Memorial of St. Monica
St. Monica, widow.(†387 Ostia – Italy). Mother of St. Augustine, for whose conversion she shed many tears. Through her patience, she also obtained the conversion of the pagan husband. A model Christian mother, she died at the age of fifty, shortly after St. Augustine’s baptism, just as both were departing for Africa.
Mass Readings
First Reading – 2 Thes 2:1-3A, 14-17
We ask you, brothers and sisters, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way. To this end he has also called you through our Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 96:10, 11-12, 13 (R.13b)
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Say among the nations: The Lord is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity. R.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult. R.
Before the Lord, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy. R.
Gospel – Mt 23:23-26
Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”
Featured Saints
St. Monica widow.(†387 Ostia – Italy). Mother of St. Augustine, for whose conversion she shed many tears. Through her patience, she also obtained the conversion of the pagan husband. A model Christian mother, she died at the age of fifty, shortly after St. Augustine’s baptism, just as both were departing for Africa.
St. Guarinus, bishop (†1150). Having been a monk of Molesme during the time of St. Robert, he founded the Aulps Abbey in France, and united it to the Cistercian Order. He was elected Bishop of Sion, Switzerland.
St. David Lewis, priest and martyr (†1679). Jesuit priest who became the last of those martyred in Wales for the Catholic Faith after having clandestinely administered the Sacraments to Catholics in the Hereford-Monmouth region for thirty years.
St. Caesarius, bishop (†542). After living the monastic life on the Island of Lerins, he was appointed Bishop of Arles, France. He wrote a book of sermons as a catechetical aid for priests and drew up rules for monastic discipline.
Blessed Angelo Conti, priest (†1312). Priest of the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine, who died in Foligno, Italy, he stood out for patience in bearing affronts.
Blessed Maria del Pilar Izquierdo Albero, virgin (†1945). She was blind and paraplegic as the result of a series of infirmities; after a miraculous cure, she founded the Missionary Work of Jesus and Mary in Madrid.
St. Amadeus, bishop (†1159). Abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Hautecombe, France, he was elected Bishop of Lausanne, Switzerland.
St. Poemen, abbot (†fourth-fifth century). An anchorite famous for his wise teachings.
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