt from the Blessing of Candles February Devotion: The Holy Family Prayer for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas) Family Candlemas Procession Nunc Dimittis - The Canticle of Simeon Table Blessing for the Feasts of the Mother of God Novena for Purification Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes Blessing of Candles and the Propers of Mass for February 2, Extraordinary Form

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Blessing of Candles and Propers of the Mass for the Feast of the Presentation, Ordinary Form Prayer for Candlemas Day (February 2)

LIBRARY

Presentation Prefigures the Cross | Pope Saint John Paul II The Purification, Commonly Called Candlemas-Day | Alban Butler The Season’s Finale | Dr. Pius Parsch

View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-02-02

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Ordinary Time: February 3rd

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorial of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr; St. Ansgar, bishop Old Calendar: St. Blaise

St. Blaise enjoyed widespread veneration in the Eastern and Western Churches due to many cures attributed to him. According to tradition, he was Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia and was martyred under Licinius. On this day the Church gives a “Blessing of the Throats” in honor of St. Blaise. From the eighth century he has been invoked on behalf of the sick, especially those afflicted with illnesses of the throat. St. Ansgar became known as the “Apostle of the North” for his great evangelical work in Denmark and Sweden. He was Bishop of Hamburg and then of Bremen. Gregory IV appointed him as his delegate to Denmark and Sweden.

St. Blaise St. Blaise was a physician and Bishop of Sebaste, Armenia. He lived in a cave on Mount Argeus and was a healer of men and animals. According to legend, sick animals would come to him on their own for help, but would never disturb him at prayer. Agricola, governor of Cappadocia, came to Sebaste to persecute Christians. His huntsmen went into the forests of Argeus to find wild animals for the arena games, and found many waiting outside Blaise’s cave. Discovered in prayer, Blaise was arrested, and Agricola tried to get him to recant his faith. While in prison, Blaise ministered to and healed

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 130 his faith. While in prison, Blaise ministered to and healed fellow prisoners, including saving a child who was choking on a fish bone; this led to the blessing of throats on Blaise’s feast day. Thrown into a lake to drown, Blaise stood on the surface and invited his persecutors to walk out and prove the power of their gods; they drowned. When he returned to land, he was martyred by being beaten, his flesh torn with wool combs (which led to his association with and patronage of those involved in the wool trade), and then beheading. Blaise has been extremely popular for centuries in both the Eastern and Western Churches and many cures were attributed to him, notably that of a child who was suffocating through a fish bone being caught in his throat. In 1222 the Council of Oxford prohibited servile labour in England on his feast. He is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. He is invoked for all throat afflictions, and on his feast two candles are blessed with a prayer that God will free from all such afflictions and every ill all those who receive this blessing.

— Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

It is customary in many places to bless the throats of the faithful with two candles tied together with a red ribbon to form a cross. The rite of the blessing of throats may take place before or after Mass. The priest or deacon places the candles around the throat of whoever seeks the blessing, using the formula: “Through the intercession of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you free from every disease of the throat, and from every other disease. In the name of the Father and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. R. Amen.”

— Excerpted from Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year

Patron: Against wild beasts; animals; builders; carvers; construction workers; coughs; Dalmatia; Dubrovnik; goiters; healthy throats; stonecutters; throat diseases;

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 131 veterinarians; whooping cough; wool-combers; wool weavers.

Symbols: 2 candles; 2 crossed candles; candle; hermit tending wild animals; iron comb; man healing a choking boy; man with two candles; wax; wool comb.

Things to Do:

Take your children to Mass to receive the blessing of throats today. Establish a home altar with the blessed candles (symbols of Saint Blaise) from the feast of the Presentation, February 2. Visit this website and learn more about St. Blaise and how he saved Dubrovnik in Croatia in the 12th century.

St. Ansgar The “apostle of the north” (Scandinavia) had enough frustrations to become a saint—and he did. He became a Benedictine at Corbie, France, where he had been educated. Three years later, when the king of Denmark became a convert, Ansgar went to that country for three years of missionary work, without noticeable success. Sweden asked for Christian missionaries, and he went there, suffering capture by pirates and other hardships on the way. Less than two years later he was recalled, to become abbot of New Corbie (Corvey) and bishop of Hamburg. The pope made him legate for the Scandinavian missions. Funds for the northern apostolate stopped with Emperor Louis’s death. After thirteen years’ work in Hamburg, Ansgar saw it burned to the ground by invading Northmen; Sweden and Denmark returned to paganism. He directed new apostolic activities in the North, traveling to Denmark and being instrumental in the conversion of another king. By the strange device of casting lots, the king of Sweden allowed the Christian missionaries to return. Ansgar’s biographers remark that he was an extraordinary preacher, a humble and ascetical priest. He was devoted to the poor and the sick, imitating the Lord in washing their feet and waiting on them at table. He died peacefully at Bremen, Germany, without achieving his wish to be a martyr.

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Sweden became pagan again after his death, and remained so until the coming of missionaries two centuries later.

— Excerpted from Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.

Patron: Denmark; Scandinavia; Sweden.

Symbols: Wearing a fur pelise; holding the Catheral of Hamburg.

Daily Readings for: February 03, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Grant us, Lord our God, that we may honor you with all our mind, and love everyone in truth of heart. 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.

Hear, O Lord, the supplications your people make under the patronage of the Martyr Saint Blaise, and grant that they may rejoice in peace in this present life, and find help for life eternal. 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.

O God, who willed to send the Bishop Saint Ansgar to enlighten many peoples, grant us, through is intercession, that we may always walk in the light of your truth. 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.

RECIPES

Chicken Noodle Soup Chicken Soup with Rice Mostaccioli II (Little Mustache Almond Cookies)

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ACTIVITIES

Feast of St. Blaise Fourteen Holy Helpers

PRAYERS

Book of Blessings: Blessing of Throats on the Feast of Saint Blaise Prayer to St. Blaise Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Ritual: Blessing of Candles on the Feast of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr Roman Ritual: Blessing of Throats on the Feast of St. Blaise Roman Ritual: Blessing of Bread, Wine, Water, Fruit on the Feast of St. Blaise

LIBRARY

None

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Ordinary Time: February 4th

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: St. Andrew Corsini, bishop and confessor; St. Jane de Valois, foundress (hist)

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Andrew Corsini who was born in the fourteenth century in Florence, Italy. He fell into bad company; but soon, touched by the grief of his mother, the young nobleman entered the Carmelite Order. Having served as prior of his convent, he was chosen to fill the vacant bishopric of Fiesole. He continually helped the poor, doing so in secret in the case of those who were ashamed to make known their distress. By showing his people the true nature of Christian peace, Bishop Andrew put an end to a number of troublesome disturbances in the city. He died on the feast of the Epiphany, 1373.

St. Andrew Corsini St. Andrew Corsini lived from 1302 to 1373. While still carrying him in her womb, his mother dreamed she had given birth to a wolf that sauntered to the gate of the Carmelite monastery, and entering the vestibule of the church, was changed to a lamb. Andrew was reared as a pious and God-fearing youth, but little by little he succumbed to the pleasures of the world in spite of frequent warnings and reproofs from his mother. After he became aware that his parents had vowed him to the service of Blessed Mary, he mended his ways and at the age of seventeen entered the Carmelite Order. Though persistently tempted and assailed by the devil, he never swerved from his holy decision. A man of austere penance, he fasted continuously, always wore a hair shirt, and prayed the penitential psalms daily. For humility’s sake he often washed the feet of the poor and beggars. His special gift from God was the grace to effect the conversion of hardened

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 135 beggars. His special gift from God was the grace to effect the conversion of hardened sinners. In 1360, despite his efforts to the contrary, he was made bishop of Fiesole in Tuscany.

— Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Civil disorder; riot.

Symbols: Holding a cross, with a wolf and lamb at his feet, and floating above a battlefield on a cloud or a white palfrey.

Things to Do:

Pray to St. Andrew Corsini that your children, especially teenagers, may find their true vocation and follow it faithfully. St. Andrew’s fellow Italians often sought his aid in solving the disputes which had split their families and cities — imitate this peacemaker, renowned for his prudence and wisdom, by sowing peace in your own home.

St. Jane de Valois Born of the blood royal of France, herself a queen, Jane of Valois led a life remarkable for its humiliations even in the annals of the Saints. Her father, Louis XI., who had hoped for a son to succeed him, banished Jane from his palace, and, it is said, even attempted her life. At the age of five the neglected child offered her whole heart to God, and yearned to do some special service in honor of His blessed Mother. At the king’s wish, though against her own inclination, she was married to the Duke of Orleans. Towards an indifferent and unworthy husband her conduct was ever most patient and dutiful. Her prayers and tears saved him from a traitor’s death and shortened the captivity which his rebellion had merited. Still nothing could win a heart which was already given to another. When her husband ascended the throne as Louis XII, his first act was to repudiate by false representations one who

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 136 through twenty-two years of cruel neglect had been his true and loyal wife. At the final sentence of separation, the saintly queen exclaimed, “God be praised Who has allowed this, that I may serve Him better than I have heretofore done.” Retiring to Bourges, she there realized her long-formed desire of founding the Order of the Annunciation, in honor of the Mother of God. Under the guidance of St. Francis of Paula, the director of her childhood, St. Jane was enabled to overcome the serious obstacles which even good people raised against the foundation of her new Order. In 1501 the rule of the Annunciation was finally approved by Alexander VI. The chief aim of the institute was to imitate the ten virtues practised by Our Lady in the mystery of the Incarnation, the superioress being called “Ancelle,” handmaid, in honor of Mary’s humility. St. Jane built and endowed the first convent of the Order in 1502. She died in heroic sanctity, 1505, and was buried in the royal crown and purple, beneath which lay the habit of her Order.

Excerpted from Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]

Things to Do:

For more information about St. Jane de Valois please visit St. Jeanne de Valois, Roman Catholic Saints Read more about the Order of the Annunciation founded by St. Jane here

Daily Readings for: February 04, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Grant us, Lord our God, that we may honor you with all our mind, and love everyone in truth of heart. 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.

RECIPES

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Tuscan-Style Peppered Chicken

ACTIVITIES

How to Deal with People

PRAYERS

Collect for the Feast of St. Andrew Corsini Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

LIBRARY

Order Of The Brothers Of The Most Blessed Virgin Mary Of Mount Carmel (Carmelites: White Friars: O. Carm.) | Helen Walker Homan

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Ordinary Time: February 5th

Memorial of St. Agatha, virgin and martyr Old Calendar: St. Agatha

St. Agatha died in defense of her purity, in Catania, Sicily, where she was born. After Quintanus, the governor of Sicily, tried in vain to force her to consent to sin, she was imprisoned for a month with an evil woman. He then turned from sensuality to cruelty and had her breasts cut off; but that night Agatha was healed by St. Peter. She was then rolled over sharp stones and burning coals, and finally taken to prison where she died while praying. Her name appears in the Roman Canon.

St. Agatha It is impossible to write a historically reliable account of St. Agatha’s life. The “Acts” of her martyrdom are legendary, dating from the sixth century. According to these sources Agatha was a Sicilian virgin of noble extraction. Quintianus, governor of Sicily, became deeply enamored of her; but she rejected his advances. As a result she was charged with being a Christian and brought before his tribunal. To the question concerning her origin she replied: “I am noble-born, of a distinguished family, as all my relatives will attest.” When asked why she lived the servile life of a Christian, she answered: “I am a handmaid of Christ, and that is why I bear the outward appearance of a slave; yet this is the highest nobility, to be a slave to Christ.” The governor threatened her with the most dreadful tortures if she did not renounce Christ. Agatha countered: “If you threaten me with wild beasts, know that at the Name of Christ they grow tame; if you use fire, from heaven angels will drop healing dew on me.”

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After being tortured, “Agatha went to prison radiant with joy and with head held high as though invited to a festive banquet. And she commended her agony to the Lord in prayer.” The next day, as she again stood before the judge, she declared: “If you do not cause my body to be torn to pieces by the hangmen, my soul cannot enter the Lord’s paradise with the martyrs. She was then stretched on the rack, burned with red-hot irons, and despoiled of her breasts. During these tortures she prayed: ”For love of chastity I am made to hang from a rack. Help me, O Lord my God, as they knife my breasts. Agatha rebuked the governor for his barbarity: “Godless, cruel, infamous tyrant, are you not ashamed to despoil a woman of that by which your own mother nursed you?” Returning to prison, she prayed: “You have seen, O Lord, my struggle, how I fought in the place of combat; but because I would not obey the commands of rulers, my breasts were lacerated.” In the night there appeared to her a venerable old man, the apostle Peter, with healing remedies. Agatha, ever delicately modest, hesitated to show him her wounds. “I am the apostle of Christ; distrust me not, my daughter.” To which she replied: “I have never used earthly medicines on my body. I cling to the Lord Jesus Christ, who renews all things by His word.” She was miraculously healed by St. Peter: “Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, I give you praise because by Your apostle You have restored my breasts.” Throughout the night a light illumined the dungeon. When the guards fled in terror, her fellow prisoners urged her to escape but she refused: “Having received help from the Lord, I will persevere in confessing Him who healed me and comforted me.” Four days later she was again led before the judge. He, of course, was amazed over her cure. Nevertheless, he insisted that she worship the gods; which prompted another confession of faith in Christ. Then by order of the governor, Agatha was rolled over pieces of sharp glass and burning coals. At that moment the whole city was rocked by a violent earthquake. Two walls collapsed, burying two of the governor’s friends in the debris. Fearing a popular uprising, he ordered Agatha, half dead, to be returned to prison. Here she offered her dying prayer: “Blessed Agatha stood in the midst of the prison and with outstretched arms prayed to the Lord: O Lord Jesus Christ, good Master, I give You thanks that You granted me victory over the executioners’ tortures. Grant now that I may happily dwell in Your never-ending glory.” Thereupon she died. A year after her death the city of Catania was in great peril from an eruption on

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Mount Etna. Pagans, too, were numbered among those who fled in terror to the saint’s grave. Her veil was taken and held against the onrushing flames, and suddenly the danger ceased. Her grave is venerated at Catania in Sicily.

—The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Bell-founders; breast cancer; breast disease; Catania, Italy; against fire; earthquakes; eruptions of Mount Etna; fire; fire prevention; jewelers; martyrs; natural disasters; nurses; Palermo, Italy; rape victims; single laywomen; sterility; torture victims; volcanic eruptions; wet-nurses; Zamarramala, Spain.

Symbols: Breasts on a dish; embers; knife; loaves of bread on a dish; pincers; shears; tongs; veil; virgin martyr wearing a veil and bearing her severed breasts on a silver platter.

Things to Do:

Bake an Agatha loaf! On St. Agatha’s feast day people would bake loaves attached to a picture of St. Agatha and prayers for protection from fires. The parish priests would bless the loaves, and people would keep them in their homes in case of a poor harvest and famine. The prayers would then be hung above the main door of each home to invoke St. Agatha’s guardianship. Spanish tradition associates this feast day with ancient fertility customs. Young men would visit many farms throughout the countryside, singing songs of praise to St. Agatha and invoking God’s blessing upon people, animals, and fields. However, if they did not receive the customary gifts of money or food for their services, they would call down a ‘quick old age’ upon the ungrateful inhabitants of that farm. Although most of us do not live in such communities where this kind of custom would be practicable or even understood, we can pray to St. Agatha for a greater openness to the transmission of new life in our culture, and actively affirm and support young couples with children whenever possible. St. Agatha is the patron saint against fire. Take this day to establish a fire escape plan for the family and to practice a family fire drill. Also check the smoke detectors, fire alarms, and carbon monoxide detectors to see if they are all working. Change the batteries on all the alarms! (Idea taken from A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families by Monica McConkey. Used with

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permission. Write to [email protected] or see Arma Dei for more information about this great book. Treasure Chest is filled with unique ideas for activities, crafts and recipes to help families celebrate the various Seasons and Feast Days of the year.) She also has a couple of excellent websites worth a visit: Equipping Catholic Families and Arma Dei Shop.

Daily Readings for: February 05, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: May the Virgin Martyr Saint Agatha implore your compassion for us, O Lord, we pray, for she found favor with you by the courage of her martyrdom and the merit of her chastity. 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.

RECIPES

Cherries Jubilee I Cherries Jubilee II Flambe Cherry Pie Martyrs’ Chiffon Dessert Whole Wheat Batter Bread Whole Wheat Bread I Whole Wheat Bread II

ACTIVITIES

Customs on the Feast of St. Agatha Nameday Ideas for St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr Religion in the Home for Elementary School: February Religion in the Home for Preschool: February

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PRAYERS

Litany of the Saints (older form) Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

LIBRARY

None

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Ordinary Time: February 6th

Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions, martyrs Old Calendar: St. Titus, confessor and bishop; St. Dorothy, virgin and martyr

Paul Miki, a Japanese Jesuit, and his twenty-five companions were martyred in Nagasaki, Japan. They were the first martyrs of East Asia to be canonized. They were killed simultaneously by being raised on crosses and then stabbed with spears. Their executioners were astounded upon seeing their joy at being associated to the Passion of Christ. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Titus, whose feast in the Ordinary Form is combined with St. Timothy on January 26. It is also the feast of St. Dorothy, virgin and martyr, in the Extraordinary Form.

St. Paul Miki and Companions Nagasaki, Japan, is familiar to Americans as the city on which the second atomic bomb was dropped, killing hundreds of thousands. Three and a half centuries before, twenty-six martyrs of Japan were crucified on a hill, now known as the Holy Mountain, overlooking Nagasaki. Among them were priests, brothers and laymen, Franciscans, Jesuits and members of the Secular Franciscan Order; there were catechists, doctors, simple artisans and servants, old men and innocent children—all united in a common faith and love for Jesus and his church. Brother Paul Miki, a Jesuit and a native of Japan, has become the best known among the martyrs of Japan. While hanging upon a cross

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Paul Miki preached to the people gathered for the execution: “The sentence of judgment says these men came to Japan from the Philippines, but I did not come from any other country. I am a true Japanese. The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I certainly did teach the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason I die. I believe that I am telling only the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you to become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ’s example I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.” When missionaries returned to Japan in the 1860s, at first they found no trace of Christianity. But after establishing themselves they found that thousands of Christians lived around Nagasaki and that they had secretly preserved the faith. Beatified in 1627, the martyrs of Japan were finally canonized in 1862.

— Excerpted from Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.

Things to Do:

The survival of Japanese Catholicism is one of the most moving stories in the entire history of the Church. For over two centuries the people had no priests but lived the faith as best they could, in secret, not daring to keep written materials but handing down their beliefs by word of mouth. (James Hitchcock, The Nagasaki Martyrs) You can read more in this article from Catholic Culture’s Library, The Nagasaki Martyrs. Stop for a moment today to pray for Christians who are persecuted throughout the world. Read more about St. Paul Miki and Companions at these websites: St. Paul Miki; or view this video St. Paul Miki’s Martyrdom. Read Pope Pius XII’s Encyclical Meminissee Iuvat on prayers for the persecuted Church.

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St. Dorothy St. Dorothy, (i.e., the gift of God), a virgin from Caesarea in Cappadocia, allegedly suffered a martyr’s death under Diocletian. Her relics are honored in a church dedicated to her honor in the Trastevere section of Rome. (On the door of St. Dorothy’s Church the names of those who had not received holy Communion during Easter time used to be posted.) Her feast was introduced into the Roman calendar during the Middle Ages. A very edifying story is related in connection with her name. As Dorothy was being led to execution because of her faith in Christ, she prayed, “I thank You, O Lover of souls, for having called me to Your paradise.” A certain Theophilus, an official of the Roman governor, jestingly retorted, “Farewell, bride of Christ, send me apples or roses from your Bridegroom’s garden of bliss.” Dorothy answered, “I most certainly will.” While devoting herself to prayer during the few moments permitted before receiving the death stroke, she beheld a vision of a beautiful youth who carried three apples and three roses in a napkin. She said to him, “I implore you to take these to Theophilus.” Soon the sword severed her neck, and her soul returned to God. As Theophilus was mockingly telling his friend of Dorothy’s promise, a young man stood before him holding a linen in which were wrapped three beautiful apples and three magnificent roses. “See, the virgin Dorothy sends you these from the garden of her Bridegroom, even as she promised you.” Highly astonished, for it was February and everything in nature was frozen, Theophilus received the gifts and cried out: “Truly indeed, Christ is God.” And soon he too died a martyr’s death for publicly confessing the faith.

— Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Brewers; brides; florists; gardeners; midwives; newlyweds.

Symbols: Crowned with flowers and surrounded by stars as she kneels before the executioner; crowned with palm and flower basket; surrounded by stars; crowned; carrying a flower basket; in an orchard with the Christ-child in an apple tree; leading the Christ-child by the hand; maiden carrying a basket of fruit and flowers, especially roses; roses; veiled with flowers in her lap; veiled; holding apples from heaven on a branch;

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 146 with a basket of fruit and the Christ-child riding a hobby horse; with an angel and wreath of flowers; with an angel carrying a basket of flowers.

Things to Do:

Read the Golden Legend account of the Life of St. Dorothy. Decorate your table with red roses and a bowl of apples, and tell the story of Theophilus and Saint Dorothy to your family at dinner.

Daily Readings for: February 06, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, strength of all the Saints, who through the Cross were pleased to call the Martyrs Saint Paul Miki and companions to life, grant, we pray, that by their intercession we may hold with courage even until death to the faith that we profess. 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.

RECIPES

Japanese Stir-Fry

ACTIVITIES

Pain and Suffering Teaching About Death

PRAYERS

Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

LIBRARY

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LIBRARY

The Catholic Holocaust of Nagasaki—“Why, Lord?” | Brother Anthony Josemaria

View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-02-06

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Ordinary Time: February 7th

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: Sexegesima Sunday

On leaving the synagogue he entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them (Mark 1:30-31).

Sunday Readings The first reading is taken from the Book of Job 7:1-4, 6-7. The author cries out in his misery, speaks of life and death, cites his restlessness and life’s struggle and notes that he will not see happiness again. The second reading is from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. In this section of his letter St. Paul is encouraging his Corinthian converts to be always ready to forgo their own rights when the edification or spiritual welfare of a neighbor is at stake. The Gospel is from St. Mark 1:29-39. Surely the people of Capernaum saw enough that first day of Christ’s public ministry among them to make them realize that this man from Nazareth who had come amongst them was no ordinary preacher, no ordinary rabbi, no ordinary man. They saw that he preached as one having authority; they saw that by a simple command he cast out demons and removed all bodily ailments. Yet though they were astonished and amazed at his power, their worldly outlook did not let them rise above their own small interests. Our Lord did not blame them or criticize them, he knew and fully understood their slowness of mind in regard to things spiritual, and he knew also that they would eventually give themselves wholeheartedly to his kingdom. While he was prepared to wait for the desired effects which his miracles and preaching would eventually have on them, he hastened the arrival of that day by praying to his heavenly Father to send the graces necessary for their conversion into their hearts.

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When the four Apostles found him praying in a lonely place, they told him that all Capernaum was searching for him, but he knew why they were searching for him. They wanted to see more miracles and very likely they were hoping that he would stay on in Capernaum and the sick and the maimed from the whole of Galilee would be brought there for healing. This would increase their earthly business and prosperity. His answer to the Apostles, while not directly condemning this worldly outlook, shows that his mission had an entirely different objective. He had come on earth not to bring earthly prosperity to any town or country but to bring spiritual salvation and blessing on all people. That very morning he began to carry out his mission and for the remaining two years or more he went from town to town preaching the kingdom of God. We Christians of today have many advantages over the people of Capernaum of that day. They saw Christ with their bodily eyes as a man of power amongst them; we see him with the eyes of faith as he really was and is — the Son of God who came on earth as man in order to make us sons of God. We know who he really was and we know the full meaning of his mission. We have seen that mission completed amongst us by his death on the cross and his resurrection. By his death he conquered death for us; by his resurrection he opened the gates of heaven for us and led the way there for all who will follow him. This is the good news Christ brought to our world. This is the meaning of Christianity; this is why we are Christians. We are members of Christ’s kingdom on earth, so that when our life here ends we shall be members of his everlasting heavenly kingdom. Yet, with all of this knowledge and with the example of the thousands and millions of saints who have lived according to this knowledge over the past nineteen hundred years and more, and who are now enjoying the reward Christianity promised them, how active and how effective is our Christian faith in our daily thoughts and deeds? In my daily dealings with my fellowmen would I be picked out as a Christian? Do I, by my words and deeds, prove to those with whom I live and work that I am convinced there is a future life after death, that reaching that life is the most important thing in this world for me, and that it is through living my short earthly life as a true Christian that I can earn that eternal life? If I can say yes to these questions I am, thank God, on the right road. But if my answer is “no” then it is time I had another good look to see where I went off the road, and to find out that I can return to that right road once more. God is merciful; Christ is patient with followers who straggle and wander, but it could be fatal to postpone for too long our call to the God of mercy. It will be too late if we delay turning to our patient Christ until we are about to die. Stop straggling and wandering off the highway today

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 150 and the patient Christ will welcome you and help you back. There may be no tomorrow for you, you have no guarantee of it.

— Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O’Sullivan, O.F.M.

Commentary for the Readings in the Extraordinary Form: Sexagesima Sunday “The sower went out to sow his seed … Now … the seed is the word of God” (Gospel). Every springtime God, as it were, rewrites the Book of Genesis and Creation. Appropriate to the coming spring, Jesus is now pictured as the Divine “Sower.” He sows “seed” in the soil of our souls, covered with “rocks” of hardening pride, “thorns” of softening “pleasures!” The Epistle is a vivid picture, moving in quick action over Europe and Asia, but above all moving our souls to action as it describes the sacrifices of Paul, the “sower,” sowing the “word of God,” despite passions from within, persecutions from without.

— Excerpted from My Sunday Missal, Confraternity of the Precious Blood

Daily Readings for: February 07, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. 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.

RECIPES

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Year-Round Favorite Sunday Dinner (Sample Menu)

ACTIVITIES

Home Concerts

PRAYERS

Ordinary Time, Pre-Lent: Table Blessing 1 Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Ordinary Time (2nd Plan) Prayer for Pope Francis

LIBRARY

New Evangelization Should Inspire All Your Teaching and Catechesis | Pope Saint John Paul II While Extraordinary Miracles Abound, Many No Longer Believe in True Presence of the Holy Sacrament | Fr. Richard Foley S.J.

View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-02-07

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Ordinary Time: February 8th

Monday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorials of St. Jerome Emiliani, priest; St. Josephine Bakhita, virgin Old Calendar: St. John of Matha, confessor

St. Jerome Emiliani was born in Venice in 1486. He converted to Christianity after a rather dissolute youth, and dedicated himself to the service of the poor, the sick, and abandoned children. He founded a congregation (Somaschi) which looked after the education of children, especially orphans. He died of the plague while serving the afflicted. Saint 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 baptized, 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!” According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. John of Matha, who came from Provence, France and was ordained a priest in Paris. He retired to a solitary life conscious that God was calling him to a special mission, and spent three years in prayer and recollection. He then founded the Trinitarian Order for the ransom of Christians held by the Mohammedans. A great number of houses were founded and innumerable prisoners set free. St. John spent the last two years of his life in Rome, where he died.

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St. Jerome Emiliani A careless and irreligious soldier for the city-state of Venice, Jerome was captured in a skirmish at an outpost town and chained in a dungeon. In prison Jerome had a lot of time to think, and he gradually learned how to pray. When he escaped, he returned to Venice where he took charge of the education of his nephews—and began his own studies for the priesthood. In the years after his ordination, events again called Jerome to a decision and a new lifestyle. Plague and famine swept northern Italy. Jerome began caring for the sick and feeding the hungry at his own expense. While serving the sick and the poor, he soon resolved to devote himself and his property solely to others, particularly to abandoned children. He founded three orphanages, a shelter for penitent prostitutes and a hospital. Around 1532 Jerome and two other priests established a congregation dedicated to the care of orphans and the education of youth. Jerome died in 1537 from a disease he caught while tending the sick. He was canonized in 1767. In 1928 Pius XI named him the universal patron of orphans and abandoned children.

— Excerpted from Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.

Patron: Abandoned people; orphans.

Symbols: Ball and chain; man shackled with a ball and chain who is attending the sick; man wearing a ball and chain, and receiving an apparition of Mary and the Child Jesus.

Things to Do:

Read more about St. Jerome: Life of St. Jerome Meditate on these words: “Before dying, Jerome gives to his own a testament that is not only the synthesis of his spiritual experience, but also an itinerary of Christian life: Follow the way of the Crucified, despise the world, love one another, serve the poor. The life of love for the poor is born from a community of people who live the commandment of the reciprocal love, after having

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decided to have, as a goal, only God. The cross becomes the expression of this dedication and love, on the example of Jesus Christ.” We suggest you visit the Somascan Fathers and Brothers’ website where you can read St. Jerome’s letters written in 1535 as well as other documents and you can also learn more about this religious community.

St. Josephine Bakhita For many years, Josephine Bakhita was a slave, but her spirit was always free and eventually that spirit prevailed. Born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan, Josephine was kidnapped at the age of seven, sold into slavery and given the name Bakhita, which means fortunate. She was resold several times, finally in 1883 to Callisto Legnani, Italian consul in Khartoum, Sudan. Two years later he took Josephine to Italy and gave her to his friend Augusto Michieli. Soon Bakhita became babysitter to Mimmina Michieli, whom she accompanied to Venice’s Institute of the Catechumens, run by the Canossian Sisters. While Mimmina was being instructed, Josephine felt drawn to the Catholic Church. She was baptized and confirmed in 1890, taking the name Josephine. When the Michielis returned from Africa and wanted to take Mimmina and Josephine back with them, the future saint refused to go. During the ensuing court case, the Canossian sisters and the patriarch of Venice intervened on Josephine’s behalf. The judge concluded that since slavery was illegal in Italy, she had actually been free since 1885. Josephine entered the Institute of Saint Magdalene of Canossa in 1893 and made her profession three years later. In 1902, she was transferred to the city of Schio (northeast of Verona), where she assisted her religious community through cooking, sewing, embroidery and welcoming visitors at the door. She soon became well loved by the children attending the sisters’ school and the local citizens. She once said, “Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!” The first steps toward her beatification began in 1959. She was beatified in 1992 and

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 155 canonized eight years later.

— Excerpted from Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M. “Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know him. What a great grace it is to know God!”. — St. Josephine Bakhita

Things to Do:

Visit these websites for more about the life of St. Josephine: Josephine Bakhita (Vatican’s biography); Josephine Bakhita - an African Saint (Has links to information about the Faith in Africa and the persecution which continues). The Canossian Daughters of Charity are called to contemplate, experience and share God’s love for every person and to participate in Christ’s mission of salvation in a life of total dedication to God, communion and humble service with Mary, mother of love beneath the cross. Learn more about the Canossian Daughters of Charity, the order in which St. Josephine became a professed religious. A Sister seeing St. Josephine so peaceful and always in prayer, asked, “Do you wish to go to heaven?” “I wish neither to go nor to stay. God knows where to find me, when He wants me.” To another who asked how she was going on, she answered, “I am going slowly, step by step, because I have two heavy bags to carry - one containing my own sins, the other Christ’s merits. When I get to the other side, I will open my bags and say, ‘Eternal Father, now judge!’ and to St Peter, 'You can close that door of yours, for I’m going to stay.'” Pray for those suffering persecution in Sudan. Read what Bishop Macram Max Gassis says in this article, Sudan: Country of Terrorism, Religious Persecution, Slavery, Rape, Genocide, and Man-Made Starvation and this statement from the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Regional Conference.

St. John of Matha John of Matha, the founder of the Trinitarian Order, was born at Faucon, on the borders of Provence, in France. He was trained as a young noble in horsemanship and the use of arms, decided to study for the priesthood, and was

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 156 ordained in Paris. After some years in solitude, he conceived the idea of founding an order to ransom Christian captives from the Muslims and went to Rome to obtain the blessing of Pope Innocent III. Houses of the order were established at Cerfroid and Rome and in Spain. He was very successful in the work of ransoming captives and his order spread. Very little is known for certain about his life, and in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, to bolster his reputation, certain members of his order fabricated stories about him, filled his life with miracles and amazing adventures, and connected the beginnings of his order with St. Felix of Valois. The Trinitarian Order had not preserved any archives of their order and had little knowledge of the life of their founder. Another order, the Order of Mercy, was founded for the same reason as their own, and they compiled a fictitious record of the beginnings of their order. This takes nothing away from the achievements of St. John of Matha, but it does obscure the true story of his life and work. We do know that he received approval of his order from Pope Innocent III in 1198 and that he died in Rome in 1213. His relics were taken to Madrid in 1655, and he was recognized as a saint in 1694. At his death, there were thirty-five houses of the order throughout Europe. The Trinitarians were one of the first religious orders to combine monastic discipline with pastoral work and one of the first to become international in its work. The order flourishes today in several countries and in 1906 made a foundation in the United States.

Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints, Rev. Clifford Stevens

Patron: Against lightning; against pestilence; archers; automobile drivers; automobilists; bachelors; Baden, Germany; boatmen; bookbinders; Brunswick, Germany; bus drivers; cab drivers; epilepsy; epileptics; floods; fruit dealers; fullers; gardeners; hailstorms; holy death; lightning; lorry drivers; mariners; market carriers; Mecklenburg, Germany; motorists; pestilence; porters; Rab Croatia; sailors; Saint Christopher’s Island; Saint Kitts; storms; sudden death; taxi drivers; toothache; Toses, Girona, Catalonia, Spain; transportation; transportation workers; travellers; truck drivers; truckers; watermen.

Symbols: Branch; giant; torrent; tree; man with Christ on his shoulders.

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Things to Do:

Like Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St. John of Matha saw a critical need for the Church at the time and set about doing something about it. He devoted all of his time, his efforts, and his resources to ransom his fellow Christians from slavery, and his work continued into modern times, until slavery was abolished. Like him, we should look around us and see what good has to be done and then courageously put our hand to the task. Read a longer biography of St. John.

Daily Readings for: February 08, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. 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.

O God, Father of mercies, who sent Saint Jerome Emiliani as a helper and father to orphans, grant through his intercession, that we may preserve faithfully the spirit of adoption, by which we are called, and truly are, your children. 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.

O God, who led Saint Josephine Bakhita from abject slavery to the dignity of being your daughter and a bride of Christ, grant, we pray, that by her example we may show constant love for the Lord Jesus crucified, remaining steadfast in charity and prompt to show compassion. 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.

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RECIPES

Mafé

ACTIVITIES

Namedays What is a Nameday?

PRAYERS

Collect for Feast of St. John of Matha Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes Prayer to St. Jerome Emiliani Somascans’ Prayer Prayer in Honor of St. Josephine Bakhita

LIBRARY

A Theologian of Humility | Mariapia Bonanate Order of the Most Holy Trinity | Helen Walker Homan St. Josephine Bakhita Was a Humble Witness to God’s Love | Unknown

View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-02-08

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Ordinary Time: February 9th

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time; St. Teilo (Wales) Old Calendar: St. Cyril of Alexandria, bishop and doctor; St. Apollonia, virgin and martyr

Today the feast of St. Teilo, bishop, is celebrated in Wales. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Cyril of Alexandria, bishop and doctor, and St. Apollonia, virgin and martyr. St. Cyril’s feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on June 27th. St. Apollonia was a young martyr of Alexandria. She was arrested and executed in about 250 during a riot provoked against the Christians. Her executioners broke all her teeth. She is invoked for the cure of a toothache.

St. Teilo According to tradition Teilo, or Elios as he was sometimes known, was born about the year 480 AD at either Gumfreston or Penally in south Pembrokeshire. He studied under Paulinus at Ty Gwyn where he met Dewi (Saint David), the two becoming firm friends. Later, the two set out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and en route were joined by Padarn. Upon their return home, Teilo was given charge of the church at Llandaff and the surrounding area. Shortly afterwards there was an outbreak of Yellow Fever and

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Teilo led his followers to Cornwall to escape its effects. From Cornwall they travelled to Brittany where they were welcomed by Archbishop Solomon of the Church of Dol. They stayed for seven years, during which time Teilo and his followers are said to have planted three miles of fruit trees. He returned to Llandaff where he ministered for many years. He died in 566 AD. Several churches in south Wales and Brittany are dedicated to St Teilo. He is depicted on a fifteenth century stained glass window in a church at Plogonnec, Finistére, and also in a statue in the Chapel of Our Lady, Kerdévot. In both cases he is shown wearing bishop’s robes and mitre and seated on a stag, suggesting, as was the case with many other saints of the time, that he had an affinity with the natural world.

— National Museum Wales

Patron: Horses and fruit trees.

Things to Do:

Visit this interesting site which gives you information about the picturesque and ancient town of Llandeilo, Wales as well as St. Teilo. Read more about St. Teilo here.

St. Apollonia The Martyrology reads: “At Alexandria the holy virgin Apollonia—under the Emperor Decius (249-251) her teeth were beaten out; then the executioners built and lit a funeral pyre, and threatened to burn her alive unless she would repeat their blasphemies. After some reflection she suddenly tore herself loose from her tormentors and threw herself into the flames. The fire of the Holy Spirit that glowed within her was more intense than the burning pyre. Her executioners were astounded to see a weak woman willingly embracing death with such determination before they were ready to carry out their threats.” The saint was already well on in years. An account of St. Apollonia’s martyrdom

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The saint was already well on in years. An account of St. Apollonia’s martyrdom was written by Bishop Dionysius of Alexandria (died 265), a contemporary. She is honored as the patroness against toothache. Apollonia, it might seem, committed suicide. Her act was used by the ancients as proof that it is permitted to escape dishonor or persecution through voluntary death. But the most authoritative moralists, including Saint Augustine, declare that even in such cases suicide is not permitted, and seek to justify Apollonia’s heroic act by assuming that she acted according to a special mandate from God; without such a divine injunction no one is allowed to follow her example. The saints are not to be imitated on every point.

— Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Dentists, tooth disease, toothache.

Symbols: Deaconess holding a set of pincers which often holds a tooth; gilded tooth; pincers grabbing a tooth; pincers; tooth and a palm branch; tooth; woman wearing a golden tooth on a chain.

Things to Do:

Pray to St. Apollonia for a courageous and holy death. The elderly especially may beseech her to strengthen their faith as they weaken and approach death.

Daily Readings for: February 09, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. 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.

RECIPES

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Scottish Oat Scones

ACTIVITIES

Preschool Parent Pedagogy: Lessons from Books

PRAYERS

Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

LIBRARY

Painting Angels, Saints and Their Symbols | Maria Stella Ceplecha

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Ordinary Time: February 10th

Memorial of St. Scholastica, virgin Old Calendar: St. Scholastica

St. Scholastica was the twin sister of St. Benedict, the Patriarch of Western monasticism. She was born in Umbria, Italy, about 480. Under Benedict’s direction, Scholastica founded a community of nuns near the great Benedictine monastery Monte Cassino. Inspired by Benedict’s teaching, his sister devoted her whole life to seeking and serving God. She died in 547 and tradition holds that at her death her soul ascended to heaven in the form of a dove.

St. Scholastica St. Scholastica, like her brother, dedicated herself to God from early youth. Information on the virgin Scholastica is very scanty. In his Second Book of Dialogues (Ch. 33 and 34) Pope St. Gregory has described for us the last meeting between brother and sister: "His sister Scholastica, who had been consecrated to God in early childhood, used to visit with him once a year. On these occasions he would go to meet her in a house belonging to the monastery a short distance from the entrance. For this particular visit he joined her there with a few of his disciples and they spent the whole day singing God’s praises and conversing about the spiritual life. "When darkness was setting in they took their meal together and continued their conversation at table until it was quite late. Then the holy nun said to him, ‘Please do not leave me tonight, brother. Let us keep on talking about the joys of heaven till morning.’ ‘What are you saying, sister?’ he replied. ‘You know that I cannot stay away from the monastery.’ The sky was so clear at the time, there was not a cloud in sight. "At her brother’s refusal Scholastica folded her

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 164 hands on the table and rested her head upon them in earnest prayer. When she looked up again, there was a sudden burst of lightning and thunder accompanied by such a downpour that Benedict and his companions were unable to set foot outside the door. By shedding a flood of tears while she prayed, this holy nun had darkened the cloudless sky with a heavy rain. The storm began as soon as her prayer was over. In fact, the two coincided so closely that the thunder was already resounding as she raised her head from the table. The very instant she ended her prayer the rain poured down. "Realizing that he could not return to the abbey in this terrible storm, Benedict complained bitterly. ‘God forgive you, sister!’ he said. ‘What have you done?’ Scholastica simply answered, ‘When I appealed to you, you would not listen to me. So I turned to my God and He heard my prayer. Leave now if you can. Leave me here and go back to your monastery.’ "This, of course, he could not do. He had no choice now but to stay, in spite of his unwillingness. They spent the entire night together and both of them derived great profit from the holy thoughts they exchanged about the interior life. The next morning Scholastica returned to her convent and Benedict to his monastery. "Three days later as he stood in his room looking up toward the sky, he beheld his sister’s soul leaving her body and entering the heavenly court in the form of a dove. Overjoyed at her eternal glory, he gave thanks to God in hymns of praise. Then, after informing his brethren of her death, he sent some of them to bring her body to the abbey and bury it in the tomb he had prepared for himself. The bodies of these two were now to share a common resting place, just as in life their souls had always been one in God." Her tomb is at Monte Cassino.

— Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Against rain; convulsive children; nuns; storms.

Symbols: Nun with crozier and crucifix; nun with dove flying from her mouth.

Things to Do:

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Tell your children about the "holy twins": St. Scholastica and the tender love she had for her brother St. Benedict. Ask them how they can help one another to become saints. Make an altar hanging or window transparency in the shape of a dove to honor St. Scholastica. If you are traveling to Italy try to visit St. Benedict’s Abbey of Monte Cassino. Here is a YouTube video with more pictures. If not, make a virtual visit. Learn how to prayerfully read Sacred Scripture in this article, Lectio Divina: Daily Information for a New Life by Fr. Adam Ryan, O.S.B.

Daily Readings for: February 10, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: As we celebrate anew the Memorial of the Virgin Saint Scholastica, we pray, O Lord, that, following her example, we may serve you with pure love and happily receive what comes from loving you. 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.

RECIPES

Chicken Valdostana

ACTIVITIES

Home Altar Hangings Namedays What is a Nameday? Window Transparencies

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PRAYERS

Litany of Saint Scholastica Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

LIBRARY

Order Of Saint Benedict | Helen Walker Homan The Task of Woman in the Modern World | Janet Kalven

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Ordinary Time: February 11th

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes Old Calendar: Apparition of Our Lady at Lourdes

Today marks the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1858 to fourteen-year-old Marie Bernade (St. Bernadette) Soubirous. Between February 11 and July 16, 1858, the Blessed Virgin appeared eighteen times, and showed herself to St. Bernadette in the hollow of the rock at Lourdes. On March 25 she said to the little shepherdess who was only fourteen years of age: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Since then Lourdes has become a place of pilgrimage and many cures and conversions have taken place. The message of Lourdes is a call to personal conversion, prayer, and charity.

Our Lady of Lourdes The many miracles which have been performed through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin at Lourdes prompted the Church to institute a special commemorative feast, the “Apparition of the Immaculate Virgin Mary.” The Office gives the historical background. Four years after the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (1854), the Blessed Virgin appeared a number of times to a very poor and holy girl named Bernadette. The actual spot was in a grotto on the bank of the Gave River near Lourdes. The Immaculate Conception had a youthful appearance and was clothed in a pure white gown and mantle, with an azure blue girdle. A golden rose adorned each of her bare feet. On her first apparition, February 11, 1858, the Blessed Virgin bade the girl make the sign of the Cross piously and say the rosary with her. Bernadette saw her take the rosary that was hanging from her arms into her hands. This was repeated in

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 168 the rosary that was hanging from her arms into her hands. This was repeated in subsequent apparitions. With childlike simplicity Bernadette once sprinkled holy water on the vision, fearing that it was a deception of the evil spirit; but the Blessed Virgin smiled pleasantly, and her face became even more lovely. The third time Mary appeared she invited the girl to come to the grotto daily for two weeks. Now she frequently spoke to Bernadette. On one occasion she ordered her to tell the ecclesiastical authorities to build a church on the spot and to organize processions. Bernadette also was told to drink and wash at the spring still hidden under the sand. Finally on the feast of the Annunciation, the beautiful Lady announced her name, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” The report of cures occurring at the grotto spread quickly and the more it spread, the greater the number of Christians who visited the hallowed place. The publicity given these miraculous events on the one hand and the seeming sincerity and innocence of the girl on the other made it necessary for the bishop of Tarbes to institute a judicial inquiry. Four years later he declared the apparitions to be supernatural and permitted the public veneration of the Immaculate Conception in the grotto. Soon a chapel was erected, and since that time countless pilgrims come every year to Lourdes to fulfill promises or to beg graces.

— Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch.

February 11 was proclaimed World Day of the Sick by Pope John Paul II. Therefore, it would be appropriate to celebrate the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick on this day during a Mass or Liturgy of the Word. (The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is only to be given to "those of the faithful whose health is seriously impaired by sickness or old age", Roman Ritual. This Sacrament must not be given indiscriminately to all who take part in Masses for the sick.)

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We pilgrims to Lourdes Anyone who has made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Lourdes will not have missed the opportunity to pray at the Grotto where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared on the 11th of February 1858. A mystical place, similar to the welcoming “bosom” of a mother, almost a baptismal font, in which to immerse ourselves and rediscover the unrivalled beauty of being Christians: having God as our Father and Mary as our Mother! Lourdes is one of the most important “places of grace” known to the Church. It is like a vast basin of purity where countless souls have removed the clothes of sin and put on the snow white garments of spiritual rebirth! Some, like the author, found the light necessary to embrace the call to the priesthood, others, the strength to remain faithful to this commitment. How can we deny that the Mother is the one who knows the Will of the Son better than anyone else and that turning to Her we understand better the mysterious plan God has for each one of us? No one better than Mary can convince us to “do whatever he tells you”! In Lourdes, like the servants at Cana, we too sincerely open our hearts to the presence of the Mother and, attentive to her words, we are captivated by the mystery of the Son. Then we see His Will for what it truly is: our path to happiness! Bernardette actually saw the Lady dressed in white, whereas we see her not with our eyes but with our heart, which is aware in faith of her presence on our journey. In front of the Grotto of Massabielle the pilgrim’s interior vision is illuminated with a light typical of that place of grace: the light of the spiritual motherhood of Mary who gives Jesus to us as at Christmas, again and again. Those apparitions have sustained countless souls, encouraging them on the path of conversion and personal sanctification. And their change has helped improve the world because the whole world benefits from the conversion of even one heart. For us, pilgrims to Lourdes, Mary’s universal motherhood is a mystery to discover again and again, so she may accompany us all through life. In Lourdes this Marian light is present everywhere: when we bathe in the waters, in the evening when we mingle with thousands of others to pray the rosary at the torchlight procession; in the afternoon when we join crowds of sick persons taking part in the Blessed Sacrament Procession …

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 170 we join crowds of sick persons taking part in the Blessed Sacrament Procession … Her presence is a mystery to savor in our soul and to learn, with Mary, to honour her Son, especially in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The first to witness Our Lady’s presence at Lourdes was little Bernardette Soubirous, who became her intrepid messenger. Although she is buried far away in Nevers in the north of France, her body totally incorrupt, as if she were asleep, you can “meet” Saint Bernadette everywhere in Lourdes. It is sweet to remember her and read the humble words she addressed to Our Lady: “Yes, gentle Mother, you lowered yourself, you came down to earth to appear to a helpless little girl… You, the Queen of Heaven and earth, deigned to make use of what was most humble for the world” (from her Journal dedicated to the Queen of Heaven, 1866). The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, recalling that “this year (2008) the beginning of Lent coincides providentially with the 150th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady at Lourdes”, said in his Angelus reflection on the 1st Sunday of Lent “the message which Our Lady still offers at Lourdes recalls the words Jesus said at the beginning of his public mission and that we hear so often in these first days of Lent: ‘Convert and believe in the Gospel, pray and do penance. Let us respond to the call of Mary who echoes that of Christ and let us ask Her to help us ‘enter’ Lent with faith and live this season of grace with deep joy and generous commitment” (Benedict XVI, Angelus 10 February 2008). (Agenzia Fides 13/2/2008; righe 47, parole 662)

— Mgr. Luciano Alimandi

Patron: Bodily ills.

Symbols: The Blessed Virgin (“The Immaculate Conception”) who wears a white dress, blue belt, and a rose on each foot.

Things to Do:

Watch The Song of Bernadette, a masterpiece filmed in 1943. Bring flowers (roses would be appropriate) to your statue of Our Lady at your home altar, especially if you have a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. Obtain some Lourdes holy water and give the parental blessing to your children

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(see link). Give extra care to the sick in your community — cook dinner for a sick mother’s family, bring your children to the local nursing home (the elderly love to see children), send flowers to a member of your parish community who is ill.

Daily Readings for: February 11, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection.

Grant us, O merciful God, protection in our weakness, that we, who keep the Memorial of the Immaculate Mother of God, may with the help of her intercession, rise up from our iniquities. 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.

RECIPES

Cassoulet French Style Shepherd’s Pie Initial Cookies Minced Chicken (or Turkey) a la King Soupe Basque

ACTIVITIES

Marian Hymn: ’Tis Said of Our Dear Lady Marian Hymn: A Single Branch Three Roses Bore Marian Hymn: Ave Maria Dear

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Marian Hymn: Ave Maria Dear Marian Hymn: Beautiful, Glorious Marian Hymn: Lourdes Hymn or Immaculate Mary Marian Hymn: Mary the Dawn Marian Hymn: Salve Regina Marian Hymn: Stella Matutina Marian Hymn: Virgin Blessed, Thou Star the Fairest Mary Garden

PRAYERS

Parental Blessing Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Litany of Loreto) Table Blessing for the Feasts of the Mother of God Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

LIBRARY

The Shrine: Memory, Presence and Prophecy of the Living God | Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People Two Lourdes Miracles and a Nobel Laureate: What Really Happened? | Rev. Stanley L. Jaki

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Ordinary Time: February 12th

Friday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: St. Eulalia

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Seven Founders of the Servite Order. Their feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on February 17. Historically today is the feast of St. Eulalia the most celebrated virgin martyr of Spain. She was a native of Merida, thirteen years of age, and was burnt at the stake in her native city under Diocletian.

St. Eulalia Prudentius has celebrated the triumph of this holy virgin who was a native of Merida, then the capital city of Lusitania in Spain now a declining town in Estremadura, the archiepiscopal dignity having been translated to Compostella. Eulalia, descended from one of the best families in Spain, was educated in the Christian religion, and in sentiments of perfect piety, from her infancy distinguished herself by an admirable sweetness of temper, modesty, and devotion, showed a great love of the holy state of virginity, and by her seriousness and her contempt of dress, ornaments diversions, and worldly company, gave early proofs of her sincere desire to lead on earth a heavenly life. Her heart was raised above the world before she was thought capable of knowing it, so that its amusements, which usually fill the minds of young persons, had no charms for her, and every day of her life made an addition to her virtues.

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She was but twelve years old when the bloody edicts of Dioclesian were issued, by which it was ordered that all persons, without exception of age, sex, or profession, should be compelled to offer sacrifice to the gods of the empire. Eulalia, young as she was, took the publication of this order for the signal of battle; but her mother, observing her impatient ardor for martyrdom, carried her into the country. The saint found means to make her escape by night, and after much fatigue arrived at Merida before break of day. As soon as the court sat, the same morning, she presented herself before the cruel judge, whose name was Dacianus, and reproached him with impiety in attempting to destroy souls, by compelling them to renounce the only true God. The governor commanded her to be seized, and first employing caresses, represented to her the advantages which her birth, youth and fortune gave her in the world, and the grief which her disobedience would bring to her parents. Then he had recourse to threats, and caused the most dreadful instruments of torture to be placed before her eyes, saying to her, “All this you shall escape if you will but touch a little salt and frankincense with the tip of your finger.” Provoked at these seducing flatteries, she threw down the idol, trampled upon the cake which was laid for the sacrifice, and, as Prudentius relates, spat at the judge; an action only to be excused by her youth and inattention under the influence of a warm zeal, and fear of the snares which were laid for her. At the judge’s order two executioners began to tear her tender sides with iron hooks, so as to leave the very bones bare. In the mean time she called the strokes so many trophies of Christ. Next, lighted torches were applied to her breasts and sides: under which torment, instead of groans, nothing was heard from her mouth but thanksgivings. The fire at length catching her hair, surrounded her head and face, and the saint was stifled by the smoke and flame. Prudentius tells us, that a white dove seemed to come out of her mouth, and to wing its way upward when the holy martyr expired: at which prodigy the executioners were so much terrified that they fled and left the body. A great snow that fell covered it and the whole forum where it lay; which circumstance shows that the holy martyr suffered in winter. The treasure of her relics was carefully entombed by the Christians near the place of her martyrdom: afterwards a stately church was erected on the spot, and the relics were covered by the altar which was raised over them, before Prudentius wrote his hymn on the holy martyr in the fourth century He assures us that "pilgrims came to venerate her bones; and that she, near the throne of God, beholds them, and, being made propitious by hymns, protects her clients. Her relics are kept with great veneration at Oviedo, do, where she is honored as patroness. The Roman Martyrology mentions her name on the 10th of December.

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Excerpted from Butler’s Lives of the Saints

Patron: Merida, Spain; Oviedo, Spain, runaways; torture victims; widows

Symbols: Maiden with a cross, stake, and dove; naked maiden lying in the snow

Daily Readings for: February 12, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. 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.

RECIPES

Gingersnaps

ACTIVITIES

Security of Faith within the Home The Home, a Training Ground

PRAYERS

Ordinary Time, Pre-Lent: Table Blessing 1 February Devotion: The Holy Family Prayer to the Holy Family Novena to the Holy Family

LIBRARY

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None

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Ordinary Time: February 13th

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: St. Catherine de Ricci, virgin (Hist); Shove Tuesday (Hist)

Historically today is the feast of St. Catherine de Ricci a native of Florence, Italy, who became a Dominican tertiary in 1535 and eventually filled the offices of novice-mistress and prioress. She was famous for her ecstasies in which she beheld and enacted the scenes of our Lord’s passion. It is said that she met St. Philip Neri, in a vision who was still alive in Rome. Three future popes were among the thousands who flocked to her convent to ask her prayers.

St. Catherine de Ricci The early testimony to St. Catherine’s sanctity is quite striking. Her biography was written by F. Seraphin Razzi, a Dominican friar, who knew her, and who was fifty-eight years old when she died. The nuns of her monastery gave an ample testimony that this account was conformable partly to what they knew of her, and partly to manuscript memorials left by her confessor and others concerning her. Printed in Lucca in 1594, it is therefore considered highly reliable. Her life was again compiled by F. Philip Guidi, confessor to the saint and to the Duchess of Urbino, and printed at Florence in 1622. Fathers Michael Pio and John Lopez, of the same order, have given abstracts of her life. Since St. Catherine died in 1589, we can see how quickly the story of her life was told. The Ricci are an ancient family, which still subsists in a flourishing condition in Tuscany. Peter de Ricci, the father of our saint, was married to Catherine Bonza, a lady of suitable birth. The saint was born at Florence in 1522, and called at her baptism Alexandrina, but she took the name of Catherine at her religious profession. Having lost

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 178 her mother in her infancy, she was formed to virtue by a very pious godmother, and whenever she was missing she was always to be found on her knees in some secret part of the house. When she was between six and seven years old, her father placed her in the Convent of Monticelli, near the gates of Florence, where her aunt, Louisa de Ricci, was a nun. This place was to her a paradise: at a distance from the noise and tumult of the world, she served God without impediment or distraction After some years her father took her home. She continued her usual exercises in the world as much as she was able; but the interruptions and dissipation, inseparable from her station, gave her so much uneasiness that, with the consent of her father, which she obtained, though with great difficulty, in the year 1535, the fourteenth of her age, she received the religious veil in the convent of Dominicanesses at Prat, in Tuscany, to which her uncle, F. Timothy de Ricci, was director. God, in the merciful design to make her the spouse of his crucified Son, and to imprint in her soul dispositions conformable to His, was pleased to exercise her patience by rigorous trials. For two years she suffered inexpressible pains under a complication of violent distempers, which remedies themselves served only to increase. These sufferings she sanctified by the interior dispositions with which she bore them, and which she nourished principally by assiduous meditation on the passion of Christ, in which she found an incredible relish and a solid comfort and joy. After the recovery of her health, which seemed miraculous, she studied more perfectly to die to her senses, and to advance in a penitential life and spirit, in which God had begun to conduct her, by practicing the greatest austerities which were compatible with the obedience she had professed; she fasted two or three days a week on bread and water, and sometimes passed the whole day without taking any nourishment, and chastised her body with disciplines and a sharp iron chain which she wore next her skin. Her obedience, humility, and meekness were still more admirable than her spirit of penance. The least shadow of distinction or commendation gave her inexpressible uneasiness and confusion, and she would have rejoiced to be able to lie hid in the center of the earth, in order to be entirely unknown to and blotted out of the hearts of all mankind, such were the sentiments of annihilation and contempt of herself in which she constantly lived. It was by profound humility and perfect interior self-denial that she learned to vanquish in her heart the sentiments or life of the first Adam—that is, of corruption, sin, and inordinate self-love. But this victory over herself, and purgation of her affections, was completed by a perfect spirit of prayer; for by the union of her soul with God, and the establishment of the absolute reign of his love in her heart, she was

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 179 dead to and disengaged from all earthly things. And in one act of sublime prayer she advanced more than by a hundred exterior practices in the purity and ardor of her desire to do constantly what was most agreeable to God, to lose no occasion of practicing every heroic virtue, and of vigorously resisting all that was evil. Prayer, holy meditation, and contemplation were the means by which God imprinted in her soul sublime ideas of his heavenly truths, the strongest and most tender sentiments of all virtues, and the most burning desire to give all to God, with an incredible relish and affection for suffering contempt and poverty for Christ. What she chiefly labored to obtain, by meditating on his life and sufferings, and what she most earnestly asked of him, was that he would be pleased, in his mercy, to purge her affections of all poison of the inordinate love of creatures, and engrave in her his most holy and divine image, both exterior and interior–that is to say, both in her conversation and her affections, that so she might be animated, and might think, speak, and act by his most Holy Spirit. The saint was chosen, very young, first, mistress of the novices, then sub-prioress, and, in the twenty-fifth year of her age, was appointed perpetual prioress. The reputation of her extraordinary sanctity and prudence drew her many visits from a great number of bishops, princes, and cardinals-among others, of Cervini, Alexander of Medicis, and Aldobrandini, who all three were afterwards raised to St. Peter’s chair, under the names of Marcellus II, Clement VIII, and Leo XI. Something like what St. Austin relates of St. John of Egypt happened to St. Philip Neri and St. Catherine of Ricci. For having some time entertained together a commerce of letters, to satisfy their mutual desire of seeing each other, whilst he was detained at Rome she appeared to him in a vision, and they conversed together a considerable time, each doubtless being in a rapture. This St. Philip Neri, though most circumspect in giving credit to or in publishing visions, declared, saying that Catherine de Ricci, whilst living, had appeared to him in vision, as his disciple Galloni assures us in his life. 1 And the continuators of Bollandus inform us that this was confirmed by the oaths of five witnesses.2 Bacci, in his life of St. Philip, mentions the same thing, and Pope Gregory XV, in his bull for the canonization of St. Philip Neri, affirms that whilst this saint lived at Rome he conversed a considerable time with Catherine of Ricci, a nun, who was then at Prat, in Tuscany.3 Most wonderful were the raptures of St. Catherine in meditating on the passion of Christ, which was her daily exercise, but to which she totally devoted herself every week from Thursday noon to three o’clock in the afternoon on Friday. After a long illness she passed from this mortal life to everlasting bliss and the possession of the object of all her

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 180 desires, on the feast of the Purification of our Lady, on the 2nd of February, in 1589, the sixty-seventh year of her age. The ceremony of her beatification was performed by Clement XII in 1732, and that of her canonization by Benedict XIV in 1746. Her festival is deferred to the 13th of February. 1 Gallon. apud Contin Bolland. Acta Sanctorum, Maii, t. 6, p. 503, col. 2, n. 146. 2 Ibid. p. 504, col. 2. 3 In Bullar. Cherubini, t. 4, p. 8.

— Excerpted from Vol. II of “The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints” by the Rev. Alban Butler, the 1864 edition published by D. & J. Sadlier, & Company

Patron: Against illness; sick people

Things to Do:

Read St. Catherine de Ricci, V., O.S.D. - EWTN.com and the full text of her letters.

Daily Readings for: February 13, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. 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.

RECIPES

Creme Brulee Creole Fastnachts King Cake (New Orleans’ Style)

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Scalloped Ham and Potatoes Shrove Tuesday Buns II

ACTIVITIES

Carnival or Mardi Gras Habits of Prayer in the Family Lenten Customs of the Russian Germans Pre-Lent, or Carnival in the Home

PRAYERS

The Canticle of the Passion Prayer for the Feast of St. Catherine de Ricci

LIBRARY

A Parent’s Blueprint for Making Youth Holy | Rev. Daniel Egan S.A. Women as Guardians of Purity | Alice von Hildebrand

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Ordinary Time: February 14th

Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: Quinquagesima Sunday

A leper came to him (and kneeling down) begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean (Mark 1:40-42). The feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, which is ordinarily celebrated today, is superseded by the Sunday liturgy.

Sunday Readings The first reading is taken from the Book of Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 and concerns the regulations enforced by the priests regarding certain bodily diseases which made a person unclean and a menace to the health of his neighbors. The second reading is from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 10:31, 11:1 and speaks of our imitation of Paul as he imitates Christ for the sake of the Gospel, as well as of the unity of the Church of God. The Gospel is from St. Mark 1:40-45. We see both the divine power and the divine compassion of Jesus in this act of healing. The divine power was necessary in all instantaneous cures. Even if the diseases were curable, the ordinary process of nature took time to fight off the causes and to return to normality. Therefore, where there was an instantaneous recovery some power above nature, some supernatural cause brought it about. But where the disease was incurable, as real leprosy then was, to remove it by a simple word of command was more emphatically still the result of divine power. This divine power Jesus had, for he was himself divine, the Son of God. His compassion for suffering humanity was, however, co-terminus with his power, it

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 183 was also divine. It was out of compassion for the sad lot of the human race on earth that he descended to man’s level, becoming man, equal to us in all things except sin, in order to suffer with us and for us. By his human sufferings he made an atonement, a satisfaction for all the sins of the world —a satisfaction which all mankind could never make—to his heavenly Father, and so obtained for us God’s pardon. At the same time, 'by joining our human nature to his divine nature, he brought us into the divine orbit and made us adopted sons of God and heirs of the eternal life of the Blessed Trinity. Because this seems almost too good to be true, there are men who deny it or refuse to accept it. Such men make the mistake of measuring the infinite compassion of God with the limited yardstick of their own finite and puny compassion. Thanks be to God, for his infinite compassion! Thanks be to God, for Christ his Son, who came and dwelt amongst us! He put heaven and a share in the life of God within our reach; he has shown us how to attain them, giving in his Church and the sacraments, all the necessary aids. But we still need all of Christ’s compassion if we are to get there. Because of our inclination to sin and because of the many times we unfortunately give in to that inclination, nothing but the mercy of God can save us from our own folly. However, that mercy is available, if only we ask for it. What we sinners need is the faith and confidence of the leper in today’s gospel reading. He believed firmly in the power and the mercy of Jesus. “If you will, you can make me clean,” was his approach to Jesus. This should be our approach too, if we have the misfortune to fall into serious sin. Jesus does will and does want our salvation. His incarnation, and death on the cross, proves that. The fact that he left the power to forgive sins to his Church is another proof of both his will and desire to help us. “All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth,” he stated. Part of that power which he left to his Church is in the sacrament of penance where the leprosy of sin can be washed away and the sinner restored to new and perfect spiritual health. What folly for any Christian then, to commit sin and isolate himself, like the unclean leper, from God. But it is greater folly still, to remain in this unclean state when the cure for his disease is so easily available to any sincere penitent.

— Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O’Sullivan, O.F.M.

Commentary on the Readings for Quinquagesima Sunday

Jesus said to him, “Receive thy sight, thy faith has saved thee” (Gospel).

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“We are going up to Jerusalem,” city of His Great Sacrifice, during Lent. His intimate followers were spiritually blind to the need of a Good Friday. In this picture we even see them angrily trying to hold back one who wanted to see the need of Lenten penance–faith which lives by love: love for God, love for neighbor (Epistle). Where there is love, there is no labor; but if there is labor, it is loved. The Introit, Prayer and Gradual inspire us with confidence as we too, “go up” with faith (Offertory) and charity (Communion Verse).

Excerpted from My Sunday Missal, Confraternity of the Precious Blood

Daily Readings for: February 14, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, who teach us that you abide in hearts that are just and true, grant that we may be so fashioned by your grace as to become a dwelling pleasing to you. 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.

RECIPES

Spring, Fall or Winter Sunday Dinner Menu

ACTIVITIES

Teaching Children About Sickness and Death

PRAYERS

Prayer for a Sick Person Ordinary Time, Pre-Lent: Table Blessing 2

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Ordinary Time, Pre-Lent: Table Blessing 2 Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Ordinary Time (2nd Plan) Litany for the Sick and Afflicted

LIBRARY

Mental Illness: ‘A Real and Authentic Social Health Care Emergency’ | Pope Benedict XVI

View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-02-14

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Ordinary Time: February 15th

Monday of the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time; St. Claude de la Colombiere, priest (some places) Old Calendar: Saints Faustinus and Jovita, martyrs

The Jesuit Priest St. Claude de la Colombière was the first to believe in the mystical revelations of the Sacred Heart given to St. Margaret Mary in Paray le Monial Convent, France. Thanks to his support, St. Margaret Mary’s superior also believed, and propagation of the devotion to the Sacred heart was started. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Sts. Faustinus and Jovita, two martyrs of Brescia, in Italy, where they are the patrons of the city. A late account of their martyrdom makes them two brothers, one, Faustinus, a priest and the other, Jovita, a deacon.

St. Claude de la Colombière Claude La Colombiere was born on 2nd February 1641 as the third child of the notary Bertrand La Colombière and Margaret Coindat, in St. Symphorien d’Ozon near Lyon in the Southeastern France. His family was well-known, pious and had a good social status. After the family moved to Vienne Claude began his early education there, completing his studies in rhetoric and philosophy in Lyon. It was during this period that Claude first sensed his vocation to the religious life in the Society of Jesus. However, from one of his early

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 187 vocation to the religious life in the Society of Jesus. However, from one of his early notations, we know that he “had a terrible aversion for the life embraced”. This affirmation is not hard to understand by any who are familiar with the life of Claude, for he was very close to his family and friends and much inclined to the arts and literature and an active social life. On the other hand, he was not a person to be led primarily by his sentiments. At the age of 17 he entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Avignon. In 1660 he moved from the Novitiate to the College, also in Avignon, where he pronounced his first vows and completed his studies in philosophy. Afterwards he was a professor of grammar and literature in the same school for another five years. In 1666 he went to the College of Clermont in Paris for his studies in theology. Already noted for his tact, poise and dedication to the humanities, Claude was assigned by superiors in Paris the additional responsibility of tutoring the children of King Louis XIV’s Minister of Finance, Jean Baptiste Colbert. His theological studies concluded and now a priest, Claude returned to Lyon. For a time he was teacher in the College, then full-time preacher and moderator of several Marian congregations. Claude became noted for solid and serious sermons. They were ably directed at specific audiences and, faithful to their inspiration from the gospel, communicated to his listeners serenity and confidence in God. His published sermons produced and still produce significant spiritual fruits. Given the place and the short duration of his ministry, his sermons are surprisingly fresh in comparison with those of better-known orators. The year 1674 was a decisive one for Claude, the year of his Third Probation at Maison Saint-Joseph in Lyon. During the customary month of the Exercises the Lord prepared him for the mission for which he had been chosen. His spiritual notes from this period allow one to follow step-by-step the battles and triumphs of the spirit, so extraordinarily attracted to everything human, yet so generous with God. He took a vow to observe all the constitutions and rules of the Society of Jesus, a vow whose scope was not so much to bind him to a series of minute observances as to reproduce the sharp ideal of an apostle so richly described by St. Ignatius. So magnificent did this ideal seem to Claude that he adopted it as his program of sanctity. That it was indeed an invitation from Christ himself is evidenced by the subsequent feeling of interior liberation Claude experienced, along with the broadened horizons of the apostolate he witnesses to in his spiritual diary. On 2nd February 1675 he pronounced his solemn profession and was named rector of the College at Paray-le-Monial. Not a few people wondered at this assignment of a talented young Jesuit to such an out-of the-way place as Paray. The explanation seems to

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 188 be in the superiors’ knowledge that there was in Paray an unpretentious religious of the Monastery of the Visitation, Margaret Mary Alacoque, to whom the Lord was revealing the treasures of his Heart, but who was overcome by anguish and uncertainty. She was waiting for the Lord to fulfill his promise and send her “my faithful servant and perfect friend” to help her realize the mission for which he had destined for her: that of revealing to the world the unfathomable riches of his love. After Father Colombière’s arrival and her first conversations with him, Margaret Mary opened her spirit to him and told him of the many communications she believed she had received from the Lord. He assured her he accepted their authenticity and urged her to put in writing everything in their regard, and did all he could to orient and support her in carrying out the mission received. When, thanks to prayer and discernment, he became convinced that Christ wanted the spread of the devotion to his Heart, it is clear from Claude’s spiritual notes that he pledged himself to this cause without reserve. In these notes it is also clear that, even before he became Margaret Mary’s confessor, Claude’s fidelity to the directives of St. Ignatius in the Exercises had brought him to the contemplation of the Heart of Christ as symbol of his love. After a year and half in Paray, in 1676 Father La Colombière left for London. He had been appointed preacher to the Duchess of York - a very difficult and delicate assignment because of the conditions prevailing in England at the time. He took up residence in St. James Palace in October. In addition to sermons in the palace chapel and unremitting spiritual direction both oral and written, Claude dedicated his time to giving thorough instruction to the many who sought reconciliation with the Church they had abandoned. And even if there were great dangers, he had the consolation of seeing many reconciled to it, so that after a year he said: “I could write a book about the mercy of God I’ve seen Him exercise since I arrived here!” The intense pace of his work and the poor climate combined to undermine his health, and evidence of a serious pulmonary disease began to appear. Claude, however, made no changes in his work or life style. All of a sudden, at the end of 1678, he was calumniously accused and arrested in connection with the Titus Oates “papist plot”. After two days he was transferred to the severe King’s Bench Prison where he remained for three weeks in extremely poor conditions until his expulsion from England by royal decree. This suffering further weakened Claude’s health which, with ups and downs, deteriorated rapidly on his return to France. During the summer of 1681 he returned to Paray, in very poor condition. On 15 February 1682, the first Sunday of Lent, towards evening Claude suffered the severe

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 189 hemorrhage which ended his life. On the 16 June 1929 Pope Pius XI beatified Claude La Colombière, and Pope John Paul II declared him a saint on 31 May 1992. The Universal Church celebrates his feast day on February 15. His charism, according to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, was that of bringing souls to God along the gospel way of love and mercy which Christ revealed to us.

Excerpted from Vatican Radio, Joseph Paimpallikunnal

Patron: Toy makers; turners.

Things to Do:

Visit this website for more information about St. Claude. Read “Spiritual Direction of Saint Claude De Colombière”. Watch this video about St. Claude de la Colombiere. Find more information about St. Claude here.

St. Faustinus and Jovita Faustinus and Jovita were brothers, nobly born, and were zealous professors of the Christian religion, which they preached without fear in their city of Brescia in Lombardy, during the persecution of Adrian. Their remarkable zeal excited the fury of the heathens against them, and procured them a glorious death for their faith. Faustinus, a priest, and Jovita, a deacon, were preaching the Gospel fearlessly in the region when Julian, a pagan officer, apprehended them. They were commanded to adore the sun, but replied that they adored the living God who created the sun to give light to the world. The statue before which they were standing was brilliant and surrounded with golden rays. Saint Jovita, looking at it, cried out: “Yes, we adore the God reigning in heaven, who created the sun. And you, vain statue, turn black, to the shame of those who adore you!” At his word, it turned black. The Emperor commanded that it be cleaned, but the pagan priests had hardly begun to touch it when it fell into ashes. The two brothers were sent to the amphitheater to be devoured by lions, but four of

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 190 those came out and lay down at their feet. They were left without food in a dark jail cell, but Angels brought them strength and joy for new combats. The flames of a huge fire respected them, and a large number of spectators were converted at the sight. Finally sentenced to decapitation, they knelt down and received the death blow. The city of Brescia honors them as its chief patrons and possesses their relics, and a very ancient church in that city bears their names.

— Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler’s Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894); Lives of the Saints for Every Day of the Year, edited by Rev. Hugo Hoever, S.O. Cist., Ph.D. (Catholic Book Publishing Co.: New York, 1951-1955).

Patron: Brescia.

Things to Do:

Read more about St. Faustinus and Jovita here and here. Read what the Catholic Encyclopedia has to say about the city in Italy in which they lived. Discover Brescia and if you are a cooking enthusiast try making the authentic Italian dish, risotto allo zafferano, (rice with saffron). Read About: Italian Cuisine and if you are REALLY interested you can learn what arborio rice is. If your not interested in the finer details you can make the recipe in Catholic Culture’s database.

Today’s station is at St. George’s. Pope St. Gregory established a diaconia, an institution that cared for the poor, at the site of this church. The area has a special place in the history of Rome, as an ancient tradition claims that it was here that Romulus killed his brother Remus before founding the city.

Daily Readings for: February 15, 2021

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Daily Readings for: February 15, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, who teach us that you abide in hearts that are just and true, grant that we may be so fashioned by your grace as to become a dwelling pleasing to you. 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.

RECIPES

Risotto alla Bresciana

ACTIVITIES

Dramatics at Home for Elementary Children

PRAYERS

Prayer from Ash Wednesday to Saturday Sacrifice Beads Lent Table Blessing 1 Book of Blessings: Blessing and Distribution of Ashes

LIBRARY

Spiritual Warfare: The Occult Has Demonic Influence | Bishop Donald Montrose D.D.

View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-02-15

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Ordinary Time: February 16th

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time Old Calendar: Holy Face of Jesus; St. Juliana (Hist); St. Onesimus (Hist); Mardi Gras; Plentone; Carnival; Fastelaven; Collup Monday; Carnevale; Shrove Tuesday; Fat Tuesday

The day before Ash Wednesday is a celebration marking the start of the penitential season of Lent. Before Lent — a time of prayer, fasting and penance through a period of 40 days until Easter — Catholics and others celebrate with festivities known by several names. In the United States, it’s most commonly known as Mardi Gras, French for Fat Tuesday. The tradition includes consuming foods containing animal fat before the beginning of Lent. Catholics enjoy a day of festivities, sometimes hosting their own carnivals or parties. The largest Mardi Gras celebration in the United States takes place in New Orleans. The celebration is known as Carnival in other parts of the world. Catholics also prepare for Lent by spiritually removing themselves of sin through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. That is why this day is also referred to as Shrove Tuesday, from the old English word shrive, meaning to confess all sins. Some countries, including England and Ireland, celebrate Pancake Day by consuming what else — pancakes. For centuries, it’s been a tradition to eat pancakes or other foods made with butter, eggs and fat, which would be given up during Lent. No matter what it’s called, the day before Lent is a reminder of the sacrifice that is to come in the next 40 days. We also are reminded of the sacrifices Jesus made as he fasted and prayed for 40 days after his Baptism and before the beginning of his ministry. Catholics are called to fast, pray and confess sins during this penitential season. For more ideas on making a good Lent, see Recipes and Activities for Mardi Gras. Excepted from the Archdiocese of St. Louis

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Excepted from the Archdiocese of St. Louis Please see Recipes, Activities, Prayers and Documents for Tuesday Before Ash Wednesday

Today is the Feast day of the Holy Face of Jesus. It is a moveable feast and is always on Shrove Tuesday which is the day before Ash Wednesday. Devotion to the Holy Face was revealed by Jesus to Sr. Marie of St. Peter (1816-1848) a Carmelite nun of Tours in France. The primary purpose of the devotion is to make reparation for sins against the first three commandments. See this article for more information. Historically today is the feast of St. Juliana, a Christian virgin of Cumae, Italy, martyred for the faith when she refused to marry a Roman prefect. She suffered terrible ordeals and was finally beheaded. One tradition reports that Juliana actually suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia and that her relics were transferred to Cumae. It is also the feast of St. Onesimus martyr and former slave. He is mentioned in St. Paul’s Letter to Philemon as the slave of Philemon in Colossae, Phrygia, who ran away.

Preparing for Lent No Lent is worthy of the name without a personal effort of self-reformation, of leading a life more in accordance with God’s commands and an attempt by some kind of voluntary self-denial to make reparation for past negligence. But the Church, together with the personal effort which she requires of all of us, her children, sets up in the sight of God the cross of Christ, the Lamb of God who took upon Himself the sins of man and who is the price of our redemption. As Holy Week approaches the thought of the passion

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 194 becomes increasingly predominant until it occupies our whole attention, but from the very beginning of Lent it is present, for it is in union with the sufferings of Christ that the whole army of Christians begins on the holy “forty days”, setting out for Easter with the glad certitude of sharing in His resurrection. “Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation.” The Church puts Lent before us in the very same terms that formerly she put it before the catechumens and public penitents who were preparing for the Easter graces of baptism and sacramental reconciliation. For us, as it was for them, Lent should be a long retreat, one in which under the guidance of the Church we are led to the practice of a more perfect Christian life. She shows us the example of Christ and by fasting and penance associates us with his sufferings that we may have a share in His redemption. We should remember that Lent is not an isolated personal affair of our own. The Church avails herself of the whole of the mystery of redemption. We belong to an immense concourse, a great body in which we are united to the whole of humanity which has been redeemed by Christ. The liturgy of this season does not fail to remind us of it. This, then, is the meaning of Lent for us: a season of deepening spirituality in union with the whole Church which thus prepares to celebrate the Paschal mystery. Each year, following Christ its Head, the whole Christian people takes up with renewed effort its struggle against evil, against Satan and the sinful man that each one of us bears within himself, in order at Easter to draw new life from the very springs of divine life and to continue its progress towards heaven.

Excerpted from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal

Shrove Tuesday Here are a few suggestions to help you celebrate the final day before Lent.

Today is Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras! Try some of the traditional recipes linked here. When eggs were among the foods that were forbidden by the Church during Lent, people would use them up on Fat Tuesday by mixing up large quantities of pancakes or doughnuts (also known as fastnachts). Read Maria von Trapp’s explanation of the traditions associated with Carnival, or Fat Tuesday here. Sing this American favorite, Turkey in the Straw, with your children as part of

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your Mardi Gras celebrations. Discuss Jesus’ Gospel teaching for today, He who would be first must be last, with your children and ask them how they can put others in the family before themselves. Keep it simple and practical — setting the table, washing the dishes, folding laundry, watching the littler ones, doing homework right away. What does it mean to become a child spiritually, that we may enter Heaven and be received by Christ Himself? We can learn much from St. Therese of the Child Jesus about spiritual childhood. Begin reading her Story of a Soul. Read Fr. William Saunder’s article, Shrove Tuesday and Shrovetide, from the Catholic Culture Library.

St. Juliana St. Juliana suffered martyrdom during the Diocletian persecution. Both the Latin and Greek Churches mention a holy martyr Juliana in their lists of saints. The oldest historical notice of her is found in the “Martryologium Hieronymianum” for 16 February, the place of birth being given as Cumae in Campania (In Campania Cumbas, natale Julianae). It is true that the notice is contained only in the one chief manuscript of the above-named martyrology (the Codex Epternacensis), but that this notice is certainly authentic is clear from a letter of St. Gregory the Great, which testifies to the special veneration of St. Juliana in the neighbourhood of Naples. A pious matron named Januaria built a church on one of her estates, for the consecration of which she desired relics ( sanctuaria, that is to say, objects which had been brought into contact with the graves) of Sts. Severinus and Juliana. Gregory wrote to Fortunatus, Bishop of Naples, telling him to accede to the wishes of Januaria (“Gregorii Magni epist.”, lib. IX, ep. xxxv, in Migne P.L., LXXXVII, 1015). The Acts of St. Juliana used by Bede in his “Martyrologium” are purely legendary. According to the account given in this legend, St. Juliana lived in Nicomedia and was

www.catholicculture.org LITURGICAL YEAR 2020-2021, VOL. 2 196 betrothed to the Senator Eleusius. Her father Africanus was a pagan and hostile to the Christians. In the persecution of Maximianus, Juliana was beheaded after suffering frightful torturers. Soon after a noble lady, named Sephonia, came through Nicomedia and took the saint’s body with her to Italy, and had it buried in Campania. Evidently it was this alleged translation that caused the martyred Juliana, honoured in Nicomedia, to be identified with St. Juliana of Cumae, although they are quite distinct persons. The veneration of St. Juliana of Cumae became very widespread, especially in the Netherlands. At the beginning of the thirteenth century her remains were transferred to Naples. The description of this translation by a contemporary writer is still extant. The feast of the saint is celebrated in the Latin Church on 16 February, in the Greek on 21 December. Her Acts describe the conflicts which she is said to have with the devil; she is represented in pictures with a winged devil whom she leads by a chain.

— Excerpted from The Catholic Encyclopedia

St. Onesimus St. Onesimus was a slave to Philemon, an influential man who had been converted by St. Paul. Onesimus offended Philemon and fled in order to escape any sort of retribution. He then met St. Paul while Paul was in a Roman prison. Shortly after, Onesimus was baptized. Paul then sent a letter to Philemon asking for Onesimus’ freedom, so Onesimus could become one of his own assistants. This letter is the Epistle to Philemon and entreats Philemon to accept Onesimus “no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me.” Philemon pardoned Onesimus and he returned to faithfully serve St. Paul. We know that St. Paul made him, with Tychicus, the bearer of his Epistle to the Colossians. (Col. 4:7-9) Later, as St. Jerome and other fathers testify, he became an ardent preacher of the Gospel and succeeded St. Timothy as bishop of Ephesus. He was cruelly tortured in Rome, for 18 days, by a governor who was infuriated by his preaching on the merit of celibacy. Onesimus’ legs and thighs were broken with bludgeons before he was stoned to death.

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His martyrdom occurred under Domitian in the year 90.

Excerpted from Catholic News Agency

Daily Readings for: February 16, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. 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.

RECIPES

Beef Collops Minestrone

ACTIVITIES

Homemade Prayer Book for Preschool Children

PRAYERS

Prayer from Ash Wednesday to Saturday Lent Table Blessing 1 Prayer Before a Crucifix Prayer of St. Ephrem

LIBRARY

Accept the call to be virtuous, for happiness is achieved by sacrifice | Pope Saint John Paul II

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View this item on CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-02-16

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