Memorial of St. John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church
St. John of the Cross, priest and doctor of the Church. Reformer of the Carmelite order, together with St. Teresa of Avila. A great master of the spiritual life and mystical writer.
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Mass Readings
First Reading – Is 41:13-20
I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, “Fear not, I will help you.” Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you, says the LORD; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. I will make of you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and double-edged, To thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff. When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off and the storm shall scatter them. But you shall rejoice in the LORD, and glory in the Holy One of Israel. The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain, their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open up rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the broad valleys; I will turn the desert into a marshland, and the dry ground into springs of water. I will plant in the desert the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive; I will set in the wasteland the cypress, together with the plane tree and the pine, That all may see and know, observe and understand, That the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab (R.8)
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
I will extol You, O my God and King,
and I will bless Your name forever and ever.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all His works. R.
Let all Your works give You thanks, O LORD,
and let Your faithful ones bless You.
Let them discourse of the glory of Your Kingdom
and speak of Your might. R.
Let them make known to men Your might
and the glorious splendor of Your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and Your dominion endures through all generations. R.
Gospel – Mt 11:11-15
Jesus said to the crowds: “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force. All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
Featured Saints
St. Venantius Fortunatus, bishop (†seventh century). Famous troubador of his epoch, he was inspired by the virtues of Queen St. Radegonde, became a priest and went to Poitiers, where he became bishop. He composed hymns to the Holy Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ and wrote the epopees of many saints.
St. Nicasius of Rheims, bishop (†407). He was killed by pagans in the doorway of the basilica he had built in Rheims, France.
St. Nimatullah al-Hardini Kassab, priest (†1858). Religious from the Lebanese Maronite Order, he dedicated himself to theological studies, the formation of youth and other pastoral efforts.
Blessed Bonaventure of Pistoia, priest (†circa 1315). Prior of several monasteries of the Order of the Servants of Mary; he helped St. Philip Benizi quell feuding factions in many Italian cities.
Blessed Frances Schervier, virgin (†1876). Known as the “Mother of the Poor,” she founded the Congregation of theSisters of the Poor of St. Francis in Aachen, Germany.
Sts. Heron, Arsenius, Isidore and Dioscurus, martyrs (†250). Sentenced to death in Alexandria, Egypt, during the persecution of Decius. Seeing the first three suffer various tortures with the same constancy in the Faith, the judge had them thrown into a furnace; St. Dioscurus, only twelve years old, died after being subjected to numerous scourgings.
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