Saints + Scripture

The Popish Plot
Summer Book Club: "Sleep & Stress"

'Tis the Optional Memorial of Saint Bridget, Religious, O.Ss.S. (circa 1303-1373, of Sweden, of Vadstena; A.K.A. Birgitta Birgersdotter), foundress of the Bridgettines, formally the Order of the Most Holy Savior: Saint-link ūna, Saint-link duæ, YouTube-link The True Enlightenment!, & Wikipedia-link; Bridgettine-link & Wikipedia-link O.Ss.S.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Kinswoman of St. Ingrid of Skänninge [2 September] & mother of St. Catherine of Sweden [24 March].

Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

She was a mystic & saint, & foundress of the Bridgettines, nuns & monks, after the death of her husband of twenty years. She is one of six patron saints of Europe.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Phocas the Gardener, Martyr (died circa 303, of Sinope), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian & Maximian, a victim of the Great Persecution: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Persecution.

'Tis also the festival of Saint John Cassian, Deacon (circa 360-435, A.K.A. the Ascetic, the Roman), founder of the Abbey of Saint Victor: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Abbey.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Krystyn Gondek, Priest & Martyr, O.F.M. (1909-1942, A.K.A. Wojciech Gondek), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, one of the One Hundred Eight Blessed Polish Martyrs: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (List, № 47); Martyrs-link CVIII & Wikipedia-link CVIII.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Micah, chapter six, verses one thru four, six, seven, & eight;
Psalm Fifty, verses five & six, eight & nine, sixteen(d/c) & seventeen, & twenty-one & twenty-three;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twelve, verses thirty-eight thru forty-two.

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

Friends, today in our Gospel some Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign. And Jesus replies, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet,” who was in the belly of the whale for three days and nights.

Jonah was called by God to preach conversion to Nineveh, which is described as an enormously large city. It took, they said, three days to walk through it. I can’t help but think of Nineveh as one of our large, modern cities, a center of all sorts of worldly activity and preoccupation.

What would its conversion look like? A turning back to God as the only enduring good. After hearing the word of Jonah, the Ninevites “proclaimed a fast, and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.” What is the purpose of these ascetic practices? To wean people away from an attachment to worldly pleasures.

Go beyond the mind that you have. Repent. Live as though nothing in this world finally matters. And you will be living in the kingdom of God!

Video reflection by Msgr. James Vlaun (Telecare T.V.): United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of St. Bridget
The Letter to the Galatians, chapter two, verses nineteen & twenty;
Psalm Thirty-four, verse two;
The Gospel according to John, chapter fifteen, verses one thru eight.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"In prayer we seek, find, & converse with God just as we would with an intimate friend. We can speak of our sorrows & joys, our weaknesses & problems, & our desires to be better & to help others to be better, too."
—Pope St. John Paul II (the Great, 1920-2005; feast day: 22 October)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"Let me be possessed by love, going above myself through excess of fervor & ecstasy."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ."
—St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church (347-419, feast day: 30 September)