Memorial of St. Ambrose
St. Ambrose of Milan, bishop and Doctor of the Church (†397). Born in 340 in Trier, German (then the Roman city of Augusta Treverorum). He studied law and rhetoric in Rome, and became a governor in northern Italy with his headquarters in Milan. Upon the Bishop of Milan’s death, although he was yet a catechumen, Ambrose was acclaimed by the people as the new bishop of Milan. He was one of the chief instruments used by Providence in the conversion of St. Augustine of Hippo.
Mass Readings
Other featured Saints
St. John the Silent, bishop († 558). Resigning from his office as Bishop of Colonia (Taxara), Armenia, he entered the monastery of St. Sabas, in Palestine, where he lived a life of humble service in reclusion and silence.
St. Athenodoros, martyr (†circa 304). After enduring many torments for refusing to renounce his Faith, he was put to death during the Diocletian persecutions in Syria.
St. Fara (Burgundofara), abbess († 657). Benedictine nun, sister of St. Faro, Bishop of Meaux and St. Cagnoald, Bishop of Laon. Blessed and consecrated to God In her infancy by Irish missionary St. Columbanus. She overcame strong opposition from her father to follow her religious vocation. The abbey over which she presided as abbess for 36 years became famous as Faremoutiers (Fara’s Monastery).
St. Maria Giuseppe Rossello, virgin († 1880). In Savona, Italy, she founded the Institute of the Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy, dedicated to charitable works and to the education of poor girls, establishing 68 foundations before her death.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Is 40:1-11
Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
The rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
A voice says, “Cry out!”
I answer, “What shall I cry out?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all their glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it.
So then, the people is the grass.
Though the grass withers and the flower wilts,
the word of our God stands forever.”
Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 96:1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12, 13
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day. R.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king;
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 let all the trees of the forest rejoice. R.
They shall exult 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 18:12-14
Jesus said to his disciples:
“What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”
