Saints + Scripture

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

The Popish Plot
G. K. Chesterton's The Defendant: "Skeletons"

'Tis the festival of Our Lady of Banneux (apparitions 15 January-2 March 1933, A.K.A. Our Lady of the Poor, the Queen of Nations): Madonna-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Paul the First Hermit (circa 226-342; A.K.A. of Thebes, the Anchorite): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Maurus, Abbot, O.S.B. (512-584, also spelt Maur), founding abbot of Glanfeuil Abbey (A.K.A. the Abbey of Saint Maurus): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Abbey.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Pierre of Castelnau, Religious & Martyr, O.Cist. (died 1208, Anglicized as Peter), martyred by the Cathers (A.K.A. the Albigensians), which was the proximate cause of the Albigensian Crusade: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Crusade.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Arnold Janssen, Priest, S.V.D. (1837-1909), founder of the Society of the Divine Word (S.V.D.), the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (S.Sp.S.), & the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters (S.Sp.S.A.P.), the "Pink Sisters:" Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Order-link S.V.D. & Wikipedia-link S.V.D., Order-link S.Sp.S. & Wikipedia-link S.Sp.S., & Wikipedia-link S.Sp.S.A.P.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Nikolaus Groß, Martyr (1898-1945, Anglicized as Gross), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter two, verses five thru twelve;
Psalm Eight, verses two(a/b) & five, six & seven, & eight & nine;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter one, verses twenty-one thru twenty-eight.

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

Friends, today’s Gospel finds Jesus encountering a man with an unclean spirit in the synagogue at Capernaum. Isn’t it interesting that the first unclean spirit that Jesus confronts is in the holy place, the place of worship? And what marks this man? Though he is a single person, an individual, he speaks in the plural: "What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?"

The diabolic is, literally, a scattering power: diabalein. Sin separates us from one another—Sunde, related to sundering—but it also divides us interiorly, setting one part of the self against another. We’ve all experienced this: our minds are divided, our wills are split, and our emotions militate against our deepest convictions.

The authoritative voice of Jesus brings the man back to himself. And friends, this is precisely the effect that Jesus’ voice has had up and down the ages. When you allow his word to reach deep down within you, you get knitted back together. When Jesus becomes the clear center of your life, then your mind, your will, your emotions, your private life, your public life—all of it—finds its harmonious place around that center.

Video reflection by Father Joseph Rogliano: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"The Spirit of God is the Spirit of life, Who is capable of causing life to burst forth even where everything seemed dead & withered. That is why we can & must have confidence. Not only can we, but we must!"
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"I felt it was far more valuable to speak to God than to speak about Him."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"I remember once inviting a woman to see me who had just lost her eighteen-year-old daughter. She was very rebellious & had no faith whatever. She said, 'I want to talk about God.' I replied, 'All right, I will talk about Him for five minutes, & then you talk about Him or against Him for forty-five, & then we will have a discussion.' Well, I was talking about two minutes & she interrupted me. She stuck her finger under my nose & said, 'Listen, if God is good, why did He take my daughter?' I said, 'In order that you might be here, learning something about the purpose & meaning of life.' And that is what she learned. She found it & discovered it."
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)