Saints + Scripture

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

'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 (303-313): Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Persecutions-link & Wikipedia-link Great Persecution.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Sedulius, Priest (died circa 450; A.K.A. Siadhel, Coelius Sedulius, Caelius Sedulius), composer of the hymn "A solis ortus cardine" ("From the Pivot of the Sun's Rising"): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link "A solis ortus cardine."

'Tis also the festival of Saint Æthelwold of Lindisfarne, Bishop & Abbot (died circa 740; also spelt Ethelwald, etc.), ninth (IX) Bishop of Lindisfarne (721-740), , abbot of Old Melrose Abbey, who contributed to the production of the Lindisfarne Gospels: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Lindisfarne & Wikipedia-link Lindisfarne, & Wikipedia-link Lindisfarne Gospels.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Benedict of Aniane, Abbot, O.S.B. (circa 747-821, the "Second Benedict;" A.K.A. Witiza), founding abbot of Kornelimünster Abbey (814-821), formally the Abbey of the Abbot Saint Benedict of Aniane & Pope Cornelius; a foe of the Adoptionist heresy: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Kornelimünster, & Heresy-link & Wikipedia-link Adoptionism.

'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 (893-901), who presided over the Fourth Council of Constantinople (869-870, the eighth [VIII] ecumenical council): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Constantinople, & Council-link & Wikipedia-link Constantinople IV.

'Tis also the festival of Blesseds James Fenn, George Haydock, Thomas Hemerford, John Mundyn, & John Nutter, Priests & Martyrs (died 1584), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I; Haydock is one of the Eighty-five Martyrs of England & Wales; Fenn, Haydock, Mundyn, & Nutter are four of the one hundred sixty Martyrs of Douai: Martyr-link Juliett Foxtrot & Wikipedia-link Juliett Foxtrot, Martyr-link Golf Hotel & Wikipedia-link Golf Hotel, Martyr-link Tango Hotel & Wikipedia-link Tango Hotel, Martyr-link Juliett Mike & Wikipedia-link Juliett Mike, & Martyr-link Juliett November & Wikipedia-link Juliett November; Martyr-link England & Wales & Wikipedia-link England & Wales, & Martyr-link Douai & Wikipedia-link Douai.

Commentary: Bl. John Nutter is brother of the priest & martyr Bl. Robert Nutter, O.P. [26 July].

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
The First Book of Kings, chapter ten, verses one thru ten;
Psalm Thirty-seven (R/. thirty[a]), verses five & six, thirty & thirty-one, & thirty-nine & forty;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter seven, verses fourteen thru twenty-three.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus teaches that evil comes from within. From our hearts "come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly."

The Church teaches that such evils are consequences of original sin. The doctrine holds that there is something fundamentally off about us, that all is not well, that we are off-kilter, skewed, mixed up. We Catholics don’t hold to a doctrine of total depravity, but we do indeed hold that original sin has worked its way into every nook and cranny of our lives: our minds, our wills, our desires and passions, even our very bodies.

As G.K. Chesterton argued a century ago, original sin is the only doctrine for which there is empirical evidence, for we can feel it within ourselves and we can see the effects of it everywhere.

One of the surest signs of our dysfunction is that we tend to celebrate all of the wrong people and despise or look down upon the best people. Pay very close attention to the people that you don’t like, to those that you consider obnoxious; it might tell you a lot about your own spiritual state.

Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D. (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.

Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 31
The Book of Exodus, chapter twelve, verses thirty-seven thru forty-two.

Commentary: The Exodus: From Rameses to Succoth (concluded; Exodus, 12:37-42).

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, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Let us humbly number ourselves among the imperfect, see ourselves as little souls. Yes, it is enough to humble oneself & to bear with one’s imperfections meekly. That is true sanctity."
—St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"We have a job to do. We have to get the Faith into our heads & into our hearts—not just for the information, but to let it sink in deeply—so that we can go out & rescue a culture that has rejected God & does not know who they are as human beings."
—Tim Staples (fl. 2020)