Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, bishop and Doctor of the Church (†1787 Pagani – Italy). Founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, he was an apostle of the Eucharist and of the Blessed Virgin. His outstanding zeal for souls, so clear in his preaching, is also revealed in his prolific writings and Moral treatises. He also composed beautiful hymns.
See also:
Mass Readings
First Reading – Lev 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
The LORD said to Moses, “These are the festivals of the LORD which you shall celebrate at their proper time with a sacred assembly. The Passover of the LORD falls on the fourteenth day of the first month, at the evening twilight. The fifteenth day of this month is the LORD’s feast of unleavened Bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first of these days you shall hold a sacred assembly and do no sort of work. On each of the seven days you shall offer an oblation to the LORD. Then on the seventh day you shall again hold a sacred assembly and do no sort of work.” The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the children of Israel and tell them: When you come into the land which I am giving you, and reap your harvest, you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest, who shall wave the sheaf before the LORD that it may be acceptable for you. On the day after the sabbath the priest shall do this. “Beginning with the day after the sabbath, the day on which you bring the wave-offering sheaf, you shall count seven full weeks, and then on the day after the seventh week, the fiftieth day, you shall present the new cereal offering to the LORD. “The tenth of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement, when you shall hold a sacred assembly and mortify yourselves and offer an oblation to the LORD. “The fifteenth day of this seventh month is the LORD’s feast of Booths, which shall continue for seven days. On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly, and you shall do no sort of work. For seven days you shall offer an oblation to the LORD, and on the eighth day you shall again hold a sacred assembly and offer an oblation to the LORD. On that solemn closing you shall do no sort of work. “These, therefore, are the festivals of the LORD on which you shall proclaim a sacred assembly, and offer as an oblation to the LORD burnt offerings and cereal offerings, sacrifices and libations, as prescribed for each day.”
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 81:3-4, 5-6, 10-11ab (R. 2a)
R. Sing with joy to God our help.
Take up a melody, and sound the timbrel,
the pleasant harp and the lyre.
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our solemn feast. R.
For it is a statute in Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob,
Who made it a decree for Joseph
when he came forth from the land of Egypt. R.
There shall be no strange god among you
nor shall you worship any alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
who led you forth from the land of Egypt. R.
Gospel – Mt 13:54-58
Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.
Featured Saints
St. Aethelwold, bishop (†984). Disciple of St. Dunstan of Canterbury and Bishop of Winchester, he compiled the “Regularis Concordia” for the restoration of monastic observance in England.
Blessed Mary Stella of the Blessed Sacrament, and companions, virgins and martyrs (†1943). The superior of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth was shot together with ten nuns of the community in Nowogródek, Belarus.
St. Bernard Vu Van Duê, priest and martyr (†1838). Dominican priest beheaded in Vietnam.
St. Peter Faber, priest (†1546). One of six disciples of St. Ignatius of Loyola who played a role in the founding of the Company of Jesus.
Blessed Thomas Welbourne, martyr (†1605). Lay schoolmaster hanged in York during the reign of James I of England, for encouraging fidelity to the Pope among his students.
Blessed Benvindo de Miguel Arahal, priest and martyr (†1936). Religious of the Capuchin Tertiaries of the Sorrowful Virgin. He was brutally murdered in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War.
Blessed Aleksy Sobaszek, priest and martyr (†1942). Director of Philosophy and Theology at Poznan University, Poland. He was sent to Dachau concentration camp for exercising his priestly ministry after the German invasion.
Image gallery
Image gallery
