Saints + Scripture

Better Late than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

The Popish Plot
Summer Book Club Bonus: "Uncle Mike"

'Tis the Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest & Martyr, O.F.M. Conv. (1894-1941, the "Apostle of Consecration to Mary;" A.K.A. Raimund Kolbe), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, YouTube-link The True Enlightenment!, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

A Polish Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the [Nazi] death camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Eusebius of Rome, Priest (died circa 357), persecuted in the reign of the Roman emperor Constantius II for opposing the Arian heresy; on the site of his house stands the titular church of Sant'Eusebio: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Heresy & Wikipedia-link Sant'Eusebio.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Antonio Primaldo & Companions, Martyrs (died 1480, A.K.A. the Martyrs of Otranto), martyred for refusing to convert to Islam in the reign of the Ottoman emperor Mehmed II the Conqueror: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link Otranto.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Aimone Taparelli, Priest, O.P. (circa 1395-1495): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time: Morning
The Book of Ezekiel, chapter two, verse eight thru chapter three, verse four;
Psalm One Hundred Nineteen, verses fourteen, twenty-four, seventy-two, one hundred three, one hundred eleven, & one hundred thirty-one;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter eighteen, verses one thru five, ten, & twelve thru twenty-four.

Commentary: Video reflection by Father Joseph Vacco, O.F.M.: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe
The Book of Wisdom, chapter three, verses one thru nine;
or, the First Letter of John, chapter three, verses fourteen thru eighteen;
Psalm One Hundred Sixteen, verse fifteen;
The Gospel according to John, chapter fifteen, verses twelve thru sixteen.

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

Friends, today we celebrate the feast of Maximilian Kolbe, the great saint of Auschwitz. A prisoner from Fr. Kolbe’s barracks escaped, and in retaliation, the Nazi guards picked out ten other prisoners at random for execution. When one of those chosen broke down in tears, protesting that he was the father of a family, Kolbe stepped forward and said, “I am a Catholic priest; take me and spare this man.”

Priests are called “father” because they are life-givers in the spiritual order. Spiritual fathers protect their children; they teach them; they are there for them; and at the limit, they even give their lives for them. And that’s what we see in today’s great saint.

Jesus gathered around himself a band of Apostles whom he shaped according to his own mind and heart and whom he subsequently sent on mission. Priests, down through the centuries—from Augustine and Aquinas to Francis Xavier and John Henry Newman to John Paul II and your own pastor—are the descendants of those first friends and apprentices of the Lord. They have been needed in every age, and they are needed today, for the kingdom of heaven must be proclaimed, the poor must be served, God must be worshiped, and the sacraments must be administered.

Mass Readings—Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Vigil
The First Book of Chronicles, chapter fifteen, verses three, four, fifteen, & sixteen & chapter sixteen, verses one & two;
Psalm One Hundred Thirty-two, verses six & seven, nine & ten, & thirteen & fourteen;
The First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter fifteen, verses fifty-four(b) thru fifty-seven;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter eleven, verses twenty-seven & twenty-eight.

†

Bible Study—Pauline Epistles
The Letter to the Philippians, chapter one (of four, verses one thru thirty);

Commentary: I. Address: Greeting (Philippians, 1-2) & Thanksgiving (1:3-11), II. Progress of the Gospel (1:12-26), & III. Instructions for the Community: Steadfastness in Faith (1:27-30).

Papal Quote o' the Day

"You must trust in God, but also in yourselves. You must trust in the admirable energies that God has given to every person for the development of personality & in a chosen form of life."
—Pope St. John XXIII (1881-1963, feast day: 11 October)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"Dear Lord, Thow knowest that I do not serve Thee for the sake of a reward but simply because I love Thee, & in order to save souls."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Let us remember that love lives through sacrifice & is nourished by giving. Without sacrifice, there is no love."
—St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941, feast day: 14 August)