Saints + Scripture: Eastertide — Saturday, 12 May

The Long Road Back, Part III of III
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Saturday, 12 May was the Optional Memorial of Saints Nereus & Achilleus, Martyrs (died 98, of Terracina), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan: Martyrs-link, Martyr-link November, Martyr-link Alpha, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

The old Roman lists of the fifth century, which passed over into the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, contained the names of the two martyrs Nereus & Achilleus, whose grave was in the Catacomb of Domitilla on the Via Ardeatina. Nereus & Achilleus are also mentioned in the Sacramentarium Gelasianum. The Basilica of Ss. Nereus & Achilleus in the Via Ardeatina, to which the relics of the saints were translated in the sixth century, was erected above the burial site of the two saints & is [from] the latter part of the fourth century.

'Twas also the Optional Memorial of Saint Pancras, Martyr (circa 289-304), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian & Maximian, a victim of the Great Persecution: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Persecution.

Commentary: Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

Saint Pancras was a Roman citizen who converted to Christianity, & was beheaded for his faith at the age of fourteen, around the year 304. His name is Greek & means, "the one who holds everything."

'Twas also the festival of Saint Ephram of Jerusalem, Bishop (floruit 135, also spelt Efrem): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twas also the festival of Saint Dominic of the Causeway, Priest & Hermit (1019-1109, A.K.A. Domingo García), so-called because he built bridges & causeways to ease the pilgrimage along the Way of Saint James (the Camino de Santiago): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Camino.

Scripture of That Day
Mass Readings—Easter Weekday
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter eighteen, verses twenty-three thru twenty-eight;
Psalm Forty-seven, verses two & three, eight & nine, & ten;
The Gospel according to John, chapter sixteen, verses twenty-three(b) thru twenty-eight.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, today’s Gospel urges us to expect the Father to answer our prayers because he loves us. “On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God.”

Keep in mind that prayer is not designed so much to change God’s mind or to tell God something he doesn’t know. God isn’t like a big city boss or a reluctant pasha whom we have to persuade. He is, rather, the one who wants nothing other than to give us good things—though they might not always be what we want.

The entire point of religion is to make us humble before God and to open us to the path of love. Everything else is more or less a footnote. Liturgy, prayer, the precepts of the Church, the commandments, sacraments, sacramentals—all of it—are finally meant to conform us to the way of love. When they instead turn us away from that path, they have been undermined.

Video reflection by Harry Dudley, D.Min.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of Ss. Nereus & Achilleus
The Book of Revelation, chapter seven, verses nine thru seventeen;
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-four, verse seven;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter ten, verses seventeen thru twenty-two.

Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of St. Pancras
The Book of Revelation, chapter nineteen, verses one & five thru nine(a);
Psalm One Hundred Three, verse one;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter eleven, verses twenty-five thru thirty.

Papal Quote o' That Day

"Suffering is a necessary ingredient of holiness. Love is like it. The love that Christ teaches us & that He first lived to give us an example is a merciful love, a love that atones & saves through suffering."
—Pope St. John Paul II (the Great, 1920-2005; feast day: 22 October)

Little Flower Quote o' That Day

"Your Face, O my sweet Savior, is the divine bouquet of myrrh I want to keep on my heart!"
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' That Day

"Holy Mary, pray for me, a poor sinner."
—St. Bernadette of Lourdes (1844-1879, feast day: 16 April)