Saints + Scripture

Simplex Complex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

'Tis the Optional Memorial of Saint Peter Damian, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, O.S.B. (circa 988-1072), Bishop of Ostia (1057-1067) & Bishop of Gubbio (1060-1066); prior of Fonte Avellana (1043-1072), formally the Verenable Hermitage of the Holy Cross; author of the Liber Gomorrhianus ("Book of Gomorrah"), a treatise against the clerical abuses of the day: Doctor-link ūnus, Doctor-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Doctors-link & Wikipedia-link Doctors; Wikipedia-link Ostia & Wikipedia-link Gubbio; Wikipedia-link Fonte Avellana; & Wikipedia-link Liber Gomorrhianus.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

He gave up his secular calling &, avoiding the compromised luxury of Cluniac monasteries, entered the isolated hermitage of Fonte Avellana, near Gubbio. Both as novice & as monk, his fervor was remarkable but led him to such extremes of self-mortification in penance that his health was affected, & he developed severe insomnia. On his recovery, he was appointed to lecture to his fellow monks. A zealot for monastic & clerical reform, he introduced a more-severe discipline, including the practice of flagellation ("the disciplina") into the house, which, under his rule, quickly attained celebrity, & became a model for other foundations, even the great abbey of Monte Cassino.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Pepin of Landen (circa 575-646, also spelt Pippin, etc.; A.K.A. the Elder, the Old), Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, Duke of Brabant: Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Husband of St. Itta of Metz, O.S.B. [8 May]; father of Ss. Begga, O.S.B. [17 December]; Bavo of Ghent [1 October]; & Gertrude of Nivelles, O.S.B. [17 March]; & ancestor of Bl. Charlemagne [28 January].

'Tis also the festival of Saint Germanus of Granfelden, Priest & Martyr (circa 612-677), first (I) abbot of Moutier-Grandval Abbey (640-677), martyred by order of the Alsatian duke Adalrich: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Moutier-Grandval.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Thomas Pormont, Priest & Martyr (circa 1559-1592, A.K.A. Thomas Whitgift), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, one of the Eighty-five Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link England & Wales & Wikipedia-link England & Wales.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Robert Southwell, Priest & Martyr, S.J. (circa 1561-1595), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, one of the Forty Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link England & Wales & Wikipedia-link England & Wales.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Noël Pinot, Priest & Martyr (1747-1794, A.K.A. Natale Pinot), martyred in the reign of the French National Convention for refusing an oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
The Letter of James, chapter two, verses fourteen thru twenty-four & twenty-six;
Psalm One Hundred Twelve (R/. one[b]), verses one & two, three & four, & five & six;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter eight, verse thirty-four thru chapter nine, verse one.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus lays down the conditions of discipleship.

A few verses before our reading Jesus predicted his Passion for the first time. He will sacrifice himself in love for the other—and in this, he will come to deeper life and become a source of life to others. Ronald Knox talked about the sign of the cross this way: the first two gestures form the letter "I," and the next two cross it out. That’s what the cross of Jesus meant and means.

In this scene, he gathered the crowd with his disciples and pronounced the formula for following him. We ought to be listening too with great attention: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." The path of discipleship is the path of self-sacrificing love, and that means the path of suffering.

Then the great paradox: "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it." Put that over your door, on the refrigerator, on your screensaver. There is no better one-line guide to the happy life.

Video reflection by Alejandro Orbezo-Elizaga (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.

Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of St. Peter Damian
The Second Letter to Timothy, chapter four, verses one thru five;
Psalm Sixteen (R/. five[a]), verses one, two, & five; seven & eight; & eleven;
The Gospel according to John, chapter fifteen, verses one thru eight.

Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 40
The Book of Exodus, chapter sixteen, verses four thru twenty-one.

Commentary: (Exodus, 16:4-21).

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Christ's love for us: behold the Eucharist! Love that gives itself, love that remains, love that communicates itself, love that multiplies itself, love that sacrifices itself. The Eucharist is the love that unites us & the love that saves us."
—Pope St. Paul VI (1897-1978, r. 1963-1978; feast: 29 May)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Tell everybody that God grants us graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; that people are to ask her for them; & that the Heart of Jesus wants the Immaculate Heart of Mary to be venerated at His side."
—St. Jacinta Marto (1910-1920, feast: 20 February)