Project BLACK MAMBA: Backlog, Part I

Today is the optional memorial of Pope Saint Martin I (d. 655), martyred under the Byzantine Emperor Constans II: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Quoth the bulletin:

St. Martin called a council in the Lateran at which one hundred & five bishops convened. He was known as a martyr who stood up for the right of the Church to establish doctrine even in the face of imperial power.

Scripture of the Day (Today)
Personal Reading
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter eighteen;
The First Letter to the Thessalonians, chapter two.

Mass Readings
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter four, verses twenty-three thru thirty-one;
Psalm Two, verses one thru nine;
The Gospel according to John, chapter three, verses one thru eight.

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On 10 April, we remembered Saint Magdalen of Canossa, F.D.C.C. (1774-1835), foundress of the Canossians, a diverse family of religious orders: Saint-link ūna, Saint-link duae, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Canossians.

Scripture of the Day (Friday)
Mass Readings
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter four, verses one thru twelve;
Psalm One Hundred Eighteen, verses one & two, four, twenty-two thru twenty-seven(A);
The Gospel according to John, chapter twenty-one, verses one thru fourteen.

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On 11 April, we remembered Saint Gemma Galgani, C.P.* (1878-1903), stigmatic: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Our sources disagree as to when Saint Gemma was a member of the Passionists, the *Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ. One source says the Passionists count her as one of their own (a lay member, or tertiary), having been preempted from taking vows by her illness, including the consumption that eventually took her life. Another says the Passionists rejected her, disbelieving her visions. Her spiritual director was a Passionist & she had visions of Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, a Passionist, so, as indicated by the post-nominal letters C.P., I lean toward Saint Gemma Galgani being a Passionist. If I err, I err innocently.

We also remembered Saint Stanislaus of Kraków (1030-1079, A.K.A. Stanisław Szczepanowski), bishop, martyred under King Bolesław II the Cruel: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day (Saturday)
Mass Readings
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter four, verses thirteen thru twenty-one;
Psalm One Hundred Eighteen, verses one, fourteen thru fifteen (A,B), sixteen thru twenty-one;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter sixteen, verses nine thru fifteen.