Mass Readings

First Reading – 1 Kgs 8:1-7, 9-13

The elders of Israel and all the leaders of the tribes, the princes in the ancestral houses of the children of Israel, came to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant from the City of David, which is Zion. All the people of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival in the month of Ethanim (the seventh month). When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark; they carried the ark of the LORD and the meeting tent with all the sacred vessels that were in the tent. (The priests and Levites carried them.) King Solomon and the entire community of Israel present for the occasion sacrificed before the ark sheep and oxen too many to number or count. The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary, the holy of holies of the temple. The cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the ark, sheltering the ark and its poles from above. There was nothing in the ark but the two stone tablets which Moses had put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel at their departure from the land of Egypt. When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD so that the priests could no longer minister because of the cloud, since the LORD’s glory had filled the temple of the LORD. Then Solomon said, “The LORD intends to dwell in the dark cloud; I have truly built you a princely house, a dwelling where you may abide forever.”

Responsorial Psalm – 132:6-7, 8-10 (R.8a)

R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
Let us enter into his dwelling,
let us worship at his footstool. R.

Advance, O LORD, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your majesty.
May your priests be clothed with justice;
let your faithful ones shout merrily for joy.
For the sake of David your servant,
reject not the plea of your anointed. R.

Gospel – Mk 6:53-56

After making the crossing to the other side of the sea,
Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret
and tied up there.
As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him.
They scurried about the surrounding country
and began to bring in the sick on mats
to wherever they heard he was.
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.

Featured Saints

Blessed Pius IX, Pope (†1878). He proclaimed the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and Papal Infallibility. He mentored religious Congregations and convoked the First Vatican Council. See also: Blessed Pius IX: Pontiff, Pastor and Father.

St. John Lantrua of Triora, priest and martyr (†1816). Franciscan religious who, after serving as professor of philosophy and theology in Italy, was sent to minister in China; he was martyred in Changsha.

St. Giles (Egidio) Mary of St. Joseph, religious (†1812). He exercised the functions of cook, porter and mendicant in the Franciscan monastery of Naples. He often assisted the dying, preparing them to receive the last Sacraments.

St. Richard, layman (†c. 720). Father of Sts. Willibald, Winnebald and Walburga, he died at Lucca, Italy, while on pilgrimage with his two sons from England to Rome.

Blesseds Anselm Polanco, Bishop, and Philip Ripoll, priest, martyrs (†1939). Shot to death in Pont de Molins, near Gerona, during the religious persecution perpetrated during Spanish Civil War.

Blessed Rizzerio, priest (†1236). Hearing a sermon of St. Francis of Assisi while a student at the University of Bologna, he joined the group of his disciples. Later, troubled by fear for his eternal salvation, he had recourse to his Founder who, making the Sign of the Cross, delivered him permanently from this disquietude.

Blessed Peter Verhun, priest and martyr (†1957). Ukrainian priest who died in the prison camp of Angarsk, in Siberia, Russia, for his fidelity to the Catholic Faith.

Blessed Rosalie Rendu, virgin (†1856). Religious from the Daughters of Charity, she worked in the poorest suburb of Paris, visiting the homes of the neediest. She inspired many wealthy youths to practice charity.

Blessed Mary of Providence Smet, virgin (†1871). She made a private vow of chastity and was dedicated to apostolate in parishes in Lille, France. She later founded, in Paris, the Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls, dedicated to assisting the Souls in Purgatory.