Saints + Scripture — Tuesday, 5 February

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

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

Tuesday, 5 February was the Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin & Martyr (circa 230-251; of Sicily, of Catania, of Palermo), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Decius, a victim of the Decian Persecution: Martyr-link ūna, Martyr-link duæ, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

She is one of seven women, who, along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. She is patron saint of breast cancer patients, martyrs, wet nurses, bellfounders, bakers, [against] fire, earthquakes, & eruptions of Mount Etna.

Wikipedia-link Canon

Quoth Minute Meditations from the Popes:

O Lord, teach me the lessons of love that guided St. Agatha as she suffered & died for her Faith. Give me the courage to see my own suffering as an encounter with Your Cross.

'Twas also the festival of Saint Avitus of Vienne, Bishop (circa 450-525, A.K.A. Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Brother of St. Apollinaris of Valence [5 October].

'Twas also the festival of Saint Bertulf of Renty, Priest & Abbot, O.S.B. (circa 640-705, also spelt Bertoul, etc.): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twas also the festival of Saint Adelaide of Vilich, Abbess, O.S.B. (circa 970-1015; also spelt Adelheid, A.K.A. Alice, of Guelders): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twas also the festival of Blessed Elisabetta Canori Mora, O.SS.T. (1774-1825): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of That Day
Mass Readings—Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter twelve, verses one thru four;
Psalm Twenty-two, verses twenty-six(b) & twenty-seven, twenty-eight & thirty, & thirty-one & thirty-two;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter five, verses twenty-one thru forty-three.

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

Friends, the centerpiece of today’s Gospel is Jesus healing the hemorrhaging woman. Having a flow of blood for twelve years meant that anyone with whom she came in contact would be considered unclean. She couldn’t, in any meaningful sense, participate in the ordinary life of her society.

The woman touches Jesus—and how radical and dangerous an act this was, since it should have rendered Jesus unclean. But so great is her faith, that her touch, instead, renders her clean. Jesus effectively restores her to full participation in her community.

But what is perhaps most important is this: Jesus implicitly puts an end to the ritual code of the book of Leviticus. What he implies is that the identity of the new Israel, the Church, would not be through ritual behaviors but through imitation of him. Notice, please, how central this is in the New Testament. We hear elsewhere in the Gospels that Jesus declares all foods clean, and throughout the letters of Paul we hear a steady polemic against the Law. All of this is meant to show that Jesus is at the center of the new community.

Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Memorial of St. Agatha
The First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter one, verses twenty-six thru thirty-one;
Psalm Thirty-one, verses three(c/d) & four, six & eight(a/b), & sixteen(b/c) & seventeen;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter nine, verses twenty-three thru twenty-six.

Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 16
The Book of Exodus, chapter seven, verses eight thru thirteen.

Commentary: Aaron's Miraculous Rod (Exodus, 7:8-13).

Papal Quote o' That Day

"Love gives suffering meaning & makes it acceptable. It is possible to have love without suffering; but suffering without love has no meaning. Suffering accepted with love, as Christ & the Saints accepted it, acquires inestimable value."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Little Flower Quote o' That Day

"Knowing that beyond the dark clouds my Sun is shining, I should never dare to change my place."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' That Day

"If a man takes a poison & is given an antidote, it makes no difference whether he throws the antidote out of the window or whether he just neglects it. Because the poison is operating in his system, death is certain. Scripture asks us, “How shall we escape if we neglect?”—just neglect. How often in the gospels, for example, it is said, “Thou didst not, thou didst not, thou didst not”—the refusal to walk the extra mile. The mole once had eyes to see, but it groveled down in the bowels of the earth, & nature, as if seated in judgment, said, “Take the talent away!” And the talent that is not used as taken away. This is the first reason we have to begin to act differently, to resist the forces of evil."
—Venerable Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979)

The Rebel Black Dot Gospel Song o' That Day
Sam Cooke, "Touch the Hem of His Garment" from Portrait of a Legend, 1951-1964 (The Last Angry Exodus Man)