Saints + Scripture

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

'Tis the festival of Saint Julian the Hospitaller (born circa 7, A.K.A. the Poor): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Eulalia of Barcelona, Virgin & Martyr (circa 290-303; also spelt Aulaire, etc.), 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 Sedulius, Priest (died circa 450, A.K.A. Siadhel), composer of the hymn "A solis ortus cardine" ("From the Pivot of the Sun's Rising"): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Hymn.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Æthelwold of Lindisfarne, Bishop & Abbot (died circa 740; also spelt Ethelwald, etc.), who contributed to the production of the Lindisfarne Gospels: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Evangelion.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Benedict of Aniane, Abbot, O.S.B. (circa 747-821, the "Second Benedict;" A.K.A. Witiza), in augural abbot of Kornelimünster Abbey, formally the Abbey of the Abbot Saint Benedict of Aniane & Pope Cornelius: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Abbey.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Antony Kauleas, Bishop & Abbot (circa 829-901, A.K.A. Anthony II of Constantinople), eighty-eighth (LXXXVIII) Patriarch of Constantinople: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Patriarch.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Genesis, chapter one, verse twenty thru chapter two, verse four(a);
Psalm Eight, verses four & five, six & seven, & eight & nine;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter seven, verses one thru thirteen.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who have imposed their interpretation of the Law on the Israelites. Keep in mind that the first Christians and the writers of the first Christian documents were all Jews, or at least people formed by a Jewish thought world. They made sense of Jesus in terms of what were, to them, the Scriptures.

Jesus himself was an observant Jew, and the themes and images of the Holy Scriptures were elemental for him. He presented himself as the one who would not undermine the Law and the Prophets but fulfill them.

All of those social and religious conventions that had effectively divided Israel, he sought to overcome and expose as fraudulent. He reached out to everyone: rich and poor, healthy and sick, saints and sinners. And he embodied the obedience of Israel: “I have come only to do the will of the one who sent me.” “My food is to do the will of my heavenly Father.”

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

Scripture Study—Wisdom Books
The Book of the Proverbs, chapter twelve (verses one thru twenty-eight).

Commentary: Wise Sayings of Solomon (cont'd; Proverbs, 12:1-28).

Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 23
The Book of Exodus, chapter nine, verses thirteen thru thirty-five.

Commentary: The Seventh Plague: Thunder & Hail (Exodus, 9:13-35).

The Imitation of Christ
Book I: Useful Admonitions for the Spiritual Life
Chapter 23: "Meditation on Death"

Proverb o' the Day (Proverbs, 12:28)

"In the path of righteousness is life,
but the way of error leads to death."

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Welcome Christ into your lives. Without the experience of this interior meeting with Christ, life can all too easily be wasted on illusory & consumerist experiences. These obviously include the suicidal experience of drugs or the egoistic one of using our neighbor & rejecting solidarity."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"A word or a smile is often enough to put fresh life in a despondent soul."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Beside each believer stands an angel as a protector & shepherd leading him to life."
—St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church (329-379, feast day: 2 January)