Saints + Scripture

The Popish Plot
Vlog Post: Prayer Time Out: "The Angelus"

'Tis the festival of Saint Isfael, Bishop (floruit sixth century, of Menevia; incorrectly Anglicized as Ishmael): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Lutgardis of Aywières, Abbess, O.Cist. (1182-1246, A.K.A. of the Sacred Heart, of Tongeren; also spelt Lutgarde): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Thomas Redyng, Religious & Martyr (died 1537), martyred in the reign of the English king Henry VIII, one of the Carthusian Martyrs of London: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (List); Martyr-link Charterhouse & Wikipedia-link Charterhouse.

Scripture of This Day
Mass Readings—Saturday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
The First Book of Kings, chapter nineteen, verses nineteen, twenty, & twenty-one;
Psalm Sixteen, verses one(b), two(a), & five; seven & eight; & nine & ten;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter five, verses thirty-three thru thirty-seven.

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

Friends, today’s Gospel speaks of vows. It calls to mind the story of Ann Russell Miller, a fabulously wealthy San Francisco socialite. Ann had ten children and nineteen grandchildren, was a denizen of the finest clubs, and liked to vacation on her yacht in the Mediterranean.

But Ann was also a very devout Catholic, and she and her husband made a vow that whoever died first, the surviving partner would dedicate his or her life to God. So when Ann’s husband died relatively young of cancer, Ann resolved to give her life to God in the most dramatic way.

She threw one more huge party for her friends—and then gave everything away and joined the cloistered Carmelite sisters in Des Plaines, Illinois. She now wears the simple brown habit of a Carmelite religious and lives a life of utter devotion, in poverty, chastity, and obedience. She sleeps on wooden planks covered by a thin mattress; she eats the simplest meatless dishes served in the convent refectory. She is no longer Ann Russell Miller; she is Sr. Mary Joseph of the Trinity.

Sr. Mary fulfilled the vow she made to her husband by taking new vows as a religious. The new vows she now appreciates not as burdens but as a means to freedom. For now, in the most radical sense, she is free to give her life utterly to God.

Now, I realize that her path is a radical one, and that not everyone is called to this sort of total surrender. But everyone is indeed called to the spirit of the evangelical counsels, for we must all become detached from wealth, pleasure, power, and honor. They don’t matter at the end of the day. Only God matters.

Video reflection by Deacon Bernard Nojadera: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Papal Quote o' This Day

"It could be said that the Cross, its awful scene, its shameful story, would create an emptiness around itself, would repel the contemplation of humans. Instead, however, the Cross attracts. Jesus Himself predicted it: 'When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to Myself.'"
—Pope Bl. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 26 September)

Little Flower Quote o' This Day

"The nearer one gets to God, the simpler one becomes."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' This Day

"Jesus. Maria."
—St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio, 1887-1968; feast day: 23 September)